Joey Logano 'Pretty Much' Must Win Phoenix to Contend for Cup Title

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano said he "pretty much" must win at Phoenix Raceway to stay in the hunt.

Logano is 92 points behind leader Kyle Larson, who leads Denny Hamlin by 49, Christopher Bell by 51, Chase Briscoe by 65, Ryan Blaney by 85 and then Logano, in sixth.

"Would I rather switch spots with the 5, from a points perspective? Sure. I'd rather be 40 up on the field than 90-plus back obviously," Logano said with a laugh.

Logano has had two top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes, including a win at Bristol Motor Speedway, through six Chase races. His average finish of 8.7 is second only to Kyle Larson but his points earned per race (40) ranks fourth to Larson, who has averaged 54 points per race.

Essentially, Logano has had a good Chase but Larson has had a great Chase that has buried the driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford and the other 14 competitors to Larson. 

A win when the stakes are high at Phoenix could turn that around. It's also something Logano has done in this exact race at Phoenix in 2022 and 2024 when he clinched the championship.

"Winning when you have to win is one of the most rewarding things you can do. The fact that we're still in the hunt and still have a chance is something that we should be proud of that we have that and we still have a pretty good recovery compared to where we were earlier in the year," Logano said.

Logano was as low as 20th in the points standings after Sonoma Raceway, the 18th race of the season. In eight races, they rallied to ninth in the standings to put themselves not only in the postseason but in the championship talks.

Logano hasn't won at Phoenix since fall of 2024. However, he led 73 laps in the spring and had one of the best cars until a wreck took him out after completing 253 of 312 laps.

That day, Logano finished third in each stage, earning 16 stage points, while Larson earned just two stage points. If Logano can repeat that Sunday and finish ahead of Larson, it'll fall right within his goal they need to achieve to win a fourth championship and make sure Larson doesn't win a third.

"We probably need to figure out how to gain 20 or 30 points this weekend. I think that would be helpful," Logano said.

Above all, Logano said he doesn't want Larson to be "comfortable" heading into Homestead-Miami Speedway in three weeks. He wants to figure out how he can keep the pressure on Larson so he can make a mistake. 

"The goal is looking toward Miami and saying 'okay, how far back do we feel like we can realistically win if we get to Miami and be in contention?' How do we keep the pressure on the 5? We don't want him to go in there and be comfortable and just have to finish 25th and win this thing, right? That's not what any fan wants. That's definitely not what I want. We gotta figure out how to keep the pressure on him so he can screw up."

Logano has never won in the NextGen era at any of the remaining tracks on the Cup Series schedule after Phoenix. In the NextGen era, his best Talladega finish is 16th, best Martinsville finish is second (twice) and best Homestead-Miami finish is eighth. 

In the NextGen era, Larson has won at every track except for Talladega.