Joey Logano wins LV race to lead NASCAR Cup Series standings

Team Penske’s Joey Logano won Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after finishing 18th in North Carolina on October 9. The win propelled him to the top of the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 58 points.

The race was Logano’s third win since the start of the 2022 season on February 20 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 32-year-old’s last win took place almost 20 races prior on June 5 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois. With only three races remaining on the calendar, Logano is now closer to winning this year’s title,

“We’re racing for a championship! Let’s go!” Logano said. “All you want to do is get to the championship four when the season starts and race for a championship, and we’ve got the team to do it. I don’t see why we can’t win at this point.”

The 2018 NASCAR champ and his crew resorted to a risky decision with a late pit stop in the last leg. The move gave Logano six spots, but he was still sitting far behind other drivers in eighth following the final restart with only 16 laps remaining.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe took over the lead from Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley and Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain following the final restart. However, Chastain was quick to respond with a wide pass on the bottom to reclaim the lead.

Logano tried to pierce through Chastain for the lead but to no avail. He was finally overtaken by Logano, who drove past the 29-year-old on the straight line with only three remaining laps in the race to steal the win for Team Penske.

“There was a clear difference in tires there, so we fully believed that we could hold him off and win the race on the tires we had, and Joey did a good job of getting through the field,” Chastain said.

With 42 points, Chastain is trailing behind Logano in the standings. In third place is Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (35), followed by Briscoe (33) in fourth.