AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Joey Logano won his third NACAR championship Sunday with a dogged drive at Phoenix Raceway that gave Team Penske its third major motorsports title in less than a month.

Logano held off Penske teammate Ryan Blaney over the final 20 laps to beat him to the Cup Series title by 0.330 seconds. Blaney was trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row from 2006 to 2010.

Instead, Logano became the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more championships and broke a tie with Kyle Busch as the only active driver with multiple titles.

“I love the playoffs, I love it man,” Logano said. “What a team, what a battle from Penske at the end. Three of them? It’s really special.”

It was the first time in Team Penske history that the organization finished 1-2 in the championship. And that came after Roger Penske’s IMSA sports car team won the title last month and his World Endurance Championship team took the title last weekend in Bahrain.

“At least one Penske car won it,” said Blaney, who admitted to being “worn out” by the end of the race.

It also gave Penske and Ford three consecutive Cup Series championships. Logano won in 2022 and Blaney won last year.

“1-2 for Team Penske, three championships in a row, I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Logano said. “I don’t know if I’m the best driver but I have the best team. And together we are very complete and can be there when it matters most.

The final was won by Logano, Blaney, William Byron in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of the 23XI Racing team owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin . .

Byron finished third in the race and Reddick sixth.

Logano, a 34-year-old Connecticut native, led 107 laps in the dominant victory that Blaney made closer than expected in the final laps.

But his very presence in the final four was controversial as Logano was eliminated from the playoffs after the second round only to be reinstated when Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman failed post-race inspection at Charlotte.

Logano was moved back into the field of eight, went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway the following week and won to become the first driver entered in the championship race. That gave his No. 22 team three weeks to prepare for Phoenix.

“Our team is better under pressure,” Logano said. “For us, the race started in Vegas. Considering the amount of work and effort that went into building this race car here, the time spent, I don’t think anyone works harder than us. We got up at 6am this morning to think about things. The guys really want it and I’m glad we kept our word.”

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