Joey Logano Advances to Championship 4 with Strategy Call Win at Las Vegas
What an incredible range of emotions there were following Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Joey Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske team were on the joyous end of the festivities after Logano, who was playing on house money after being added back into the Playoff field after Alex Bowman's disqualification in post-race inspection at the Charlotte ROVAL, picked up his third win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
While the first at Nashville Superspeedway advanced the two-time Cup Series champion into the Playoffs, and the second at Atlanta Motor Speedway moved him into the Round of 12, this latest win officially gives Logano a chance to battle for a championship at Phoenix Raceway as he locked his berth into the Championship 4 field.
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The win came by way of a strategy call from Logano's crew chief Paul Wolfe, who along with several other cars in the field, opted to stretch their fuel tanks in an effort to have one less pit stop over the course of the final Stage than the leaders who had dominated the event. Ultimately, the call to pit for the final time on Lap 195 paid off, and Logano had enough fuel in his gas tank, and enough of a time advantage on Christopher Bell to pull off the race win.
"Man, we did some fuel mileage stuff, didn't we? Holy crap," Logano exclaimed in his post-victory interview. "What an incredible turn of events here the last week. Very fast Pennzoil Mustang. Joe Kids Crew here today, a lot of kids. Special to win in front of them again. My kids at home, wish you were out here. We're going to the Championship 4 again. It's real. Thanks to the fans out here."
Logano would continue, "Great fuel mileage, great calls by Paul, Nick Hensley, our gas man, making sure she's full, giving me the info to keep the lead that we needed to. We're going racing again. What an incredible situation, man. I'm so blessed."
The win is the third of the season for Logano, the fourth of his career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the Connecticut native has now registered 35 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series. Now, he'll look to add a third Bill France Cup to his mantle.
For Bell, who was chasing down Logano, Daniel Suarez, and the others on the alternate strategy in the closing laps of the race, it was a frustrating way for one of the most dominant runs of his NASCAR Cup Series career to end. Bell, who was attempting to hold back his emotions while watching Logano celebrate on the frontstretch in front of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway crowd, was asked to explain how he comes to terms with losing after leading 155 laps in the 267-lap event.
"I don't know, and I don't think I've come to terms [with losing] yet," Bell seethed when asked how he gets past the heartbreak. "I don't know. Just a bummer. I think everyone on this team did everything perfect today. This thing was obviously on rails. Pit crew did an amazing job, [Crew Chief] Adam [Stevens] called a great race. Did everything we needed to to put this Rheem Camry into victory lane, and unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be today."
While the runner-up finish stings presently for Bell, it absolutely bolstered his chances at a third-consecutive Championship 4 berth. With a runner-up finish in the opening Stage of the race, a Stage 2 win, and a second-place finish, Bell leaves Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 42-point buffer over the Playoff cutline. Aside from Logano, Bell sits in the safest points position heading into next weekend's event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It may take Bell a day or two to find the silver lining, but the dominant run, although it didn't result in a Championship 4 berth clinching win, still sets him up pretty nicely to attempt to make it back to Phoenix with a chance to win his first career NASCAR Cup Series title.
Suarez held onto the third finishing position, as he finished 1.191 seconds behind Logano, and just over a half-second behind runner-up finisher Bell. Suarez, who is looking to build momentum for the 2025 season after being eliminated from the Playoffs last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, did just that on Sunday as he rallied from a 23rd starting position, and came to life in the race.
Speaking of drivers, who have come to life; William Byron scored his fourth-consecutive top-four finish in Sunday's race as the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came home in the fourth position. While Byron limped his way into the Playoffs, he and crew chief Rudy Fugle have really found their stride, and are charging toward another potential Championship 4 appearance.
Byron will carry a 27-point advantage over the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff cutline leaving the 1.5-mile speedway in Sin City.
Alex Bowman, a week after the biggest disappointment of his NASCAR Cup Series career, came home solidly in fifth position.
Martin Truex Jr., who was an integral component in the race's biggest crash on Lap 89, was a contender near the front all race long and brought his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota home in the sixth position. Ross Chastain, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 finishers in Sunday's race.
Kyle Larson, who entered the race as the point leader, finished 11th, which would have been a disappointment heading into the day. But considering the driver lost a lap in a horrendous green flag pit sequence, where the driver had to go down pit road twice to complete his service, the fact that the driver of the No. 5 was able to battle back to the lead lap and finish just outside the top-10 had to feel like a win.
Larson leaves Las Vegas third in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings, and now sits 35 points above the Playoff cutline.
While five Playoff contenders finished inside the top-11 positions on Sunday, the other three Playoff contenders weren't quite as fortunate.
Tyler Reddick, who won the opening Stage of the race, and looked to be one of the top contenders for the race win, was wiped out in a multi-car melee on Lap 89. After contact from Martin Truex Jr. sent Chase Elliott into the side of Reddick's car, Elliott and Reddick spun into the infield grass.
As the two Playoff contenders spun into the grass, Brad Keselowski was collected in the incident. Reddick would then go for a flip as his car skidded across the grass, and onto the paved short track on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway frontstretch.
Reddick was done for the day, and would finish in 35th, the worst of all Playoff drivers.
While Elliott would continue on, he would eventually retire from the race after completing 230 laps. Elliott would be credited with a 33rd-place finish.
After the multi-car crash erupted, another Playoff contender Ryan Blaney suffered issues with his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang as well. After spending laps on pit road getting repairs, Blaney would struggle to a 32nd-place finish, eight laps off the pace.
All three drivers, along with Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, now find themselves in the bottom four positions of the Playoff Standings with two races left to turn around their fortunes.
Next on the docket for the NASCAR Cup Series is a trip to Homestead-Miami Speedway where they will battle it out in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on Sunday, October 27. That race will be televised by NBC with coverage beginning at 2:30 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio will carry the radio broadcast of that race.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.