LAS VEGAS, NV – October 21, 2024 – Joey Logano won Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, advancing to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4. The victory marks Ford’s 738th all-time in Cup Series competition along with Team Penske’s 99th series win with Ford. Currently, Logano has the most Championship 4 appearances of any driver with six and will compete for his third title this year at Phoenix.
“Congratulations to Roger, Tim, Paul, Joey and everyone at Team Penske on the race win at Las Vegas,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “The No. 22 team was fast throughout the day, executed their fuel mileage strategy, and now will be racing for the NASCAR Cup Championship in Phoenix.”
“Holy cow. What an incredible turn of events the last week. What a very fast Pennzoil Mustang. We’ve got the old kids crew here today and a lot of kids rooting us on, so it was really special to win in front of them again. My kids at home, I wish you guys were out here, but we’re going to the Championship 4 again. I don’t know what the deal is with the even year thing, but maybe it’s real. Thanks to the fans out here. Thanks to Roush Yates Engines for making great fuel mileage, great calls by Paul and Nick Hensley, our gas man, making sure she’s full, giving me the good info I need to save fuel and keep the lead that we needed to. Boy, we’re going racing again. What an incredible situation. I’m so blessed,” commented Logano.
In Sunday’s 267-lap race, six of the eight playoff drivers started in the top 10, including Team Penske’s Joey Logano in P10. With 16 laps to go in Stage 1, an accident in Turn 3 brought out the first caution of the race, creating multiple pit strategies throughout the field. While some teams opted for track position, others opted for new tires. An accident on lap 89 involving multiple playoff drivers brought out the caution again, putting several drivers in a must-win situation to advance to the Round of 4. At the end of Stage 2, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher finished in P4 with Team Penske’s Joey Logano right behind in P5. While most of the front-runners pitted for fuel under green, several drivers decided to stretch their fuel to the finish, led by Daniel Suarez and Joey Logano. Logano began closing the gap on Suarez with 10 laps remaining and took the lead with six laps to go. Logano held off Christopher Bell to win the race by 0.662 seconds, automatically advancing to the Championship 4, something he has done every other year since the format’s debut in 2014.
RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher finished in P10.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series also raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg finished in P2 and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Riley Herbst and Cole Custer finished in P7 and P8.
The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series both compete this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images