Logano Blazes To NASCAR Cup Championship

Joey Logano leads Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. [Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images]

By Joe Jennings

Joey Logano blazed past his nearest foe with a dozen laps remaining in the Ford EcoBoost 400 to win the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship for the first time in his career. The race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway marked the finale to the long 36-race season.

The 33rd Cup champion drove the Shell Pennzoil Ford fielded by Team Penske. For Ford, it took both the manufacturer’s championship and the driver’s championship for the first time since doing so with Dale Jarrett in 1999.

“I did it, I did it,” Logano yelled out to a national television audience. “This is a dream come true. I don’t know how to put it into words. We got the caution at the right time and the team did its job, allowing me to do my job.”

The Connecticut native won his 21st career Cup race.

Said crew chief Todd Gordon, “We had a game plan for today, and it was successful. This is phenomenal.”

“Joey sure delivered for us. He’s a great driver and a great team player,” said a happy Roger Penske. “This guy did it at the end when it counted, and he’s a winner.”

Going into the race, Logano, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. formed the final four and the only ones eligible for the lucrative championship.

Throughout the 267-lap race, the title contenders ran together or at least within close proximity and each of them led laps with Logano in charge for 40 circuits. One fly in their ointment was Kyle Larson, who led 45 of the first 193 laps and while respectful of the championship element, had the advantage until crunching the outer wall hard. As expected, Larson ran topside on the 1.5-mile track to the delight of the capacity crowd.

A yellow flag toward the end set the stage for the final shootout with the foursome lining up together. Truex powered ahead but Logano forged forward, passing the 2017 champion with 12 laps to go and immediately pulled away to a commanding lead, never to be headed.

Truex finished second followed by Harvick and Busch, who persevered from an ill-handling car and miscues in the pits.

“We had the car to do it at the end, but we couldn’t hold him off,” Truex said. “We adjusted our car all night, and we just kept getting better. We were best at the end but couldn’t go 15 laps. It came down to a 15-lap shootout, which has happened to us often this year. It stinks and that’s it.”

Added Harvick, “We got loose as night wore on, but we were in a position to win the race if the caution didn’t come out. It came down to a pit stop and a restart, but we didn’t do either very well. We just got beat tonight.”

Busch ended his night of frustration when he said, “It was not what we wanted or expected. We knew the No. 22 was fast, but I thought we were closer than that. In the second half of the race, we were never good and I was just hanging on. On the last restart, I thought maybe I could hold them off, but they were gone quickly.”

Brad Keselowski came in fifth.

Sixth through 10th were Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch.

Pole winner Denny Hamlin took 12th and Larson trudged to 13th.

Joe Jennings

racingnation.com

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