Joey Logano captured his third NASCAR Cup Championship with his Phoenix win on Sunday. Since then, Denny Hamlin’s prediction of a resultant social media meltdown has pegged the needle as stat after stat has been hurled to show why the NASCAR Playoff Format didn’t get it right this time and needs to be changed. Wins, Average Finish, Points, Laps Led… you name it, it’s been thrown out there. There is only one category that Joey was tops in – Racing Lead Changes.
For several years now, we’ve taken a closer look at lead changes and why they happened and found there are five main reasons why Lead Changes occur –
• Lead Changed Under Caution,
• Lead Changed During the laps immediately following the Start or Restart when the field has been bunched up,
• Leader Pitted and gave up the Lead to a competitor,
• Other – a catch-all for weirdness like the Lead Changed because the Leader wrecked or was penalized, and finally
• Racing Lead Changes – where P2 passes P1 to take the lead without benefit of the bunching or the Restarts or the Leader relinquishing the Lead to pit. These are what fans think of when they hear Lead Change – I passed you for the lead. Overtakes
We believed this NASCAR equivalent of F1’s Overtake metric, Racing Lead Changes, is an important measure of a team’s ability to drive to the front under racing conditions and that it can be an indicator of how a team will perform in the Playoffs.
In 2024, Joey Logano scored 24 Racing Lead Changes to win the Racing Lead Change Championship along with his third Cup Championship. Below is the Final Racing Lead Change Standings with the only driver to get a RLC in Phoenix noted in RED –
It was interesting to note that the finishing order in the Championship Four mirrored the finishing order in the RLC Standings for those, with Logano on top (24), followed by Ryan Blaney (19), William Byron (10) and Tyler Reddick (9).
Logan’s 24 RLCs was the most in the GEN-7 era, topping 2023 winner, Denny Hamlin’s 19 RLCs and Chase Elliott’s 18 in 2022, when Logano last won the Cup Championship. Logano collected his 24 RLCs in 7 Races – 5 Regular Season and 2 Playoff Races. Teammate Austin Cindric scored 9 RLCs at the second Talladega for the most RLCs in a single race followed by Logano with 7 in that same race. It was those RLCs that vaulted Logano to a lead that was never surpassed.
This year’s 304 RLCs was a sizeable jump over the 233 RLCs last year and the 208 in 2022. The 84 Playoff RLCs fell short of last year’s 85, but far exceeded the 62 in 2022, the first GEN-7 Playoff.
(Feel free NASCAR to add these two to your growing list of accolades for the season!)
Congratulations to Joey Logano and TEAM PENSKE for their 2024 Cup Championship and their Racing Lead Change Championship. Wished I had a beautiful trophy to present or a hefty paycheck for your RLC accomplishment, but at this date, words of recognition will have to do. Maybe next year!
Logano captured his third Cup Championship with a win at Phoenix. This race had 15 Lead Changes among 7 Leaders but only produced 11 Green Flag Lead Changes, 1 of which was a Racing Lead Change by runner-up Ryan Blaney on Lap 178.
The 2024 Championship Race at Phoenix saw only 1 driver being able to make a Racing Lead Change in the Race. This race ranked tied with 6 other tracks for 29th in RLCs. The single RLC was the fewest in the GEN-7 era behind the 2 in 2022 and the 6 RLCs in Ross Chastain’s race win here last year. Here is the final RLC Track breakdown.
Final Phoenix Thoughts
Again, congratulations to Joey Logano and team for their 2024 performance. Though not a fan of the Playoffs, Logano did what he had to do to come out on top when the final Checkers fell. Winning the race to clinch the Championship is what was needed this year. Well done!
There are so many things swirling in my head about the race and the season that I’m still trying to sort out now that to try to attempt any at this time would not give them the space or clarity they deserve. For that reason, I’ll reserve those for later.
Some impressions that I can speak to are the
• PRN’s President and lead voice Doug Rice and MRN’s Jeff Striegle – NASCAR radio will never be the same without you two.
• NBC’s Rick Allen-how he managed to make the calls he did with as many different voices in the booth competing for airspace was amazing. Best of luck on your next endeavor.
• Jim Utter-didn’t always agree with him but always respected and looked forward to his work.
• Bootie Barker-still with us but not being on the pit box for the final race is just wrong.
• Parker Klingerman-pulled for him to win behind the wheel, but know he’ll excel in his next chapter.
• SHR-Sundays will have a total different look without the full compliment on the grid. Miss you all already and hope everyone lands on their feet.
• Martin Truex, Jr.-Thank you for hanging on for the last few seasons. Always enjoyed your driving and your style. I’m not a Toyota fan but that run in the #78 was fun. Don’t be gone long.
• Bobby Allison-Godspeed Champ. Forgive me. I’d write more, but I’ve got something in my eyes…
That’s a wrap on the RLC’s. Thanks for spending some time on my ciphering and scribblings. Hope it provided a different take on racing that you hadn’t considered.
Catch your breath and take care. Daytona 2025 is just a few months away and we’ll do it all again, hopefully with even better results.
Till then…
Thunder On… and Stay Safe!
David Nance
Photo Credit (cover): James Gilbert/Getty Images