Posted on by Holly Cain

It’s been a particularly busy news week for driver Aric Almirola, as his Richard Petty Motorsports team announced neither he nor longtime sponsor Smithfield Foods will return to the organization next season.

Speaking to NASCAR.com, Almirola said he was informed he would not return to RPM weeks ago and has been looking at employment opportunities with other Monster Energy Series teams ever since.

“Actually I was rather shocked when I found out,” Almirola said of the news he wouldn’t return to RPM. But, he said repeatedly, he understands the business of the sport and the complicated synergy of driver, team and sponsor.

Smithfield Foods has already said it will join Stewart-Haas Racing next year. SHR driver Danica Patrick announced this week she will not be back with the team, so there is a prime opening and much speculation about the veteran Almirola possibly going there.

Almirola said there is no news to announce about his 2018 plans, but remained optimistic both he and RPM would land firmly on their collective feet.

MORE: RPM statement | Danica’s statement

The 2014 summer Daytona race winner, Almirola is part of a bumper crop of veteran free agents. He sounded hopeful about his plans next season, but reiterated nothing has been finalized yet.

“I’m a race car driver and that’s all I want to do, is race,” Almirola said. “From the time I moved to North Carolina from Florida, I never had a Plan B. And until that window of opportunity to drive a race car closes, I’ll go with Plan A.

“The next 10 weeks are going to be strange. We’ll finish out the last 10 races of the season doing the best we can. That’s in the best interest of all us. The whole garage area pays attention to that stuff and it’s in our best interest to perform at a high level and finish out year on a high note.”

SILLY SEASON: The 2017 key players

As news about Almirola’s departure surfaced, longtime Petty Motorsports sponsor, STP, responded on Twitter wishing the 33-year-old driver well.

“STP has had the privilege of calling Aric Almirola our driver, STP representative and friend for six years,” it read. “Aric brought STP back to Victory Lane and into the NASCAR playoffs and we are grateful for the class he has shown along the way.”

Almirola was similarly grateful and complimentary of the sponsors he’s had at RPM during his six-year tenure with the team that produced a victory (Daytona), a pole position (Charlotte, 2012) and 28 top-10 finishes. He has posted a pair of top-five finishes this season at Daytona and Talladega.

“My last six years at RPM, it has been truly an honor for me to drive for all of our brands,” Almirola stressed. “Smithfield, obviously, has been the primary sponsor and it’s been great working with them. Also to be a representative of the U.S. Air Force was great. I was born on an Air Force base and my father was in the Air Force.

“To be associated with STP and their history in the sport and with Richard (Petty), has been incredible. Our partners with Fresh from Florida, and me being from Florida, that has been so cool for me. … I’ve built all these relationships and it’s been fun and really an honor.”

Almirola is hopeful the final months of the season will prove invigorating as well — that good things remain on the horizon for both himself and the Richard Petty Motorsports team he has been a part of for so long. There are no bad feelings, he says, only motivation to move on in a positive way.

“Any break up in life is challenging,” he said. “Finding out many weeks ago they would go a different direction was hurtful. I was sad and disappointed, but I know they have to make decisions on what they think is appropriate and necessary.

“Now it’s time for me to pick myself up and move on. I’ve built all these relationships during the past six years and it’s been fun and really an honor.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Full weekend for Chicagoland

Kyle Busch zipped to the top of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, setting the fast time in the first practice for the opening race of the 2017 Playoffs.

Busch powered the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota to a best lap of 184.143 mph on the 1.5-mile track. He’ll seek his second Chicago victory in Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM).

Championship-eligible drivers dominated the top end of the leaderboard, posting 10 of the fastest 12 speeds. But second-fastest among the front-runners was rookie Daniel Suarez, a non-playoff driver who managed a 183.418 mph lap in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota.

Denny Hamlin made it a 1-2-3 sweep for Gibbs cars, landing the third-fastest lap (182.921 mph) in the No. 11 Toyota. Top-seeded Martin Truex Jr. was fourth-fastest with Kevin Harvick completing the top five in the 85-minute session.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled Friday at 6:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App).

Posted on by Staff Report

Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Thursday night that he is selling the charter for his No. 77 Toyota team.

“It’s being sold right now,” Visser said. “We think there’s going to be a lot of charters on the market.”

“It’s sold,” Visser added later in the interview. “It’s all contracted for right now.”

The No. 77 has an open seat for next year as rookie Erik Jones, who currently drives that car, is moving to Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 20.

This is the first year Furniture Row has run two cars in the organization’s history. Martin Truex Jr., who drives the No. 78 Toyota, is the top seed entering the NASCAR Playoffs and won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2017 Regular Season Championship.

Visser indicated he believes he could purchase another charter if Furniture Row fields the No. 77 next year.

Posted on by Darrell Wallace Jr.

All I’ve done for the last 15 years is race — and when that gets pulled out from under you, it’s scary as hell.

It started when Roush Fenway Racing told me it would no longer run my No. 6 XFINITY Ford, leaving me without a ride for the rest of the 2017 season. I’m not like normal 23-year-olds; I’ve got a mortgage on my house, a car payment and a K-12 education.

Racing is the way I make a living.

The future right now is somewhat of a question mark for me; I’ve got some leads, but not much set in stone.

So, it’s hard not to question myself as I stare into a wide-open, but uncertain, rest of my career.

Wondering, “Am I done driving?”

PHOTOS: Our shoot with Bubba

Scott Hunter | NASCAR Productions

•   •   •

Three months ago, my life looked very different.

I was still driving the No. 6 for Roush Fenway Racing in the XFINITY Series. This was my third year driving in the series full time and I continued searching for that first trip to XFINITY Victory Lane. We had been slowly making gains — plenty of top 10s, some top-five finishes and a handful of runner-up results — but no W.

I still had most of my confidence, but every time you miss Victory Lane — 78 times in this case — you do lose a little bit of it, you know?

Sponsorship was always somewhat of a struggle, too; we would get the word we were good for a few races and then we would tack a few more on. That continued throughout the year. I always think about a bit of advice Adam Stevens, now Kyle Busch’s crew chief, told me in 2012 when I made my XFINITY debut.

“Sponsors look at results,” he said. Results meaning wins.

Scott Hunter/ NASCAR Productions

As we continued through the season, I never forgot that — but I was optimistic we would be OK. We were fourth in the points and would be contending for a championship, my crew chief Seth Barbour and I reasoned.

I never thought I would lose my ride. Not at that moment, not when we were a legitimate championship contender.

But we did — that’s just how racing works.

I try to be a positive person and live by the mantra that when one door closes, another opens. That the man upstairs wouldn’t let me fall.

And He didn’t.

Chris Trotman | Getty Images

Around the same time my No. 6 Ford ceased operation, I received a phone call asking me to drive the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in the Monster Energy Series for a limited number of races during Aric Almirola’s injury recovery.

I knew this was a temporary deal and that I wouldn’t have anything to climb back into once I was done filling in for Aric. But having never raced a Cup car and with nothing else lined up, I was very grateful for the opportunity.

The first race at Pocono Raceway was shaky – I made a mistake on pit road and ended up 26th. But we got better each week: 19th, then 15th and then 11th – one spot away from a top 10 – in my last start at Kentucky Speedway.

In those four races, I wasn’t racing for points – I was racing to show everyone I could do it. The exposure I got from driving the No. 43 car was great. I had team owners and crew chiefs coming up to me in the garage, telling me ‘Good job.’

Scott Hunter/ NASCAR Productions

They weren’t asking me to drive their car, but they were paying attention.

That’s a start.

•   •   •

I spent five weeks out of the race car before I got my next chance at Michigan International Speedway, which entailed driving the No. 99 truck fielded by owner Matthew Miller.

Jumping back in the truck was huge. We were fast in practice, but started off a bit slow in the race.

I thought, “You know what, I have nothing to lose.”

I started making some bold moves, moves that some may call dumb, but I just didn’t care. I was doing what I knew I needed to do to win, adding some Bubba spice along the way.

Brian Lawdermilk | Getty Images

And it worked — I held on to take that checkered flag. My burnout was weak, but I was just so happy to be back there. You could tell by looking at me and my girlfriend Amanda’s faces that there were so many emotions playing at that moment.

But most importantly, it brought back a bit of confidence. A bit of Bubba back.

•   •   •

This past year — well, really the past couple years — has been a roller coaster ride. I’m working really hard to secure some opportunities for next season, ones that I’ve got my fingers crossed for.

Before that, I’ve signed a deal with Biagi DenBeste Racing to drive the No. 98 XFINITY Series ride at Chicagoland Speedway. I’m stoked to get back in the car and have truly loved everyone I’ve worked with this season. There are some good folks in racing and I’ve had a lot of people in my corner, advocates that I’m so grateful to have.

And honestly? Not having a ride has made me more humble and hungry to focus on what’s ahead.

In a few years, I hope I can look back and think, “Glad that crap’s over.” Like a “remember when?” moment.

But I’m keeping a positive attitude. I’m continuing to look at this trying season as a building block that will aid me in my next steps in racing. Making appearances at the track just to keep relevant in a very fast-moving sport.

Because I’m not done yet.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Nine teams. Sixteen drivers. One Monster Energy NASCAR Cup.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs start now, and the postseason field that resulted from a memorable regular season under an enhanced points structure is one of intrigue.

Of the 16 drivers, there are six past champions — including seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson — mixed with millennials like Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.

Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing are represented, but so, too, are the resurgent Roush Fenway Racing and Wood Brothers Racing teams.

It’s a playoffs field with a little bit of everything.

“It’s really incredible,” NASCAR President Brent Dewar told NASCAR.com. “You have a seven-time champion going for history. We also have drivers like Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, and you see their genuine excitement that they’re racing for a championship. And at the other end, Jimmie’s excited like a little kid, wanting to win his eighth.

“We’ve worked hard on the competitive balance on the series. The current format is win and advance, and it’s gratifying to see the diversity of the organizations that are in, and the number of different types of wins.”

RELATED: Lifelong love of cars, racing fueled Dewar

Some of those wins have been dominant — top seed Martin Truex Jr. comes to mind, with his performances at Kentucky and Las Vegas. Some have been last-second, like Kurt Busch’s last-lap pass to win the Daytona 500, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. swiping the lead from Kyle Busch at Talladega after the white flag dropped.

“Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch had the best regular season, but they still have to perform well in the playoffs,” Dewar said. “We think we’ve landed on a really compelling format that rewards success throughout the regular season. One of the things I love about our teams and our drivers is that they’ll adjust and make it even more compelling next year.”

Other topics Dewar discussed in the NASCAR.com interview include:

• The evolving role of the driver council: “The driver council started with a really simple concept: ‘Let’s fix these things.’ Now it’s moved into very strategic discussions. When we talked to the drivers last year, they never set out to say, ‘Gee, we’d like to have stages.’ But we asked them what made them really get up on the wheel and they began talking about the race within the race. The outcome of that was stages.”

• Evolution of stage racing: “We’re happy with the format, but there’s no question the race teams are very innovative. There’s very much a learned science approach they take to stage racing. I think this year we learned a lot about if the stages are the right length, how does it interact with the tire strategy and the fuel strategy. If anything, those will be the only tweaks. What’s a key part of the stage racing is not just the driver, but it’s the driver with the crew chief and the driver with the car chief.”

• The series’ first regular-season champion, Martin Truex Jr.: “The drivers said, ‘We would like to crown a regular-season champion.’ They were concerned a driver could have the most incredible season, but could be eliminated by something outside the driver’s control in that first round. It wasn’t an easy solve, but we thought about it as an industry and it led to a really exciting, compelling format that rewards success throughout the season.”

• The role of iRacing: “There’s many different pathways to get to the national series. Many drivers will start in go-karting and midgets, and we have a great HomeTracks program across the country. Those are the natural ways people will follow. But it’s 2017, and we have an incredible product in iRacing where, with the math data we can pull off the tracks today, you can race just like you can on tracks with some of the same simulation activities. It’s a big opportunity for our future.”

• Drivers having a variety of platforms (social media, radio, podcasts) with which to reach fans: “We want them to have a personality. We don’t want them to be robotic. If someone hasn’t listened to the Glass Case of Emotion with Ryan (Blaney) and Kim (Coon), it’s incredible. It’s authentic. It’s them.’Happy Hours’ on SiriusXM Radio, that’s a perfect venue for Kevin Harvick. He’s very thoughtful. He’s seen the sport from every angle, and he has a sports management company. We think we’re onto something really special here.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR.com spent Tuesday at Joe Gibbs Racing in Huntersville, North Carolina. During the visit, our team got to know theirs a little better, sitting down with drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez as well as team owner Joe Gibbs and their four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series crew chiefs.

Stay tuned this week as NASCAR.com features unique, all-access content.

VIDEO: Joe Gibbs Racing drivers offer takes on their teammates personalities

JGR’s push for excellence extends to pit crew training

 

Suarez earns praise from veteran teammates

 

VIDEO: Denny Hamlin, Mike Wheeler talk penalties

Hamlin relying on JGR’s deep bench to duplicate Chicago success of ’15

 

VIDEO: Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs talk team turnaround

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Daniel Suarez’s rookie season has had moments of splendor, something that hasn’t escaped the notice of his veteran Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.

Still, it was refreshing for Suarez to hear the kind words from both Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth when asked to assess their young protégé’s performance thus far.

“I love you guys,” Suarez said with a grin, flanked by Hamlin and Kenseth in an informal roundtable this week with NASCAR.com. “You guys are great.”

MORE: Content from JGR shop visit

Thrust into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at the start of the year, Suarez has made strides in his first run through the regular season in the No. 19 Toyota. A pair of DNFs in the last four races hampered his bid for a playoff berth, but he still has plenty to race for as he vies for a breakthrough premier-series victory and his chance at the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award.

The 25-year-old Mexico native first attracted the attention of his JGR stablemates by working his way up the national series ladder, culminating in last year’s XFINITY Series championship march — an achievement that made a distinct impression on Kenseth.

“The thing about Daniel is he’s a really hard worker,” Kenseth says. “You see him where he started and where he is today. But for me, really, last year I watched a lot of improvement in the XFINITY Series from where he started and how he started progressing throughout the whole year. And then really at Homestead where he took that pressure-packed race and beat those other three guys and figured out how to get it done and do it mistake-free.

“You never see him make the same mistake twice — a quick learner — so it’s definitely been fun to watch the progress.”

Hamlin has noticed, too, whether it’s in the results column or in the gym, the latter of which has helped him prep for the series’ longer schedule and race distances. The former came quickly as well. After three straight finishes in the 20s to open the season, Suarez posted his first top-10 finishes in consecutive weeks at Phoenix and Fontana.

WATCH: JGR drivers show off personalities

“I’ve just seen a steady progression,” Hamlin says. “I mean, I know even five or six races in, he was optimizing his finish. He was finishing better than what he was running through the event, and that’s probably the opposite of what a rookie usually does, right?”

One factor helping Suarez’s learning curve has been recent advancements in Joe Gibbs Racing’s performance. The organization was slow out of the gate in 2017 and didn’t crack Victory Lane until mid-July, but has made a major push to contend on a weekly basis since.

There has been plenty for Suarez to adjust to in year one, but having fast cars tends to ease most growing pains.

“I feel like for me in the beginning of the year, there were a lot of new things: the new car, the new Camry, new crew chief, new car in general for me, new racing — so many new things for me,” Suarez said. “I feel like we’ve been getting better as a race team — more speed and getting better. I feel like the entire team has been getting much better as well from the beginning of the year. Already, that’s helped me a lot as well to be more competitive and racing in the front.”

“Just super excited to be at this point, and hopefully one of these guys can get the championship for JGR.”

Posted on by DraftKings

Rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver. FPPK = Average fantasy points per $1,000 of salary.

1. Martin Truex, Jr. ($10,700) – The biggest dig on fantasy NASCAR is that it’s volatile. Anything can happen. Anyone can wreck. An ambulance took out one the best cars last week! Is Truex volatile? He’s scored over 60 points in each of the last nine intermediate tracks races (an average of 98 pts per race). That doesn’t sound volatile. (6.3 fppk)

2. Kyle Larson ($10,400) – Last year, Larson had to start from the back at Chicago. With only four cautions during the entire race, Larson never had a chance. In the two previous Chicago races, Larson finished with top-five scores. That was with inferior equipment. (5.6 fppk)

3. Kyle Busch ($10,600) – In the last five Chicago races, Kyle Busch has five DraftKings top-10s. Finishing position points have helped, but the main reason for his success is elite speed. This car consistently scores fast lap and laps led points every year at Chicago. (5.5 fppk)

4. Jimmie Johnson ($9,100) – Last year at Chicago, a distance of one foot allowed Johnson to stay on the lead lap during the first caution. The leaders pitted and he took the lead. His luck ran out when he was nailed with a pit road penalty near the end. Johnson scored the third most fantasy points. (3.7 fppk)

5. Denny Hamlin ($9,700) – His Darlington win was taken away because his car failed the post-race inspection. When Hamlin won at New Hampshire, he employed a very strange burnout. At any rate, he’s fast. (4.2 fppk)

6. Brad Keselowski ($9,400) – This looked like a Ford year back in March. Keselowski busted out of the gates at the 1.5-mile tracks in Atlanta and Las Vegas. However, as quickly as the speed appeared, it vanished. BK flashed some speed at Michigan, but it was ephemeral. (4.1 fppk)

7. Kurt Busch ($8,100) – Last season, Denny Hamlin won at Daytona. For most of the regular season, Hamlin’s team experimented. At the end, of the regular season, they turned it on. Kurt followed the same pattern. He enters the playoffs with three straight top-five finishes. (3.3 fppk)

8. Joey Logano ($9,000) – There are a lot of really good cars this season, but there are only a few great cars. Unfortunately for Logano, he’s one of the really good cars. He’s a consistent top-10 driver, but he has not led a significant amount of laps at an intermediate track since April. (3.1 fppk)

9. Matt Kenseth ($9,300) – Fantasy football has nothing on Fantasy NASCAR. An ambulance took out one of the top fantasy picks last week. That’s like a cheerleader concussing Tom Brady with a karate kick. Kenseth should run around 10th, but he doesn’t have the speed to lead the pack at an intermediate track. (3.5 fppk)

10. Clint Bowyer ($8,200) – Points no longer matter. Bowyer can take chances and race for wins. A change of strategy will not make his car faster than the JGR cars. When Bowyer was running his best with his former teams (MWR and RCR), he earned five straight top-10s at Chicago. (3.5 fppk)

11. Ryan Newman ($7,500) – This is a great time to be on a hot streak. Newman has four consecutive top-10 finishes heading into the playoffs. Over that span, he’s averaging 56 fantasy points per race. In his last 10 Chicago races, he has seven top-10 finishes. (4.5 fppk)

12. Kevin Harvick ($10,100) – It’s all about comparisons. Harvick is having a good season, but not when you compare it to previous seasons. He set the second place finish record in 2015. Compared to the JGR Toyotas, he’s not a Xfinity car, but he’s not in JGR’s league either. (4.2 fppk)

13. Chase Elliott ($9,900) – The #24 car has been strong at Chicago. Gordon passed the torch to Elliott last season, and Elliott responded with 86 fantasy points. The #24 car scored over 50 fantasy points in each Chicago race from 2013 to 2015. (3.7 fppk)

14. Aric Almirola ($6,000) – He’s still too cheap. His results at Chicago are mixed. Two of his races are outside of the top-30. Three of his races are top-20s. That’s fine for a $6,000 driver. The #43 car is strong this season. Bubba Wallace finished 11th in this car in his first Monster Cup intermediate track race. (4.4 fppk)

15. Erik Jones ($8,400) – This summer at the intermediate tracks, Jones has been fast in the practices and fast in the races. Having a fast car helps, but not all rookies can translate one fast lap in practice into 300 fast laps in traffic. (4.2 fppk)

16. Jamie McMurray ($8,500) – One part of fantasy NASCAR is identifying the fast cars. The other part is figuring out how to get those cars into your lineup. McMurray is always fast, but he never fits. He’s averaging 37 points at intermediate tracks, but rostering him makes it difficult to afford an elite driver. (3.4 fppk)

17. Ty Dillon ($6,900) – Throw out the two intermediate track duds (that’s not very many), and Dillon averages 35 fantasy points per race. Duds asides, his lowest score is 25 fantasy points. He’s safe, and he’s cheap. (4.6 fppk)

18. Ryan Blaney ($8,700) – The Wood Brothers’ #21 car is fast. It excels at the intermediate tracks. The two times that Blaney started on the front row, he scored fast lap and laps led points. In the other intermediate track races, Blaney was a top-10 contender. (2.7 fppk)

19. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($7,400) – In eight of the 10 intermediate track races this season, his average running position is 17th or better. In six of those eight races, Stenhouse has finished better than 17th. It’s too early to dub him “The Closer,” but he can be “The Good Finisher.” (3.9 fppk)

20. Daniel Suarez ($7,800) – Richmond was a nice bounce back week for Suarez, but the fear of a wreck still looms. Suarez had avoided trouble for most of the season, but his last two intermediate tracks races have ended in DNFs. (3.9 fppk)

Posted on by Staff Report

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a diehard Washington Redskins fan. Everyone knows that.

But just how much is Junior willing to do to see his team win a Super Bowl? According to Twitter, just about anything.

MORE: Legacy: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Can Junior win another at Chicagoland?

Using a meme that pays homage to the newly-released horror movie “It,” the No. 88 driver said he would float down to the sewer if it meant Washington were to be crowned the new champs. Actually, not even champs. Just in the Super Bowl. That’s how desperate he is.

Risking his life at the hands of psycho clowns just to potentially see his team win? Sign Dale Jr. up.

Would you head down to the sewer if it meant seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. find Victory Lane one more time?

Posted on by Holly Cain

NASCAR PLAYOFFS: Print your grid | Guide to the playoffs

Kyle Larson’s victory in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway feels like an appropriately dramatic scenario to begin the highly anticipated 10-race NSACAR Playoffs.

Regular Season Champion Martin Truex was leading the final laps and looked to wrap up his series-best fifth victory, when a late-race caution changed the juju. Larson, who led 53 laps on the night, beat Truex off pit road, then Truex and Denny Hamlin collided, sending Truex’s No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota into the wall as the race finished.

While Truex’s heart may have been broken in the moment, his motivation is undoubtedly stirred and strengthened. And his position already was strong: He takes a series-best 53 bonus points into the playoffs — 20 more than No. 2 seed Larson.

He joked with reporters at Wednesday’s playoff media day, that he “got over” Saturday night’s Richmond disappointment fairly quickly.

“Actually it was Tuesday,” he said with a laugh.

“I think we’ll be OK,” he continued. “I think it’s certainly not going to hurt our momentum or confidence the way the last two finished out. Sometimes circumstances in racing you can’t control happen. That’s just the way it goes. So I think we’re in good shape. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out.”

RELATED: Drivers dish on playoff chances and more

The rather interesting thing about a Truex versus Larson rivalry is that they both have extremely laid-back personalities.

Highly-driven, super motivated to win a first Cup championship? Yes.

But they are considered two of the sport’s genuine “nice guys” — less inclined to give the bumper in an angry payback and highly unlikely to talk smack heading into the playoffs, even with a career-making trophy on the line. Their canvas has always been on the race track and judging by their success — especially this season — it’s been a sort of masterpiece in the works. The question is what it will look like when it’s finished.

Asked about his competition Wednesday, Larson was typically generous in his assessment.

“It’s kind of hard to have a favorite really; it’s only one race,” Larson said of a Homestead-Miami Speedway grand finale. “Martin will be really good there. If both Kyle Busch and I make it there, I think we’re both really good at that style of race track. (Kevin) Harvick obviously is really good. Jimmie (Johnson).

“I mean, there’s so many people that are good at Homestead, it’s hard to pick a favorite. But I think if you had to pick a favorite to make it all the way there, it would be Martin.”

RELATED: NASCAR Playoffs standings, driver stories | Chicago schedule

Truex’s Toyota and Larson’s No. 42 Target Chevy have been the consistent “class of the field” throughout the season and locks on most fans’ playoff grids. The real struggles come in predicting the other two who might take it to the Miami season-finale. Former champions Busch (a two-time winner in 2017) and Harvick (Sonoma winner) are popular and obvious picks.

And of course there is that perennial “Fall guy,” seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who has three wins this season — the most recent coming June 3 at Dover, which also plays host to the final race in the Round of 16.

Last year Johnson performed the most dramatic championship performance in recent memory. Literally minutes before the race started, his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy was moved from its 14th place spot on the grid to last because of an unapproved adjustment. He still rallied to win he the race – his first victory at Miami for a record-tying seventh title.

“This playoff format to date … nobody knows,” Johnson said Wednesday. “And it takes away from over-thinking it which is really nice.”

It’s certainly an interesting dichotomy for the sport — two drivers racing for their first championship favored against a group all ready to add the word “multi” to the word “champion” in their introductions.

It’s as compelling a title run as the sport has had.

“We had a rough little summer, but, you know, I feel like we got a great shot at the championship this year,” Larson said. “I’m with a great team. I feel like now our team knows what we have to do every week, every race track. I think we can be competitive for the next couple, few years hopefully, then be a championship-contending team year in and year out.”