NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 contender Chase Elliott started from the rear of the field in Sunday’s Season Finale 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN. Sirius XM) after his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection twice at Phoenix Raceway.
Elliott was slated to start from the Busch Pole position and lead the field to green. Instead, Elliott dropped back on pace laps. Fellow title hopefuls Joey Logano was lined up second, followed by Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.
Elliott was one of four drivers competing for the 2020 Cup title, alongside former champions Keselowski and Logano of Team Penske. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin, like Elliott, was seeking his first championship.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season wraps up today at Phoenix Raceway. That being said, we have our last chance at Cup Series prop bet glory until Daytona Speedweeks 2021.
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile flat track. Richmond and New Hampshire are its top corollary tracks. Martinsville can be considered a minor corollary track as well.
Looking at performance in these races, there are two underrated teammates on a top-tier team I like betting to finish near the front of the field:
NASCAR at Phoenix Betting Picks
Aric Almirola (+105) for Top-10 Finish
In three low-downforce races at Phoenix with Stewart-Haas Racing, Almirola has never finished worse than eighth place. In fact, if we extend that to Richmond and New Hampshire, Almirola is seven for eight in the top-10 department under low-downforce rules with his current team.
That should make him a favorite to finish in the Top 10 again this week, but he’s priced as a dog at DraftKings and even money at FanDuel.
Almirola’s teammate has been nearly as good on the short flat tracks this year. Custer finished a place behind Almirola at both Phoenix and New Hampshire. He also finished in 14th place at Richmond.
Custer placed between 10th and 16th in average green flag speed, average running position and driver rating at each of these races. That certainly makes him an underdog to finish in the Top 10, but he’s been on the cusp in each race in all the important metrics.
Adding in two races at Martinsville, Custer has four finishes in five races inside or near the Top 10. He also has a strong history in the various developmental series.
All together, Custer should be priced closer to +175. These odds at DraftKings, or a similar +195 price at FanDuel, are both good values for the rookie.
The Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway will crown the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion among the Championship 4 of Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano on Sunday (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). This marks the first time that Phoenix has hosted the title-awarding event.
Elliott and Hamlin are each in search of their first titles, while Team Penske teammates Keselowski and Logano are each looking for their second championship.
Ahead of the title race, learn more about the title-contending drivers, race previews, gambling odds and more for the championship battle.
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
See all his wins: There was a wait for the young star to reach Victory Lane but he has hit double-digit Cup wins in his young, blossoming career. | Read more
Growing up NASCAR: From his days running up to his dad’s ride to his own path to NASCAR stardom, Elliott has already had quite the journey. | Read more
Drivers under 30 to win title: Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and more are part of this club that Elliott is looking to join. | Read more
Welcome to Awesomeville: NASCAR.com’s Zack Albert took a journey to Elliott’s hometown in 2018 to explore the connection between the town and its second-favorite (only to his dad) son. | Read more
Why Elliott will win: With the most consistent performance over the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs so far, is the stage set for Elliott’s biggest triumph? | Read more
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images
See all his wins: Recap each and every one of Hamlin’s 44 NASCAR Cup Series victories | Read more
Hamlin’s highlights: Relive all the top moments in the career of the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing | Read more
All the wins, no title: Where does Hamlin stack up on the wins list of drivers without a Cup title to their name? | Read more
Why Hamlin will win: Is this Hamlin’s time to shine? Find out why Phoenix sets up well for the veteran driver. | Read more
Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
See all his wins: From a surprise win at Talladega in 2009 to his most recent triumph at Richmond in 2020, see every one of Keselowski’s 34 NASCAR Cup Series victories. | Read more
Keselowski’s kool moments: From his early days in the Xfinity ranks with JR Motorsports to his rise as a Cup champion, see the top moments in the driver’s career. | Read more
One, twice, multiple times a champ: Keselowski is aiming to become the 17th driver with at least two titles. Who else is part of the club? | Read more
Good luck charm?: An item from Keselowski’s last championship celebration will be making its way to Phoenix. | Read more
Why Keselowski will win: Does Keselowski’s major success with the 2020 short-track rules package — to the tune of three wins — set him up for a major day at Phoenix? | Read more
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Christian Petersen | Getty Images
See all his wins: Recap Logano’s early wins at Joe Gibbs Racing to his rise to prominence at Team Penske. | Read more
‘Sliced’ just right: See the early days of the future champion racing in the Northeast to his rise into a NASCAR star. | Read more
Finishing in style: Logano’s 2018 race win in the final event earned him the championship that year and he is far from the only driver to win the final race and a championship in the same year. | Read more
Championship confidence: With a win from the spring race and a playoff surge, Logano believes he and the No. 22 team are the squad to beat on Sunday. | Read more
Why Logano will win: If you believe in recency bias both in the playoffs and at Phoenix as well as past title success in this elimination format, then Logano just might be the driver to take home the 2020 title. | Read more
Playoff history and the championship club
Phoenix Raceway
A storied club: See the drivers who have won NASCAR Cup Series championships throughout the sport’s history. | Read more
Championship 4 appearances by driver: This year’s Championship 4 field has a new face in Chase Elliott, plus returning favorites. See who’s made the final in the elimination era. | Read more
Clutch in the playoffs: Elliott’s victory at Martinsville last weekend was just the latest entry of a driver delivering when needed most in the postseason. | Read more
Excelling in elimination: The Championship 4 race is, for all intents and purposes, an elimination race and there are four of them throughout the playoffs. | Read more
Key story lines to watch for
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Racing Insights Power Index: How do the Championship 4 stack up against each other across a variety of statistics? Our friends at Racing Insights analyzed just that to provide a little “cheat sheet” for Sunday’s race. | Read more
Tires lead to titles: Late restarts in the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series title races saw fresh tires have an advantage and lead to championships. Will the same be true on Sunday? | Read more
What they’re saying: Hear what the Championship 4 drivers are saying heading into the title race and which driver is earning comparisons to Mark Martin | Read more
Everything to know for Phoenix: Get the lowdown on stage lengths, Goodyear tires and much more for Sunday’s race. | Read more
Forever family: Team owner Rick Hendrick’s emotions are bubbling to the surface ahead of Johnson’s final full-time start in the No. 48 Chevrolet. | Read more
State of the sport: NASCAR President Steve Phelps discusses the unprecedented 2020 season, plans for the Next Gen car and more in his annual address. | Read more
Will it take a win to take home the title?: In this format, a driver in the Championship 4 has always won the race to win the NASCAR Cup Series title. The Preview Show examines if that will be the case once again. | Read more
Not your typical season: After a season that saw a more than two-month break following the most recent Phoenix race, several doubleheaders and a lot of catch up over the summer, the title race is here and will not be undermined by the circumstances. | Read more
All about the team: Even with two drivers in the Championship 4, there is no divided loyalty for Team Penske. | Read more
Ranking the field: Pat DeCola breaks down the Championship 4 to see where they stack up heading into Sunday’s final race. | Read more
Fantasy forecasts and gambling insights
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media
Eyes on the odds: How do the Championship 4 stack up in the betting odds for Sunday? Is there a good value bet on the board? Check out the latest odds provided by BetMGM. | Read more
Life in the Fastlane: It’s the final week of Fantasy Live. Do you eschew stage points and go with playoff drivers, do you load up on non-playoff plays or look for a balance of both? RJ Kraft serves as your fantasy zen master to get ready for Phoenix. | Read more
Duel in the desert: Need help in your fantasy league with the title on the line? NBC Sports’ Steve Letarte and PJ Walsh of The Action Network look at some under-the-radar plays to boost your lineup. | Read more
Fixated on the Finish Line: Which Penske driver is the pick to make in Group 1? Is Chase Elliott the slam-dunk Group 2 choice? NBC Sports’ Steve Letarte and PJ Walsh of The Action Network break it down. | Read more
Analyzing the last 10: Who has been the best driver at Phoenix over the last 10 races there? MRN has tallied the driver averages for the 1-mile track over that stretch. | Read more
The rise of Phoenix
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
New-look title race: For the first time in this format, Phoenix will host the championship and that creates a new look (and aggressiveness on the dogleg to boot) to decide the champion. | Read more
Every winner in the desert: Two of the Championship 4 have won here. Two have not. Take a look at the track winners from Alan Kulwicki to Joey Logano. | Read more
Paint palettes for the desert: Check out this weekend’s schemes for the final race weekend of the year, presented by TikTok. | See the schemes
Memorable moments: A milestone win for Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final Cup win, Matt Kenseth’s final Cup win to date and a post-race fracas to remember between Gordon and Clint Bowyer are among the top scenes we’ve seen in recent years. | Read more
A history of hosts: Road courses, dirt tracks and high-speed ovals have served as season-finale venues through the years, and Phoenix is the most recent addition to the list. Check out fun facts about the NASCAR Cup Series’ season-ending speedways. | Read more
They could, and they did. And maybe the Cup Series should, too.
NASCAR’s premier league races on the same 1-mile Arizona track Sunday (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott make up the Championship 4. Hamlin and Elliott are going for their first title – much like Creed and Cindric (another foreshadow?) – while Logano and Keselowski are aiming for their second.
If they’re smart, they watched the other two series’ finale and took notes.
“I laughed about it when the caution came out at the end there because I couldn’t believe how similar it was to the truck race,” Justin Allgaier said. “… When we took our set of tires with 30 to go, I really thought we had done the right thing. I really thought we made the right choice. So did Grant last night, and it didn’t work for him.”
He’s talking about Gander Trucks driver Grant Enfinger, who – like Allgaier – stayed out with old tires when the final yellow flew. Enfinger and Allgaier both restarted on the front row in their respective races. Come checkered flag two laps later, Enfinger was 13th and Allgaier was fifth.
Creed made his run to first from ninth. Cindric fired off third on his race-determining restart.
“Those are some tough calls,” said Cindric’s crew chief, Brian Wilson. “I based that on what I saw in the truck race last night. I’m good friends with Jeff Stankiewicz (Creed’s crew chief), and I watched him make that call, talked to him about it this morning. Just between watching that and what I saw in the Cup race in the spring, it seemed like tires really mattered.”
Creed and Cindric weren’t the only ones to pit under caution. A bunch of trucks and cars did, which really helped their odds. It made the buffer between them and the leaders thinner. They didn’t have to make up all that much ground to fight for the lead.
Phoenix’s track also allows for some unpredictable, fanned-out restarts. Heck, Cindric was behind Allgaier when the green flag waved. He then sandwiched himself between Allgaier and Allgaier’s teammate, Noah Gragson, who was not title eligible. Cindric pulled forward, and the race was his to win.
All that’s left now is the Cup Series. Another championship could very well come down to tire strategy.
“I hope not for their sake,” Allgaier said. “From a fan standpoint, it obviously adds a lot of action. The folks that were here tonight got a great show at the end. The folks at home watching on TV, they obviously got a great show.
After establishing the pace most of the afternoon, 22-year-old Austin Cindric ultimately relied on raw determination to claim the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. The Team Penske driver pulled off the most clutch lap-pass of his young career to take the race victory in Saturday’s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 and earn his first NASCAR title.
After pitting for tires just before a final overtime restart, Cindric was able to work his way forward at the final green flag and got around Noah Gragson on the last lap — driving away to a .162-second victory for his sixth win of the season, easily the most celebrated of his career.
After celebratory donuts in his car, Cindric pulled himself out of the driver’s window, climbed on top of his bright yellow No. 22 Team Penske Ford and flashed No. 1 victory signs on both hands before waving a giant champion’s flag.
“There was a lot of work put into this race car,” a grinning Cindric said, carefully taking the time to thank everyone from his team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Roger Penske, to his sponsors, his team, pit crew, spotter and ultimately his mom and dad.
“I’m speechless, I can’t believe it. You know the equipment you’re in is the best of the best and the people you’re working with are the best of the best,” he added.
Certainly as exuberant as Cindric understandably was, the other three members of the Championship 4 felt disappointment and dismay. Veteran Justin Allgaier, who led a race high 76 laps — four more laps out front than Cindric — was in position to try and secure his first NASCAR title.
The 34-year-old driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet kept the field honest consistently throughout the evening but ultimately on that last restart Allgaier was unable to hold off Cindric who had fresher tires and was able to muscle around Allgaier and Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Gragson.
Allgaier finished fifth and the other Championship 4 drivers, Justin Haley and Chase Briscoe, finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
Gragson (second), Brandon Jones (third) and Michael Annett (fourth) were the non-playoff drivers to finish in the top-five. Harrison Burton, Ross Chastain, Haley, Briscoe and Jeremy Clements rounded out the top 10.
“So close but so far away,” Allgaier said. “First of all, hats off to Austin and the entire Team Penske group, they’ve been strong competitors all year. To have the race they did tonight, they were obviously the best car and they deserved to win. I’m proud of my guys, proud of everybody at JR Motorsports.
“We had a shot at it at the end and when it’s all said and done, that’s all you can really ask for.”
For most of the race the title contending quartet ran up front. In addition to Cindric and Allgaier, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe showed the speed that had made him the winningest driver in the series this year. He won a career-high and season-best nine races and led 41 laps on this championship night, but a struggle to get his car comfortable, a late-race spin and the loss of track position were setbacks he ultimately couldn’t overcome.
“Just a frustrating day, this is by far not my best race track,” said Briscoe, who will move into the SHR team’s No. 14 NASCAR Cup Series ride next year.
“At the start of the race for me, just to lead laps here, I was like ‘wow this is different.’ I was just so loose at the beginning of the race and as the night came I was freer and freer and I don’t know how many times I about wrecked into one. I ended up hitting the wall. I’ve got to do a whole lot better job. There’s just something about this place that I really struggle at. We have a lot of homework to do.
“Definitely frustrating to finish fourth in the championship after the year we had, but overall to win nine races, it’s been a phenomenal year.”
Haley, a three-race winner in 2020, didn’t lead any laps in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, but he rallied from a slow start and kept his car competitively among the top 10.
“It’s been awesome,” Haley said of his playoff berth. “Just the growth of this Kaulig Racing team from when I stepped into it last year and were out in the first round of the playoffs.
“Just the courage and the faith and everyone at Kaulig Racing, we bet on each other. I love it. I love everyone there. Super excited and super blessed to have another year. Doesn’t sting as much because I know next year I get another chance at it.”
NOTE: Post-race inspection was clear, no major issues. The Nos. 7, 8 and 22 each had one lug nut not safe and secure in post-race inspection. Engine tear down will take place tonight for Cindric’s car.
Austin Cindric secured the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series title on Saturday at Phoenix Raceway. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford bested fellow Championship 4 contenders Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley and Justin Allgaier to score his first NASCAR national series championship.
Cindric came from behind Allgaier during an overtime restart and passed him and Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson for the race win and the title clincher. Crew chief Brian Wilson had Cindric come to pit road for fresh tires during the race’s final caution period, and that proved to be the key to winning the restart over Allgaier, who was on older tires.
It was Cindric’s eighth career Xfinity win and it came in his 100th career start. It was also his sixth victory in a breakout 2020 season for the 22-year-old from Mooresville, North Carolina.
“I watched Sheldon Creed do it last night, so why couldn’t we?” Cindric said about coming to pit road late. “Amazing effort by this 22 team. Brian Wilson and all the guys. Everybody back at the shop. There was a lot of work put into this race car.”
Though he made a name for himself as a road-course ace last season — his two wins coming on that track type — Cindric earned his first win of 2020 by mastering an oval. It was early evidence that the driver had developed into a contender to win on any track type and would be a threat to win the championship.
Cindric actually went back-to-back at Kentucky Speedway in July during the Xfinity Series’ first doubleheader weekend, then followed up those victories with a third at Texas Motor Speedway the next weekend.
Cindric still flexed his road-course prowess, winning at Road America and the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. The wins, yet again, were back-to-back. It was the Xfinity Series’ debut on the Daytona Road Course, too and marked a stretch that saw him win five time in six races.
This is Team Penske’s second driver championship in the Xfinity Series. The other belongs to Brad Keselowski from 2010, two years prior to his run to the NASCAR Cup Series crown.
Although Cindric entered the Phoenix win without a win since August, he advanced through the playoffs on the basis of points. In the six-race slate prior to the championship, he had four top-10 showings. The two outliers came at Talladega Superspeedway (34th, wreck) in the Round of 12 and Kansas Speedway (28th) in the Round of 8. His best finish was fourth at Texas, the Round of 8’s middle event.
This championship also signifies the first for Cindric’s crew chief, Wilson. The two have worked together for two seasons now. They placed sixth in the final standings last year.
Cindric will return to the Xfinity Series in 2021. He and Team Penske inked a multi-year deal that says Cindric will run one more full-time season in the Xfinity Series before officially moving up to the Cup Series in 2022. Once at the top level, Cindric will take over the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford currently driven by Matt DiBenedetto.
In the most challenging year in a history that has spanned more than seven decades, NASCAR racing has emerged stronger in the face of a coronavirus pandemic that interrupted the 2020 season, according to NASCAR President Steve Phelps.
“What I would say is that, on March 8th, we were a sport that was coming back, right?” Phelps said Friday during a Zoom video conference with reporters. “Our ratings had stabilized last year. Our attendance was going in the correct direction.
“If you think about where we are as a sport today, I believe we’re stronger as a sport today than we were pre-COVID. I believe that. I think that the momentum that we’ve been able to gain has been nothing short of incredible.”
On March 13, as coronavirus outbreaks multiplied the spread of the virus, NASCAR joined other major sports in shutting down. Ten weeks later, with a gerrymandered scheduled and a cogent plan for competing safely, racing resumed at Darlington Raceway.
With imagination, creativity and careful execution, NASCAR managed to stage a full 36-race schedule in the Cup Series. The 2020 season was one of discovery, as NASCAR ran races without practice and qualifying, doubled up at certain tracks and held primetime events midweek.
“(On Sunday), when we crown a champion in our Cup Series, we will have run all our races,” Phelps said. “We did it through ways that, frankly, probably we didn’t think we could do, right?
“A bunch of midweek races. Three doubleheaders. No practice and qualifying. Things that were kind of significant in bedrock that we do, right? You come to the racetrack, you’re here for three days, you practice, you qualify, you’re on your way, right?
“For us to be the first sport back without fans initially on May 17th in Darlington, to the first sport back with fans, I think it’s an extraordinary achievement.”
After champions in the top three national series are crowned this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR faces considerable uncertainty as the 2021 season approaches, as do all sports. The Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2021, but how the landscape will look at that point is still a major unknown.
“I think I would say, not just for the 500 but for our entire schedule, we have this incredible schedule that has been put together leading off with the Daytona 500 on February 14th,” Phelps said. “Do I believe we’re going to have fans in the stands? I do. What percentage of fans in the stands? I’m not sure. Will we have folks in the garage, fans in the garage? I don’t know. What I would say is I can’t wait till we do have fans back in the garage.
“The hallmark of our sport is about accessibility to the garage, accessibility to the drivers, the crews. We don’t have that. We don’t have that because we need to keep people safe. That’s the only way we’re going to run a race is if we’re going to keep people safe.”
To achieve that objective with respect to the competitors, NASCAR adopted one-day shows for each series to minimize the possibility of exposure to the virus. Next year, 28 of the 36 Cup Series points races will be one-day shows. That will change to some degree in 2022 when the new Next Gen race car hits the track.
“I would say whatever mad scientist would come up with a one day show would have been shot down pretty quickly,” Phelps said. “Really, it was from the pandemic. Really, it was from the industry coming together and saying, ‘Can you do it at race tracks, from an officiating standpoint?’ The resounding answer was yes, obviously.
“The great news is that the racing, again, arguably is as good as it’s ever been. We have 28 one-day shows next year, eight that we do not, (where) we’re going to have practice and qualifying. What does that look like in ’22 as we unveil a new car? Probably a lot more practice and qualifying. How much, and what does it look like? Really, it will be determined when we get a little closer to that particular season.”
Phelps said the urgency of dealing with schedule restructuring and devising protocols to keep competitors and other essential personnel safe within the garage forced the pausing of discussions with potential new manufacturers.
“We haven’t had a ton of conversations with other OEMs during the COVID situation,” Phelps said. “They’ve kind of had their own issues with supply chains, making sure they’re getting vehicles out.
“When the season ends, we’ll start to kind of restart those conversations. Only a certain number of hours in a day. Those have taken a little bit of a step back — at least a pause, not a step back — but a pause. I think we’ll ramp those discussions back up.
“Again, I’ll go back to it. I think we are actually a more attractive sport today to a new OEM than we were back in March. I believe that to be true. It’s not that we were not an attractive sport for them to make investments in our sport, but I think now more than ever.”
The 2020 season also was one of heightened social consciousness within the sport. With the activism of Black driver Bubba Wallace as a catalyst, NASCAR banned the Confederate flag on race-track premises and reaffirmed its commitment to make the sport as inclusive as possible.
“What we do from a social justice standpoint moving forward really to me is about human decency,” Phelps said. “We want to make sure that people want to come to our facilities. We want to make sure they want to participate in this sport on television, radio, digitally and socially.
“We want them to feel part of this community. It’s a fantastic community — it really is.”
The driver of the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet finished 10th in Friday’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway – despite leading a race-high 78 of 156 laps. He even held the front spot with two laps to go in regulation, but then a caution flew to force the Lucas Oil 150 into overtime. His team opted to stay out front – as he put it – “like a sitting duck” on old tires, while many other trucks pitted to freshen up before the restart.
“Race strategy has been a downfall for us all year, for sure,” Moffitt said in a post-race Zoom availability. “We’ve thrown away multiple wins because of it. It’s frustrating to lose a championship because of it.”
Moffitt was a Championship 4 driver. He had the third-best finish of the group, therefore closing out his 2020 season third in the final standings. Sheldon Creed came away with the race win and championship title. Zane Smith placed second in both categories. Grant Enfinger wound up 13th in the race and fourth in the standings.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing next year, so that’s that,” Moffitt said. “This year’s been hell on and off the race track. I don’t know. It’s been a tough year in my personal life with everything that happened. Having a bad year on track certainly doesn’t help that at all.
“Honestly, I’m just glad it’s over with.”
This season marked Moffitt’s second with GMS Racing. He raced for Hattori Racing Enterprises in 2018, when he won six races and the championship in his full-time season in the series.
In total, Moffitt had the one win, 10 top fives and 16 tops 10s this year. He averaged a 9.7 finish.
“I didn’t hear what Brett said,” GMS Racing team owner Maury Gallagher said. “Anybody in that position is going to be upset and angry. I’m sure in the heat of the battle, he didn’t mean anything because that team has performed all year. Brett arguable was the most consistent driver the entire year in many years.
“Brett is a good guy. We really have enjoyed having Brett around. I’ll go look at the film. If need be, we’ll chat it out.”
GMS Racing president Mike Beam later indicated the team hopes to finalize is 2021 driver lineup in the next two weeks.
As for his aforementioned personal life, Moffitt broke both his legs during a dirt-bike accident back in March. The injuries required his first-ever surgery, and he has admitted in the past the recovery was painful. He didn’t miss any races due to the fact NASCAR had paused all on-track activity at the time due to the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“If broken legs isn’t enough of a handicap,” Moffitt said live from pit road on FS1, “race strategy is I guess.”
Championship finalist Sheldon Creed had already apologized to his race team as his No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado began to fall back in the closing laps of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
And then a yellow flag came out – with three laps remaining. Creed gambled on a pit stop for fresh tires even as the race leaders – fellow championship contenders Brett Moffitt and Grant Enfinger stayed on track. Creed restarted ninth but made an amazing four-wide move on the bottom of the track to pull back into the lead with a lap to go and held off rookie teammate Zane Smith by a mere .617-seconds to earn his first NASCAR national series championship trophy in a dramatic season finale at the one-mile track.
“I can’t believe it, thank you so much,” the 23-year old Californian, Creed screamed into his team radio as he crossed the finish line.
“The caution came out and we were like, ‘we’ve got nothing to lose’,” Creed said of the decision to pit for tires. “I pride myself on my restarts week-in and week-out and just nailed the restart right there.
“I was just driving as hard as I can, I wanted this thing so bad.”
It was particularly heart-wrenching for Creed’s teammate Moffitt, who led a race best 78 of the 156 laps and had held the front position for 59 laps when that final caution came out for Dawson Cram’s spinning No. 41 Chevrolet. The 2018 series champion, Moffitt, was essentially left helpless on the restart as all the trucks with fresh tires – plus a pair of title contenders – came at him in a five-wide title-on-the-line run for the checkered.
“It’s frustrating losing like that,” Moffitt said. “It would have been an honor to win with this paint scheme in honor of [NASCAR Cup Series champion] Jimmie Johnson,” said Moffitt, adding, “I guess if broken legs isn’t enough of a handicap, race strategy is.”
Moffitt, driver of the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet, was referring to an accident he had prior to the COVID-19 NASCAR pause in competition, that broke both his legs. He recovered and valiantly made a run for the title despite the physical setback.
Smith, the third GMS Racing driver in the Championship 4, was similarly frustrated on pit road after the race. He earned two wins on the season and the series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Honors, but the disappointment in Friday night’s outcome was obvious post-race.
“Honestly, I’m happy for Sheldon, he had an amazing year along with us,” said the 21-year old Californian. “Man, nothing hurts more than to be the first loser.”
Non-championship contenders Chandler Smith finished third, Christian Eckes and Raphael Lessard rounded out the top five. Last year’s Phoenix winner Stewart Friesen, Ben Rhodes, Tyler Ankrum, Todd Gilliland and Moffitt rounded out the top 10.
The fourth member of the Championship 4, Grant Enfinger certainly turned in an impressive rally on the night. After earning his championship chance last week in a wild finish at Martinsville. Enfinger was chasing Moffitt down in the closing laps before the yellow flag.
Like Moffitt, he stayed out during the caution and was also passed on the frantic ensuing restart by trucks with fresher tires. He finished 13th in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford.
“We just couldn’t go on a short run,” Enfinger said. “We had good speed on a long run, but just couldn’t pass after that. So we got off sequence. That worked. [Crew chief Jeff] Hensley was leaning towards tires at the end. I was leaning against it just to do something different, and we ended up staying out. That cost us.
“It just is what it is. We didn’t have quite the short run speed to legitimately contend tonight, but, man, a great season by these guys. I’m gonna try not to be too sad leaving here because it’s been a great year. It’s just unfortunate the way it turned out tonight.”
Sheldon Creed, a breakout star in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, completed his run to the top by winning the 2020 championship Friday at Phoenix Raceway.
Creed finished ahead of fellow Championship 4 contenders Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith at the 1-mile track to claim the crown in his second full-time season driving for GMS Racing.
Creed was running third before a caution came out with three laps remaining. The No. 2 team elected to pit for four fresh tires, which allowed Creed to quickly move up through the field after restarting ninth and take the lead from Chandler Smith on the second-to-last lap.
“My teammate was going to win the championship and I was going to run third,” Creed said. “I pride myself on my restarts week in and week out and just nailed the restart there. Driving this thing as hard as I can. I want this so bad.
“I don’t know how I did it, I just drove as hard as I could,” he added. “My whole family … we have like 20 camp spots out here. I’m going to drink some cold beer tonight.”
Moffitt, who was the leader on the overtime restart, got pressure from third-place driver Ben Rhodes as the trucks went three-wide through the dogleg and into Turn 1. While Creed used the apron of the race track to move to the front, Moffitt slide back to a 10th-place result for third in the playoff standings.
Smith finished second to earn the same result in the final playoff standings, while Enfinger finished 13th to place fourth out of the Championship 4 contenders.
Creed, 23 from Alpine, California, has raced in 53 career Gander Trucks events. He recorded his first win earlier this season at Kentucky Speedway. He also had wins at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and Texas Motor Speedway in the Round of 8 to advance to the Championship 4.
Creed improved in every major statistical category in 2020 when compared to his first full-time season in 2019. That first year included 11 top-10 finishes and four top-five results in 23 races, and he ended the season ranked 10th in the standings. This year, he entered the Phoenix finale with four wins, eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10 results.
Creed started out the 2020 season with a ninth-place finish at the Daytona oval and then posted two more top 10s at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. After falling out of the top 10 in his next two races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, Creed got back up to third at Pocono Raceway before delivering his first series win at Kentucky.
That win came in a rain-shortened event when Creed made a bold three-wide move to grab the lead from ThorSport Racing’s Rhodes and teammate Zane Smith before the race was halted for weather. At the time, Creed said, “Really wish I could have gotten to the finish line and finished that out right, but I’ll take this win.”
That bold style Creed used to get his first win could be traced back to his dirt background.
“That guy can go out there and wheel the thing slap sideways all day and he don’t care,” Creed’s teammate at GMS Racing, Tyler Ankrum, said.
Learning to master the line between taking risks and keeping control has been something Creed said has been the key to his success this season. Creed used those learnings to come on strong at the end of the year with the No. 2 Chevrolet team. In addition to the win at Texas, he also had second-place finishes at Las Vegas and Kansas Speedway during the playoffs.
Creed also has a title in the ARCA Menards Series he won in 2018 while with MDM Motorsports. Before that, Creed cut his racing teeth in BMX racing and off-road truck racing, where he was a champion in 2015. He also has an X-Games gold medal to his credit.
