Before the year wraps up, let us reflect on the enthralling Cup Series season. Joey Logano crawled out of the jaws of defeat to clinch his third Cup Series title. He won a quintuple overtime race in Nashville via fuel mileage skills and got inside the playoffs 15th in points. Logano was even ousted from the Round of 8 before Alex Bowman’s penalty threw him back into the mix. Yet what he achieved may be more than meets the eye.
Joey Logano is the only driver to have won three titles in the elimination playoff format era. Most notably, the last person to fetch more than two championships was Jimmie Johnson. Yes, the 7-time champion has more in common with Logano than what appears, despite the doubts about Logano’s title run.
Joey Logano carries Johnson’s baton
Well, Joey Logano’s third championship was mired in controversy. He was a little more than an afterthought at the beginning of the 2024 season, with his teammate Ryan Blaney being the only force on the Ford bandwagon. Then a multitude of seemingly improbable events occurred to retain him in the championship story – almost like it was meant to be. Some people remarked that Logano’s strong bid came since it was an even year – previously he won in 2018 and 2022 and he has also made the championship 4 in every even year since the playoff format in 2014. However, there are more peculiarities that Reddit fans dug out recently, that give an eerie shade to this Cup season.
We know already that Joey Logano joined an elite group of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, David Pearson, and Richard Petty. Each of them won their third title under the age of 35. Yet what is more mind-boggling is the similarity with Johnson’s title bid in 2008.
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