by Crystal Clay, Chief Motorsports Correspondent
AVONDALE, Ariz.--Joey Logano has officially secured his third NASCAR Cup Series championship, solidifying his place among the sport’s elite. With four wins this year, the second most in the NASCAR Cup Series, an All-Star Race victory, and now his third championship, Logano’s career continues to climb to new heights.
He is just the 10th driver in history to win three or more championships, a testament to his skill and consistency. Yet, what’s fascinating about Logano’s championship years—2018, 2022, and 2024—is that, statistically, they don’t always position him as the clear favorite going into the Championship 4. Despite standout performances, he’s rarely considered the most likely to win when looking at the regular season alone.
For example, in each of his championship seasons, Logano has had fewer top-five finishes than some of his rivals. In 2022, drivers like Kyle Larson and William Byron had more top-five finishes, better average finishes, and more laps led. Even in 2024, while Logano notched four wins, he didn’t dominate the regular season in terms of victories, and his average finish for the year was 17.4.
To add another layer of unpredictability, Logano didn’t even secure a spot in the ‘Round of 8’ until the final race of the Round of 12, after Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Chevy was disqualified following post-race inspection. But once in the Round of 8, Logano made a statement, becoming the No. 2 seed heading into the Championship 4.
“Are you surprised? I’m not. I’m not. We’ve done this before,” Logano said. “It kind of seems like our way of doing it. We want to win more earlier than that, but for whatever reason, we’re able to recover seasons. It’s something I’m really proud of because there’s a lot of teams that would look at it and say, ‘We’re going to call it a rebuilding year.’ Sports teams use that excuse for struggling. We don’t do that. We go to work, try to be better, and salvage the year. I’d say we did a good job of that, getting here with two of them. That’s great. The trophy behind you—that’s really what it’s about.”
In 2018, Logano only won three races, fewer than many of his competitors, and in 2022, he had just two regular-season victories before his late-season surge. This is a stark contrast to drivers like Larson and Byron, who had more wins and were statistically stronger in the regular season. For many, that might make them seem more deserving of a Championship 4 spot, or even the favorite to win it all. But Logano’s ability to “win the races that matter” has become his trademark, and it’s this skill that counterbalances the regular-season statistics.
“Winning the races that matter,” Logano says, has become his hallmark. For some, his championship victories may seem like anomalies—products of a playoff format that doesn’t always reward the best overall season. But for Logano, his title wins are no fluke.
He entered the Championship 4 as the veteran among the final four drivers, and it’s essential to consider key factors when evaluating his legitimacy as a contender. Ahead of Phoenix, Logano had accumulated 14 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff victories and made it to the ‘Round of 4’ six times, cementing his reputation as the “even year Champion.” The 2024 season marked his 11th playoff appearance, and what can be drawn from this is his sustained excellence and ability to compete at the highest level year after year.
Crew Chief Paul Wolfe, who has worked with Logano through multiple championship runs, highlighted the team’s ability to execute under the current NextGen playoff format, despite not always having the fastest car during the regular season.
“Were we fast a lot of races this year? No. But we executed to what the format is now, and that’s why we’re the champions. There’s a lot of cars that had speed early in the season that weren’t able to show up when it mattered, and whether that’s the pressure or what it is, I don’t know. But as a team, we want to run good every week, right, but we know when it’s time that you have to be your best and what it takes to prepare for that, and that’s what we’ve been able to do as a company,” said Wolfe.
Logano and the No. 22 team have been able to thrive in the current playoff structure, and Wolfe acknowledged the team’s ability to adapt and perform when it counts most.
“Obviously we’ve been able to walk out every championship with this new-generation car. I don’t really know what to say other than that. If we’re going to go back to the other format, then we’ll gear up and do our best for that format,” Wolfe added.
Together, Logano and his team have shown that it’s not always about being the fastest on the track—it’s about performing at the right moments and executing the right strategy to earn the championship.
Denny Hamlin, ever the outspoken critic, made it clear that if Logano were to win the championship, it would ignite a firestorm on social media regarding the playoff format. “I can tell you this, and it’s not their fault or his fault, but if Joey Logano wins this title, there is going to be a wrath on social media about this format. It already is. It’s so interesting because Kyle Larson, who you said you wanted to put an emphasis on winning, has won more races than anyone by a long shot, and yet he’s not part of the title fight. Kevin Harvick won 10 races and didn’t get to race for a title. The format is broken, and if you disagree, you’re in denial.”
For Logano, his focus will quickly turn to closing those gaps and finding ways to come back stronger, continuing to build on the legacy that’s made him one of the sport’s most consistent and determined champions in the NextGen playoff system—and his ability to thrive in it. He’s proven time and again that when it comes to the final stretch, he can rise above the competition, laughing all the way to the bank.
“I just think that’s just a bunch of hearsay back there and people that just got to accept what the times are. Times change, right? And I don’t know if you have a lot of the moments that we have today without the playoff system that we have. Do you want to see the championship crown with three races to go? Because that’s what used to happen. That’s pretty boring. You’ve got do-or-die moments. You’ve got the pressure. You’ve got all these things going on the last 10 weeks. You have guys trying to get into the playoffs,” said the now three time Champion.
“You have that storyline. How many storylines could we make? It’s amazing. For people to complain, it makes me mad. It makes me frustrated to hear that.”
Looking ahead, Logano’s track record as the “even-year guy” suggests he’s not done adding championships to his resume. Known for his mental toughness, he’s evolved as a competitor over the years, with his growth recognized both on and off the track. As Team Owner, Roger Penske reflects, “I think first he had to shake off some of the reputation he had. They called him sliced bread, I think it was, or whatever it was. But he shook that off pretty quickly. We were behind him, and I think that was key, and he just grew and grew and grew. And not only on the track but off the track, when you think about what he does.”
This maturation process has been key to his success. “When he puts the helmet on, there’s nobody out there that runs harder than he does, and I think that was just him maturing over time and getting the confidence that he could win and he could race anyone.”
Logano’s growth has clearly paid off, as his ability to handle pressure and continue to win speaks volumes. “He certainly proved it today, and he has for the last three championships for sure.”
Much like his nickname evolution, Logano has moved on from the “Sliced Bread” label that Randy Lajoie once gave him. And while “even year” has stuck in recent years, don’t expect it to define him moving forward. As Logano and his team begin their celebration of the 2024 championship, the focus will soon shift to 2025. The offseason won’t be a time for rest, as Logano’s competitive drive pushes him to reflect on his journey. Once the initial excitement settles, he’ll look back on his 2024 performance, always searching for ways to improve and learn more about himself as a competitor.
It’s never long before Logano finds that next competitive edge. He’s just waiting for the next “dang it” moment of clarity. But for now, as he so often does, he’ll take some time to enjoy the victory and process what comes next.
“Too soon to tell. I’ll kind of go back and forth a little bit on it. But as strong of a playoff run and winning the three races in the playoffs, that’s fantastic, but there’s obviously a lot of areas that we can be better as a team. Like we can’t just relax now and say this was great. We definitely have to find some areas where we are weak. I can pinpoint three or four of them right now that we need to go to work on. We’ll enjoy this because championships are really hard to come by. So we need to celebrate and we need to have fun together and do all the parties and everything that comes along with it. It’s really special and it’s really fun to do all that. But we can’t forget next year is coming, and the same weaknesses will be there if we don’t address them. Give me a little bit of time.”
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