Who… should you be talking about after the race?
He didn’t have the fastest car, but he had the best restart when it really mattered. A late caution in the NASCAR Cup Series title race at Phoenix Raceway put William Byron in the lead … for about 10 seconds. That’s how long it felt like it took for Joey Logano to make an aggressive move on the final restart to pass Byron, two of his teammates and Christopher Bell by the time the field made half a lap.
From there, Logano opened up enough of a lead that even his teammate Ryan Blaney, who had a faster car, couldn’t make up enough ground to pass the No. 22 before the checkered flag.
Joey Logano is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series CHAMPION! 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/w1wSi30t4d
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 10, 2024
Blaney closed to within a car length of Logano after running him down from over three seconds back, but thanks to Logano’s quick getaway on the restart, couldn’t get by. It might have been a different story had the race had a few more laps, but Logano took the race into his own hands and it was enough.
🗣️ "It's just a dream when I was a kid."@joeylogano explains why winning his third career Cup Series championship is emotional for many reasons ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9ksKbAnCnY
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) November 11, 2024
Logano’s win puts him in elite company as the 11th driver to win three or more Cup Series titles, the first with more than two since Jimmie Johnson tied the all-time record with seven. He now leads active full-time drivers in championships.
Logano wasn’t the best driver all year and he didn’t have the best car in the field on Sunday (Nov. 10). What he was was the best driver when it counted, and that was enough.
And don’t forget Bell. Still feeling the sting of being eliminated from the title race on a judgement call, Bell set out to remind everyone that he is still a winner.
Leading a race-high 143 laps, Bell’s aggressive racing reminded fans that next year is just around the corner, when he will be a title threat out of the box.
Christopher Bell won’t be ignored much longer. Championship(s) coming soon!
— Buzzsaw (@M_R_Sumbigguns) November 11, 2024
What… is the big question leaving this race in the rearview?
When NASCAR gave its annual state-of-the-sport update on Friday at Phoenix, one thing the sanctioning body made clear was that the playoffs were here to stay. Amid an uptick in criticism of the format from both fans and teams, NASCAR doubled down on it.
Should it have defended the format at what could’ve been the perfect time to get rid of it altogether?
Logano’s third title puts an exclamation point on the critics’ argument: that the championship isn’t worth as much as a full season title because a driver doesn’t have to be the best or even the most consistent all year.
Logano’s average finish in 2024 was 17.1, the lowest ever for a Cup champion. He barely squeezed into the Round of 8, making the cut only after Alex Bowman was disqualified after the Bank of America ROVAL 400. Without the playoff format, he tallies in at 12th in points.
The format isn’t Logano’s fault, and he and his team did exactly what they needed to given the rules. Every other team and driver had the same opportunity. He’s a deserving champion in that light.
But is it good for the sport overall to have a championship that’s considered by so many to be bargain basement-level cheap? And is it even up to the front office any more?
Television loves the format because at least in the cut-off races there’s drama to stir up. To an extent, playoff drama can cover for a lack of racing drama. Ratings are decent and the networks absolutely can take advantage of the playoffs to charge more for commercial slots.
Television pays the bills and the teams, so television calls the shots. The format may not be great at determining the best driver and team of the year, but as long as there’s drama to stir up, it’ll stay.
Where… did the other key players wind up?
Pole winner Martin Truex Jr. led the first nine laps of his final race as a full-time driver, but he fell out of the top 10 after the second stage and came home 17th.
Defending race winner Ross Chastain started third and looked strong early, but, like Truex, couldn’t keep up the momentum. Chastain finished 19th, last on the lead lap.
Last week’s winner Blaney had the fastest car in the second half of the race, and made a furious run to come from over three seconds back to Logano’s back bumper in the final 20 laps. Clearly exhausted from the effort after the race, he questioned his final restart, when he got boxed in on the third row as the defining moment in his title defense. Blaney finished runner-up to Logano, with two Fords topping the field after a slow start to 2024.
Faced with a strategy call in the final run, Byron and the No. 24 team stayed on track while the other contenders pitted in the final stage, a move which put Byron behind both Logano and Blaney but which might have worked out as Byron had fresher tires. A spin by Zane Smith brought out the caution just a lap after Byron’s stop, allowing the other contenders to get fresh tires and make a run at him. He finished third.
Tyler Reddick had the drive and made some impressive moves on restarts to stay within shouting distance of the other contenders. His No. 45 simply didn’t have the speed to match Logano’s drive, and in the end, Reddick had to settle for sixth. But he’s had a taste of racing for a title, and that will go a long way in the future.
When… was the moment of truth?
The final restart won Logano the race. Restarting behind three Hendrick Motorsports cars and Bell, Logano got a better start than Blaney and was able to clear Byron before the field had a chance to organize.
Blaney had the faster car but was mired in traffic just long enough to miss any chance at a clean getaway. Instead, he had to battle Kyle Larson for third before he could even attempt to run down Byron and Logano.
And Larson made it hard.
It wasn’t the same situation as it was a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, when Chastain and Austin Dillon effectively blocked anybody from passing Byron in the closing laps; Larson was racing for position himself, as he is paid to do. It’s hard to argue that he’s giving it all if he’s giving up a spot for Blaney.
Should Blaney have been more aggressive? He could have been. Had he laid the bumper to Larson (not to wreck him, just to move him out of the way), he could have gotten by a couple of precious laps earlier and maybe that would have made the difference in the race. It was Logano’s aggressive style that got him to the front so quickly.
Why… should you be paying attention this week?
The engines might be silent but the courtrooms won’t be. The antitrust lawsuit that 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports brought against NASCAR will continue to dominate the offseason landscape and will have an impact heading into 2025 and beyond.
The teams lost their bid for an injunction that would have allowed them to compete as chartered teams until the case is settled, but had a smaller victory with a speedy discovery time frame.
The case could have a major impact heading into next year. With both teams looking to expand to three cars, the case puts their seasons in question. They can race as open teams but would receive much less money than chartered teams.
NASCAR has indicated that it would run the 2025 season with just 30 chartered teams. An additional wrench in the works for 23XI, at least, is that personnel are free to leave if the team doesn’t have a charter, which could potentially make drivers Bubba Wallace and Reddick free agents if another team wanted to lure them away.
It’s a story that could change the sport — keep an eye on it.
How… many endings happened on the eve of 2025’s new beginnings?
The sun sets on a handful of memorable careers on Sunday night.
Perhaps most notably, after more than two decades and three national series championships, Truex will walk away from full-time competition (he’ll run a few races now and then). The 2017 Cup champion is a future Hall of Famer with 34 wins in the series.
From one champion to another.
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 10, 2024
Jimmie Johnson honors Martin Truex Jr., who is retiring from full-time racing. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/2ZIMOTPEyk
It was also supposed to be the final race on top of the pit box for Wallace’s crew chief Bootie Barker, though he was suspended this week in the wake of the race manipulation controversy at Martinsville. Barker will remain with 23XI Racing, but will take a role based at Airspeed, the team’s headquarters.
Wayne Auton, director of the Xfinity Series, and Goodyear Director of Racing Greg Stucker will also retire.
Goodyear's director of racing, Greg Stucker, has announced his retirement. Greg has been with Goodyear for 45 years, 42 of those in racing. He has been continuously involved with the NASCAR program since 1998. His Goodyear Racing team honored him at the track today. pic.twitter.com/YtY2jzNU6e
— Goodyear Racing (@GoodyearRacing) November 10, 2024
Stewart-Haas Racing shuts its doors after 15 years. The organization won two Cup and one Xfinity title since opening in 2009, including co-owner Tony Stewart’s third Cup championship in 2011 and Kevin Harvick’s 2014 title. With Stewart focusing on his NHRA teams in recent years, he made the decision to shutter his NASCAR teams earlier this year.
End of an era.
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 11, 2024
Thanks for the memories, Stewart-Haas Racing. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WHaeuPS3r7
NASCAR also lost a champion in Bobby Allison, the 1983 champion who was just recently awarded the 85th win that NASCAR denied him for years. Allison’s health had been in decline, but he was able to see his brother Donnie inducted into the Hall of Fame in January (Bobby Allison was already enshrined). He passed away at home on Saturday, one day before the final race of the year.
He was more than just a racer.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
He was a giant of our sport.
We remember Bobby Allison. pic.twitter.com/c2UKOeL9vs
NASCAR’s tapestry is ever-changing, but their stories are now woven in forever.
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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Amy, I look forward to your “Big 6” every week during the season. First thing I read every Monday. Hope you have a wonderful holidays and hope to see you back next year.
Nice article on all points!
I have no interest in the crapshoot championship. I was a diehard fan for many yrs Not now.
My favorite NASCAR moment this year was the pace car taking out the water barrier’s.
Such a NASCAR thing to do
Was Brian driving?
The driver was texting! I hope there is a dash cam video.
Michael Phelps, Olympic swimmer and don’t ask me why. I wonder what Ben Kennedy is going to dream up this winter. Just sell Nascar to the Saudi s and we can all be done with it.
“Bubba a free agent if another team wanted to lure him away”?????????? Smoking anything Amy????? No team wants that baggage!
No kidding lmao. Michael Phelps Olympic swimmer was driving the pace car. Duck out of water.