Logano ran down Chase Briscoe and passed him for the lead with 29 of 312 laps remaining and then had to hold off his Penske teammate Ryan Blaney by 0.301 seconds to win the race and his second Cup Series title.
“Hell yeah, guys. Good job. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Logano said over his team radio after taking the checkered flag.
In September, Will Power gave Penske its 17th IndyCar Series championship. Logano’s Cup title is Penske’s third.
Ross Chastain – the fastest car on the track at the end – finished third, 1.2 seconds behind Logano. Without a late caution, Chastain did not have enough time to catch Logano or Blaney to attempt a pass.
The win is fourth of the 2022 season for Logano, with two of them coming in the playoffs. Logano now has 31 career wins and two season titles (his other came in 2018).
“We did it! We’re champions again, yes! Oh, my God, I’m so excited,” Logano, 32, said. “Thank you to everybody, my team. You guys are amazing. Gave me a good race car, good pit stop there at the end, got us up in front. Boy, that was just intense there at the end.
“It’s all about championships. That’s what it’s all about, and we worked so hard the last couple weeks trying to put ourselves in position. And everything that happened in 2020, I knew we just wanted to have a solid run and do this today.
“It’s such a big deal to win these championships. It impacts so many people’s lives.”
Logano also addressed the death early Sunday morning of Joe Gibbs Racing vice chairman Coy Gibbs, father of 2022 Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs and son of NASCAR and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.
“Obviously the news this morning with Coy, too, I don’t know what to think. But obviously my condolences go to the Gibbs family,” he said. “But just an incredible day for us, and kind of mixed emotions at the moment.”
Logano said he never doubted he could win the title this season, which was the first with the Next Gen car in the Cup Series.
“I knew going into this thing that we're going to win the championship. I told the guys we were the favorite from Daytona, and we truly believed it, and that’s the difference,” he said.
“Man, it’s like I said, I had a good team with a bunch of confidence, and we had all the reason in the world to be confident. I’ve never been truly this ready for a championship race, and yeah, we did it, man.
“I can’t believe it.”
Briscoe ended up finishing fourth in the race and Kevin Harvick fifth.
Completing the top-10 were William Byron, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.
Chastain ends up second in the series standings, Bell third and Chase Elliott – who finished 28th and was involved in a wreck – fourth.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, the lead-lap cars all pit with Blaney first off pit road.
On the restart on Lap 193, Blaney was followed by Briscoe, Harvick, Byron and Logano.
As the field entered Turn 4 on Lap 194 and raced four-wide, first Tyler Reddick and then Michael McDowell spun out which brought out the fourth caution of the race.
The race returned to green on Lap 200 with Blaney out front, followed by Briscoe, Byron, Harvick and Elliott.
On the restart, Elliott cut down in front of Chastain, Chastain refused to lift, and Elliott ended up getting turned and slammed into the inside wall, which brought out the fifth caution.
🚨 @chaseelliott tries to cut low on the restart, but @RossChastain was already there! He spins and hits the inside wall! 😱 #Championship4 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/1tSSFG4Y7C
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) November 6, 2022
Elliott returned to the lap in 30th and one lap down. On the restart on Lap 205, Blaney led the way followed by Briscoe, Byron, Harvick and Logano.
On Lap 209, Bell – one of the Championship 4 – reported a possible engine issue with his No. 20 Toyota. He appeared down on power a few laps but reported it returned to normal.
With 70 laps remaining, Blaney maintained a 1.6-second lead over Briscoe while Logano ran third, the best of the Championship 4.
On Lap 251, Bell and Blaney were among several drivers who hit pit road to kick off a round of green-flag pit stops for new tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race.
Logano and several others followed on Lap 252.
Once the round of stops was completed on Lap 254, Blaney cycled back to the lead. He was followed by Briscoe, Harvick, Logano and Bell.
With 50 to go, Blaney continued to lead the way in the race while Logano ran fourth, the highest of the title contenders.
Alex Bowman, in his first race back after suffering a concussion, got wrecked by McDowell on the backstretch on Lap 268, which brought out the sixth caution.
@chaseelliott tries to cut low on the restart, but @RossChastain was already there! He spins and hits the inside wall! #Championship4 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/1tSSFG4Y7C
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) November 6, 2022
The lead-lap cars all pit with Briscoe first off pit road. During the caution, a fire erupted under the No. 6 Ford of Brad Keselowski as it rounded Turn 4. He was able to safely exit the car as the fire was extinguished.
When the race returned to green on Lap 280, Briscoe led the way followed by Blaney, Logano, Harvick and Busch. Chastain lined up seventh, the highest of the title contenders.
Logano got inside of Briscoe in Turn 2 and reclaimed the lead with 29 laps to go. Chastain ran fourth, the highest of the other title contenders.
Stage 2
Blaney stretched his fuel just enough to coast to the Stage 2 win over Logano. His No. 12 Ford appeared to sputter on the final lap.
Martin Truex Jr. was third, Briscoe fourth and Harvick rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap cars all pit with Logano first off pit road. Cole Custer was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.
On the restart on Lap 69, Logano was followed by Larson, Briscoe and Byron. After 80 laps, Logano had already built a 2.4-second lead over Larson as Truex moved up to third. Bell was the closest Championship 4 contender to Logano in sixth.
On Lap 85, Landon Cassill wrecked off Turn 2 and as he came back down the track, he hit the No. 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which brought out a caution.
A spin involving @landoncassill and @StenhouseJr brings out the yellow in Stage 2. pic.twitter.com/c7uLAoDPDK
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2022
Most of the lead-lap cars pit with Jones first off pit road thanks to a two-tire pit stop. Logano came off second, the first car that took four new tires.
On the restart on Lap 91, Custer, the only car to stay out, led the way followed by Erik Jones, Logano, Larson and Truex.
Logano powered back to the lead by the time the field reached Turn 2 on the restart.
With 60 laps remaining in the stage, Logano maintained about a 1-second lead over Blaney as Larson ran third. Chastain remained the closest Championship 4 contender to Logano in sixth.
On Lap 145, Byron was the first of the lead-lap cars to pit under green for new tires and fuel to make it to the finish of the stage.
Elliott followed on Lap 154, the first of the Championship 4 contenders to pit.
During green-flag stops, Blaney went to the inside of Logano in Turn 1 on Lap 159 to take the lead for the first time in the race.
With 15 laps to go, both Byron and Elliott were able to unlap themselves after making their respective green-flag pit stops.
Stage 1
Logano led all 60 laps and held off Blaney by about a half-second to take the Stage 1 win.
Briscoe was third, Kyle Larson fourth and Truex rounded out the top-five.
Logano started on the pole and quickly cleared for the lead.
With 40 laps remaining in the stage, Logano maintained a 1-second lead over Blaney as Briscoe ran third.
With 20 laps to go, Blaney had closed to within a half-second of Logano as both began hitting lapped traffic. The closest Championship 4 contender to Logano was Elliott in sixth.
Daniel Hemric started from the rear of the field in the No. 23 as he was a late substitution for Ty Gibbs, who returned to North Carolina following the death of his father, Coy, Sunday morning.
