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LAS VEGAS — Team Penske has a shot at two major championships this year — Joey Logano became the first driver to qualify for NASCAR’s title-deciding finale with a win Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“We’re racing for a championship! Let’s go!” Logano screamed to the crowd. “All you want to do is get to the championship four when the season starts and race for a championship, and we’ve got the team to do it. I don’t see why we can’t win at this point.”

Logano, who won for the third time this season and third time at Las Vegas, is NASCAR’s 2018 champion and advanced to the championship race for the fifth time in his career. Team Penske last month celebrated the IndyCar championship when driver Will Power won his second title.

Logano used a late pit stop for new tires hoping the new Goodyears would give him a shot. He gained six immediate spots, but his Ford was still in eighth on the final restart with 16 laps remaining.

Chase Briscoe restarted as the leader ahead of Justin Haley and Ross Chastain, and Chastain used a sweeping three-wide pass on the bottom of the track to take the lead. Logano charged through the field, but Chastain successfully used several blocks to hold him off.

Logano ultimately pulled alongside Chastain on the frontstretch with three laps remaining to claim the first spot in next month’s championship race.

“There was a clear difference in tires there, so we fully believed that we could hold him off and win the race on the tires we had, and Joey did a good job of getting through the field,” said Chastain, who finished second in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.

Kyle Busch, who was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, finished third in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Playoff drivers Briscoe finished fourth in a Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing and Denny Hamlin, in a Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing, came from 31st to finish fifth.

The race was the first of three in this round of NASCAR’s playoffs. The eight remaining drivers will be whittled down to four for the winner-take-all finale at Phoenix next month.

With the stakes so high, the race was fraught with tension from the start and even included nearly a fight between Bubba Wallace and reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson.

The dustup between Wallace and Larson collected Christopher Bell, who won last week at Charlotte to advance into this round of the playoffs and is now ranked last in the standings following his 34th-place finish.

“We will see if we can go pull another rabbit out of the hat,” Bell said.

Joining Bell below the cut line for elimination were William Byron, Briscoe and Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. Blaney led for 39 laps but hit the wall with what appeared to be a tire failure. He finished 28th, seven laps down.

Logano is locked in to the finale, while Chastain, Hamlin and regular-season champion Chase Elliott are above the cut line. Elliott finished 21st in an uninspiring showing in his Hendrick Motorsports entry.

“I did a really bad job all weekend,” Elliott said. “All-around poor effort on my behalf, and when you perform that poorly, you get poor results. I’m obviously missing something at places like this to compete with the gentlemen that know what they’re doing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MLB: Iassogna crew chief, plate umpire for ASG

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MLB: Iassogna crew chief, plate umpire for ASG

NEW YORK — Dan Iassogna will be the umpire crew chief and work the plate during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Atlanta’s Truist Park.

His crew will include Marvin Hudson at first, Chris Segal at second, Jansen Visconti at third, Jeremie Rehak in left and Erich Bacchus in right, Major League Baseball said Thursday.

Iassogna, 56, will work his second All-Star Game. He was at third base for the 2011 game at Arizona.

He worked his first big league game in 1999, was hired to the major league staff in 2004 and appointed a crew chief ahead of the 2020 season. Iassogna umpired the World Series in 2012, ’17 and ’22 along with eight League Championship Series and seven Division Series.

Segal, Visconti, Rehak and Bacchus will work their first All-Star Games and Hudson his second after being in left field in 2004 at Houston.

Tony Randazzo will be the replay umpire in New York.

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A’s Rooker joins list of HR Derby participants

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A's Rooker joins list of HR Derby participants

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Athletics slugger Brent Rooker is adding his name to the list of Home Run Derby participants.

Rooker announced Thursday that he’s participating in the event, which takes place Monday in Atlanta. He will become the first Athletics player in the Home Run Derby since Matt Olson in 2021.

“Competing in the Home Run Derby has always been a dream of mine,” Rooker said in an Instagram post. “Can’t wait to make it happen next week in Atlanta! See ya there!”

Rooker, 30, entered Thursday with a .270 batting average, 19 homers and 50 RBIs, putting him on pace for a third straight season of at least 30 homers. He went deep 30 times in 2023 and had 39 homers in 2024.

His 58 homers since the start of the 2024 season rank him third among all American League players.

The only A’s to win the Derby were Mark McGwire in 1992 and Yoenis Céspedes in 2013 and 2014.

Other announced participants include Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Washington’s James Wood.

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Mets recall Acuna from Triple-A, DFA Jankowski

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Mets recall Acuna from Triple-A, DFA Jankowski

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets recalled 23-year-old utility man Luisangel Acuna from Triple-A Syracuse before Thursday’s split doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles.

The brother of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., Luisangel Acuña went 13-for-45 (.286) for Syracuse after the Mets optioned him in late June.

Capable of playing second base, shortstop or the outfield, Acuna had batted .241 in 65 games before going to the minors.

“He was a big part of this team the first couple of months,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters. “We got to a point where we felt like, ‘Hey, let’s get him some everyday playing time. ‘And now it’s time for him to be back up here, continuing to help us win baseball games.”

In a corresponding move, the Mets designated outfielder Travis Jankowski for assignment.

Acuna was on the bench for New York’s first game of the doubleheader.

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