PHOENIX – Team Penske driver Joey Logano dominated Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway, winning the 312-lap chase and claiming his second NASCAR Cup Series championship. Logano won the pole and dominated much of the race, winning the first two stages. He led 187 of the 312 laps, including the final 30.
His margin over second-place Ryan Blaney was .301 of a second.
This is the second championship for Logano, who collected his fourth race win of the season and the 31st of his career.
Logano earned the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix by virtue of his win. He is now a two-time champion, with his first title coming in 2018. Logano is the 17th different driver to win multiple championships and just the second active NASCAR Cup Series driver to win multiple championships, joining two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch (2015 and 2019).
This was Ford’s 720th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its ninth of the season.
There were six caution periods for a total of 39 laps. Twenty-one of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
SHR Race Finish:
- Chase Briscoe (Started 3rd, Finished 4th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
- Kevin Harvick (Started 7th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
- Cole Custer (Started 9th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
- Aric Almirola (Started 13th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
SHR Points Final:
- Chase Briscoe (9th with 2,292 points)
- Kevin Harvick (15th with 2,126 points)
- Aric Almirola (20th with 760 points)
- Cole Custer (25th with 589 points)
Championship 4 Final:
- Joey Logano (5,040 points)
- Ross Chastain (5,034 points)
- Christopher Bell (5,027 points)
- Chase Elliott (5,009 points)
Briscoe earned his sixth top-five and 10th top-10 of the season, and his second straight top-five in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix. Briscoe won in the series’ previous visit to the track in March.
This was Briscoe’s second straight top-10. He finished ninth last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
“I just didn’t fire off nearly as well. I was kind of on top of the racetrack a little bit more than I really had been all day. Truthfully, the 22 (Logano) and the 12 (Blaney) were so good in the short run every time. I just had nothing for them. In the long run, I was typically a little bit better, I just would give up so much in the short run. I just didn’t fire off very well there at the end. I don’t really know why. I don’t know if the track just changed there as the sun was going down. It wasn’t as good. I felt that was the worst run, balance-wise, we had all day. It’s unfortunate that’s when it came, but, overall, it was a good day.
“I definitely feel like we’re a top-five team week in and week out, especially these last 10 weeks. It’s just a matter of putting it all together. This was one of the best races we ran, start to finish, today, but we just came up a little bit short. We still have to get a little bit better, but we definitely got closer to where we need to be.
“Even five years ago, three years ago, or last year, we were lucky to run 20th, and now we’re disappointed with a fourth place. That says a lot about the team and how far we’ve come. You always want a lot more, but, overall, it was a good season. We just have to come back next year and be a little bit better,” said Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang
Briscoe finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven additional bonus points.
Briscoe led once for 11 laps to increase his laps-led total at Phoenix to 112.
In taking the green flag today at Phoenix, Harvick became just the seventh driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to start every race for 20 consecutive seasons, joining Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, and Bobby Labonte.
“On the restarts, I kept getting on the chip and getting hung in gear and we would get passed by a couple of cars. I just needed a whole run.”– Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang
Harvick earned his ninth top-five and 17th top-10 of the season, and his series-leading 19th top-five and 29th top-10 in 40 career NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix.
Harvick’s 19 top-fives at Phoenix are the best among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present. Next, best is Denny Hamlin with 16 top-fives, who is tied for second all-time with Jimmie Johnson.
Harvick’s 29 top-10s at Phoenix are the best among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present. Next, best is Kyle Busch with 24 top-10s, who is tied for second all-time with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.
This was Harvick’s 19th straight top-10 at Phoenix – a streak that started on Nov. 10, 2013, when Harvick won the fourth of his nine NASCAR Cup Series races at Phoenix.
Harvick finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points.
Custer earned his 11th top-15 of the season and his third top-15 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix. This was Custer’s second straight top-15. He finished 14th last Sunday at Martinsville.
Custer led once for three laps – his first laps led at Phoenix.
Almirola earned his 22nd top-20 of the season and his 20th top-20 in 24 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix. This was Almirola’s second straight top-20. He finished 15th last Sunday at Martinsville.
Since joining SHR in 2018, Almirola has finished among the top 20 at Phoenix all but once – 22nd in November 2019.
Next Up:
The 2023 season begins with the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 65th Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Both events will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
