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NASCAR driver advances to championship after being eliminated

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As a seasoned gamer who’s been following NASCAR races for decades, I can confidently say that Joey Logano is a phoenix rising from the ashes. Just when you think he’s down and out, he comes back stronger than ever. His journey this year has been a rollercoaster, but an even-numbered year seems to be his lucky charm.

Last Sunday afternoon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, I watched as the checkered flag waved, and it was Team Penske’s Joey Logano who crossed the finish line beneath the cutoff line for the round of 8, thus ending his championship contention.

Currently, the driver operating the No. 22 Ford has secured a spot in the final round of the championship, making him one of the initial four racers to qualify for this prestigious event.

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick successfully outpaced Logano to secure the last spot in the round of 8 at Charlotte. However, following the race, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman faced disqualification as his No. 48 Chevrolet was discovered to be underweight.

As a result of the points Bowman lost with his disqualification, Logano slid back into the round of 8 field.

In the first-round race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon, just as he did in the opening races of the playoffs at Martinsville Speedway in 2018, Kansas Speedway in 2020, and Las Vegas again in 2022, Logano triumphed to move forward to the Championship 4.

He was able to save enough fuel and keep a fast enough pace to hold off a hard-charging Christopher Bell in the closing laps, taking the checkered flag by 0.662 seconds over the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

2024 has been statistically Logano’s poorest season with Team Penske across most performance categories, except for wins. Notably, a five-overtime race victory at Nashville Superspeedway in late June was crucial as it kept his point tally above the playoff threshold, which would have otherwise fallen short.

Despite securing three victories and a spot for the Championship 4, he ranks fifteenth in the overall points tally for this season.

It’s worth noting that many have mentioned this, but since we’re in an even-numbered year, Logano is on a streak of six consecutive appearances in the Championship 4. The playoff system was established in 2014, and while he’s always managed to reach the final round in even years, he hasn’t been able to do so in odd ones.

Among all drivers in Cup Series history, Logano is the unique case who was initially knocked out of championship contention but still managed to qualify for the Championship 4 eventually.

Only in an even year, of course.

Three spots in the Championship 4 are still open this season, with only two races left in the round of 8. This Sunday afternoon’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway is one of them, and NBC will be broadcasting it live from 2:30 p.m. ET onwards. Don’t miss out – sign up for a free trial with FuboTV!

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2024-10-21 15:02

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