NASCAR at Phoenix 2022 Results: Joey Logano Wins to Capture 2nd Career Championship

Joey Logano is the NASCAR Cup Series champion for the second time in five years, and he capped off his phenomenal 2022 season in style.

All Logano needed to do to win the title was finish better than fellow playoff finalists Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday.

But he left no doubt as to who this year's champion was by placing first at Phoenix Raceway to cement his second-ever Cup Series title and fourth victory this season.

Ryan Blaney took second in the race, one spot ahead of Chastain in third. Bell finished 10th, and Elliott took 28th after spinning out early in Stage 3.

It was an emotional day in Phoenix after news emerged that Coy Gibbs, the co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, died overnight at the age of 49. A pre-race moment of silence honored his memory.

With heavy hearts, the field got going in Phoenix with a title on the line. Here's how it went down.

Stage 1

Logano ended up winning the first stage (60 laps) by a half-second over Blaney.

Elliott (sixth), Bell (11th) and Chastain (13th) rounded out the playoff quartet at this juncture.

Stage 2

Bell and Chastain had a great pitstop in the second stage that vaulted them up the leaderboard.

Logano still held the lead midway through the race, but his teammate Blaney soon took over first.

Blaney ended up hanging on for the Stage 2 win. Here's how the final four looked at that moment.

That set the stage for a dramatic finish.

Stage 3

Elliott went from an incredible high to a massive low early in Stage 3.

He vaulted himself into sixth place after a crucial pit stop, with only Logano ahead of him in the playoff chase.

However, contact from Chastain sent Elliott spinning into the wall, subsequently ending his championship dreams.

He fell all the way to 30th in a car that needed more maintenance.

Numerous analysts and fans gave their take on the matter.

With all that going on, Logano still led the playoff pack with first in sight.

Issues on pit road gave Logano more breathing room over Chastain:

But Bell was hot on Logano's heels.

Unfortunately, Bell endured a scary pit stop after a member of the pit crew got his finger stuck between the nut and the spindle.

That wasn't the only harrowing moment of the stage, as Brad Keselowski had to climb out his car after it caught fire. Thankfully, he was unharmed.

The title ultimately came down to Logano and Chastain. Logano eventually took the lead from Chase Briscoe and never looked back:

The champion spoke postrace with NBC.

With that, Logano and Team Penske emerged victorious. This also marked the second Cup Series title for crew chief Paul Wolfe, who won with Keselowski in 2012.

Closing Notes on Playoff Participants

Logano previously won in 2018, when he earned three race victories and 26 top-10 finishes.

Bell came in as a big underdog in just his third NASCAR Cup Series season, but he's steadily risen from 20th in 2020 to 12th in 2021 before the top-four finish this year.

Chastain arguably came in as the biggest longshot of them all having never finished higher than 20th in four full-time NASCAR Cup Series seasons.

But he forced his way into the championship conversation thanks to a pair of wins and one of the most incredible maneuvers in NASCAR history.

Elliott, the regular-season champion, was looking for his second title in three years.

In the end, it was Logano who emerged as this year's champion.

Fans won't have to wait too long for the beginning of the 2023 season, which will start February 5 with the Daytona 500.