Tag: Joey Logano

Penske’s Wolfe ‘trying to make the most’ of what’s become a legendary career

Paul Wolfe has put together a NASCAR Hall of Fame legacy in a short amount of time but the Team Penske team leader for Joey Logano continues to focus forward. “It’s great. I’m excited about it,” Wolfe said after winning his third Cup Series …

Paul Wolfe has put together a NASCAR Hall of Fame legacy in a short amount of time but the Team Penske team leader for Joey Logano continues to focus forward.

“It’s great. I’m excited about it,” Wolfe said after winning his third Cup Series championship. “But I’ve said this many times — I just go to work every day and try to do the best I can for (Roger Penske) and the company and the opportunity they gave me when I came on board some 15 years ago or so now. I’m just trying to make the most of it.

“You just have to go to work every day and prove yourself like it’s your first day on the job. That’s kind of how I’ve approached it.”

Wolfe and Logano have won two championships together (2022, 2024). The first title for both came while paired with someone else. In Wolfe’s case, it was Brad Keselowski in 2012, which was his second season as a Cup Series crew chief. And that championship was also the first in the NASCAR Cup Series for Penske.

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In nine seasons together, Wolfe and Keselowski won 29 races and finished in the top five in the championship five times. They never had a winless season.

The success has continued with Wolfe guiding Logano’s No. 22 team. It’s been five years that have produced two championships, three Championship 4 appearances, and 13 wins.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with two really talented drivers since I’ve been at Penske, and I’m surrounded by a lot of great people,” Wolfe said. “There are guys on the team today that started with me back with the (Xfinity Series) car there when I first started in 2010 with Brad.

“And then obviously our transition to Cup in 2011. There are guys that started with me then. It’s pretty special that we’ve been able to keep a great group of guys together that, I guess, kind of understand how I like to approach things. And they’ve done a really nice job. It makes my job easier.”

Wolfe has never had a winless season as a Cup Series crew chief. On average, Wolfe and his drivers win three races a year.

In October, when Wolfe and Logano won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was Wolfe’s 41st career win, which is the most in the series by an active crew chief. He ended the year sitting on 42 career wins as the team won the race and the championship at Phoenix Raceway.

“I’ve never tried to micromanage,” Wolfe said. “I try to hire guys that can think for themselves and do their job, and we all know what our position is amongst the team and do it to a high standard that is set from the boss, the expectations. And I’m just glad we can continue to bring him (Penske) things that hasn’t been done in the past with three-in-a-row championships is pretty cool.”

Joey Logano’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship sets alarming records

Joey Logano’s third NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2024 sets new and alarming records. Check out NASCAR’s new records in the Modern Era!

[autotag]Joey Logano[/autotag] has gone from being “eliminated” in the Round of 12 to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champion. On Sunday evening, Logano held off Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to earn his third Cup Series title at Phoenix Raceway. It was an incredible finish for Logano, who was fast throughout the entire race. However, the Team Penske’s driver championship has set a few alarming records.

After the 2024 season finale at Phoenix, Logano has the fewest top-5 finishes, fewest top-10 finishes, and lowest average finishing position of any Cup Series champion in the Modern Era. In the non-playoff standings, the driver of the No. 22 car finished in 12th place behind Chris Buescher, who actually missed the 2024 NASCAR playoffs.

Logano has perfected the strategy of winning a Cup Series championship with the current playoff format. The No. 22 team is fast when it matters, which is the end goal for every team. NASCAR’s playoff format produced the worst statistical champion in Cup Series history, but this isn’t discrediting Logano, as the No. 22 team did exactly what it needed with the current playoff format.

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Joey Logano talks about winning his third NASCAR Cup Series title in 2024

Joey Logano talks about winning his third NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2024. Check out what Logano said after winning his third title!

[autotag]Joey Logano[/autotag] was eliminated in the Round of 12 for two hours until Alex Bowman was disqualified at the Charlotte ROVAL. Logano then won the Round of 8 opening race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and battled teammate Ryan Blaney at Phoenix Raceway for the title. At the end of the day, Logano came out victorious and won his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Following the Championship 4 event, Logano climbed from his No. 22 car as a three-time champion and talked about winning his third title. It was an emotional moment for Logano, who gave car owner Roger Penske his third straight Cup Series championship.

‘I love the playoffs,” Logano said. “I love it, man. What a race! What a Team Penske battle there at the end. Had a good restart and was able to get in front of the No. 12. And [Ryan Blaney] had a lot of long run speed there, and it was all I had there to hold him off. Man, three of them, that’s really special to get that. What a team. To fight through today, we went through a little bit of adversity throughout the race. I can’t thank Ford enough and Shell and Pennzoil and Hunt Brothers Pizza, Paul Wolfe. What a crew chief do I have?

“I’ve got the best team. I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I’ve got the best team, and together we’re very well-rounded and can show up when it matters the most. We’ve got a mentally tough team that can make things happen when it matters.”

Logano’s championship ends a fantastic season for Team Penske, featuring a ROLEX 24 victory and the 2024 Indianapolis 500. The driver of the No. 22 car fought hard to hold Blaney off, and his consistent lap times and experience put him in an excellent spot. Logano is now a three-time Cup Series champion, propelling himself into rare air.

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Logano holds off charging Blaney for third Cup Series title at Phoenix

Joey Logano came into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series championship-decider in Phoenix confident that his experience and preparation would ultimately make the difference. He was right. Logano nailed a restart with 52 laps remaining, vaulting from …

Joey Logano came into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series championship-decider in Phoenix confident that his experience and preparation would ultimately make the difference. He was right.

Logano nailed a restart with 52 laps remaining, vaulting from fifth to first in two laps, and then held off a surging Ryan Blaney over the closing laps to seal his third championship and give Team Penske its third title in as many years.

“To be able to race (Blaney) to the end, it was fun,” Logano said. “But honestly, I knew that he was going to be our toughest competition going into the weekend. I said that to our guys. I said, Blaney is going to have the speed. We’ve got to beat him on the details. That’s where we have the advantage over them. But the speed, no, he’s got turned up pretty high.

“Everything worked out well, and the details at the end, the restart and getting out there and managing, that was really the difference.”

His day wasn’t without a couple of curveballs. A slight delay with his right-front tire cost him four spots during his first pit stop. Later, his jackman took ill and needed to be removed from the pit wall, prompting an intra-Penske crew scramble that resulted in Austin Cindric’s jackman moving across to the No.22.

Logano’s path to the playoffs was initially closed when he missed the cutoff in the Round of 12, but then reopened when Hendrick Motorsport’s Alex Bowman was disqualified from the Charlotte race due to his car failing a post-race technical inspection.

The Phoenix win was Logano’s fourth of the season and the title now places him in the same company as Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart as a three-time champion.

Blaney was left behind while Logano shot off at the last restart, but his No. 12 car had plenty of speed and he made relatively easy work of closing down the gap to Logano as the pair made their way through traffic. Actually getting past him was another matter though, and despite exploring every conceivable line through the final few laps, Logano was able to keep him in check.

“Worn out,” Blaney told NBC Sports. “Just couldn’t quite get there. Tried really hard to do so. The restart didn’t really work out. [Logano] got too far away from me. Took a while to pass a couple of guys and just couldn’t get by Joey, but congrats to him and the rest of the No. 22 team. They put together a great playoffs. If I’m going to race somebody, I’m happy it’s him for the championship. And a 1-2 for Roger [Penske], three in a row for Roger is amazing for him and Ford. Just didn’t have enough at the end. Heck of a battle.”

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Williams Byron made it a 1-2-3 for Championship 4 drivers, but his No. 24 Hendrick Chevy didn’t have an answer to the speed of the leading Penskes. His best chance came when he stayed out longer before making his final stop, which would have given him fresher tires for the run to a flag, but a caution immediately after he returned to the track allowed the other contenders to pit under yellow and negate his advantage.

The other championship hopeful, 23XI’s Tyler Reddick, didn’t have the pace to match his rivals all afternoon and had to settle for sixth.

The race was largely incident-free, with just two cautions for accidents. The first came early, when Ty Gibbs walled the No.54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the second lap. The second, on lap 150 – just after Byron’s stop – was prompted by Zane Smith hitting the barriers in the No.71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Not wanting to be overshadowed by the race cars, a pace car also ushered in a few laps under yellows when it made a very late move to pull off the track, got out of shape and took out a large plastic barrel.

Martin Truex Jr led some laps at the start of his final race as a full-time competitor, but he faded as the race progressed and finished a disappointed 17th.

RESULTS

Joey Logano wins the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix

Joey Logano wins the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway after holding off teammate Ryan Blaney in the closing laps.

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season has ended, and one driver has firmly etched his name in the sport’s history. On Sunday evening, Team Penske driver [autotag]Joey Logano[/autotag] won the 2024 Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. Logano held off teammate Ryan Blaney over the last 15 laps en route to his third Cup Series championship.

Team Penske was lights out, while William Byron and Tyler Reddick had nothing for the No. 12 and No. 22 cars. Byron finished in third place, while Reddick came home as the worst in sixth place. Logano appeared to have the best car at the end of Stage 2, which translated into the Final Stage. The No. 22 car had a sensational restart, passing Byron and Christopher Bell for the lead.

Bell, who led the most laps, arguably had the best car after being knocked out of the Championship 4 last week, but wasn’t able to recover and finished in fifth place. At the end of the day, Logano has put himself on a prestigious list of drivers with at least three Cup Series championships. Logano has won his second title in three years, and has accomplished one of NASCAR’s greatest feats.

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2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race odds, picks and predictions

Looking at the odds for Sunday’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race with NASCAR expert picks and predictions.

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The NASCAR season wraps up at Phoenix Raceway Sunday with the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. The green flag drops at 3 p.m. ET (NBC) for the final start of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NASCAR odds around the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race odds, and make our expert NASCAR picks and predictions.

NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race: What you need to know

  • After 9 playoff races, including 3 elimination races, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and William Byron make up the final 4 as they’ll compete to win the Cup title Sunday.
  • Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney aims for a 2nd consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship. He had the best practice time with a 132.480 mph top speed heading into Sunday’s race, in which he’ll start 17th.
  • Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron was also sharp in practice, posting a best speed of 132.004 mph, as he vies for his 1st Cup title. He’ll start 8th.
  • Penske’s Joey Logano qualified 2nd with a time of 134.69 mph. He’s aiming for his 3rd NASCAR Cup Series championship, all since 2018.
  • 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick qualified 10th as he looks for his 1st series title. He was just 21st in practice with a best speed of 130.795 mph.
  • Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr., who is retiring from full-time NASCAR competition after this race, won the pole with a speed of 134.741 mph. He has 1 win in 37 career starts in Phoenix with 6 top-5’s out of his 16 top-10’s.
  • Blaney has never won at Phoenix, but he leads all Championship 4 drivers with a 10.9 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in 17 career Cup starts at the flat track. He has finished inside the top 5 on 8 occasions, leading 431 laps with 2 DNFs.
  • Byron has a checkered flag in his 13 Cup races at Phoenix, while posting 7 top-10 finishes and 186 laps led with 0 DNFs and a 93.6 Average Driver Rating.
  • Logano leads all Championship 4 drivers with 3 checkered flags in Avondale, while posting 8 top-5 runs and 16 top-10 finishes with 908 laps led and 3 DNFs with a 13.5 AFP in 31 career Cup starts.
  • Reddick has just 9 Cup starts in his career at the Arizona flat track, going for only 2 top-5 finishes and 3 top-10 runs with 1 DNF and a dismal 82.6 Average Driver Rating.
  • JGR driver Denny Hamlin has a 10.8 AFP in 38 career Cup starts with 16 top-5 finishes and 936 laps led at Phoenix. He’ll start 14th.
  • Hendrick’s Kyle Larson has a win and 8 top-5 finishes in 20 career Cup starts with 382 laps led and a 97.2 Average Driver Rating. He’ll start 4th.

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NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race – Expert pick

Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NASCAR odds. Lines last updated at 3:11 a.m. ET.

RYAN BLANEY (+250) is the safe play. He won the championship last season, finishing as the runner-up in the season finale to Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who wasn’t in the final 4 picture. In fact, Blaney and Chastain made contact after a late-race restart last season.

There is safety in numbers here, too. Team Penske has won the past 2 championships. Blaney has his teammate Logano to work with. Now, if it comes down to those 2 in the final lap, obviously all bets are off. But they can each help each other get into a better and safe position during the early to middle laps.

NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race – Contender

TYLER REDDICK (+1300) didn’t get into the Championship 4 by accident. He is a good driver, even though his results at Phoenix Raceway over his career haven’t been great. In practice, Reddick was just 21st with a 130.795 mph, so he has work to do.

In 9 career Cup starts at the flat track in Phoenix, Reddick has managed just 2 top-5 finishes, 3 top-10 runs and only 5 placements inside the top 20, posting 72 laps led, 1 DNF and a mediocre 82.6 Average Driver Rating.

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Cup Series title contenders spread throughout field for Phoenix start

There will be 16 grid spots separating the Championship 4 when the green flag waves for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series title-decider at Phoenix, but all of them feel good about their chances. “I do,” said Team Penske’s Joey Logano when asked if he felt …

There will be 16 grid spots separating the Championship 4 when the green flag waves for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series title-decider at Phoenix, but all of them feel good about their chances.

“I do,” said Team Penske’s Joey Logano when asked if he felt like the championship was his for the taking. “I feel like our car is strong. We did a good job in qualifying, feel strong about our team, and we feel really solid about these type of pressure situations. We’re just executing our plan. We’ve had two weeks to put our plan together; just have to execute it the best we can now.”

Logano’s confidence in the homework the No. 22 team has done ahead of this weekend was reinforced by his being the highest qualifier among the title contenders. He will roll off from second on the grid after being edged out by Martin Truex Jr.

“I’ve said all week, I feel like we’ve had the upper hand,” he said. “I feel like we’re in a great spot. Obviously a lot of things can happen from here, but when you look at what we accomplished today, getting a solid starting spot, that’s something we should be proud of, but it’s also exactly what we were trying to do. We feel confident. This race team’s been doing this a long, long time. We feel solid about where we’re at. When you prepare for what’s coming your way, it’s easy to feel confident.”

Logano is chasing his third Cup Series crown, while Penske teammate Ryan Blaney is looking to add a second to the one he earned last year. Blaney triumphed last year from 15th on the grid – an experience that he can lean on this time around after qualifying the No. 12 Ford 17th.

“Our lap didn’t go well, just got really free into Turn 1 and kind of ruined it all and couldn’t really make it back up,” Blaney said. “I was surprised, honestly, that it ran what it did for how loose I got.

“I think the car is pretty good. Still nice to have a decent pit stall and things like that. We’ll just take it how we can get it tomorrow; try to work through the first handful of laps and then start marching forwards. Pretty similar to last year – hopefully it will end the same and we can charge through the field. I think the race car is good enough to where hopefully we can make that happen.”

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Starting roughly halfway between the two title-contending Penske entries are their two rivals, led by Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron in eighth.

“I think we do [have a car that’s good enough to win],” he said. “It sucks; just didn’t quite get the second lap I wanted to in the second (qualifying) round, so bummed about that. I feel really good about our race car, getting first pit pick, which is huge. Excited about all those things, and just [have to] put together a good start to the race. It’s such a long race; it’s just going to be about getting to the finish and having what you need there.”

Tyler Reddick will be immediately behind him on the starting grid after qualifying the No. 45 23XI Toyota in 10th. He endured the most nerve-wracking trip through qualifying of the four contenders after narrowly hanging on to a top five spot in the opening round.

“Round one, obviously we just barely got in; did just enough there,” he said. “That second run, I wasn’t expecting it to lose that much lap time from round one, and when you’re first car out you’re kind of going off what you need to do, and the last thing I thought was that it would lose that much across the board. Definitely wish we could have had that one back.

“We’re right there with William; Joey’s a little further ahead obviously, but we had a pretty solid day.”

Reddick came into qualifying off the back of a disappointing run in practice on Friday, but is optimistic that the team is gotten the car to where it needs to be.

“There were moments in practice where our car was doing what we wanted it to do,” he said. “Just across the board, the fire-off speed wasn’t really there. We’ve been talking about it and coming up with a plan for Sunday. Going into the race, I have a good sense of direction for what I need to be focused on, and what we as a team need to keep up with on the race car.”

Why Joey Logano will win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship

Check out why Joey Logano will win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway this weekend!

Even year [autotag]Joey Logano[/autotag] has struck again. Logano will fight for his third NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway this weekend, but it wasn’t an easy road. Logano needed several overtimes in Nashville, a disqualification from Alex Bowman, and a great strategy call in Las Vegas to make it. However, why will Logano win the 2024 Cup Series championship?

Logano’s experience might be the No. 1 reason why he wins on Sunday afternoon. Logano has two Cup Series championships, and the last time he made the Championship 4, he had by far the best car of the four drivers. The Team Penske driver also has the advantage of preparing the last three weeks for the big event in Arizona.

The statistics in 2024 won’t back up Logano’s bid for a championship, but we have learned that he defies every metric in the NASCAR playoffs. Logano’s run has been just as magical as 2022, and the statistics have proven to not mean much for the No. 22 team. Logano will surely have a really fast race car at Phoenix on Sunday.

The driver of the No. 22 car’s biggest concern might be his teammate Ryan Blaney, who has been lights out at Phoenix in the NextGen car. It wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a battle between Logano and Blaney. Logano likely won’t be the favorite heading into the weekend in Phoenix, but if we have learned one thing, it is never to count out the No. 22 team.

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2024 Xfinity 500 odds, picks and predictions

Looking at the odds for Sunday’s 2024 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, with NASCAR expert picks and predictions.

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The NASCAR Cup Series is at Martinsville Speedway Sunday for the 2024 Xfinity 500. The green flag drops at 2 p.m. ET (NBC) for the final start of 3  Round of 8 races in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NASCAR odds around the 2024 Xfinity 500 odds, and make our expert NASCAR picks and predictions.

Xfinity 500: What you need to know

  • Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. is on the pole for Sunday’s race after posting a best speed of 96.190 mph in qualifying
  • Truex, no longer alive in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, has 3 career wins at Martinsville with 10 top-15 finishes and 1,063 laps led in 37 career starts with a 15.9 Average-Finish Position (AFP)
  • Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney leads all active drivers with an 8.8 AFP in 17 career Cup starts with a win and 9 top-5 finishes. He enters sixth in the playoff standings, still alive for a Championship 4 spot
  • JGR’s Denny Hamlin has 5 career Cup victories at Martinsville while posting 19 top-5 finishes and 2,448 laps led with a 10.2 AFP in 37 career Cup starts
  • Hamlin will start from the back of the field in 37th, as he smacked the wall on Turn 3 in practice Saturday, heavily damaging his car due to an apparent hung throttle
  • JGR’s Christopher Bell sits atop the playoff standings. In 9 career Cup starts he has a win, 159 laps led and a 16.2 AFP at Martinsville. Bell is set to go off 16th Sunday
  • Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron has 2 career Cup wins at the Virginia short track, while posting a 13.8 AFP in 13 career starts. He’ll go off third on Sunday
  • Hendrick’s Chase Elliott is still alive in eighth place in the playoff standings. He has a win, 6 top-5 finishes and 1,104 laps led with a 12.7 AFP in 18 career Cup starts at Martinsville. He goes off second Sunday

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Xfinity 500 – Expert pick

Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NASCAR odds. Lines last updated at 12:51 a.m. ET.

KYLE LARSON (+600) is a good value for the chance to multiply up by 6 times with a victory.

He currently sits in third place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs standings, as he vies for a spot in the Championship 4.

Larson has 19 career Cup starts at the “Paper Clip”, going for a win, 5 top-5 finishes and just 7 top-19 runs, so this hasn’t been his best track. He has a 16.7 AFP, too, which is middle of the road, while posting 4 DNFs. However, he needs a strong finish to head to Phoenix for a shot at a championship, and he is a good bet to do just that.

Xfinity 500 – Contender

JOEY LOGANO (+2000) is still alive in the playoff standings, but he’ll need a lot of help. He checks in seventh, 28 points back of Tyler Reddick below the cut line. He’ll likely be going all out, as it’s now or never.

Logano is 4th among active drivers with a 10.8 AFP in 31 career Cup starts at Martinsville. While he has just a one grandfather clock to his name, the prize awarded for winning at the Virginia short track, he does have 11 top-5 finishes and 19 top-10 runs with 1,208 laps led and 0 DNFs.

For the chance to multiply up by 20 times, Logano is a strong value. He goes off from the 12th spot in the starting grid.

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‘The job’s not done yet’ – Logano still has work to do to secure third title

Joey Logano was not a NASCAR Cup Series championship favorite when the regular season ended in early September. Or at least he wasn’t statistically. Logano ended the regular season 15th in the championship standings with a Nashville Superspeedway …

Joey Logano was not a NASCAR Cup Series championship favorite when the regular season ended in early September. Or at least he wasn’t statistically.

Logano ended the regular season 15th in the championship standings with a Nashville Superspeedway victory that clinched his spot in the postseason. The rest of his body of work through 26 races included eight top-10 finishes, 264 laps led, and seven playoff points.

But Logano is the first driver locked into the Championship 4 after what some might call a surprising victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Did the No. 22 team overachieve in earning a spot in the championship race?

“Maybe in your mind,” Logano laughed after Sunday’s win. “I don’t know. For us, our goal always is to make it and we truly believe we can. There have been many years where, by the stats, it doesn’t look too good. But we’ve been able to capitalize when it matters, and in the playoffs, we just turn the wick up.

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“I don’t know what exactly that is, but it just happens. So, you look at our playoff wins and our history versus our regular season wins, it’s kind of crazy percentage-wise what that is.

Logano loves the postseason, which is something he was quick to remind everyone of back in September. The time of year when the pressure is at an all-time high is where Logano thrives and he was as confident as ever for the reset.

Las Vegas was Logano’s second win of the postseason. He opened things up by winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway to clinch a spot in the Round of 12.

Through the first seven postseason races, Logano has an average finish of 14.28 with three top-10 finishes. And if he were to add a third championship, Logano would stand alone as the driver with the most championships who is still a full-time active Cup Series competitor.

“We just seem like when the playoffs come around, we do a really good job,” Logano continued. “I’m very proud of that, but I also always think of what Roger [Penske] says, and it’s one of my favorite things that he ever said: ‘Don’t trip on your own press clippings. Don’t get too over your skis.’

“The job’s not done yet. We gotta keep staring out the windshield and keep our heads down and grinding for the next few weeks to get ourselves an advantage.”

Paul Wolfe became Logano’s crew chief in 2020, and in addition to winning the 2022 series championship, the duo has 12 wins together over the last five seasons. With the victory Sunday, Wolfe is now the winningest active crew chief (at 41) in the Cup Series after breaking a tie with Rodney Childers (40).

Wolfe and Logano have been one of the most successful crew chief/driver pairings over the last few years.

“When it comes to pressure situations, he loves that, and he’s obviously really good at it,” Wolfe said of his driver. “There are certainly drivers that, under pressure, can’t perform.

“We’re all humans. We’re not robots. So, the mental aspect, the emotion side of it, it’s real, and I’ve seen it play out. You can watch it throughout the garage with different drivers and I think if anything, these situations make him perform at another level, and I know that’s hard to understand how that could even be possible. You feel like drivers are getting all they can no matter what the situation but … he’s just able to get to another level and the greatest drivers can do that under pressure.”

In two of their three wins, Logano had to save fuel. Nashville went to five overtimes before it was decided and Wolfe made the call to stretch the mileage in the final stage at Las Vegas while many others, including the heavy hitters, pitted. For Wolfe, those are examples of Logano’s talent to continue to make lap time despite a high-pressure situation.

“We’re not always the fastest car, but I feel like as a team, we’re one of the best teams, if not the best in the garage, at putting everything together and that’s what this sport is about,” Wolfe said. “The fastest car very seldom wins these races. So, we try to make sure we’ve covered off on everything. Ultimately, we want the fastest car we can put on the racetrack, and we try to do that every week, but if you don’t, you can’t not do the rest of it.

“And doing the rest of it at the highest level is what allows us to be able to do things like we did (Sunday).”

Logano and Wolfe were last in the Championship 4 in 2022, when they won the finale to win the championship. Logano has three wins at Phoenix Raceway.