How did Joey Logano punch his playoff ticket? Everything you need to know about the veteran’s unprecedented Championship 4 appearance

Team Penske driver Joey Logano made a huge comeback, winning the South Point 400 on October 20, 2024, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Let's see how he secured his playoff tickets for the sixth time, by winning the Ally 400 Race results held on June 30, 2024, at the Nashville Superspeedway.

The #22 driver qualified for the race in P26 with a best time of 30.473 seconds and a top speed of 157.123 mph. He was 0.614 seconds behind Denny Hamlin, the leader of the pack. His performances weren't up to the mark as he finished P21 in both- Stage 1 and Stage 2. Logano got lucky in the final moments when his teammate Austin Cindric brought out caution with two laps to go.

Joey Logano was running in P14 during that time, but with the unprecedented five overtimes, he somehow managed to save enough fuel to hang on and win the race. Logano punched his playoff ticket from the race and moved to the round of 16. He was ninth in the playoff standings and needed to perform well to advance to the next round.

Team Penske won the first race of the round of 16 held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, but after two races of the round of 12, he fell 13 points shy of the cut line. Logano needed an exceptional performance at the Charlotte Roval to advance, and he ran his best road course race of the season.

The 34-year-old was still one point shy of qualifying for the next round, but something unexpected happened. Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman was disqualified after failing the post-race inspection, and Logano secured his spot in the round of eight as the lowest seed in the standings. Now, he has secured his spot in the Championship 4 appearance, beating Christopher Bell at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Christopher Bell is heartbroken after losing to Joey Logano in Las Vegas despite dominating the track

Christopher Bell dominated the Las Vegas Motor Speedway since the qualifying lap of the South Point 400. He secured the third pole position of this season at the South Point 400 by completing the lap in the shortest time, taking only 29.135 seconds while reaching a top speed of 185.344 mph. On the other hand, Joey Logano was in tenth place and 0.152 seconds behind Bell.

The #20 driver aimed to bag the fourth win of this season and secure his spot in the Championship 4 round. Logano found the opportunity in the final moments when Bell pitted for a fresh set of tires and the Team Penske driver kept racing with the old set that helped him gain a few spots.

Joey Logano took the lead from Daniel Saurez by overtaking him in the last five laps of the race and won the race. Bell expressed his disappointment after ending runner-up in the race and said: (via NBC Sports)

"I don't think I've come to terms yet; I don't know. Just a bummer. I think everyone on this team did everything perfect today. This thing was obviously on rails, pit crew did an amazing job, Adam called a great race. Did everything we needed to put this Rheem Camry in Victory Lane, and unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be today."

Christopher Bell led 155 laps of the 267-lap race on the 1.5-mile track, including ten extra points for the Stage 1 win. Joey Logano now leads the NASCAR playoff standings, and Bell is the runner-up.