CNN —
Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Sunday, taking the trophy after 312 laps at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
The win gives Logano his second championship of his career, the first coming in 2018 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Las Vegas. Before his first win, Logano was widely considered an outsider.
Logano, 32, started from pole in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford on Sunday. Although 36 drivers started, only four – Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Logano – qualified for the series title after a playoff had reduced the field from 16.
Chastain was third, Bell 10th and Elliott 28th.
Ty Gibbs was scheduled to drive the No. 23 car on Sunday. After the death of his father Coy Gibbs, he was replaced by driver Daniel Hemric just hours before the race, with his 23XI Racing team citing “a family emergency” as the cause.
Coy Gibbs was co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing and son of team patriarch Joe Gibbs.
After the race, Logano offered his condolences to the Gibbs family and thanked his team for the season.
“Boy, that was intense at the end,” Logano said. “It’s all about championships. That’s what it’s all about. We’ve been working so hard over the past few weeks just trying to position ourselves.”
With his son in his arms, Logano said there was no doubt about today’s race.
“I knew the whole time that we would win the championship,” said Logano. “I told the guys we were the Daytona favorites and we really believed it. That is the difference.
“Like I said, I had a good team with a lot of confidence and we had every reason in the world to be confident. I said I’ve never been this ready for a championship race and we did it man. I can not believe it.”