NASCAR Cup Series: Joey Logano wins Las Vegas, a spot in the Championship 4

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano executed Team Penske’s fuel strategy flawlessly on Sunday, securing victory in the South Point 400 Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This win earned him the first of four spots in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4.

Logano led only the final six laps on the 1.5-mile Vegas track, managing to fend off Christopher Bell‘s dominant No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota by just .662 seconds in the closing stages.

Bell had led a race-high 155 of the 267 laps and claimed Stage 2. However, pitting 35 laps after Logano left him unable to close the nearly 30-second gap to Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford after his stop.

Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, employing a similar strategy to Logano’s, finished third after leading 57 laps. He was followed by Playoff driver William Byron and Alex Bowman, both of Hendrick Motorsports.

Logano’s victory marks a significant turnaround after last week’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL, where he thought he had been eliminated from the Playoffs. However, NASCAR reinstated him after ruling Alex Bowman’s car illegal during a post-race inspection, disqualifying Bowman from the Playoffs.

This result puts Logano in the Round of 8, with two races remaining — next at Homestead-Miami Speedway and then at Martinsville, Va., on Nov. 3 — to finalize the Championship 4 field. Notably, Logano’s 2022 win in the Vegas Playoff race paved the way for his series championship.

“We worked some fuel mileage magic, didn’t we? Holy crap,” said a smiling Logano, whose four wins at Las Vegas now tie him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson for the most all-time victories at the track.

“What an incredible turn of events this past week. A fast Pennzoil Mustang, great calls by [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe], and excellent work from the whole team. We’re going to the Championship 4 again. It’s real. What an amazing situation — I’m so blessed.”

While Joey Logano celebrated, Christopher Bell was left disappointed.

“I still can’t process how it ended,” said Bell, who has now started 13 races from pole without securing a win. “We did everything right today, but it just wasn’t meant to be. It’s a bummer.”

Despite the setback, Bell now leads the championship standings by 42 points over the cutoff line. He, along with Denny Hamlin, who finished eighth after overcoming pit road challenges, is among the top contenders in the Playoffs.

The race had major implications for the Playoff field, as three drivers were eliminated from contention by Stage 2. Meanwhile, pit stop struggles knocked out two others, leaving Logano, Bell, Byron, and Hamlin to carry the championship hopes among the top-10 finishers.

Hamlin’s eighth-place result was impressive after a challenging day for his No. 11 Toyota team, which also adopted Logano’s fuel-saving strategy. His teammate, Martin Truex Jr., finished sixth, while Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain took seventh, followed by Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski’s Chris Buescher.

Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports came in 11th after falling a lap behind due to a pit stop issue. He now sits second in the standings, 35 points above the cutoff line. Byron holds fourth place, 27 points ahead of Hamlin.

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick, who started from the outside pole, finished 35th after being involved in a rollover crash on lap 90, which also collected fellow Playoff drivers Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, and reigning champion Ryan Blaney.

Reddick, despite his frustration, remains optimistic: “We can still fight at Homestead and make it happen at Martinsville. Winning would’ve been ideal today, but we’ll focus on next week.”

It was a tough weekend for Blaney, too. After suffering a flat tire in practice, his primary car was damaged, forcing him to start Sunday’s race from the back. He was steadily advancing through the field before being caught in the multi-car crash with Reddick and Elliott. Blaney finished 32nd, with Elliott in 33rd.

As the series heads to South Florida for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Bell remains the defending race winner.

Video: Joey Logano wins in Vegas

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NASCAR Cup Series Race – South Point 400

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Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday, October 20, 2024

1. (10) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.
2. (1) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 267.
3. (23) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267.
4. (9) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.
5. (3) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267.
6. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.
7. (7) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267.
8. (4) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.
9. (26) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 267.
10. (22) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.
11. (5) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.
12. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267.
13. (20) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 267.
14. (35) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 267.
15. (31) Harrison Burton, Ford, 267.
16. (14) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 267.
17. (16) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 267.
18. (21) Noah Gragson, Ford, 267.
19. (33) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 267.
20. (15) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.
21. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 267.
22. (32) Ryan Preece, Ford, 266.
23. (6) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 266.
24. (28) Josh Berry #, Ford, 266.
25. (27) Erik Jones, Toyota, 266.
26. (24) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 266.
27. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 266.
28. (29) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, 265.
29. (34) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 265.
30. (8) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 264.
31. (30) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 263.
32. (37) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 259.
33. (18) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, Suspension, 230.
34. (11) Austin Cindric, Ford, DVP, 96.
35. (2) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, Accident, 89.
36. (17) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 89.
37. (13) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 61.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 139.385 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 24 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.662 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 32 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 10 drivers.