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October 22, 2024
By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH – The first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ pivotal Round of 8 is in the books with a thrilling ending on track producing a dramatic turn of the Playoff standings.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano was able to both save fuel and hold off polesitter and fellow Playoff driver, Christopher Bell by a fraction of a second to earn the victory in last Sunday’s Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The win propels Logano into the Nov. 10 Championship 4 Round and comes a week after the two-time series champion’s initial title hopes looked to have been derailed. Instead of being eliminated after the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL, he was put back into title contention when another Playoff driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, was disqualified due to failing post-race inspection following the Charlotte race.
To immediately capitalize on the opportunity is part of Logano’s and Team Penske’s legacy. And it has created an interesting competitive situation for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 Playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do know that this team rises to the occasion – that’s why I said I’m so proud to be a part of them,” said Logano, who also won titles in 2018 and 2022 and could become the only [fulltime] active three-time champion in the sport. “It’s not just me driving the car. All these guys realize what’s on the line.
“They’ve been doing it for so long. We’re experienced. We can stay calm in real heated situations. When the money’s there, we’re able to show up, for whatever reason that is. I think a lot of it’s some natural things built inside of you, God-given things that make you love the moments of the pressure on, right? You got to learn to love that stuff. I think that’s just what it is.
“There’s no other group that I’d rather go to battle with, I can promise you that. Not one other team on this field that I would rather have than what the 22 team is right now.”
Not only is Logano and that 22-team reinvigorated as a championship favorite – the gap between the three drivers “In” on points increased significantly with the Vegas checkered flag.
With Logano claiming an automatic berth to the title race, Bell’s dominant day out front landed him the lead in the Playoff standings by seven points over Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and by 15 points over Larson’s teammate William Byron in the Playoff eligible top-four – all three of those drivers finishing 11th or better on Sunday at Vegas.
It’s quite a different story for the other four drivers, now faced with some major catch-up work in these next two races – at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval and then the half-miler at Martinsville, Va. next week.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin – a three-race winner this season – is ranked fifth – 27 points behind Byron. The Regular Season Champion, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick is sixth, 30 points below the cutline after crashing out at Las Vegas.
Logano’s Team Penske teammate and the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney also had a tough day at Vegas, starting last in the 37-car field after an accident in practice and then finishing 32nd in the race after being collected in the Reddick accident. He now sits 47 points behind Byron.
It’s a similar story for 2020 series champion and the sport’s Most Popular Driver, Chase Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was also part of the Reddick-Blaney-Keselowski accident and ultimately finished 33rd at Vegas. He’s now 53 points back and essentially needing a walk-off win to advance to the Championship 4 Round.
“We’re still alive,” an understandably frustrated Blaney said. “It’s definitely not the best of days. It was just a rough weekend overall. I don’t know what to do about it, to be honest with you, running over something and having a hole in (the tire) in practice. And then just getting clipped out there [in the race.] …and bent everything, so it was just a rough weekend.
“We still have two more weeks, so we’re definitely not out of it.”
Of the eight drivers – five have won at all three remaining tracks: Logano, Bell, Larson, Byron and Hamlin. Bell is the defending Homestead race winner and won at Phoenix – site of the Championship Race – this Spring.
Practice at Homestead-Miami gets underway at 9:05 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 9:50 a.m. ET. Both will be broadcast live on MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App. Martin Truex Jr. is the defending pole winner.
