Logano Wins the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship

Cup Series Championship Race: Joey Logano won the Cup Series Championship Race on Sunday evening from Phoenix Raceway. The win, Logano's fourth of the 2024 campaign, won him his third NASCAR Cup Series championship. Logano held off a hard charging Ryan Blaney over the last several laps to secure the win and title.

The race itself was not much to write home about, but was probably one of the better Phoenix races with the new generation car. Drivers were able to run multiple grooves and make passes throughout the day. This was done, primarily, by Tyler Reddick on restarts and Ryan Blaney after the race settled in. Much of the rest of the drivers were stuck wherever they filtered out on restarts except for a few drivers here and there. But ultimately, the race was fine. I was rather enthralled all day, the stage finishes were exciting, especially Stage 2 with Blaney carefully navigating some lapped cars to snag the stage 2 victory. At times, the race appeared to be headed squarely to Christopher Bell, but stage 3 and Logano had other plans for the run to the checkered flag.

Stage 3 was setting up to what appeared to be a Blaney repeat (which is what I was hoping for) but some strategy and a late race caution made it a Blaney v Logano showdown after dispatching William Byron from contention. This part of the race was pure cinema and the best part of the race. Logano made some gutsy moves and took the lead on the last restart. Blaney was not as fortunate and got mired behind the Hendrick drivers of Larson and Byron. They did hold him up enough and that, likely, prevented him from having enough car under him to get past his teammate in Logano to go back-to-back for the title. But nonetheless, his charge and drive to the front was great driving and kept me on the edge of my seat until

Logano powered his Ford Mustang Darkhorse off of turn four on the final lap.

Unfortunately, much of the talk immediately went to Logano being an undeserving champion due to his statistics from the year. After you get past his four wins, his numbers are not great. A fact I am sure he and his 22 team would agree. And as much as I don't like it, and as much as I was pulling hard for Blaney to win back-to-back titles, Logano won it fair and square. Every full-time driver had the same rules to play by all year, and Logano and his team capitalized on the rules, did what they needed to do, and kicked ass when it mattered in the playoffs. And I don't want to hear about them getting lucky with the Bowman DQ: an illegal car should not advance; if it wasn't Logano "lucking" into the Round of 8 it would have been someone else, but he beat those other three drivers and rightfully advanced.

I am sure myself, talking heads, and the powers that be will have sincere and deep conversations about how to make this better moving forward to continuously put the best of the best battling for a title year after year. But we must acknowledge that, inevitably, someone will get lucky, someone will perform at the right times, and we will get underdog winners. It's a fact of life and something that should be celebrated and honor because one day it may very well be a driver you like or you yourself. Logano is the deserving 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion.

Next, we head off into the offseason! As of my writing of this post we are 95 days out of the 2025 Daytona 500. So, enjoy your time off, spend quality time with friends and family, and we will see you back at the track at Daytona in February!

Offseason Picks:

Traditionally, I pick the next week's race winners in this section, and I almost picked Daytona's winners to kick off the 2025 season here but it felt too early. Instead I'll pick the "Offseason Winners" picking what I believe to be the best driver moves heading into 2025.

Truck = TRICON retaining Corey Heim. While it is not a move or a new team, Heim was rumored to head to JGR Xfinity, Legacy Cup, or 23XI Cup all at some point this season. Yet, for 2025 he is back in the Truck Series for another title run, and comes out as the title favorite. Look for another big year for Heim before making a jump up in 2026.

Xfinity = I'm torn here between a few candidates. Eckes is a huge get for Kaulig, but Kaulig did not flex their muscle as much this year as year's past and I do not think Eckes can be the difference maker alone. But I am convinced the JR Motorsports working alongside Trackhouse to have Connor Zilisch will be huge in 2025. Connor has not shown just flashes of greatness, he is full on fireworks of greatness and I can see him winning the 2025 title and 4+ races throughout the campaign. Look for that 88 car to be fast everywhere.

Cup = While Briscoe going to the JGR 19 car next year is big news, and SVG jumping to Cup in the Trackhouse 88 was the fun news, the biggest difference maker and best move headed into 2025 is Justin Haley's return to Spire. Spire has dramatically improved over the last few years, and with what appears to be increased support from Chevy and Hendrick, expect that progress to continue into 2025. This far out, I am anticipating Haley snags a win and gets into the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs.

Header Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images