Joey Logano wins his third NASCAR Cup championship with a one-two win over Penske in Phoenix

Joey Logano used his experience as he promised and made a seasoned move to win the season finale at Phoenix Raceway and secure his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Logano took the lead for the final time after gaining four places in two laps on a restart with 52 laps to go. After moving from fifth to third, he zoomed past teammates Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell to take first place.

He held off a furious attack from Blaney in the closing laps to win by 0.330 seconds in a one-two for Team Penske.

“I love the playoffs,” Logano told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “I love it, man. What a race. What a Team Penske fight in the end. Had a good restart, was able to get ahead of (Blaney), and he had a lot of pace in the long run and was able to hold him off.”

The 34-year-old Logano became the sixth three-time champion in Cup Series history, joining Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarbrough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart. Only seven-time champions Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty and four-time champion Jeff Gordon have more titles.

With his victory in Phoenix, the Team Penske star won the championship for the second time in three years, securing his fourth win of the season and the 36th of his career.

After winning the first stage, Logano fell to fifth after a slow yellow pit stop but remained in the hunt. He praised spotter Coleman Pressely for giving him information about Blaney's position to stay on top. Logano led 107 laps, including the final 53, in his No. 22 Ford.

“To fight through today, we went through some adversity throughout the race,” Logano said. “Paul Wolfe, what kind of crew chief do I have? I have the best team. I don't know if I'm the best driver, but I have the best team and together we're very well-coordinated and can be there when it matters most. We have a mentally strong team that can make things happen when it matters.”

Team owner Roger Penske's organization achieved its third straight Cup championship after winning all three titles since NASCAR introduced its next-gen car in 2022.

Blaney finished second, missing out on a spot in his bid to become the first repeat winner in 14 years since Johnson.

The No. 12 Ford driver came within a few car lengths in the last ten laps, but was unable to force his teammate to make a mistake.

“Exhausted, just couldn’t quite get there,” an exhausted Blaney told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “I really tried hard. The restart didn't really work. He has strayed too far from me. It took me a while to pass a few guys and I just couldn't get past Joey, but congratulations to him and the rest of the 22 team. They put together great playoffs.

“If I'm competing against someone, I'm glad it's him for the championship. And a one-two for Roger, three in a row for Roger, is great for him and Ford. Super fast, in the end there just wasn't enough. One hell of a battle.”

Byron came third, while the 4th Championship participants secured the top three places. Tyler Reddick finished sixth in his first Championship 4 appearance.

Kyle Larson was fourth and Christopher Bell, who was eliminated from Championship 4 due to a controversial decision a week earlier, was fifth. The Joe Gibbs Racing star earned some recognition by setting a race-best 143 of 312 laps, often leaving title contenders behind.

There were only two incident cautions in the race, the last for Zane Smith on lap 250, a lap after Byron pitted from the lead and was the last of the Championship 4 contenders to stop under green. Byron took the lead in his No. 24 Chevrolet on lap 254 as the other six cars pitted on the lead lap, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver was unable to hold onto the lead once the race was green again

On the second lap, the yellow card flew due to a violent collision by Ty Gibbs, whose No. 54 Toyota hit the outside wall in Turn 1. Gibbs had rubbed the wall in Turn 4 on the previous lap.

“Definitely a big hit, I made contact with the wall and I didn't think it was that bad so I went for it (on a straight line),” Gibbs told NBC Sports' Kim Coon. “I think I just caught it from a bad angle and it just hit me. I had no control then. However, it was a really, really big success.”

Stage 1 winner: Logano

Stage 2 winner: Blaney

Next: The preseason Clash exhibition race will take place for the first time on February 2nd at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, followed by the Daytona 500 season opener on February 16th. Both races will be broadcast on Fox.