Panini Athlete Joey Logano Races to Championship 4

By CARLOS MENDEZ

Senior Staff Writer

As Rudy Tomjanovich told us all, “Never underestimate the heart of a champion.”

Joey Logano is a champion, and — just like the back-to-back NBA champion Houston Rockets led by Tomjanovich in the 1990s — he has the heart of one. One week after being the last qualifier for the Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR playoffs, the two-time Cup Series king became the first in for the Championship 4 when he won at Las Vegas on Sunday.

“This sport is just incredible,” said the Panini America NASCAR Brand Ambassador, ticketed for the finale at Phoenix. “Things change, but what a team I’ve got.”

He and his No. 22 team earned a chance to go for their third championship after winning the titles in 2018 and ’22. The Team Penske driver put his Ford Mustang in Victory Lane after taking the lead for the final six laps on the 1.5-mile Nevada tri-oval, grabbing the checkers just ahead of Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing and Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing.

Fellow Round of 8 drivers William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson were fourth, eighth and 11th respectively. Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick now sit below the cutline, along with Hamlin.

For Logano, it was his 35th career victory, moving him ahead of Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for 25th on the all-time list.

“It takes everybody to do it, so we’re in the Championship 4 again,” said the Connecticut driver, who continued an even-year pattern of qualifying for the final four, also going in 2014, ’16 and ’20. “We just find a way, and that’s what I’m most proud of. I said it as we entered this thing this week that we may be the underdogs, but I don’t think so anymore.”

Next on the schedule is Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 27, with the last race of the round at Martinsville on Nov. 3.