Ryan Blaney, Harrison Burton join Joey Logano on stage after NASCAR championship

The NASCAR Cup Series season is long and grueling. It helps to have friends and teammates like Joey Logano has at Team Penske. Both Ryan Blaney and Harrison Burton were spotted on stage with Logano.

Ryan Blaney came up short today, P2 in the race and championship. Harrison Burton closed out his final race with Wood Brothers Racing. Wood Brothers are essentially a satellite team for Penske.

Logano is going to be celebrating a ton tonight. I’m sure Austin Cindric made his way up there and all of the Team Penske folks will be celebrating right alongside their No. 22 teammates.

Ryan Blaney and Harrison Burton went on stage to congratulate Joey Logano for winning his third NASCAR championship. pic.twitter.com/otr6Jj6CrH

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 11, 2024

Becoming a three-time champion is a massive deal. Joey Logano is only the tenth driver ever to earn three championships or more in the Cup Series. Only Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, and Richard Petty have more.

Logano has mastered the Championship 4 format. He won more in the final 20 races of the season than any other driver in the Cup Series. He had four wins in that time. Was he the most consistent? No. But that is not the name of the game in this system.

The way this format works now is that you maximize your opportunities at your strong tracks. Then at your other tracks, perhaps repeat tracks that pop up in the first part of the season and in the playoffs, you take in data. You make a big swing and test stuff out. Find what you can and cannot do.

I’m not sure how Joey Logano and Team Penske operate throughout the year. But I don’t think their focus is on winning every race every single week.

Joey Logano becomes three-time champion

With the Team Penske duo winning the stages, it was a two-car battle. In this final stage, William Byron was able to take the lead with a varied tire strategy. However, it would not play out how the 24 team planned it.

Despite Blaney running Logano down late in this race, it wasn’t enough. Logano had enough space and Blaney wasn’t going to make contact to make the pass on his teammate. A really strong performance from the 22 team today.

Logano now has three championships, 36 wins, and 31 poles in his career. He is only 34 years old, likely with another decade left in his career should he want to pursue it. From his days as the next big thing in NASCAR to flaming out at Joe Gibbs to his resurrection with Team Penske – it’s been a wild ride.

Logano has three championships since the Championship 4 format started. When we look back on this era and style of NASCAR Cup Series racing, his name will be at or near the top of that list.