NASCAR crowns champion who was eliminated four weeks ago

Team Penske's Joey Logano was not among the eight drivers who advanced from the round of 12 to the round of 8 after the mid-October NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

Logano held the lead over 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick for the eighth and final spot in the round of 8 in the closing laps, but Reddick was able to rally and advance.

Logano's round of 12 elimination marked the first time in an even-numbered year since the introduction of the modern playoff format that he had failed to advance to the Championship 4.

Or so everyone thought.

After the race, Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was disqualified, as his No. 48 Chevrolet was found to have been underweight. The points he lost as a result of the disqualification were enough to knock him out of the round of 8 and promote Logano back in.

Logano was not done yet, and in the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he won to advance to the Championship 4, making it six for six in even-numbered years, just seven days after he thought his chances to become a three-time champion were out the window for 2024.

Now three weeks after his Las Vegas win, Logano found himself on top again at Phoenix Raceway. He held off teammate Ryan Blaney, who won the round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway to advance to the Championship 4 himself, to win his third championship, despite the fact that he finished the season in 11th place in total points scored.

In regular season points, Logano finished behind three drivers who didn't even make the playoffs; he got in thanks to a five-overtime win at Nashville Superspeedway in late June. His average finish of 17.1 is the worst ever for a Cup Series champion.

And unlike all 75 champions before him, the driver of the No. 22 Ford was crowned after being eliminated.

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to begin with the 67th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 16. Live coverage is set to be provided by Fox.