November 6, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Joey Logano lives up to his #22 in '22 promise with second Cup championship

AVONDALE, Ariz.—After winning the 2018 NASCAR Cup title—and nearly picking up a second Cup in 2020—Joey Logano yearned to experience that championship feeling again.

Every move executed by the No. 22 Penske crew throughout the 2022 season, inched the 32-year-old driver closer to that goal. Winning the season-opening Busch Clash with the Next Gen car proved an early success for the team. Wins followed at Darlington, the inaugural race at World Wide Technology and Las Vegas in the Round of 8 to secure a final four berth.

When championship week arrived, Logano brimmed with confidence. He knew his team had ample time to prepare. He won the pole. The team selected the first pit box. Logano won the first stage. Stayed in the hunt. And with 30 laps remaining, Logano regained the lead. He held on for the win and his second Cup title.

“Amazing,” Logano said after climbing from the car. “It felt like it took too long to get back to this point, but it’s so special to win championships. It’s what you want. It’s the only thing I race for. Race wins are nice, but championships is what it’s all about.”

Logano learned that philosophy from The Captain. Of all the championships, Indy 500 wins and Daytona 500 victories Roger Penske has amassed over the years, Team Penske had never won both the IndyCar and NASCAR Cup titles in the same season—until now. Will Power won the IndyCar title in September.

“I think we've tried it for 31 years, so it's about time,” Penske said. “What a special weekend for us. I guess what I want to do is say a prayer for Joe Gibbs and his family for the loss he had. That certainly is more important than a win or a championship.

“I just want him to know we feel that as a team, I do personally, and our family.”

The loss of Coy Gibbs, vice chairman and COO for JGR, set a somber tone for the day. The family was acknowledged in the invocation before the green flag fell.

Once the race began, the focus shifted to the Championship 4—Logano, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain—along with Kyle Larson, who was vying for the owner’s title.

Logano won the first stage with Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Larson and Martin Truex Jr. in tow. Elliott was sixth, Bell 11th, Chastain 13th. Logano seized the lead off pit road and set sail. The No. 22 held serve until Landon Cassill spun off of Turn 2 and collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr., to trigger the second caution on Lap 85.

Cole Custer remained on track when the leaders came in for service. With a two-tire stop, Erik Jones restarted second with Logano and Larson restarting in the second row. Logano regained the lead before completing Lap 91 with Larson in tow. His fellow title contenders fanned out to three-wide behind him after crossing the start-finish line.

After restarting eighth, Blaney passed Larson for second on Lap 101. Fifty-seven laps later, Blaney grabbed the lead from Logano who reported a tight condition. Both drivers were in fuel conservation mode but Blaney held on to win Stage 2 and held serve in the pits.

On Lap 193,   Briscoe, Harvick, Byron and Elliott lined up behind Blaney. Before they completed a lap, Tyler Reddick spun in Turn 4 and collected Michael McDowell, Tyler Reddick and Jones.

The field regrouped for the fifth restart on Lap 200, but entering the dogleg, Elliott went low and cut off Chastain, who sent the No. 9 Chevy into the inside wall. Elliott came in for service and dropped to 30th, one lap down. He finished 28th, two laps down.

“Proud of our team for the fight that we put in today,” Elliott said. “I felt like we just kind of peaked right there before we crashed, and I felt like we got our car driving pretty good, we just had our best pit stop of the day, so that was all really solid. And heck, we were right there next to the 22.

“I thought we had a shot at it all the way up until we didn't, and that's, unfortunately, the way it goes sometimes.”

Bell applied pressure on the leaders by being the first of the Championship 4 to pit on Lap 250. The move forced the Penske Fords and Chastain to pit on the next laps. When the field cycled out, Blaney returned to the point followed by Briscoe, Harvick, Logano and Bell. An issue with the right rear wheel on the No. 1 Chevy, knocked Chastain to seventh.

The sixth and final caution occurred when Michael McDowell turned Alex Bowman on the backstretch on Lap 268. When the leaders pitted, crew chief Adam Stevens told Bell his tire changer’s finger was caught between the nut and spindle of the wheel. Bell entered the pits fifth and restarted 15th.

With a remarkable stop by the No. 14, Briscoe emerged with the lead on Lap 272 with the Fords of Blaney, Logano and Kevin Harvick behind. Chastain moved up to seventh after Truex was busted for speeding and sent to the rear of the field. The caution was extended to 11 laps after a fire erupted in the right frame rail of the No. 6 Ford of Brad Keselowski.

When the race restarted on Lap 280, Logano passed Blaney for second and then set his sights on Briscoe. Three laps later, he captured the lead and held on for the win.

“We were in great position there,” Logano said. “Everybody on the Team Penske team did so great. Teamwork from the get-go, working through practice together and everybody trying to put together what would be the best 22 car for us to win this championship and the goal was achieved. 

“I can’t thank everyone enough for the opportunity. It’s so special to win these things and to get this for the guys. I know how bad Paul wanted it. I’ve never seen him stress so much the last few weeks, and I was right there with him the whole time, so it was pretty special to get it.”

Logano led a race-high 187 laps and extended his advantage to 0.301-seconds over Blaney at the finish. Chastain finished third followed by Briscoe and Harvick.

“Mr. Penske's group had us covered all day, and Joey was the best car until the final run, then we had a real shot to race with him,” Chastain said. “But we didn't have the balance in our car and the grip in our car all day to be that way. So I'm proud of the effort.

“Nobody got upset, nobody got flustered, we just kept working on our car all day. And with the 9 I felt like I got position on him, to the left side, the dogleg, and he turned left.”

Byron finished fifth followed by Kyle Busch—in his final start with Joe Gibbs Racing—Denny Hamlin, Larson and Bell, who raced with a heavy heart.

“You wake up first thing this morning and super excited and thrilled with life and where you're at and the opportunity given to you,” Bell said. “To receive news like that a couple of hours before you get in the car is extremely tough.

“Just really kind of puts it in perspective that what we're doing here is not the big picture for sure. Yeah, just thinking of Joe. I just can't imagine what Joe is going through and the entire Gibbs family. That's the important piece.”

Logano, who started his NASCAR career with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008, acknowledged the family and celebrated with his own. He shared a victory lap with son Hudson as the sun set in Phoenix.

“Ever since Harvick gave his son a ride in the car, I always wanted to do that with Hudson,” Logano said. “He's such a little car guy. It was a special moment to ride together.”