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Thinkin’ Out Loud at Phoenix: How Much Does the NASCAR Championship Matter Anymore?

What Happened?

Joey Logano held off hard-charging teammate Ryan Blaney on Sunday (Nov. 10) to win the NASCAR Cup Series season finale race at Phoenix Raceway, earning his third career series championship. William Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five behind them.

Team Penske remains undefeated in championships in the Next Gen car era. It’s also the first time the team has ever ended a Cup season with a 1-2 finish in the standings.

See also
Joey Logano Holds Off Ryan Blaney To Win 3rd Cup Championship

What Really Happened?

Logano won his third career title and became the champion with the lowest average finish in the history of the Cup Series.

And everybody is just so gosh darn happy about it.

Even the most die-hard NASCAR loyalist has to admit they may have a point.

If a driver can have what is statistically the worst year ever run in a championship-winning season under the modern format, then perhaps it begs the question of how much meaning the Cup championship even has at this point.

For example, you might think a driver winning a title may require them to be in top form, but this year that wasn’t the case. In fact, when Logano crossed the line at Phoenix on Sunday, he ended his season with an average finish of 17.6 — the lowest he has had since 2011 and the third-lowest of his career.

Additionally, Logano also earned seven top fives and 13 top 10s in 2024. That’s his least amount since he joined Penske in 2013.

But what about the other drivers? Perhaps his competition simply didn’t perform?

Well, no. Not really.

Logano had the 16th-highest average finish out of anyone in the full-time Cup Series field.

For top 10s, he was 13th.

In top fives? 11th. Laps led? Ninth. Stage wins? Eighth. The list goes on.

So … how? How did Logano and the No. 22 Ford Mustang team sneak their way into the playoffs, through all three rounds of elimination and win the championship?

Well, there is one statistic for which Logano was almost No. 1: wins.

Logano garnered four race wins when they mattered the most, and whether you like it or not, that is what the current format rewards.

What many do not seem to understand is when NASCAR changed the format in 2014 to what we have today, winning the title was no longer about consistency. It became about explosive runs and walk-off wins. For fans to argue today that a champion isn’t legitimate based on the 20-year-old bias that season-long consistency matters most simply doesn’t work with today’s format.

But does that mean it’s valid? While NASCAR executives might argue so, it’s not really up to them, is it? It’s up to fans to decide, and right now it doesn’t look like they agree.

Who Stood Out?

It was Blaney and Logano versus the world on Sunday, and the former won.

The Penske drivers led a combined 119 laps during the afternoon and won stages one and two. However, their performance was highlighted thanks to Blaney’s hunt of his teammate for the lead and, thus the championship, with less than 25 laps to go.

Blaney cut down a whopping three-second gap to his teammate to reach Logano’s back bumper. Alas, Logano defended superbly and was able to hold him off to earn Roger Penske’s third straight Cup Series title.

But earlier in the race, there was a spoiler in the works.

Bell may have received a penalty last weekend at Martinsville Speedway last week that eliminated him from the Championship 4, but on Sunday he drove like nobody had told him that.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led a total of 143 out of 312 laps on Sunday afternoon, which was not only the most of the day, but more than the dynamic Penske duo led combined.

He finished his afternoon in fifth after a restart with less than 70 laps to go relegated him there, but his early race dominance was a testament to the speed of the No. 20 Toyota.

The same could not be said for the Toyota that did make the Championship 4.

Who Fell Flat?

Did you know that Tyler Reddick was in this race too? He was even in the Championship 4 no less.

Not only did Reddick not lead any laps, he also spent a majority of the 312-lap event outside of the top five.

While Byron and the Hendrick Motorsports speed of the No. 24 could at least contend with the Fords of Logano and Blaney, the No. 45 of Reddick didn’t have the same pace to compete. Rather than a setup issue or how the handling of the car being the problem, it almost seemed like the 23XI Racing car lacked the one thing that a crew chief can’t help in the middle of a race — raw speed.

There was a moment during the final restart of the race where Reddick showed a brief sign of life when he performed a whale of a restart that gained him four spots in one lap.

But once there, he didn’t make any more ground.

Reddick, much to the dismay of NBA legend Michael Jordan who stood on pit road to watch each lap intently, could only watch as the rest of the Championship 4 pulled away from him.

With the uncertainty of what 23XI Racing’s charter situation will be in 2025, it’s unknown when we’ll see the No. 45 back on the track again.

Better Than Last Time?

How many times do folks need to beg to move the championship race until NASCAR finally does it?

Sunday’s race featured four cautions and 16 lead changes, nearly identical to last year’s season finale. There simply wasn’t much improvement.

Phoenix’s racing quality isn’t terrible, and the grandstand selling out every year allows NASCAR to give a valid argument to continue returning there for its finale.

However, watching Blaney catch Logano with around five laps to go and not be able to overtake him is a painful reminder that Phoenix also isn’t the best track on the schedule — at least not with the Next Gen car.

While racing executives can hem and haw over how the sport can make the Next Gen car improved over these kinds of tracks, let’s remember there was a race two weeks ago at a track that used to be the season finale that many are saying was the best playoff race in history.

Was the racing terrible? No, despite the gripes, passing did occur. But most will probably tell you it can be better.

See also
SHR's Tearful Goodbye, Martin Truex Jr.'s Full-Time Farewell Mark End of Era

Paint Scheme of the Race

As if it could possibly be anything else.

It’s one of those paint schemes that is an instant winner. That’s not only because it’s sentimental as a throwback to Martin Truex Jr.’s first career Cup start in 2004 with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, but it’s also a great looking car.

While it couldn’t have the “E” stripes like his 2004 car did for silly legal reasons, the color palette remains almost identical, and it’ll certainly be a popular addition for many diecast collectors.

It was a fitting design to end a legendary full-time career of someone that is almost certainly a future Hall of Famer.

What’s Next?

A well-deserved break.

Despite everything, 2024 was a historic year for the sport that had moments we’ll be looking at in NASCAR promotional posts for decades to come, such as the closest finish in Cup Series history at Kansas Speedway in May. But there will also be rightfully reflections of controversy like the events at Martinsville Speedway last weekend.

With all that said, it may be hard to remember that the next time we will see Cup cars on track will be at the quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium for the Busch Light Clash on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 — a historical first — live on FOX.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next year.

About the author

Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loudcolumn, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.

Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT

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29 Comments
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Echo

Dull race. Absolutely nothing Nascar can do, the networks bought the right to call the schedule and anything else they want for next 7 years for 7 $ Billion. Fans say doesn’t matter, neither does media. Only young France family member is Ben and obviously he’s not to bright. Drivers, get your money while you can. Let’s see what the padded numbers show about the race.

kb

I am hard pressed to buy this points garbage. He got into the playoffs on points, and HMS cheated, Bowman got disqualified, Logano next in line got to the next round. He made the most and best choices for the “playoffs” and he won. Tis that simple. Hate the game, not the player.

I cannot help but think if this pearl clutching would be non existent if it was another driver? One may never know. But he won, did what he had to do, and did it very well. He won with the format that all were bound by.

Everybody had the same opportunity, he shined, they didn’t. His win by the way format is currently, is legit. On to next year.

At least Joey won 4 races 5 with the AllStar race. It’s not like he pulled a Matt Kenseth for a Champ title.

Last edited 1 month ago by kb
Carl D.

Yep… even wildcard teams win the Super Bowl sometimes. Championships aren’t always won by the best teams. It’s about peaking at the right time.

Kevin in SoCal

I was going to say the same thing about wild card teams.

Tony

For a long time the title was secondary to race wins. Listen to interviews with champions from decades prior to about the Gordon era. Most of them say they didn’t even start thinking title until well into the season. Now somebody wins the Daytona 500 and you hear “locked in” so much you’d think they were trapped somewhere.

Dan

No matter who wins in any contest there are always the naysayers.

Marshall

I couldn’t care less about the championship. The only thing I find interesting is how embarrassing it must be for teams that put up a massive effort every week to lose to a guy that was just kinda there most races. I’ll admit that the championship format has made certain races way more entertaining, but I’d like to think that these drivers would race just as hard for a win even if the playoffs didn’t exist.

Bill W.

? Didn’t Logano win 3 races and the all-star race this year.

Jeremy

Just how much Push To Pass did Penske “accidentally” give the 22? lol

Jeremy

I see Will, Josef, Scott, and Roger didn’t find that funny.

Uncle Richard

Maybe everyone should go look at the 1973 NASCAR championship to find an absolute ludicrous champion. Benny Parsons was the winner that year with only 1 win, but what was really incredible, that win was the only race that he finished in the lead lap. Yes another time for sure, but the point is, championships are not always won by the best team. Give Joey his due, he did what he had to do to win the championship – Just like Benny Parsons did in 1973….

Pat S

I think for the most part think the racing has been really good this year. I have no problem with the format or the stages (but I for one would like to see the yellows go away at the stage ending and let them keep racing.) By the current rules Logano won fair and square. Larson never really showed up in the playoffs honestly and being consistent once in the final 16 is what prevailed. Congrats to the 22 Team!

Last edited 1 month ago by Pat S
Uncle Richard

Those stage break yellow flags help keep green flag commercials to a minimum.I dislike the yellow flags too but I really dislike green flag commercials more.

janice

the race this past weekend i enjoyed was the xfinity race on saturday night. seeing justin win was great, and they did all they could to lose it. ….pure emotion.

Wildcatsfan2016

Totally disinterested in the championship as it exists. It’s a meaningless joke. 2 drivers of the 4 got in due to NASCAR manipulation including slogans so why would I care?

plus Phoenix is a boring track.

i once was a diehard fan who became a casual fan. Now I’m à if it’s the only thing on & I don’t have other plans fan

jdquick

Just one more fiasco NASCAR has placed on the fans. It’s not about racing anymore, it’s about the “chase” for the championship. You tell me how its fair to reward someone for winning one race that equates to the championship. This is pure BS. CRAPCAR wants to be like the stick and ball sports plus football and basketball and have a tournament. As if 36 races aren’t enough of a test throughout the year to crown a champion for the f***ing ENTIRE YEAR, I don’t know what is. Real racing in NASCAR is dead.

Kevin in SoCal

I totally agree that Phoenix isn’t as exciting a track. The best parts are the restarts where everyone fans out 5-wide and then shuffles back together to make turn 1. You never know if someone is going to miss the turn.
I think the final 4 race-order should be Martinsville, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Homestead.
I’d also like to see NASCAR go back to 12 drivers, that way winning means even more and one-off winners don’t “sneak” their way in.

janice

fan out reminds me of pocono. i was shocked to see how they fanned out.

Bill B

Didn’t really care who won. I don’t think there is another sport with a more melodramatic final game/race than NASCAR. The playoff rounds have a lot more drama than the final race. By the time the flag waves I’m just glad it’s over./

RCFX1

Talk about race manipulation. Nascar should be fined for everything that they did during the Chase this year. They were a disaster and Logano winning is the ultimate finger in the eye of every fan.

RCFX1

Why did they award stage win points in the last race. Are they carried forward to Daytona 2026?

DoninAjax

They didn’t!

Kevin in SoCal

Points still matter for the ranking of positions 5 to 40 in the championship standings.

Ellenjay

C’mon ! the championship race and they drive thru the infield.

Steve

I noticed that too. They were actually driving through the signage on the apron of the racetrack and coming back around almost hitting the barrels leading to pit road. I’m surprised it was just the pace car that hit the barrels to be honest. Looked pretty dangerous.

WD

Other than the last 15 laps the most exciting event was the pace car hitting the sand barrels Im sure he made ” what an idiot ” on DBC today But as stated by others TV calls the shots and whoever puts up the most funds gets the race

CCColorado

OMG… where to begin?…. lots of good points in the 25 posts above.
The 48 crew Blew It so big time it’s not funny.. rest of the garage knew Joey was going to win once he got in.
Race was not really that exciting, despite Diffey trying To Hard to make it so. Can we please not hear his voice next year?!!
Current points playoffs were devised by a clown, so this circus should be expected! We even have to booger up the races with phoney “ stage points” just to make it more interesting. The WWE thinks that’s dumb!!!
The Rookie of the year is hated in the garage because he wrecks others, and drives by that crashing sound he hears so often. What a joke!
And they wonder why their relevance is eroding.
Oh, and the most popular athlete in the world is suing the mega bully for being just that. But looks like the “friendly judges” might derail any true litigations … ah, that good ole boy network runs deep…
other that that everything is just ducky.

sb

Totally agree about Diffey. I finally muted the TV for the end of the race, as his non stop yammering, trying to convince me that the race was exciting drove me nuts!

Steve

Yeah the closest race in Nascar history at Kansas also had the wrong winner too.

People bent out of shape over Logano’s average finish need to remember that once a driver wins a race and is locked into the playoffs, or even during the playoffs, the mindset completely changes. There is also a lot more experimenting in races that are meaningless to the championship for these teams. Reddick and his pit box at Martinsville is a good example. Maybe comparing playoffs average finish would be a better barometer.