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Joey Logano is the NASCAR Cup Series champion for the second time in five years, and he capped off his phenomenal 2022 season in style.
All Logano needed to do to win the title was finish better than fellow playoff finalists Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday.
But he left no doubt as to who this year's champion was by placing first at Phoenix Raceway to cement his second-ever Cup Series title and fourth victory this season.
Ryan Blaney took second in the race, one spot ahead of Chastain in third. Bell finished 10th, and Elliott took 28th after spinning out early in Stage 3.
It was an emotional day in Phoenix after news emerged that Coy Gibbs, the co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, died overnight at the age of 49. A pre-race moment of silence honored his memory.
With heavy hearts, the field got going in Phoenix with a title on the line. Here's how it went down.
Stage 1
Logano ended up winning the first stage (60 laps) by a half-second over Blaney.
Elliott (sixth), Bell (11th) and Chastain (13th) rounded out the playoff quartet at this juncture.
Stage 2
Bell and Chastain had a great pitstop in the second stage that vaulted them up the leaderboard.
Logano still held the lead midway through the race, but his teammate Blaney soon took over first.
Blaney ended up hanging on for the Stage 2 win. Here's how the final four looked at that moment.
That set the stage for a dramatic finish.
Stage 3
Elliott went from an incredible high to a massive low early in Stage 3.
He vaulted himself into sixth place after a crucial pit stop, with only Logano ahead of him in the playoff chase.
However, contact from Chastain sent Elliott spinning into the wall, subsequently ending his championship dreams.
He fell all the way to 30th in a car that needed more maintenance.
Numerous analysts and fans gave their take on the matter.
With all that going on, Logano still led the playoff pack with first in sight.
Issues on pit road gave Logano more breathing room over Chastain:
But Bell was hot on Logano's heels.
Unfortunately, Bell endured a scary pit stop after a member of the pit crew got his finger stuck between the nut and the spindle.
That wasn't the only harrowing moment of the stage, as Brad Keselowski had to climb out his car after it caught fire. Thankfully, he was unharmed.
The title ultimately came down to Logano and Chastain. Logano eventually took the lead from Chase Briscoe and never looked back:
The champion spoke postrace with NBC.
With that, Logano and Team Penske emerged victorious. This also marked the second Cup Series title for crew chief Paul Wolfe, who won with Keselowski in 2012.
Closing Notes on Playoff Participants
Logano previously won in 2018, when he earned three race victories and 26 top-10 finishes.
Bell came in as a big underdog in just his third NASCAR Cup Series season, but he's steadily risen from 20th in 2020 to 12th in 2021 before the top-four finish this year.
Chastain arguably came in as the biggest longshot of them all having never finished higher than 20th in four full-time NASCAR Cup Series seasons.
But he forced his way into the championship conversation thanks to a pair of wins and one of the most incredible maneuvers in NASCAR history.
Elliott, the regular-season champion, was looking for his second title in three years.
In the end, it was Logano who emerged as this year's champion.
Fans won't have to wait too long for the beginning of the 2023 season, which will start February 5 with the Daytona 500.
For the second time since 2018, Joey Logano is the king of NASCAR.
Logano finished first at the Phoenix Raceway's NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday, besting the Championship 4 field of Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott and winning the title in style.
Chastain finished third, Bell 10th and Elliott 28th on the afternoon.
It was a fantastic season for Logano, who finished with four overall wins, including two in the playoffs. He was one of 19 different race winners in what was a dramatic, parity-filled NASCAR season.
Despite that parity, however, Logano came into the day with the utmost confidence.
"I knew going into this thing that we were going to win the championship," he said in his post-race interview. "I told the guys we were the favorite from Daytona, and we truly believed it, and that's the difference. Man, it's like I said, I had a good team with a bunch of confidence, and we had all the reason in the world to be confident."
"Man, this is what it's all about," Logano added. "When you're a kid ... my dream was to win Cup championships. Here we are with two of them. It just means so much, it's so special."
Kyle Busch is the only other active multi-championship driver in the Cup Series.
Team Penske completed its first-ever season with both IndyCar and NASCAR champions after Will Power won the former in September. It's Team Penske's third-ever NASCAR title.
Logano finished the year on a dominant note, leading 186 of 312 laps.
It was a tougher day for Elliott, who was spun out by Chastain in the final stage and fell out of contention.
Only Chastain among the title contenders truly challenged Logano on the day, but Sunday belonged to Logano. He was more than ready to meet the moment.
"I don't want to be comfortable," he told ESPN's Ryan McGee last week when asked if he would try to treat this final race like any other Sunday on the track. "The added pressure and intensity, that's how you find a different level out of yourself. Winning championships is why I do this. It's why I've always done it. So, none of this should feel normal because you're living that dream."
Dream achieved, for a second time.
Welcome to the Championship 4, Joey Logano.
The veteran driver clinched his spot Sunday, winning the South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway after holding off Ross Chastain.
Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
Chase Elliott, who came into the day atop the playoff standings, finished 21st. Here's where the rest of the playoff contenders not previously mentioned finished on Sunday:
Chastain, Elliott and Hamlin are currently in position to qualify for the Championship 4, though much could change over the next two races.
Bell's day ended in tough fashion, as he was collateral damage in a mid-race spat between Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace—who won the first stage—that led to a crash, ended the day for all three drivers and led to a bit of a shoving match off the track:
Bell told reporters he and his team "got the short end of the stick" in the altercation between Larson and Wallace.
"It's disappointing because our performance is capable of racing for the championship, and it doesn't appear that we're going to get to," he added, as he now sits in eighth place in the playoff standings.
Blaney, meanwhile, was in second place Sunday and had already won the second stage when he lost control of his vehicle and hit the wall.
There was no such gaffe for Logano, however, who methodically tracked down Chastain over the final 10 laps and outmaneuvered him for the win. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Logano would find himself in contention—it's just what he does.
The second of three Round of 8 races will take place next Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, with the Dixie Vodka 400 set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Kevin Harvick is on the board.
The veteran NASCAR Cup driver earned his first win of the 2022 season, having his checkered-flag moment at the Michigan International Speedway's FireKeepers Casino 400.
Bubba Wallace finished as the runner-up, with Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five.
Harvick had gone 65 straight races without a win. And did he need it, as he entered Sunday 17th in the playoff standings but moved into the 16-car postseason bracket with three races remaining.
"Good timing, for sure," Harvick said of getting a clutch win Sunday in his post-race interview on USA. "You know, we've had several good runs the last few weeks ... where the car ran good, and we just didn't have everything work out."
"Everybody who doubted us doesn't know us," he continued. "They obviously know that we thrive in these types of situations. A lot of things went our way today, which we haven't had all year long."
That leaves the race for the final playoff spot between Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., barring a new top-30 winner down the stretch. Blaney, who came into the day with 696 points and finished fifth, will remain ahead of Truex, who came into the day with 671 points and finished sixth. Neither has a victory that would automatically qualify for the playoffs.
As always, a number of crashes impacted the race, as JJ Yeley, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Aric Almirola found themselves at the center of a nine-car wreck in Lap 25.
And Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell had a dustup with 41 laps remaining, but both were able to continue.
The Cup Series now moves to Richmond, Virginia, for the Federated Auto Parts 400 next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA.
Joey Logano was victorious at the Enjoy Illinois 300 in overtime on Sunday, making him the first Cup Series driver ever to win at World Wide Technology Raceway. It was Logano's second win of the 2022 season and 29th of his career.
The Cup Series' debut event at WWTR was 240 laps of aggressive, hard-nosed competition. The race track, which is located just east of St. Louis in Madison, had previously hosted Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series competitions.
However, it's the first time in over a decade since NASCAR has held a non-truck race at the track, as the Truck Series has held an event at WWTR every year since 2014, while the Xfinity Series hasn't been there since 2010.
Here's a look at the top 10 finishers from Sunday's race, as well as some highlights and key moments.
Enjoy Illinois 300 Results
1. Joey Logano
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kurt Busch
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Aric Almirola
6. Martin Truex Jr.
7. Erik Jones
8. Ross Chastain
9. Christopher Bell
10. AJ Allmendinger
Full leaderboard available at NASCAR's official site
At the start of Sunday's race, it was Chase Briscoe who looked like a man on a mission. He led the first 27 laps before getting a flat in his left rear tire, forcing him to pit. The race remained green, and he fell behind by a lap.
Austin Cindric stepped in to win the stage. He had registered the third-fastest lap time in Friday's practice session.
A battle between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain became a major storyline of the race. Chastain aggressively tried to pass Hamlin and eventually bumped him, forcing Hamlin to run into a wall. After pitting, Hamlin was able to return to the race, but he was obviously displeased with Chastain's tactics.
Chastain also drew the ire of Chase Elliott when he caused him to spin out. When things got restarted, Chastain had both Elliott and Hamlin after him.
Kurt Busch got the win in the second stage, but it took a while to get there. The track at WWTR made for some tightly contested racing that resulted in more crashes and spin-outs. In all, 10 cautions were called.
Late in the third stage, Kyle Busch took the lead with 13 laps remaining with a brilliant pass of Logano coming out of a caution. Kevin Harvick ran into a wall just a few laps later, which led to overtime.
Coming out of the restart, Logano and Busch battled back and forth before Logano pulled away on the final lap to secure the win.
After the race, Chastain offered an apology for his aggressive racing during his interview with Fox Sports' Jamie Little.
The drivers will now shift gears to next Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in California. It will be a shorter race, set for 110 laps and 218.9 miles.
