The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season comes to an end Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
It’s the fifth year of the final showdown taking place in the Arizona desert, and three familiar faces will be duking it out for the Bill France Cup alongside a first-time challenger for the Cup championship.
After his thrilling victory to clinch his second consecutive bid to the Championship 4, Ryan Blaney will get the chance to defend his championship and be the first to go back-to-back since Jimmie Johnson in 2010.
Two-time series champion Joey Logano is back to his usual even-year achievements after clutch wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway this postseason cemented his place in the title race. He’ll look to become just the 10th driver in Cup history to win three or more championships.
After initially not knowing if he made the Championship 4 or not when the checkered flag waved at Martinsville Speedway last weekend, William Byron seeks his first championship after falling short of his maiden title in 2023. Byron is the only driver from the Hendrick Motorsports camp to make the Championship 4 after three of the four cars in the organization made the Round of 8.
Then, there’s regular-season champion Tyler Reddick getting his first shot at a title. The regular season paid more than enough to the No. 45 driver, who struggled throughout the first nine races of the playoffs and even found himself upside down at Las Vegas in the Round of 8. In a must-win situation at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Reddick surged by Blaney in the final corner of the final lap to deliver 23XI Racing’s first chance at a championship.
As the weekend is set to get underway, NASCAR.com has you covered from all angles for Championship Weekend. Read our full coverage below to get ready for the Cup Series title race.
MOST COMPETITIVE TITLE RACE EVER?
James Gilbert | Getty Images
— Most even Championship 4?: The numbers say no one has the clear edge Sunday as Logano, Blaney, Reddick and Byron are all skilled at Phoenix. | Read more
— Making the case: Why each Championship 4 driver can win the Cup Series title … | Read more
— Exclusive club: … but why Ryan Blaney’s win would be historic in more ways than one. | Read more
— The Action Network: NASCAR odds, championship pick for Phoenix | Read more
— Extra prep, less pressure: Look out, competition. The ‘batteries are recharged’ for Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick. | Read more
— No. 24 in ’24?: William Byron is back in the Championship 4 for the second consecutive year, and his confidence is soaring. | Read more
— Motivation and momentum: Recap Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix and hear from drivers heading into Sunday. | Read more
— Rise to the occasion: Racing Insights says a non-Champ 4 driver wins Sunday, but who will finish highest of those going for the title? | Read more
— By the numbers: Crew chiefs Luke Lambert and Drew Blickensderfer dive into the Championship 4 drivers’ previous performances at Phoenix Raceway. | Watch video
— Final tally: See the betting odds for Phoenix and who owns the bragging rights as the favorite for the final race of the year. | Read more
— The making of Martin: Journey through Martin Truex Jr.’s early career before his days as a Cup Series champion. | Read more
— Last rodeo: Paint schemes for Championship Weekend, including Truex’s final livery that throws back to his very first Cup start. | Photo gallery
— Gone fishin’: Truex reflects on 19-year Cup Series career and what’s next. | Watch video
— @nascarcasm: The many eras of Truex’s lengthy NASCAR national series career. | Photo gallery
— Fantasy: Stage points still in play as final fantasy lineups are set this weekend. | Photo gallery
— Fantasy Update: Remain Championship 4-heavy for 2024 finale | Read more
Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before this Sunday’s Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock).
The NASCAR Cup Series arrived at Phoenix Raceway in October 1994 with a new seven-time champion.
Dale Earnhardt’s victory in the previous race at Rockingham clinched the title for Earnhardt with two races remaining on the 1994 slate.
Earnhardt and car owner Richard Childress spent the week celebrating their success with a hunting trip that saw Childress escape serious injury after a fall.
When it came time to qualify, the field was quick to notice that Goodyear had the superior tire. Ward Burton, who had found success earlier in the season qualifying, claimed the highest qualifying spot for a Hoosier-powered driver with a 27th-place start.
Sterling Marlin, who was capping off his first season in the No. 4 car for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, put the car on the pole for the event. He narrowly beat out Rusty Wallace for the top spot. Wallace was just one week removed from officially being eliminated from having a chance at the title, despite another strong season from the No. 2 car.
Two other drivers who were in the first year of new partnerships, Ricky Rudd and Terry Labonte, looked to be two of the fastest cars out west.
Rudd led 99 laps in his own No. 10 car before slowly fading throughout the day. He eventually brought his car home with a respectable seventh-place finish.
Labonte, who replaced Rudd in the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports, continued his hot stretch by leading a race-high 112 laps en route to Victory Lane.
Mark Martin, Marlin, Jeff Gordon and Ted Musgrave rounded out the remainder of the top five.
Earnhardt came home 40th after engine issues ended his day early. He still left with a 379-point advantage over Wallace with one week remaining. He sat 75 points ahead of Martin for the runner-up spot in the standings.
Phoenix Raceway was always a track synonymous with the success of Bobby Hamilton and the end of the 1996 season seemed fitting that another chapter of his story would take place at the track.
Hamilton made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the track in 1989, driving one of the “Days of Thunder” movie cars for Rick Hendrick.
The car was stripped of its camera equipment for the event, following an eye-popping fifth-place qualifying effort from Hamilton, which allowed him to go out and compete for a victory at the track.
He subsequently led five laps but engine issues left him with a 32nd-place finish. His flashes of success in the car led to Hamilton landing a ride in the No. 68 car for Mark Smith in 1990. Hamilton made the most of his time in the car, capturing the Rookie of the Year honors in 1991.
Hamilton showed signs of success over the next few seasons while driving for Smith, Dick Moroso, Aikins-Sutton Motorsports and Felix Sabates before the No. 40 team was purchased by Dick Brooks.
Much of his speed was shown at Phoenix, as he backed up his debut race with a 13th-place finish in 1991 after leading a lap. He returned to the track in 1992 with the Mark Smith-led team and finished eighth.
Hamilton did not race at the track in 1993 but returned in 1994 with an 11th-place finish.
All of his signs of promise led to him landing a dream ride in 1995, taking over the No. 43 car owned by Richard Petty, who retired from driving following the 1992 season finale.
The chance Petty took on Hamilton proved to be a correct choice, as he finished a career-best 14th in the season standings while battling for a handful of victories throughout the season.
Everything was looking up for the team in 1996, as they looked to build on the immediate success of their first full campaign together.
Adding to the excitement of the season was that it marked the 25th anniversary of the partnership between Petty and his longtime sponsor STP. The team rolled out a handful of throwback paint schemes for Hamilton to race throughout the season, honoring the success between Petty and the sponsor through the years.
The team didn’t find as much improvement as they had hoped for the 1996 season but the race at Phoenix turned out to be one to remember for everyone involved.
All of the focus at Phoenix was on the championship battle between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte, as well as Dale Jarrett of Robert Yates Racing.
Labonte entered the weekend up 32 points on Gordon and 76 on Jarrett, as there were just the races at Phoenix and Atlanta remaining on the schedule.
Unfortunately, Labonte didn’t seem to have the luck on his side, as he broke his left hand during a practice crash at the track on Friday. The break put a damper on the important weekend for Labonte and his team but they did manage to catch one good break.
Heavy winds sent sand blowing through the air, postponing qualifying until the following day.
When the teams were able to qualify on Saturday, it was Labonte’s younger brother Bobby who put his car on the pole for the race. Gordon and the elder Labonte both struggled during qualifying, as they started 19th and 30th respectively.
Jarrett on the other hand, took advantage of the Hendrick Motorsports struggles and put his No. 88 car fifth on the board. Hamilton qualified a quiet 17th.
The race on Sunday proved to be another instance of championship-level grit, as Labonte made his way up through the entire field with his injured hand to lead 61 laps.
It looked like Labonte had the car to beat late, as he led two long stretches late before giving up the lead to Geoff Bodine for fresh tires with just about 50 laps remaining.
The ensuing restart saw Hamilton eventually take advantage and put the No. 43 Petty Enterprises car back in Victory Lane for the first time in 13 years.
It was Hamilton’s first career Cup Series victory, coming in his 167th start, ironically at the same track he made his series debut at just a handful of years earlier.
The points battle saw Labonte shrug off his pain and finish third, a few spots ahead of Gordon and Jarrett, who both finished inside the top-10.
This set up the season finale for the championship, with Labonte entering the weekend 47 points up on Gordon and 99 on Jarrett, as he chased his first Cup Series championship since he won it in 1984.
The end of the unique 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season saw Joey Logano and Chase Elliott racing for a title following their victories at Kansas and Martinsville respectively. Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin rounded out the Championship 4 after racing their way into the battle with enough points through the Round of 8.
The weekend was also bittersweet, as it marked the final start as full-time Cup Series drivers for seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, 2003 series champion Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer.
It looked like the weekend couldn’t have got off to a better start for Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports team, as they won the pole for the race, narrowly beating out the rest of his championship rivals in qualifying.
Elliott’s supreme start to the weekend went sour quickly, as he failed pre-race inspection twice and had to start at the rear of the field.
He took the early adversity and swept it to the side, as he worked his way through the field before taking command of the race in dominating fashion. He already made his way to third by the end of the first stage.
Elliott led 153 laps after starting from the rear, the first championship-deciding race that was held at the track, en route to the first Cup Series championship of his career.
His championship, teamed with his father Bill’s in 1988, helped them become the third father and son duo to win Cup Series titles. They joined Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett.
All of the championship contenders showed up strong, as Keselowski, Logano and Hamlin finished second, third and fourth in the race.
Johnson, who was competing in his last race in the No. 48 car for Hendrick Motorsports, finished fifth.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick all share a common incentive for Sunday’s Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway, but for each one, hoisting the Bill France Cup would hold its own special distinction.
The possibilities came into focus Thursday as the four title hopefuls met the press for Media Day rounds at the 1-mile Arizona oval, which will host Sunday’s season finale (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock). Blaney has the rare opportunity to become the first driver to win consecutive Cup Series crowns since Jimmie Johnson’s five-title run ended in 2010, and Team Penske teammate Logano has the chance to join the rarefied ranks of NASCAR’s three-time Cup champions. Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and 23XI Racing’s Reddick will bid for their first Cup crowns, which would also carry special significance for their famed team owners.
Blaney aims to follow the same blueprint that launched him to his first Cup Series title last season, where an emotion-filled victory at Martinsville Speedway one week earlier provided his No. 12 Ford team a surge that carried into Phoenix weekend. This year’s Martinsville triumph may have been more spirited, one that sapped away the setback of falling one spot short the week before at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It also provided Blaney a title berth that was available only by winning.
“I talked about momentum last year and confidence coming into this race, and we were able to utilize that, and I think it’s the same way,” said Blaney, who is making his second-ever Championship 4 appearance. “I feel like it’s even more momentum than last year because winning that must-win last week at Martinsville. I think that Martinsville win last week was even bigger than ’23 because we didn’t have to win that race last year at Martinsville. We just had to have a good day, but we still ended up winning, which was great momentum for us. But I think just the lows of me losing the race at Miami, us rebounding at Martinsville, a must-win, doing it coming from where we did in the pack to get the lead there at the end and carrying it into this week, and then having the chance to do what we can do this week in going back-to-back, I think riding high for sure. But we’re fully focused on what it takes.
“Heck, we were talking about it on stage at Martinsville. Everyone was ready, like, ‘What’s next week? What are we going to do next week? How can we be better next week?’ and that’s a cool group to be around.”
Logano, his teammate, is making his sixth Championship 4 appearance and shares the opportunity to give team owner Roger Penske his third straight Cup title. His credentials are already established as a future NASCAR Hall of Famer, but a triumph on Sunday would make him the only active driver with three championships.
Reaching three would lift him into the ether, joining Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart as legendary drivers who have achieved that mark.
“I think as you do this longer, you start to think about the people that help you get here. You become a little less selfish, I believe, when it comes to what a championship means,” said Logano, who hoisted the title in 2018 and 2022. “I think it matters so much to everybody else that’s working on the team, too. Having three would be great, but seeing everyone else celebrate is even better to me, like seeing everybody just as excited for their families as well. Like that, to me, matters more than stacking up the stats, so just want to see them do that. Now, the stats come along with it, so they’re hand in hand, but definitely would like to see everybody celebrate together.”
Byron’s path to Phoenix is another return Championship 4 trip, but one that he had to wait for. When fellow title contender Christopher Bell was penalized for his last-lap Martinsville wall ride after nearly a half-hour of deliberations among NASCAR officials, the final berth in the four-driver field was his. Allegations of race manipulation on both sides of the playoff bubble were met this week by a collection of major penalties, adding another layer of controversy to the outcome.
Byron has maintained that he’s staying above the fray, calling the wait “excruciating,” but that his focus remains forward. He has a chance to give the No. 24 its first championship since 2001, capping off Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary season in the best possible way.
Martinsville hangover? Byron doesn’t think so.
“I haven’t ever felt as bonded to my team as I am now,” said Byron, who’s also in his second Champ 4 field. “I feel like we had a meeting on Sunday night about it, and I feel like we’ve turned the page really, really quickly. So for me personally, I’ve blocked out a ton of the noise. I haven’t looked at social media. I don’t really care. I’m just focused on trying to get the 24 car as fast I can, and I think past experiences probably have helped fuel that, where it’s like I’ve been through enough BS in my cup career, where I kind of know what to focus on and what to block out.”
Reddick is the only one of the four making his debut on the championship stage, and the 28-year-old driver has multiple firsts he’s striving for. His first Cup Series title would also be the first for his 23XI Racing group and team co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who formed the team a little more than four years ago.
Depending on the perspective, the magnitude of what a Cup Series title would mean could provide either motivation or pressure.
“I think it could be both, honestly,” Reddick said. “As a competitor, these are the moments you live for, being able to be in this situation and this position to go fight for a championship, but certainly when I when I think of Michael, Denny, the rest of the owners, I think of everyone back at Airspeed, those that travel on the road and dedicate their lives to this goal. Certainly it’s good pressure, but you say incentive, yes, there’s a lot of that as well to get the job done.”
Blaney claimed last year’s Cup Series title with a second-place finish at Phoenix after earning his way into the Championship 4 by taking the checkers at Martinsville, the final race in the Round of 8. He needed a win again this year at Martinsville Speedway to give himself a chance at another championship.
“It just feels like Groundhog Day because last year was the same thing. He had to win, and he won,” Ed Salmons, vice president of risk at Vegas’ Westgate SuperBook, told NASCAR.com this week. “That’s just so hard to do.”
With a stellar record on short, flat tracks in general and at Phoenix in particular, and competing for a team that has been fast all season, Blaney is poised to repeat. In fact, Team Penske has two chances to win its third-straight title as Blaney is accompanied by 2022 champ Joey Logano in the final four.
Salmons opened Blaney as the +300 favorite (3-to-1 odds) to win at Phoenix and has him at +175 to win the championship by finishing ahead of the three other contenders — Logano, William Byron and Tyler Reddick.
Christopher Bell is the outlier at the top of the oddsboard. Despite being out of contention for the title, Bell is the second betting choice at +400. Ross Chastain’s victory at Phoenix last year marked the first time in the 10-year history of the current playoff format that the final race was won by a driver not among the Championship 4.
As far as the title contenders, Byron is +500 at the SuperBook to win the race and +280 for the championship, and Logano and Reddick are priced equally at +700 for the race and +350 for the title.
Here are the odds to win Sunday’s Phoenix race from three sportsbooks (Salmons anticipates these numbers moving based on qualifying, especially if one of the four finalists earns the No. 1 pit stall — “one of the biggest pit stalls in all of NASCAR,” he says):
Driver
SuperBook
DraftKings
BetMGM
Ryan Blaney
+300
+400
+310
Christopher Bell
+400
+500
+525
William Byron
+500
+600
+475
Joey Logano
+700
+650
+600
Tyler Reddick
+700
+750
+700
Kyle Larson
+1400
+800
+900
Denny Hamlin
+1400
+1200
+1400
Ross Chastain
+1800
+1600
+1800
Chase Elliott
+1800
+2200
+1600
Brad Keselowski
+3000
+4000
+4000
Martin Truex Jr.
+3000
+2200
+2200
Chase Briscoe
+4000
+3500
+3500
Ty Gibbs
+5000
+3000
+3500
Chris Buescher
+5000
+4000
+4000
Kyle Busch
+10000
+3500
+5000
“It almost looks too simple sometimes,” Salmons said. “You can never forecast a loose wheel or when a problem will happen — obviously that’s the thing about motorsports, anything can happen at any time where it can affect your race results. But if the race plays out in a true fashion, speed-wise, you would think it’s Blaney and Byron as far as the playoffs.”
Salmons’ book faces liability on a Blaney title, and he acknowledges pricing the No. 12 Ford so short partly to discourage action.
“If this was just race, I would probably have him and Bell [priced equally],” Salmons said. “He’s definitely a little bit lower based on the championship race.”
How should bettors play Blaney?
Blaney backers may be enticed to bet him to win Sunday’s race rather than in championship futures since the potential payout is larger. After all, in nine of the 10 years of this playoff format, one of the four championship drivers won the final race, so why not shoot for the larger profit?
Quantitative NASCAR analyst Jim Sannes, however, sees value on Blaney in odds to win the championship.
“My sims have Blaney winning [the title by finishing ahead of Byron, Logano and Reddick] 35.8% of the time, well clear of his 28.6% implied odds [+250 at FanDuel],” Sannes, managing editor at FanDuel Research, said in a direct message. “He’s up there due to his great track history, the speed in Martinsville, and how good he was at both Gateway and Iowa earlier this year.
“As a result, I’d much rather back Blaney to win the championship than the race just because there’s such good value here, and it means I don’t have to deal with Bell and others.”
While bettors should always shop at multiple sportsbooks to find the best odds for their wagers, Sannes’ 35.8% projection translates to +179 odds. Theoretically, there’s value in any price better than that, so Blaney is not a recommended championship bet at +175.
Should bettors consider a non-contender at Phoenix?
A respected bettor in Las Vegas bet Bell at Salmons’ opening price of +500, prompting the move to +400 at the SuperBook.
“I was surprised at this,” Salmons said. “I know Bell won the first race here, and I thought I opened him low at five.”
Even though Chastain won last year’s Phoenix race, Salmons believes there’s a certain courtesy paid by non-contenders to the drivers trying to win the championship.
While he’s not opposed to wagering on a driver outside the Championship 4, Sannes thinks Bell is overvalued in this spot.
“I’m open to betting a non-championship driver, but I’d want more forgiving odds in order to do so,” Sannes said. “Chase Elliott at +1900, specifically, is enticing, given it would require a very specific running order for him to back off and help Byron. I haven’t bet Elliott and am unlikely to do so, but he would be the one guy who would intrigue me there.”
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season has been one long heavyweight bout between Christian Eckes and Corey Heim.
Eckes, the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet, and Heim, pilot of the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota, have dominated the first 22 races of the 23-race slate. Eckes has scored four victories for the second straight season, matching his career high. Heim is a six-time winner this year, doubling his previous best of three a year ago.
Their yearlong battle culminates in a Truck Series title-bout showdown at Phoenix Raceway Friday night (8 ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as part of a Championship 4 that also includes two-time 2024 winner Grant Enfinger and fellow double victor Ty Majeski.
“Obviously, have a ton of respect for Corey and the whole 11 team,” Eckes said at Thursday’s Champ 4 media day from the 1-mile track. “Battling all year long has been super fun. I really haven’t had that a couple years, a very fierce rival like that. So, it’s pushed us to be better. I’m sure it’s pushed him to be better, too. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to this weekend. I’m sure we’re gonna have to battle him just like the other two. It’s Phoenix, so nothing’s really guaranteed as far as what’s going to happen this weekend. You never know what’s going to happen till the last green-white-checkered.”
Heim, the 22-year-old returning to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive year, has a similar appreciation for the caliber of competition his No. 11 team and Eckes’ No. 19 program have established. Eckes, the 23-year-old making his title-fight debut, enters having scored 21 top 10s in 22 races, including a streak of 20 straight — unbroken since a 32nd-place DNF at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.
“Yeah, it’s been fun racing with Christian this year,” Heim said. “He’s been on top of his game pretty much every week. I think he’s got, like, a pretty crazy top-10 streak or something going on right now. I’ve raced with him for a long time, ever since I started out in late models. And it’s been seven, eight years since I’ve been racing against him. And it’s cool to see us having the success we are this year.
“But like you said, there’s definitely gonna be some other trucks to worry about. I mean, it is the Championship 4, after all, so it just matters who peaks at the right time, and I guess we’ll see. I think we’ve just got to be on top of our game, and we’ll be there at the end.”
Eckes takes pride in that “crazy” top-10 streak — and the 14 top fives that have come with them. In the 109 combined starts made by a McAnally-entered truck ahead of Eckes’ 2023 debut with the organization, 30 of those ended in top 10s — and only five in the top five.
“We’ve turned it into a championship-contending organization,” Eckes said. “I remember the day — Dec. 6, 2022 — when I first came to McAnally-Hillgemann Racing, and I said, ‘My bar’s here. My bar is a championship.’ I finally have a chance to achieve that this weekend, so that’s our number one priority.”
Justin Casterline | Getty Images
And while Enfinger and Majeski may be listed as the “also” duo above, neither should be overlooked in Friday’s title race.
Both of Enfinger’s 2024 wins came within the past three races, scoring Round of 8 victories at Talladega Superspeedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure his spot in the Championship 4 for the second straight season and third appearance in the past five years.
Enfinger, now driving the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet, was also in position to earn the 2023 championship at Phoenix until a late caution erased that opportunity.
“Grant’s capable of anything, right?” Eckes said. “I mean, he won two races in the last round alone. Like I said earlier, it comes down to one race, and the 9’s been super clutch. That’s our kind of co-teammate, I guess. He’s got an alliance with MHR. So we’ve worked hard this week, both teams. So I’m confident in them to have a chance.”
Enfinger’s season began dreadfully short of his expectations. Though he led 25 laps across the opening two events, Enfinger finished 16th or worse in five of the opening nine races, mustering a best finish of ninth twice. But a runner-up effort at North Wilkesboro Speedway sparked a far better future for the No. 9 team in which Enfinger scored 10 top 10s in the past 13 starts.
“There’s been three or four races this year that we’ve had race-contending speed anyway — even if it wasn’t a dominant truck, we had a truck capable of winning a number of races,” Enfinger said. “And how I see it is us at our best, we’re able to contend and beat these guys when they’re at their best. Where we faltered some this year is our consistency. But we’ve got a really, really good pit crew. We’ve got what I feel like is the best guys on pit road. Got a really, really good spotter in Tim Fedewa. He’s racing for a championship in the Cup Series this weekend with Ryan Blaney. It’s a spot that I’ve been here before at this championship race. Jeff (Stankiewicz, crew chief) has been here. He’s been able to win a championship with Sheldon (Creed) four years ago.
“So think from personnel, from our parts and pieces, the trucks we have and our extra preparation that we’ve had to have here, I think maybe we aren’t looked at as a favorite. I don’t know. But I definitely don’t know how you automatically bet against us. Maybe if we were performing how we did at the beginning of the year and all we did was win Talladega, maybe I can buy into that. But nobody on our team feels that way.”
Majeski’s two wins this year have come at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park at Richmond Raceway, respectively — both of which are flat short tracks that share similarities with the 1-mile track at Phoenix.
“I think this is our type of race track,” Majeski said. “Anytime Joe (Shear Jr., crew chief) and I show up to a flat short track, I feel like we’re a threat to win. I feel like we’ve all had our parts of the season where we’ve been dominant. And I really feel like the Championship 4 that are here really are probably the four that deserve to be here the most. That doesn’t happen all the time with this format, so it’s good to see that. I think that’s good for the sport, good for everybody involved to have us four here.
“It’s going to be an interesting race, for sure. I feel like we have as good a chance as anybody. Like I said, being on a short track, I feel really good about our chances.”
His competition knows Majeski’s strengths will likely come into focus Friday night, particularly after Majeski led 48 laps in the 2023 season finale.
“It’s really just gonna come down to whoever’s leading of the four after 150 laps,” Eckes said, “because I’m not really sure how to handicap it right now.”
The penalty levied to Ross Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team was upheld after the team’s appeal was heard Thursday in front of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel; Richard Childress Racing, meanwhile, withdrew its appeal.
NASCAR issued a $100,000 fine and docked 50 driver points each from Chastain, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace after an investigation of the on-track data and team scanners from the final laps of Sunday’s Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway. NASCAR also fined the owners of each team $100,000 and deducted 50 owner points.
NASCAR determined the actions violated sections 4.4.B&D: NASCAR Member Conduct of the Rule Book, which include race manipulation and actions detrimental to stock-car racing.
Crew chiefs Phil Surgen, Justin Alexander and Bootie Barker, along with their respective spotters Brandon McReynolds, Brandon Benesch and Freddie Kraft, were all suspended for the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Darian Grubb, Joel Keller and Eric Phillips will step in as the crew chiefs for the respective teams this weekend.
Team executives Tony Lunders, Keith Rodden and Dave Rogers were also suspended for the 2024 finale at Phoenix.
The Appeals Panel, consisting of Kelly Housby, Lyn St. James and Steve York, upheld the penalties to the No. 1.
“We feel in the best interest of racing and to protect the integrity of the sport, it was appropriate to uphold and affirm NASCAR’s decision with regard to the NASCAR rule 4.4, attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race,” the panel said in a statement.
Trackhouse Racing will not appeal to the Final Appeals Officer.
Stock-car racing will be brought to the forefront of Forza Motorsport as a NASCAR update went live on the popular racing video game Thursday.
Forza Motorsport is the premier racing simulation experience, designed for true car enthusiasts and gamers alike. Offering an unparalleled combination of stunning graphics, realistic physics, and a vast array of cars from around the world, Forza Motorsport allows players to immerse themselves in a meticulously crafted racing environment.
In the new update, the Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford Next Gen cars will all be playable in the largest racing game on the Xbox platform and allow motorsports fans to enjoy the thrill of stock-car racing from the comfort of their home.
Among the key features included in the NASCAR update, alongside the three vehicles, are updated branding on the Homestead-Miami Speedway track, a NASCAR driver suit and spotlight and rival events.
Along with Homestead being a playable track in the game, Daytona International Speedway and Watkins Glen International will be included in the list of venues that will coincide with an activation during NASCAR Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway where fans will get a first look at the update and have opportunities to play the game.
An online activation will be held on Saturday and Sunday on Twitch and Discord. Saturday will be a game night featuring Forza content creator AR12Gaming, while Sunday’s watch party will feature NASCAR driver Ryan Vargas and the same Forza content creator.
Tricon Garage announced Thursday that Corey Heim will return to the Craftsman Truck Series stable for a third full-time season in 2025.
Heim, 22, has found great success in his tenure in the Truck Series and is currently among the four contenders for the crown when the series holds its championship race Friday evening at Phoenix Raceway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Heim said that other rides were under consideration, but he placed emphasis on keeping his partnership with Toyota intact.
“There’s always options on the table, but I never had a doubt that my development with Toyota Racing has led me to where I am today, and it’ll get me through the future as well,” Heim said Thursday during NASCAR Championship Weekend Media Day. “So, it wasn’t a hard decision.”
Heim began his national series journey with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2021 and 2022, breaking through for his first career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway two years ago.
After KBM shut down after 2022, Heim moved to Tricon and immediately became one of the best drivers at the Truck level. In 2023, he picked up three wins with an average finish of 6.8. Heim just fell short of the championship last season as he finished third among the final four at Phoenix.
This season, Heim has doubled his win total with six victories in 22 races and made select Xfinity and Cup Series starts with Legacy Motor Club, 23XI Racing and Sam Hunt Racing. His run through this year’s Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs was also a steady one with five top-10 finishes in six races, including a victory in the Round of 10 finale at Kansas Speedway.
“From an emotional standpoint, I feel like we’re always very consistent,” Heim said. “We keep a level head going into any race weekend, and this one would be the same. Just everyone’s really dialed in, focused. They’ve worked their butts off these last seven to 10 days, getting this Phoenix truck ready and put a lot of work in over the weekend as well. So super thankful for those guys and everything they do, and certainly wouldn’t be here without them.”
Said Kevin Ray, general manager of Tricon Garage: “We’re extremely fortunate to get another year with Corey. His dedication to not only the No. 11 team but the entire organization has elevated Tricon beyond measure in our team’s short history. While we’re looking forward to 2025, our priority remains on closing out this season with a victory and our program’s first championship.”
1. Championship Race set to cap off highlight-reel 2024 season
It all comes down to Sunday, and, based on how this season has constantly added to the history books, it’s hard to expect we’ll see anything other than an all-timer.
We sort of went on and on about this topic at length in last week’s Turning Point, but it bears repeating after another thriller at Martinsville decided this year’s Championship 4 — the 2024 season was a series of non-stop bangers, filled to the brim with tension throughout and capped with jaw-dropper after jaw-dropper.
To recap, a small contingent of wild things we saw this year:
And to think, all of that could somehow be topped this weekend out west.
We saw just how competitive the Round of 8 was at Martinsville from top to bottom, and how the stakes were raised even higher. In a Phoenix race to settle it all with even more pressure, another unmistakable moment feels like a no-brainer to be added to NASCAR lore this weekend.
There’s a lot that would be notable here, no matter who wins.
Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are the only former Cup champions in the Championship 4 — a win by the former would make him the first driver to go back-to-back since Jimmie Johnson; while a third title for “Sliced Bread” slots him in as a legend of the sport, on par with the all-timer he replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing as an 18-year-old and, at 34 years old now, plenty of time to lap him as he begins to enter the twilight years of his career. It’s possible Logano hasn’t even hit his prime yet, which is truly scary to think about.
A championship landing with either of the other two are notable as well, with Byron carrying on the legacy of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as he firmly settles into that ride for years to come, as his trajectory from sim star to superstar progresses along marvelously. And if Reddick is to win, it’s a fitting end for a Regular Season Champion, but an important milestone for a 23XI Racing team that didn’t even exist a small handful of years ago to prove that it’s possible to come in and compete with the big boys.
It’s been quite the ride this year, and here they come — white flag in the air.
One more time around.
2. Is this the evenest Championship 4 ever?
Each of the four remaining title contenders feels like bona fide championship material, with no huge favorite among them. Is the championship truly up for grabs?
Now that we know exactly who will be racing for the 2024 championship, plenty of statistical analysis will be happening this week and I’m here to tell you — there’s no slam dunk stat out there that points to a clear, head-and-shoulders-above-the-rest driver to win it all.
If you absolutely had to pick a “favorite,” you could give a slight nod to last weekend’s winner at Martinsville, Ryan Blaney, but any of these drivers feels more than capable of representing the sport well and wouldn’t feel any bit fluky.
After all, each driver enters the weekend with the same amount of wins — three — for the first time in the history of this format, with the quartet essentially winning a third of the season’s races collectively.
Looking to become the first reigning champ to make a return to the Championship 4 and actually win, Blaney leads all drivers in laps run in the top 10 at Phoenix in the Next Gen car with 1,385 and should be in contention all day long. Remarkably, he appears to be on a near-identical path to the title as last year, coming up just short at Homestead-Miami before claiming a must-win race at Martinsville, and that path is clearly a prosperous one.
No. 12’s six-race top-five streak at Phoenix is also the third longest all-time and his longest at any track in Cup, with an average running position of 5.6 at Phoenix over the last eight races. That’s best of all Champ 4 drivers by more than five positions, per Racing Insights.
There’s a lot going for the 12 group right now and, like, I said, if you had to pick one — Blaney’s the guy.
Then again, things line up pretty great for his teammate as well, considering Logano, who won the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas, won the championship the last two times he did that. You might’ve heard something about this, as well, but he also has made the Championship 4 every other season (the even years) in the history of this format and clearly has all the pieces in place to make title No. 3 a reality.
That said, Logano ranked 15th in points scored in the regular season — the lowest rank ever to make the Championship 4 in the stage era.
Byron might be Blaney’s equal threat when it comes to Phoenix, specifically, leading all drivers in laps run in the top five at Phoenix in the Next Gen car with 1,058, and second only to Blaney in laps in the top 10 at 1,366. He’s a constant force there as well, and is riding the hottest overall streak of anybody in the playoffs right now, with six straight top-six finishes for an overall 4.0 average that stands as his best across any six-race stretch in his career.
He’s also just the fifth driver in the stage era to make the Championship 4 without a playoff win and has the longest winless streak of any driver to make the finale in the stage area, not taking a single trip to Victory Lane since early spring. Only one driver’s first playoff win was for the championship (Kyle Busch in 2019) and there’s nothing close to a guarantee Byron will be the second.
And finally, there’s Reddick, whose 19.9 average finish in the playoffs is mesmerizingly bad for a Championship 4 driver … but he’s also the Regular Season Champion and clearly deserves to be there when considering the whole body of work. He’s also scored the fewest points in the playoffs of any Championship 4 driver in history, but at the same time … how many drivers can do what he did at Homestead?
It might be necessary once again, and he’s the guy you trust the most to do it.
Crew chiefs Luke Lambert and Drew Blickensderfer dive into the Championship 4 drivers’ previous performances at Phoenix Raceway.
4. Will Kyle Busch extend his lengthy annual win streak?
“Rowdy” highlights a list of drivers that won in 2023 but will go winless in 2024 unless they find a way to top the Championship 4 drivers, like Ross Chastain did last year. In Busch’s case, if he doesn’t — it’ll snap a 19-year streak of winning. (Credit: Racing Insights)
Driver
2023 wins
Tracks
Kyle Busch
3
Auto Club, Talladega, Gateway
Martin Truex Jr.
3
Dover, Sonoma, New Hampshire
AJ Allmendinger
1
Charlotte Roval
Michael McDowell
1
Indy Road Course
Shane van Gisbergen
1
Chicago Street Course
5. Catch the pack — news and notes from around the garage
NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing has rescinded its decision to appeal penalties that the sanctioning body handed down against it on Tuesday after the race at Martinsville Speedway.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon on social media, team officials said they have chosen instead to put their concentration on efforts behind the No. 45 team with driver Tyler Reddick trying to win a championship this weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
Reddick’s teammate Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 Toyota, was fined $100,000 and given a 50-point reduction as part of the penalties NASCAR handed down yesterday to three Cup Series teams for violating sections 4.4.B&D: NASCAR Member Conduct Code in the Rule Book, which include items on race manipulation and actions detrimental to stock car racing.
Trackhouse Racing and Richard Childress Racing remain on track to have their appeals heard on Thursday in Phoenix in front of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.
