NASCAR driver advances to championship after being eliminated

When the checkered flag flew at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval last Sunday afternoon, Team Penske's Joey Logano was the first driver below the round of 8 cut line and therefore eliminated from championship contention.

Now the driver of the No. 22 Ford is the first of four drivers to punch his ticket to the Championship 4.

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick did indeed beat Logano for the eighth and final spot in the round of 8 at Charlotte. But after the race, Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was disqualified when his No. 48 Chevrolet was found to be underweight.

As a result of the points Bowman lost with his disqualification, Logano slid back into the round of 8 field.

And in the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon, Logano did exactly what he did in the round of 8 opener at Martinsville Speedway in 2018, the round of 8 opener at Kansas Speedway in 2020, and the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas in 2022: won to advance to the Championship 4.

He was able to save enough fuel and keep a fast enough pace to hold off a hard-charging Christopher Bell in the closing laps, taking the checkered flag by 0.662 seconds over the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

The 2024 season has statistically been Logano's worst with Team Penske in pretty much every category other than wins. In fact, had he not won a five-overtime race at Nashville Superspeedway in late June, his point total would not have been enough to get him into the playoffs.

Even with three wins and a Championship 4 berth locked up, he is still only 15th in total points scored this season.

But as many have already pointed out, it is an even-numbered year, and Logano is now six for six in terms of advancing to the Championship 4 in even years. The current playoff format was introduced in 2014, and while he has never missed the winner-take-all final round in an even year, he has never made it to the final round in an odd year.

Logano is the first driver in Cup Series history to be eliminated from championship contention and then advance to the Championship 4 anyway.

Only in an even year, of course.

Three more Championship 4 spots are up for grabs this year, and two races remain in the round of 8, including this Sunday afternoon's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NBC is set to provide live coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!