Joey Logano Wins at Vegas - Now Part of the Championship Four

John Locher / AP

LAS VEGIS, NV – RIS – Just on week ago, Joey Logano was eliminated from the NASCAR Cup championship race.  Then, Alex Bowan , the driver that led to Logano not making the next round, was disqualified in after race tech, and Logano was in.  Today, Logano persevered to the Championship Four with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Logano passed Daniel Suarez with five laps to go and held on to win the South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Logano held off a charge from Christopher Bell in the final laps. Bell finished second after leading a race-high 156 laps, and Logano led the final six laps.

Logano saved just enough fuel to hold off a hard-charging Christopher Bell and secure a spot into the NASCAR Cup Series championship race.

Logano hit pit road during a late caution when Bell and other leaders elected to stay out. This allowed Logano to stay out and save fuel as laps counted down. Logano wasn't the only driver to bank on the strategy, though. Daniel Suárez was on the same strategy and seemed in line to take the win until Logano passed him with under 10 laps to go.

Christopher Bell led a race-high 155 laps and wound up second, 0.662 seconds behind in the N0. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Daniel Suárez placed third with William Byron fourth and Alex Bowman completing the top five.

A multicar crash at the start of Stage 2 snared playoff-eligible competitors Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. Elliott and Blaney were able to continue with damage, but Reddick was sidelined to a 35th-place finish when his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota rolled over in a wild slide through the infield on the front straightaway. Reddick, the Cup Series’ Regular Season Champion, had led nine laps and won Stage 1.

Both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson endured issues on pit road. Hamlin had a pair of sluggish stops, including a major issue at the Stage 2 break when he was forced to reverse back into his pit stall after his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew needed to tighten his left-rear tire. He finished eighth.

Larson, who entered as the Cup Series points leader, fell back after a miscue forced him to make an additional green-flag stop during Stage 2. He brought his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road for a lengthy stop on Lap 125, then pitted again three laps later to change the left-rear tire. He fell from the lead to 31st place, two laps down, then rallied to finish 11th on the lead lap.

Logano is locked into the championship race, while Bell, Larson and Byron are above the cutline. Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney and Elliott are all below the elimination mark with two races remaining in the round.

Unofficial Results: South Point 400, October 20, 2024 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Team, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
 1) 10, Joey Logano (P), 22, Pennzoil Ford, 267, 8, 5, 1, 6, 5, 49, Running
 2) 1, Christopher Bell (P), 20, Rheem Toyota, 267, 2, 1, 4, 155, 1, 54, Running
 3) 23, Daniel Suarez, 99, Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 267, , 8, 2, 57, , 37, Running
 4) 9, William Byron (P), 24, RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 267, 4, 3, 1, 1, , 48, Running
 5) 3, Alex Bowman, 48, Ally Chevrolet, 267, , 6, , , , 37, Running
 6) 12, Martin Truex Jr., 19, Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 267, 3, 2, 1, 7, , 48, Running
 7) 7, Ross Chastain, 1, Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 30, Running
 8) 4, Denny Hamlin (P), 11, Yahoo! Toyota, 267, , , 1, 4, , 29, Running
 9) 26, John Hunter Nemechek, 42, Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 267, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 22, Chris Buescher, 17, Castrol Edge Ford, 267, 7, 4, , , , 38, Running
11) 5, Kyle Larson (P), 5, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 267, 10, , 1, 1, , 27, Running
12) 19, Bubba Wallace, 23, Leidos/U.S. Air Force Toyota, 267, , 9, , , , 27, Running
13) 20, Kyle Busch, 8, FICO Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 35, Corey LaJoie, 51, Mighty Fire Breaker Ford, 267, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 31, Harrison Burton, 21, DEX Imaging Ford, 267, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 14, Zane Smith #, 71, Focused Health Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 16, Justin Haley, 7, Gainbridge Chevrolet, 267, , 7, , , , 24, Running
18) 21, Noah Gragson, 10, Fanttik Ford, 267, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 33, Daniel Hemric, 31, South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 15, Michael McDowell, 34, Love's Travel Stops Ford, 267, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 36, Cody Ware, 15, Evel Knievel-Parts Plus/Pronto Ford, 267, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 32, Ryan Preece, 41, Bonanza Cabernet Ford, 266, , 10, , , , 16, Running
23) 6, Carson Hocevar #, 77, Delaware Life Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 28, Josh Berry #, 4, Mobil 1 Take 5 Ford, 266, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 27, Erik Jones, 43, Massey Motor Freight Toyota, 266, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 24, Chase Briscoe, 14, Texas A&M University Ford, 266, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 25, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 47, Scott Brand Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 29, * Jimmie Johnson, 84, Dollar Tree/Family Dollar Toyota, 265, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 34, Shane Van Gisbergen(i), 16, Wendy's Spicy Chicken Chevrolet, 265, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 8, Ty Gibbs, 54, Monster Energy Toyota, 264, 6, , 1, 23, , 12, Running
31) 30, Todd Gilliland, 38, gener8tor Ford, 263, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 37, Ryan Blaney (P), 12, Menards/Great Stuff Ford, 259, , , 1, 4, , 5, Running
33) 18, Chase Elliott (P), 9, NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 230, , , , , , 4, Suspension
34) 11, Austin Cindric, 2, Autotrader Ford, 96, 9, , , , , 5, DVP
35) 2, Tyler Reddick (P), 45, Jordan Brand Toyota, 89, 1, , 1, 9, 1, 12, Accident
36) 17, Brad Keselowski, 6, King's Hawaiian Ford, 89, 5, , , , , 7, Accident
37) 13, Austin Dillon, 3, Boot Barn Chevrolet, 61, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points, *#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Race Length: 267 Laps, 400.5 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 24 Secs.
Average Speed: 139.385 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.662 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 20, 19, 24, 6, 54, 17, 22, 2, 5
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 19, 24, 17, 22, 48, 7, 99, 23, 41

Comments: Joey Logano won the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 35th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the No. 12 dropped to the rear (backup car).

Cautions: 5 for 32 laps;
Laps: 64-71 (No. 3, 31 incident turn 3 [43]);
82-87 (Stage 1 Conclusion [14]);
90-96 (No. 45, 9, 6, 12 incident frontstretch [43]);
167-172 (Stage 2 Conclusion [4]);
194-198 (No. 54 spin backstretch [5]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 10 drivers;
C. Bell (P) 1-36;
R. Blaney (P) 37-40;
C. Bell (P) 41-67;
M. Truex Jr. 68-74;
T. Reddick (P) 75-83;
D. Hamlin (P) 84-87;
T. Gibbs 88-110;
C. Bell (P) 111-123;
K. Larson (P) 124;
D. Suarez 125-150;
C. Bell (P) 151-229;
W. Byron (P) 230;
D. Suarez 231-261;
J. Logano (P) 262-267.

Ron Fleshman and John Davison

Ron Fleshman  and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com

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Volume 2024, Issue 10, Posted 7:09 PM, 10.20.2024