List three times NASCAR Champions it has a new name.

Joey Logano.

The man with the mulligan put it to good use, winning Sunday’s championship race at Phoenix to win his third Cup Series championship and a third straight for team owner Roger Penske.

It’s a list of three champions who came before Logano: Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart. Four others have more: Jeff Gordon with four and Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson with seven each.

Let’s review the championship race.

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1. A Team Penske pair led the way

Joey Logano charged to the front after a late race restart and held on. The “resistance” included keeping teammate Ryan Blaney in the mirror, which didn’t look easy as Blaney gained a lot of ground with each lap, but couldn’t close the deal in the final laps.

“I love the playoffs,” Logano told the national TV audience afterward.

I’m not kidding. Sunday’s win was the third playoff win in the past 10 weeks for a driver and team that finished 15th in the regular season points race.

“What a race. What a fight by Team Penske there at the end. It’s really special,” Logano continued. “I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I have the best team.”

He also needed a little luck. Remember, after the sixth race of the playoffs and the end of the round of 12, Logano was toast. He sat in ninth place as the top eight advanced.

Then Alex Bowman’s car came to light on the post-race scale, giving him a penalty and moving Logano up to eighth in the current playoff standings and keeping his hopes alive. Obviously, he took full advantage.

2. Title contenders finish 1, 2, 3

Of the four championship finalists, they finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and… 6th.

William Byron finished third behind Blaney and Tyler Reddick finished sixth, preventing team co-owner Michael Jordan from adding a NASCAR championship to those six NBA titles.

It is the tenth time in 11 years under this format that the Cup champion also won the last race.

3. Sounds of silence

The final checkered flag of the NASCAR season always signals the start of a quiet few months.

It won’t be long after the holidays when the ignitions are turned and it all starts again. As usual, it starts at Daytona, and as usual, it doesn’t start with NASCAR, but with IMSA and the Rolex 24.

The three-day pre-Rolex test weekend at Daytona will be January 17-19, with the Rolex 24 on January 25-26 highlighting a busy long weekend of IMSA racing.

As for NASCAR, 2025 begins with the Busch Light Clash on Feb. 2 at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. Two weeks later, the 67th running of the Daytona 500 takes place, culminating in a five-day of NASCAR racing at Daytona to officially open the regular season.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Championship Race: 3 things from Phoenix as Joey Logano wins