Track: Phoenix Raceway
Location: Avondale, Ariz.
Track length: 1 mile
When: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App
Race purse: $12,394,135
Race distance: 312 laps | 312 miles
Stages: 60 | 185 | 312
Defending winner: Joey Logano, November 2024
Starting lineup: Denny Hamlin on pole at Phoenix
With a championship on the line, it’s 2-on-2 for teammates in season-ending clash
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The culmination of the NASCAR Cup Series season is here, and with it comes a coronation. Three drivers — Chase Briscoe, William Byron and Denny Hamlin — will be vying for their first Cup Series championship in Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway, while a fourth — Kyle Larson — will be bidding to become a two-time title winner.
Each of the Championship 4 drivers have individual aspirations for themselves and the teams that support them. They’ll chase those goals, though, within the framework of racing teammates for NASCAR’s ultimate prize.
Two Hendrick Motorsports drivers (Byron, Larson) and a pair of contenders from Joe Gibbs Racing (Briscoe, Hamlin) will battle it out in Sunday’s 312-lap showdown. The teammate vs. teammate dynamic for the championship race is intriguing, but not unique. One organization has placed multiple cars on the Championship 4 grid in seven of the last eight seasons, and it’s the second time the final-four field has been swept by two organizations with two cars each.
MORE: Schedule, TV info: Phoenix | Cup Series entry list
The last time that happened, it was again two Hendrick drivers against two JGR drivers, with Larson emerging with the 2021 Cup Series crown. That experience, Larson said, didn’t require a radical change in how Hendrick’s four teams operate.
“Every year I’ve been in the final four, I’ve had a teammate in there with me. It does not feel any different than any other week,” said Larson, making his third Champ 4 appearance. “I feel like with all four teams, Hendrick teams still communicate extremely well together. Nothing has changed. I think if I can’t win, I want William to win. I think the same goes that way to me. I think we want to bring Hendrick Motorsports a championship. To do that, you have to work extremely good together. Yeah, that’s what we do. We do it all year long, so why change now?”
How teammates race each other has been a subplot at multiple points of this postseason campaign, and Hamlin has been at the center of two internal flare-ups — bumping JGR teammate Ty Gibbs out of the way at New Hampshire, then clashing with Toyota mate and 23XI Racing employee Bubba Wallace on the final lap at Kansas.
Thursday at Championship 4 Media Day, the 44-year-old veteran said it was among the biggest challenges he faced this year, calling it “such a fine line” to juggle team objectives with personal ones.
“We’re always going to want to get the best result for ourselves,” Hamlin said. “How you balance that with how can you end up not hurting each other, then letting someone else in the picture. For instance, if you’re battling 1-2, understanding only battle for a certain amount of time, then whoever is faster, let the other go. You’ll live to race another lap. And you don’t keep the competition back in — don’t get them back in the game. Those are obviously conversations that we’ll have. Certainly, we’ll all work through it.”
PHOENIX RECAPS: Friday practice | Saturday qualifying
From atop the pit box …
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
The last time Cup Series teams were at Phoenix Raceway, race procedures presented a choice of Goodyear rubber compounds, with option and prime tires available. A single tire setup greets the Cup Series field this time around, and teams have already pushed the limits of what those tires can take.
RELATED: Cup Series standings | Full 2025 schedule
Briscoe’s No. 19 JGR Toyota slowed just four minutes into Friday’s lone practice with a flat left-rear tire, one of the first of several issues for teams taking an aggressive approach with lower air pressures. Briscoe completed just 24 laps in the nearly hour-long session — extended from 50 minutes by a handful of red flags — while the rest of the Championship 4 contenders all ran 60-plus.
With their largest test of the season approaching, here’s the word from all four title-contending crew chiefs (in order of where their team will start Sunday):
Chris Gayle, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Hamlin starts first; fifth in practice): “I’m trying not to let (pressure) get to me at all. Every piece of advice from any of these guys that have done it before are basically like, ‘enjoy the moment, it’s going to be hard to not let it get to you.’ You want to be successful, you want to do everything. Like, what happened with Denny not making it before me has no reflection on what happens this time, right? I shouldn’t let that pressure bother me. It should be separate. We’re going to come in and do the best job we can and see what happens.”
Rudy Fugle, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Byron starts second; ninth in practice): “When it comes to tire failures, it’s not their responsibility. It’s ours to make those decisions, drive it, take care of them when we need to. When it comes to durability, making them live on a long run, they have a huge part in that. [Byron] knows he’s got to take care of that. Yeah, he’s worried about what he has to do. Just give us information to make good decisions, hopefully.”
Cliff Daniels, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Larson starts third; 11th in practice): “Overall for the weekend, I think our team is in a really good spot. Kyle feels pretty comfortable in the car. We were looking for a few different things through our practice progression (Friday), trying to find the right look at short-run speed, then capture a run or two really focused on the medium- to long-run pace. We certainly presented that to ourselves; a couple things we need to work on. Scuffed the wall a little bit, so a little bit of repairs on the car, but that’s OK. Overall, we’re in a reasonable spot. Got to make a few adjustments (Saturday) morning. Met with the team this morning at the hotel. Everybody was fresh and ready. We’re locked in.”
James Small, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Briscoe starts 12th; 16th in practice): “I was actually calm (during practice). No, it was fine. I think we rode pit road more time than we ran laps. Still feel good about it. The pace on the eight laps we did was actually really good. The car is feeling really good. Few things we need to clean up. Not worried one bit.”
RELATED: See where drivers will pit for Sunday’s race
History tells us …
Expect Byron up front. Typically, at some point during the season finale, the Championship 4 will run 1-2-3-4 on the leaderboard. If this race goes according to form, William Byron will be the most likely to be in that mix. Since the Next Gen car debuted in 2022, Byron has spent the most time — 1,618 laps total — running among the top five at Phoenix Raceway. That total outranks the rest of the Champ 4 field, with Larson (954 laps), Hamlin (517) and Briscoe (478) rounding out the list. All four are former Phoenix winners.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
CHRIS BUESCHER. Given the frequency with which Championship 4 contenders win in the season finale, almost any other driver outside that quartet could be considered a sleeper. But a dive into recent results offers a reminder of Chris Buescher’s quiet confidence here. In the last five Phoenix races, Buescher has four top-10 finishes and an average finish (7.2) that ranks third in the Cup Series. That stretch includes a runner-up result in the spring of 2024. | See Buescher’s projected finish
Fantasy update
NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your Sunday lineup.
As anticipated in Fastlane earlier this week, the Championship 4 drivers and Team Penske have ruled much of practice and qualifying at Phoenix. If you’re fortunate to have starts left with any of those drivers, lean heavily that way. Ryan Blaney led the way on long-run pace during practice, though Larson was best among Championship 4 competitors. Denny Hamlin followed that up by winning his 48th Busch Light pole on Saturday. Despite JGR drivers Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell starting outside the top 10, they should remain a factor. There could be some risk with the No. 19 car, as he didn’t attempt a single long run during practice with multiple miscues. Ultimately, no changes here this week. Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry narrowly missed the cut.
Lineup: Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott
Garage: Chris Buescher
MORE: Lineup advice in Fantasy Fastlane
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
– NASCAR at Phoenix: Key info, qualifying reports and more | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs set for season finale | View gallery
– At-track photos: Trackside sights, scenes from title weekend | View gallery
– Is this year different? Inside Hamlin’s playoff heartbreaks | Read more
– No. 11 crew chief’s journey: Chris Gayle reflects after crossroads season | Read more
– Larson on legacy: No. 5 driver inching closer to Gordon, Stewart | Read more
– Playoff benediction: Assessing the eliminated from Round of 8 | Read more
– Hauler Talk: Why details matter in season-finale inspection | Read more
– Power Rankings: How all 12 national-series title contenders stack up | This week’s ranks
– Neil Paine: Crunching the numbers and making a title pick | Read more
– NASCAR Classics: Inside the video vault with Phoenix full-race replays | Watch now
