Joey Logano won his third NACAR Cup Series championship Sunday with a relentless drive at Phoenix Raceway that gave Team Penske its third major motorsports title in less than a month.

Logano held off Penske teammate Ryan Blaney over the final 20 laps to beat him for the series title by 0.330 seconds. Blaney was trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010.

Instead, Logano became the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more championships. Kyle Busch is the only other active driver with multiple titles.

“I love the playoffs, I love it man,” Logano said. “What a team, what a Penske battle there at the end. Three of them? That’s truly special.”

Penske and Ford have won three consecutive Cup Series championships. Logano won in 2022 and Blaney won last year.

The finale was winner-take-all to the highest finisher between Logano, Blaney, William Byron in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports and Tyler Reddick of the 23XI Racing team owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.

Byron finished third in the race and Reddick was sixth. It was Byron’s second consecutive appearance in the finale, first for Reddick.

College football

Oregon remains No. 1; Big Ten grabs 4 of top 5

Oregon was the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the fourth straight week on Sunday as Penn State and Indiana climbed into the top five, Georgia and Miami dropped out of the top 10 and losses by four other ranked teams shuffled the rankings with a month left in the regular season.

No team this season has held the top spot for more consecutive weeks than Oregon, which pulled away from Maryland over the weekend to improve to 10-0 and is a unanimous No. 1 for the second straight week.

Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 2 and Texas got a two-rung bump to No. 3. Penn State was No. 4, one point ahead of No. 5 Indiana, with Tennessee just three points behind at No. 6.

Golf

Eckroat wins 2nd PGA title of year

Austin Eckroat won the World Wide Technology Championship on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title of the year, shooting a 9-under 63 for a one-stroke victory over Justin Lower and Carson Young.

Playing in the group ahead of Lower and Young, Eckroat birdied the par-4 17th to open a three-stroke lead over Young, then finished with a bogey on the par-5 18th.

Eckroat locked up spot in the top 50 in the FedExCup Fall standings.

Langer wins Schwab Cup Championship

Bernhard Langer won for the 18th straight year on the PGA Tour Champions, holing a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole to hold off Steven Alker in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Sunday at Phoenix Country Club.

The 67-year-old Langer closed with a 5-under 66 — shooting his age or better for the third straight day and 23rd time on the tour — for a one-stroke victory over defending champion Alker — who won the season points title and a $1 million bonus — and Richard Green.

Briefly

College basketball >> Marchelus Avery scored 11 of his 23 points over the final 10 minutes to help Oklahoma State hold off a barrage of 3-pointers from St. Thomas to take an 80-71 win on Sunday. Kendall Blue hit 4 of 7 from distance and finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead St. Thomas’ men’s basketball team (2-1), which was 15 of 36 from behind the arc.

College basketball >> Jade Hill scored 21 points, Jo Langbehn had 19 and Amber Scalia added 11 as St. Thomas’ women’s basketball team beat Northern Illinois 75-68.

College basketball >> Paige Bueckers scored 19 of her 22 points in the first half as the No. 2 UConn women rolled to an 86-49 win over former conference rival South Florida.

College basketball >> Te-Hina Paopao scored 23 points and the No. 1 South Carolina women passed their first big test of the season with a 71-57 victory over ninth-ranked North Carolina State.

baseball >> The Miami Marlins are hiring former Los Angeles Dodgers first-base coach Clayton McCullough as their next manager, a person with knowledge of the hiring told The Associated Press.

Tennis >> U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz beat Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3 victory in the opening match of the ATP Finals. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner delighted his home fans with a 6-3, 6-4 win over finals debutant Alex de Minaur.

NBA >> Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren left Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors with a right hip injury.

— From news services