Start: 10th |  Finish: 1st  | Points: 1st (ADV)

Stage One: 8th  |  Stage Two: 5th 

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In what was a full week of emotions for the No. 22 team and driver Joey Logano, the two-time Cup Series champion punched his ticket to the Championship 4 by winning Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This was Logano’s fourth Cup Series victory in Las Vegas and 35th overall. The triumph solidified the Middletown, Conn. native’s streak of qualifying for the Championship 4 in even number years dating back to the format’s inception in 2014. Logano rolled the Pennzoil Ford Mustang from the 10th starting position. He would quickly begin moving his way forward early by driving to sixth position prior to his first pit stop on lap 34. A caution on lap 64 would see mixed strategies for the short sprint to the Stage 1 conclusion on lap 80. Crew chief Paul Wolfe would opt for four Goodyear tires and an air pressure adjustment and Logano would restart 12th with nine laps remaining. He would pick off a handful of spots to finish eighth in Stage 1. The No. 22 team would flip the script during the stage break and take right side tires to restart fourth. Logano would make strong moves on the green flag restart to move up to second place. He would remain around the top five to finish fifth when Stage 2 was completed on lap 165. The final stage began, and the balance of the Pennzoil Ford Mustang was on the tight side in traffic. The final round of pit stops began with about 40 laps to go and the Pennzoil crew opted to stretch the fuel mileage and calculate as they go. With instruction from Wolfe and spotter Coleman Pressley, Logano would pass Daniel Suarez for the lead on lap 262 and hold off a hard charging Christopher Bell to score the victory.

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“So proud of our race team all the way through. This group of guys, they’re truly incredible. They’re good people, which is one of the things I’m most proud of, but they’re really smart. In the playoffs, they’re able to really be able to keep a level head and maximize the races no matter what’s dealt with them. Today we had a solid car. We were not as good as the No. 20 team, but we were a top five car. In the long run we were probably the best car. When there’s an opportunity like that at the end of the race, where there’s a long run, you’re able to make good mileage, that’s one of our strengths that we have with the Ford, so there’s an opportunity there to run it long. When you put that together with Paul Wolfe, an incredible crew chief, he really makes that happen there. Engineers calculating everything. Then communication, right? To Coleman (Pressley), my spotter, back down to me as a driver, how much can I save, what’s going on around me. Obviously, we don’t want to win by too much, make sure you save enough gas to get to the end. Yeah, able to make it happen.”

WHAT’S NEXT:The NASCAR Cup Series continues the Round of 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 27. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

LAS VEGAS 400