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.
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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.
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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.”
