AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Eliminated from the playoffs at the end of the second round, Joey Logano received a second chance when another competitor was disqualified.

He took advantage of the opportunity.

Logano was added to the round of 16 following Alex Bowman’s disqualification and immediately went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win the first match of the third round. This made Logano the first driver locked into Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway with three weeks to prepare his Ford for the title race.

He took advantage of his third NACAR Cup championship, using near-flawless driving to hold off teammate Ryan Blaney and give Team Penske its third major motorsports title in less than a month and third consecutive NASCAR title. .

Logano actually made his decision after qualifying second on Saturday when he confidently acknowledged that it was his Cup Series title to lose.

“Yes, I do. I feel like our car is strong. We’ve already gotten them down,” Logano boasted. “We just have to put our foot on their throats. “We feel pretty strong about our team, and in these types of pressure situations we feel very solid about our team right now.”

It may not have been how boss Roger Penske would have expressed it, but he showed the team owner just how ruthless his team leader can be.

“I could have used different words, but that’s okay,” Penske said, “when you win, you can say whatever you want, I guess.”

Logano held off Blaney over the final 20 laps to beat him for the Cup Series title by 0.330 seconds. Blaney was trying to become the first consecutive champion since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row from 2006 to 2010.

Instead, Logano became the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more championships. Kyle Busch is the only other active driver with multiple titles.

“I love the playoffs, I love it,” Logano said. “What a team, what a battle Penske in the end. Three of them? “That’s really special.”

It was the first time in Team Penske history that the organization finished 1-2 in the championship. And it came after Penske’s IMSA sports car team won the title last month and its World Endurance Championship team won the title last weekend in Bahrain.

Roger Penske said he was worried that in the closing laps his two drivers would crash into each other, ending both their title hopes. He also praised sponsor Shell-Pennzoil, which was on Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden’s car, for its victory in May for Penske.

Penske also desisted from taking too much credit for the team’s success.

“It’s about the people,” Penske said. “My name may be on the door, but it’s about the people who make the difference and we sure have them on this team.”

Blaney was exhausted after the race and, despite his disappointment, was excited for the Penske organization.

“At least one Penske car won,” Blaney said. “They had a great playoffs and we are happy. “If we’re going to race anyone, I’m happy it’s him for the championship, and happy to have 1-2 for Roger, three in a row for Roger, super awesome and Ford.”

Penske and Ford have won three consecutive Cup championships. Logano won in 2022 and Blaney won last year.

“One-two for Team Penske, three championships in a row, I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Logano said. “I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I have the best team. And together, we are very complete and can be present when it matters most.”

The final was a winner-take-all for the highest finish between Logano, Blaney, William Byron in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of the 23XI Racing team owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. .

Byron finished third in the race and Reddick sixth. It was Byron’s second consecutive appearance in the finals, the first for Reddick.

“It makes you hungrier, but also more experienced in what it takes,” said Byron, the Daytona 500 winner. “I feel like this style of track has been tough for us and we’ve made a lot of progress this year, but there’s still a lot to do. If we can make some progress on this style of track, I know we are very good on all the others and we can achieve anything.”

Reddick, who had been subdued all week compared to his fellow title contenders, did not lead a lap and had Jordan walking behind the pit wall for much of the race.

“Michael was just proud of our team’s effort all year,” Reddick said. “Put up a good fight. We didn’t make any mistakes that got us out of this. “We fought as hard as we could.”

All four title contenders finished in the top six, with Reddick trailing Hendrick’s Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, who led a race-high 143 laps after being disqualified from the finale last week at Martinsville for a traffic violation. security. Byron took his place and Bell insisted that he had been robbed of the opportunity to compete for the title.

Logano, a 34-year-old from Connecticut, led 107 laps in the dominant victory that Blaney made closer than expected in the final laps.

But his mere presence among the final four was controversial as Logano was eliminated from the playoffs after the second round. He was reinstated before Las Vegas, where he won to give the No. 22 team three weeks to prepare for Phoenix.

“Our team is better under pressure,” Logano said. “For us the race began in Las Vegas. The amount of work and effort that went into building this race car right here, the amount of time, I don’t think anyone works harder than us. This morning we got up at 6am going over things. “The guys just want it so badly and I’m glad we did it.”

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