Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Busch Motorsports announced Friday it will field two full-time trucks in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season as it transitions to Chevrolet.

Chase Purdy will pilot the No. 4 Chevrolet as part of a multi-year deal. Additionally, Jack Wood will compete in at least 10 races behind the wheel of the No. 51 Chevrolet, splitting the ride with owner-driver Kyle Busch and other Cup and Xfinity Series drivers that will be announced at a later time as the team chases an owner’s title with that entry.

KBM also announced it has partnered with Rev Racing with a technical alliance, supporting Rev Racing’s expansion into the Truck Series with 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion Nick Sanchez driving the No. 2 Chevrolet.

RELATED: Phoenix schedule | Truck Series standings

Busch remains the winningest driver in series history with 62 victories. The program debuted in 2010 and has been a Toyota team thanks to Busch’s tie to the manufacturer in the Cup Series.

As Busch transitions to Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet for the 2023 Cup Series season, his namesake team will follow suit with a different manufacturer.

“Obviously, there will be a lot of change at KBM in 2023, but our goal as an organization remains the same that it always has been, and that’s to go out and win races and provide the young drivers in our lineup everything they need to reach their full potential,” Busch said in a team release. “We have the right people in place to be able to accomplish those goals for our two trucks as well as being able to provide technical support to Rev Racing as they expand into the Truck Series and create a pipeline for young drivers in their program to advance their careers to the next level.”

In the media center on Friday afternoon, Busch was visibly in lighter spirits, pleased to have a resolution to what has been a trying journey through 2022. Despite his RCR news breaking in mid-September, questions lingered about the future of his Truck Series program – an organization heavily aided by Toyota Racing Development since it originated.

He admitted there were moments the team’s future was questionable altogether.

“Trust me. If you can dream of an idea or a concept, we certainly have had to have had that on the whiteboard. No question,” Busch said. “You know, there were times where it looked like none; it was as many as four. So there were definitely different opportunities that were out there that presented themselves but felt like this was the best play, the smartest play, and one that would keep us to where we feel comfortable and where we’ve been the most successful as the size of our organization and the growth of what we’ve been able to achieve over the years.”

Purdy joins the program as he moves from Hattori Racing Enterprises, where he piloted the No. 61 Toyota full-time in 2022. He ranked 16th in points with two top-10 finishes ahead of Friday night’s season finale (10 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I’m thankful for the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the No. 4 truck, and my goal is to join the long list of winners that KBM has produced,” Purdy said in a release. “KBM has great people that build really fast trucks, and I’m confident we can do big things together the next two seasons. I appreciate everyone involved that helped put me in this position, and I can’t wait for next season to start.”

Wood is about to complete his first full-time season for GMS Racing and drives the No. 24 Chevrolet, sitting 23rd in points with a career-best finish of 10th in 2021 at Worldwide Technology Raceway.

“Growing up racing on the West Coast, I never would’ve dreamed that I’d be racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports and sharing a truck with Kyle,” Wood said. “It’s truly the opportunity of a lifetime, and I can’t even put into words how excited I am.

“To have the chance to learn from arguably one of the best to ever do it is going to be an incredible experience for me, and I’m extremely thankful to everyone at Chevrolet and KBM that made this possible. I know that I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, but KBM will be surrounding me with everything I need to continue to grow as a driver, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Neither driver has won yet in the Truck Series. That doesn’t concern Busch much, who has seen the growth of other drivers who have come through his program.

“We’ve been about developing talent, right?” Busch said. “You know, people I’m sure are looking like these are two young guys and pretty wet behind the ears, you know, don’t have wins in the Truck Series. But you know what? I can’t count how many that have come to us had wins before they got to us. So I think that’s that was a good point by Jack is, you know, we’ve built winners before, and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.”

Aligning with Rev Racing also proved important to Busch, who was happy to surprise the media with fielding a third full-time truck, continuing what the program has done for years.

“This just furthers along our opportunity of being three trucks and gives us a chance to make sure that you know we’re out there fielding, you know, the same amount of teams and the same people that we have been for a long time,” Busch said. “And, again, looking forward to keeping that strength of the people that we have at KBM and winning races.”

Further announcements on the driver schedule for the No. 51 team, as well as crew chiefs and sponsors for both teams, are forthcoming, but Busch did allude to at least one potential option.

Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, announced Friday he is returning to the sport with an ownership stake in Petty GMS and will make select starts in 2023. He and Busch, former teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, may be working on future Truck Series races together.

“Yeah, we’ve done a little bit of texting back and forth,” Busch said. “A little bit of Indy stuff but may or may not have some all-star driver KBM announcements later on down the road, so that can be fun to write. Cat’s out of the bag.”

Busch further cautioned, though: “Wait till you say and then it doesn’t happen.”

Whether Johnson wheels a truck or not, Busch anticipates other current Cup and Xfinity drivers to pilot the No. 51 Chevrolet in the races when neither Busch nor Wood will drive it.

Posted on by Marcus DiNitto

As the Championship 4 drivers take the green flag on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, there’s a case to be made for each of the drivers in the running for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series title. For gamblers looking for betting value, though, one contender stands out.

First, let’s justify a bet on each of them.

RELATED: Betting odds for Phoenix Cup race

Chase Elliott. The favorite for most of the season, Elliott has five wins on the year for Hendrick Motorsports. His teammate, Kyle Larson, won the championship last year at Phoenix, and Elliott accomplished the feat in 2020. He led 50 laps at this track in the spring and has a second and a fifth this season at Loudon and Richmond, respectively, two comparable short, flat layouts.

Joey Logano. Another contender with championship pedigree; Logano took the title in 2018 at Homestead. The Penske driver has two career wins at Phoenix, owns the highest average rating over the seven most recent races here (112.3, per Driver Averages), and has led 425 laps (19.4% of them) at this track over that span, tops in the series.

Christopher Bell. If there’s a driver of destiny, Bell is it. He won his way into the Round of 8 last month at the Charlotte ROVAL and then into the Championship 4 last Sunday at Martinsville. In the two most recent races on comparable tracks, he won at Loudon and finished second at Richmond. Bell also comes from Joe Gibbs Racing, whose Kyle Busch won the 2019 and ’15 Cup titles.

Ross Chastain. Arguably this season’s most consistent performer, Chastain boasts a series-leading 14 top fives as well as 20 top 10s (which ties him with Elliott for the most). His form is excellent heading into Phoenix, with four top fives (including two second-place finishes) over the last five races (the outlier being the Charlotte road course). And after pulling off that impossible-to-believe move at Martinsville to get here, can this guy really be counted out?

Here are odds from a pair of sportsbooks — the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook and BetMGM — with prices to win at Phoenix on the left and championship futures on the right.

Driver SuperBook SB champ odds BetMGM MGM champ odds
Chase Elliott +250 +185 +250 +200
Christopher Bell +300 +250 +325 +250
Joey Logano +425 +350 +400 +300
Ross Chastain +450 +360 +400 +300
Kyle Larson +1400 +1200
Denny Hamlin +1600 +1600
Kevin Harvick +1800 +1800
Ryan Blaney +2000 +1800
William Byron +3000 +2500
Martin Truex Jr +4000 +3300
Kyle Busch +4000 +4000
Chase Briscoe +5000 +3300
Bubba Wallace +5000 +5000
Tyler Reddick +5000 +4000

OK, so where’s the value?

To Ed Salmons, VP of risk management at the SuperBook, having been there before matters on the championship stage. That sets two drivers apart.

“Elliott and Logano have the edge in experience,” Salmons pointed out to NASCAR.com this week.

For bettors who agree with the oddsmaker’s sentiment, Logano’s odds, contrasted with Elliott’s shorter price, have to prompt a look at the No. 22 Ford.

And from the quantitative perspective of Jim Sannes, a betting and fantasy analyst at numberFire, Logano warrants a play in the futures market.

“I’m seeing value in Logano at +340 to win the championship,” Sannes said in a direct message. “He has been phenomenal on short, flat tracks this year, trailing just Chase Elliott in aggregate average running position. But Elliott is the favorite while Logano is very much an underdog. He has also had extra time to prep for Phoenix, having clinched in Vegas. My model doesn’t account for that, but it does like Logano regardless.”

Payback Coming for Chastain?

Both Salmons and Michael Ranftle, the head NASCAR trader at BetMGM, are wary of what Chastain might have coming to him, after his unconventional move at Martinsville rattled some nerves.

“Chastain made some enemies,” said Salmons.

Ranftle said in email, “I would be a little concerned about Chastain; (Denny) Hamlin seemed to be kind of calm after the race last week all things considered. Maybe he will finally let it go now, but I would still be worried if they get close to each other, which seems to happen often.”

Looking Outside the Championship 4

Since NASCAR implemented the current playoff format in 2014, the final race has been won by a championship contender all eight times. While the oddsboard reflects the probability that non-contenders will stay out of the finalists’ way, the pricing between the top four and the rest of the field is tighter than in year’s past.

Last year, William Byron and Kyle Busch were each offered at +2500 at the Westgate to win at Phoenix, behind the Championship 4 of Kyle Larson/Elliott/Hamlin/Martin Truex Jr. This year, we have Larson, Hamlin, and Harvick all priced at +1800 or shorter at the Vegas shop.

The parity brought about by the Next Gen car has created this relative consolidation, according to Salmons.

Sannes agrees: “I think the tightening is due to the broader unpredictability of this season. Favorites — for the most part — have had longer odds this year than last year, so I do think that makes sense translating to this week.”

If you’re looking for a long shot, the No. 5 is worth consideration.

“Larson is undervalued,” Sannes opined. “He’s racing for the owners’ championship, and he has made it clear in interviews since being eliminated that he cares about that. … My model is showing value on him when I don’t adjust for motivation, so I think if you want to bet a non-driver’s championship contender to win, Larson should be your guy.”

Said BetMGM’s Ranftle, “nothing would be a shock at this point. It would be a fitting end to this season to see another first-time winner steal the race.”

Big Tickets

An Elliott championship represents liability at the Westgate, most notably from a casino regular who made a $7,500 wager on Elliott when he was priced at +800 for a potential payout of $60,000.

At BetMGM, while Logano is a slight loser for the house, Ranftle called the liability “inconsequential.”

A casino player bet $5,000 to win $45,000 on the No. 22 at +900 back in March.

“Elliott has been one of the top favorites wire to wire so I guess the number was never too attractive to big bettors,” Ranftle said. “I would have thought there would be some big payouts on Chastain given that he started at 125-1 in the offseason. (We wrote) just one or two bets at that price and a handful of people got on to win a few thousand at 40-1 back in March.”

Marcus DiNitto is Senior News Editor at Gaming Today and has been covering sports business for more than 20 years and sports betting for about 10. NASCAR is among the many sports he bets — and typically loses — on. Follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.

Posted on by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Jimmie Johnson NASCAR owner: Petty GMS in part-owner role. Petty GMS announced Friday that Jimmie Johnson has invested in an ownership stake with the organization, a move that will bring the seven-time champion back to NASCAR Cup Series competition in a part-time role next season for select races — including the 2023 Daytona 500. 

Jimmie Johnson sits between Richard Petty and Maury Gallagher
Zack Albert | NASCAR Studios

Petty GMS announced the move Friday at Phoenix Raceway, site of this weekend’s championship finales for all three NASCAR national series. It’s also the site of Johnson’s last Cup Series start as a full-time driver in 2020.

RELATED: Johnson through the years | 2022-23 Silly Season | Jimmy Johnson Hall of Fame Nominee

RELATED: Jimmie Johnson Hall of Fame Bio

“So when I left here, I really had no idea what was in store for me,” Johnson said. “I knew I wanted to try IndyCar and had an amazing experience there. And stepping away from full-time IndyCar, I wanted to create a good eight-to-10-race schedule with just really fun races, and then certainly coming back to NASCAR. And as this conversation started, it’s just … it’s one that I really had to pay close attention to, and an offer and an opportunity that, it’s just a life-changing opportunity for me and one that I had to take. So I’m very excited about this.”

The partnership pairs the Cup Series’ living seven-time champs in a team ownership collective with majority co-owner Maury Gallagher. Richard Petty and Gallagher merged their Cup operations before the 2022 season, forming a two-car effort with Erik Jones and Ty Dillon as the drivers.

The team will move forward with Jones and Noah Gragson on the full-time driver roster next season, with both locked up to multiyear deals. Jones is winding down his sixth Cup Series season, a campaign that added another Southern 500 win to his career portfolio. Gragson is making the move up to Cup after a stellar Xfinity Series tenure, which will culminate in a title shot in Saturday’s finale at Phoenix.

Johnson, 47, was a decorated Cup Series standout who scored 83 victories — tied for sixth all-time with NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough. Five of his championships came consecutively in a record-breaking stretch from 2006-2010, and his titles in 2013 and 2016 brought him into a tie with Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt as the premier series’ only seven-time champs.

Petty had welcomed Gallagher into their newly-launched team a year ago with one of his signature cowboy hats. Friday, Petty provided Johnson with a master class on the art of wearing sunglasses indoors, and Gallagher offered a welcome gift of his trademark “dad shoes” as the organization puts a plan of succession in place.

“I said, this has got to be one of the biggest things that has happened to the Petty crowd, and GMS from that standpoint,” Petty said. “You know, we joined cahoots last year, got a pretty good start this year, but with Jimmie adding on with his popularity and the people he knows that we don’t know, it had to be a heck of a deal. So from my standpoint, it’s a big, big step — not just for one year, but I’m looking farther, farther down the road. Jimmie comes in, does his deal. I’m 85 years old, so I’m not gonna be here for another 15, 20 years, then Jimmie can kind of take over so that that had to be a plus-plus.”

Upon his retirement from full-time NASCAR competition, Johnson shifted to other motorsports disciplines. He drove in IndyCar the last two years, part-time in 2021 before moving to a full-time ride with Chip Ganassi Racing this season. Johnson has also explored sports-car racing, registering two podium finishes in seven IMSA starts the last two years.

Two weeks after this year’s IndyCar finale, Johnson announced Sept. 26 that he would retire from full-time competition. “I’ve got a blank sheet of paper, and we can now see what opportunities exist and start making a calendar,” Johnson told the Associated Press. That paper is now a wide-open sheet, with IndyCar and sports cars still in consideration for his racing future, but with a stock-car return back on the table.

Johnson has expressed interest in driving in several “bucket list” events, leaving the door open to a part-time role in NASCAR. He has also mentioned that the Garage 56 project for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans was a consideration, reiterating Friday that “it’s still on the table. I’ve made sure that my calendar is nice and open in June, and hopefully it can stay that way.”

Johnson has mentioned that attempting a same-day double in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 held special intrigue. Johnson didn’t dip into specific races outside of Daytona that were in his plans, but Petty joked that those with the biggest purse would be focal points.

“I think we have a few ways to look at it,” said Johnson, a two-time Daytona 500 winner (2006, 2013). “I mean, obviously partners in areas that they want to race is one thing to look at. I have a list of races that I’m super interested in and would love to do, and then there’s also the competition point — the same point of what’s best for the team. Are there test sessions? It would be really nice if I can test a car, and then go to that race because so much has changed.”

Besides his own driving exploits, Johnson says he will take a mentorship role with Jones, 26, and the 24-year-old Gragson as the team tries to build its foundation.

“I’m excited to work side by side with him,” Jones said. “Getting him in the fold, see a different evaluation of the program, somebody who’s been at the top, you know, he’s won multiple races,  championships. Just having those set of eyes on there, I think is going to be good for our group.”

The announcement was also cheered from Johnson’s former colleagues at Hendrick Motorsports, which fielded the No. 48 Chevrolet that Johnson drove to all of his stock-car accolades. Jeff Gordon, his ex-teammate who now serves as the company’s vice chairman, and team owner Rick Hendrick applauded Johnson as he enters the next phase of his career.

“This is a tremendous day for our sport. Jimmie is one of the all-time great champions on the race track, and I know he’ll apply the same mentality to his role as a team owner,” Hendrick said in a statement. “When he sets his mind to something, the level of commitment and work ethic he brings is unsurpassed. Seeing Jimmie in a fire suit with his name on the roof of a Chevrolet at the Daytona 500 is going to be very special for a lot of people. Competing against him will certainly be a change, and a big challenge, but we welcome his return to NASCAR and look forward to the next chapter of a truly remarkable career.”

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Turns out it’s not easy to predict the future. 

Back in February, long before the season started with rookie Austin Cindric winning the Daytona 500, we asked you to put your Championship 4 picks in writing on Twitter. Guess the four favorites come November. Simple enough, right? 

Well, what nobody knew then was that NASCAR was in store for its zaniest season in memory — a brand new car, 19 different race winners, playoff upsets, Ross Chastain making the Championship 4 with the coolest move we’ve ever seen — in short, asking non-psychics to guess who’d end up battling for the Bill France Cup was a tall order. 

Now, here in November, the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway the last stop on the circuit, it’s time to see which of the hundreds of Twitter geniuses who participated in our little experiment nailed it back in February. Who had the foresight to predict the Championship 4 would come down to Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano? 

The answer? Well … nobody. (Although, technically speaking … ) 

Don’t act so surprised! It was a weird, wild season, and we loved every lap of it. 

Sure, Elliott and Logano were former champs with past Championship 4 experience; dozens of people picked the two of them. Easy. 

But, Christopher Bell, who entered the season with a single win — yeah, tough sell, given the stout competition in the field and Bell’s modest numbers. Still, three guessers picked Driver No. 20 to reach the finals (again, out of hundreds of participants). 

And, furthermore, Ross Chastain as a championship favorite back in February? On paper, that was an easy write-off. After all, the ‘Melon Man’ had never won a race or made the playoffs before. (Of course, we all quickly learned that Trackhouse isn’t here to mess around.)

Impressively, one person, @OvershotTae13, predicted both Bell and Chastain to reach the championship race. That’s right: the two drivers that were the toughest ones to guess. Well done! 

We’ve been tracking championship predictions on Twitter for a few years with limited — but still some — success. A lone individual was perfect last year, one person picked perfectly in 2020, two got ‘em right in 2019, and nobody predicted the 2018 Championship 4. 

There’s always our favorite part of revisiting preseason Championship 4 picks from Twitter, and that’s publicly shaming those who whiffed four out of four. Fortunately for many of those folks, it seems going 0-for-4 was the norm this year. There were plenty of picks of Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin, after all, not to mention preseason favorites Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. 

With so many people utterly wrong this year (on Twitter? Whaaat?), we can’t share every single wrong lineup as we normally do. Instead, we’ll choose to shame only a few individuals from the Twittersphere. Everybody else, you’re lucky. 

Sigh … 

Thanks to everyone bold enough to share their predictions, and an extra thanks to those even bolder who didn’t delete their highly erroneous picks before we had time to make fun of them in public. 

Let’s try again and see if even one person can get it right in 2023.  

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

Championship Hub: NASCAR tripleheader at Phoenix Raceway

Everything you need to know for the 2022 NASCAR national series championship races this weekend, including breaking news and race results.

Full weekend schedule | Where to find NASCAR on TV | See the three championship trophies

Cup Series

Championship 4 drivers: Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain
2021 champion: Kyle Larson
Approximate start time: Sunday, Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
The purse: $10,542,284
Forecast: Sunny, with a high near 77 degrees, according to NOAA.gov | Weather tracker
Race distance: 312 laps | 312 miles
Stages: 60 | 185 | 312
Phoenix 101: Get the full lowdown
Starting lineup: Where drivers will start Sunday
Inspection:  Nos. 7, 17 and 78 failed twice (crew member ejected)
Pit stalls: See where drivers will pit Sunday

Xfinity Series

Championship race: Saturday, Nov. 5
2022 champion: Ty Gibbs, driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
RELATED: More on Gibbs’ title run | Full race recap, highlights
Other Championship 4 drivers: Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry
NXS news: Get up to speed

Truck Series

Championship race: Friday, Nov. 4
2022 champion: Zane Smith, driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
RELATED: More on Zane Smith’s 2022 title run | Full Phoenix finale race recap
Other Championship 4 drivers: Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith
More NCWTS news: Get up to speed

Key things to know 🔑

Cup Series 

The final race of the Next Gen’s debut season is upon us with a whirlwind of story lines attached to each of the very strong contenders. Joey Logano and Chase Elliott are vying to be the next two-time champion of the premier series, while Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain are trying to cap off incredible underdog stories. Either way it shakes out, the eventual champion will have a strong resumé after maneuvering through a season that featured a revamped schedule, 19 different winners (for now) and learning a brand-new car. Logano and Elliott both know what it takes to put on a clutch performance to win a championship, most recently proven by Elliott’s marvelous 2020 title run. But neither Bell nor Chastain have won at Phoenix Raceway before, so will either of their Martinsville momentum be enough to carry them to their first Bill France Cup?

Race-day staples ✅

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

• At-track photos: Top shots from Phoenix Raceway | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: Final schemes of the 2022 season | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: How each of the 12 Championship 4 drivers stack up | Read more
• End of season goodbyes: What we are missing after 2022 season | Read more
• Silly Season: Catch up on driver, team changes | Read more
• Stay tuned in: Full weekend results, schedule and more | View schedule here
• Playoff Hub: More information for all three series | See more here

Catch the pack 💨

Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up this weekend’s finales.

• Crew chiefs speak: Hear from the Championship 4 crew chiefs after practice | Read more
• Kyle Busch Motorsports: Organization announces 2023 driver lineup | Read more
• All eyes on Ross: Chastain still in the spotlight after Martinsville move | Read more
• Title two?: Chase Elliott and Joey Logano eye second championship | Read more
• Bell focused: Despite obscure status, Christopher Bell remains confident | Read more
• Legend speaks: Kyle Petty sounds off on ‘punk move’ by Ty Gibbs | Listen here | Joe Gibbs’ take
• Bowman’s back: Hendrick Motorsports driver returns to action | Read more
• Reddick also returns: Tyler Reddick cleared to race Sunday in Phoenix | Read more
• Gragson talks about Gibbs: Listen to what No. 9 said on Media Day | Read more
• Truck Series winners: Top drivers by wins in Camping World era | View them here
• Seven-time champs team up: Jimmie Johnson joins Petty GMS Racing as owner/driver | Read more
• Sheldon Creed: Driver will return to RCR for the 2023 season | Read more
• New track president: Phoenix Raceway names Latasha Causey as leader | Read more

Fast facts ⏩

Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

• Cup Series: The last seven Phoenix races were won by different drivers.
• Cup: Nine of the last 10 Phoenix races were won from a top-10 starting position.
• Cup: Nineteen different winners in 2022 is tied for the most all-time.

Cup Series check-in 🛎️

Exclusive NASCAR Cup Series content to get you ready to crown the first champion of the Next Gen era.

Making the case 👨‍⚖️

Analyzing what makes each driver a good bet to win the title on Sunday.

• Why Joey Logano will win the Cup Series championship
• Why Christopher Bell will win the Cup Series championship
• Why Ross Chastain will win the Cup Series championship
• Why Chase Elliott will win the Cup Series championship
• Ranking Championship 4 contenders based on numbers

Get in on the action 💰

Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.

• Fantasy Fastlane: Championship 4 are a must for season finale | Top plays, sleepers
• Betting odds: Favorites, long shots to win Sunday at Phoenix | See the favorite
• Let’s make a bet: Analyzing which driver has the best value | Read more
• The Action Network: Best matchup bet for Phoenix race | Expert analysis
• Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | New rules for playoffs
• Going all the way: 2022 Cup Series championship odds | See them here

Reaching the pinnacle 🏆

A driver’s highest achievement in stock car racing is becoming a Cup Series champion.

• Starting hot: Drivers with fewest starts before first championship | Learn more
• Title-race history: Complete list of drivers with Championship 4 appearances | See them here
• Master strategists: Crew chiefs to win title with multiple drivers | Full list
• First time’s the charm: Drivers to win championship in first appearance | Short list

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of four stories examining why each Championship 4 driver could win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship. For more on Elliott and the Championship 4, tune in to the “Race for the Championship” docuseries at 10 p.m. ET Thursday on USA Network or set your DVRs.

Tuesday: Joey Logano
Wednesday: Christopher Bell
Thursday: Ross Chastain
Friday: Chase Elliott

• • •

Chase Elliott will win the 2022 championship because …

… he’s been the guy to beat for most of 2022, and not much has changed in that department.

What’s been truly revelatory about the debut of this year’s Next Gen racer was exactly what it was designed to do — leveling the playing field a bit and increasing parity across the NASCAR Cup Series field. That’s exactly what we saw, with a near-record 19 different winners, drivers getting hot for a few races then disappearing for months at a time and non-playoff drivers coming out of nowhere to do things like sweep the entire Round of 16.

We also saw exactly one driver seem to overcome that better than anybody — Chase Elliott.

While not as dominant as his teammate Kyle Larson’s double-digit win season that resulted in last year’s title, Elliott’s 2022 campaign was as close as anybody else came to touching that with a series-best five wins — four of which came before the playoffs — en route to the Regular Season Championship. The 2020 champ has turned in the best average finish of the season as well at 12.0, a figure that’s been dragged down some by unfortunate postseason hiccups that weren’t necessarily of his own doing. Elliott’s top-10 count (20) was tied with Ross Chastain for most in the series, and his 857 laps led pace the field as well.

So why aren’t people talking about him as the slam-dunk favorite? Well, recency bias.

(And to be fair, he technically is the favorite at 2-1, according to BetMGM as of Thursday.)

RELATED: Odds to win 2022 championship

Perhaps you didn’t hear about it, but Chastain did a thing at Martinsville, a race that Christopher Bell won to get into the Championship 4 in dramatic fashion. And Joey Logano, also looking for his second title and as polished/experienced as they come, had more weeks to prep than any of the other three. This trio is garnering all the attention, and understandably so, especially given Elliott has turned in an unremarkable 16.33 average finish (lowest of the four) in the playoffs with just three top 10s, earning the fewest points of the title contenders and kind of by a not-so-small margin.

That just speaks to his relative dominance in the regular season, however. Elliott and the No. 9 team earned their way into the Championship 4 by virtue of points … because he had so many more of them from the regular season than anybody else. And when you consider that most of his playoff woes, again, have not really been self-inflicted, well, there’s not much reason to think this driver and team are any worse than they were just nine short races ago.

The Championship 4 was always the destination for this group and anything short would’ve been a disappointment. Thus, there’s no chance crew chief Alan Gustafson — who has the most career Cup wins of the four pit bosses, with 38, not to mention his four Phoenix wins — won’t have a dialed-in No. 9 Chevrolet to put in Elliott’s hands on Sunday, along with a championship-capable and well-prepared pit crew.

Elliott won his first title in his inaugural Championship 4 appearance in 2020 and is the only driver in this year’s field to make it each of the last three seasons. This stage is nothing new for him, and he’s about as unflappable under the pressure as any driver we’ve seen in years.

He’s got the best average finish at Phoenix (10.69) of the four, and sports a Kevin Harvick-like eight top 10s in 13 starts there.

If it weren’t for a string of bad luck in the playoffs, the Georgia native would be an obvious choice to become the second-youngest driver ever with multiple titles (only Jeff Gordon’s 1997 title was won at a younger age) and the first to do it for Hendrick since Jimmie Johnson in 2008.

But this is still Chase Elliott we’re talking about, and he’s more than just a popular name.

He’s as bonafide championship material as they come.

MORE: Chase Elliott through the years


Posted on by NASCAR Wire Service

PHOENIX — Chase Elliott refused to select a favorite from among his Championship 4 colleagues during Thursday’s NASCAR Media Day press conference, insisting that after a 35-race season to date if you qualified for this weekend’s championship race, you could be the champion.

Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will compete against Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Team Penske’s Joey Logano for the season trophy Sunday and both Elliott and Logano are racing for their second championship. Chastain and Bell are making their Championship 4 debut this weekend.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Championship race odds

Elliott has a strong record at Phoenix Raceway – winning the 2020 title race from pole position to claim his first championship. He has scored eight top-10s in 13 starts and led 546 laps at the one-mile track but comes into the championship finale with only a pair of top-10 finishes in the nine playoff races – a win at Talladega Superspeedway and a runner-up result at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Personally, being a part of it the last couple years and as this format has kind of progressed and changed, I think if you make it to that last race, I think you have a shot,” Elliott said. “If you’re in the final four, I think you have a chance.

“We’ve seen this, you don’t have to dominate all day to win [the title] . …  What Jimmie did in 2016 is a great example of not necessarily being the best car all day but when it came time to execute at the end of the day, put together some good restarts, some good pit stops and make it happen, they did.

“Our playoffs hasn’t been great but with this format, it really doesn’t matter now. If you’re part of the show, you’re part of the show. And if you have a shot this weekend, you have a shot to change the narrative and write the end of the story however you want.”

Both Logano (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Bell (Martinsville Speedway) won races in the Playoffs’ Round of 8 to earn their title opportunity. Elliott and Chastain “pointed” their way into championship contention.

In a rather unusual twist, the Hendrick Motorsports team could capture both the driver and team championship but with different drivers. Elliott is racing for the driver’s title and Kyle Larson qualified the team’s No. 5 Chevrolet for the team owner’s championship.

“The best thing that could happen is one of us wins the race and the other runs second and you can check both boxes and we all go home happy,’’ Elliott said. “That would be choice number one for me, and I think that’s feasible.”

For Logano, nothing short of a championship will do

To say Logano is optimistic about the way circumstances have played out over the past three weeks would be a massive understatement.

First of all, Logano won the first race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ Round of 8 on Oct. 16 at Las Vegas. The certainty of advancement to the Championship 4 has given his No. 22 Team Penske team the luxury of extra time to prepare for Sunday’s title race at Phoenix.

At 32, Logano is the oldest of the four Championship 4 drivers. With 14 full seasons in the Cup Series and 506 races under his belt, he is by far the most experienced. He and Chase Elliott are the only two drivers vying for the title who already have won a championship.

For Logano, it’s an opportunity not to waste.

“I feel like we’re in a great spot right now,” Logano said on Thursday during Championship 4 Media Day interviews at the Phoenix Convention Center. “I feel like our team is in a great spot for a lot of reasons. For one, we’re not happy to be here. We’re not just happy to be in the Championship 4. This isn’t enough for us.

“I feel like that’s the number one driver for the 22 team to win this thing. I think with that mentality and the three weeks that we’ve had since Vegas to really focus in here, it’s going to give us a huge advantage to not only have a good practice plan and set our car up but also execute this race correctly, on top of the experience we’ve got.

“I’ve never felt more solid in this position than I do right now. With that said, I’m ready to go racing and get out there, because we feel prepared. We’re ready to go to battle.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

PHOENIX — Given the dramatic way Christopher Bell has advanced to the Championship 4, it might seem strange that the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota thinks of himself as completely under the radar.

In a win-or-bust situation at the Charlotte Roval on Oct. 9, Bell took advantage of a late caution, won the race and catapulted into the Round of 8.

After suffering two flat tires at Texas Motor Speedway and finishing 11th at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Bell once again needed a victory to keep his championship hopes alive. He took control of the Round of 8 elimination race shortly after the halfway point and triumphed once again.

Bell comes to Phoenix with crew chief Adam Stevens on his pit box. Stevens is the only active crew chief in the Cup Series garage with more than one championship, having won titles with Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2019.

RELATED: Crew chiefs to win titles with multiple drivers

But Bell thinks Stevens may be overlooked this season—because of his driver.

“I think that maybe has a lot to do with my role,” Bell said. “Nobody really realizes I drive race cars for a living, for the most part. I embrace that role. I guess I don’t do anything else to advocate for myself or anything like that. Any time it seems like people are teamed up with me, they’re off the radar.”

Bell says he doesn’t mind the perceived anonymity.

“It’s just kind of the way it’s unfolded over my… I don’t really know how long,” he said. “That’s fine by me. Maybe I’ll be the least famous Cup champion one day.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

PHOENIX — Ross Chastain’s Martinsville miracle continues to make rounds on the Internet days after a Hail-Mary move vaulted him into the Championship 4.

Chastain’s decision to throttle up at Martinsville Speedway and ride the SAFER barrier at full speed through Turns 3 and 4 was still the talk of the NASCAR community Thursday at the Phoenix Convention Center where the four title contenders gathered for media day.

MORE: Why Chastain will win title | Phoenix schedule

An improbable — once thought impossible — move launched the No. 1 Chevrolet from ninth to fourth in the final set of corners. But the question lingered: Is that a move that could have any success at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race on Sunday afternoon? (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

“I don’t think it’s a move that can have any success at Martinsville,” Chastain laughed Thursday. “I still don’t know why it worked.”

The eighth-generation watermelon farmer’s move transcended the sport of stock-car racing, rocketing him up the leaderboard at the final moment to score enough points to advance to the Championship 4 for the first time in his career — and the first time for his team, Trackhouse Racing.

Why it proved successful is lost on Chastain, but the why doesn’t matter now.

“I look back at it. I look at the physics of it,” Chastain said of the move he perfected in “NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup” on the Nintendo GameCube. “I have people explain to me what happened and what I felt and why that car did not slow down, why it kept air in the tires. Why the suspension — the right-front suspension broke. The right-front upper control arm is broken. But I was able to get across the line before I really could feel it. And then down into Turn 1, I just kept it pinned on the wall because it was broken.

“So why it worked? I don’t know, but I have no ideas or plans to ever do that again because it was not pleasant.”

Whether another moment like that comes to fruition remains to be seen. But so rarely can something be seen for the first time in 74 years of stock-car racing at the sport’s premier level. From immense engagement on social media to gracing the top spot on “SportsCenter’s” top-10 plays, Chastain’s last-ditch effort has been seen everywhere.

“Ross should be really credited because only those unique things can really take you outside of your own bubble and your own world,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR Hall of Famer and analyst for NBC Sports. “And for a moment this week, we were in a lot of places we typically don’t exist. So that was incredible for us and hopefully there’s some momentum and ripple effects and that lasts for quite a while.”

While the move has received its praise, other drivers have voiced their hesitance surrounding the move in future scenarios.

Joey Logano, the 2018 champion, admitted “it was an awesome move to see.” But he cautioned whether a move so daring — where more could have gone wrong than went right — is a long-term positive.

“I don’t know if it’s the best for a few reasons,” Logano said. “One, it’s really, really risky — not only for the driver, but for the fans. There’s a lot of risks there. I don’t know if we should be willing to take that kind of risk. Two, I think the integrity of the sport’s a little bit interesting with this one because let’s be honest — like Ross did it. It’s awesome. Right? It takes big guts to do that. Like that takes a lot.

“But it’s also the move you make in the video game when you can’t get around the corner fast enough. Isn’t it? Like so? And what’s it look like when there’s 10 of us doing the same thing at the same time? And it happens race after race after race. Well, eh. It’s not that cool any more, is it, when you say like that, right? So I think yeah, it was awesome and made top-10 plays as it should. Like all that was really neat. I just don’t think it’s the greatest thing.”

Chase Elliott, the 2020 title winner and this year’s Regular Season Champion, lauded Chastain for taking the risk but echoed Logano’s sentiment regarding potential future wall rides.

“I think there’s a few factors to that in my opinion on it, but certainly commendable for a guy to do what he had to do to get the job done,” Elliott said. “I totally respect that, and I think that that deserves some respect. But from just a global landscape of our sport, when you kind of step back and look at it, I think it is a bit embarrassing, really, when you step back and look at it. It’s like cutting the track at a road course isn’t acceptable, either.

“NASCAR has put a lot of time and effort into making these cars equal, we’re suspending crew chiefs for weeks for pieces of vinyl being in the wrong place, you know, and then you go break the track record and run two seconds faster than everybody. You know, it’s just like from an integrity standpoint of what we do, is that proper? I don’t know, maybe not for me to say, but it certainly is interesting.”

While the legitimacy or future legality of the move remains in question, one thing for sure was the fever pitch surrounding the move. Trackhouse co-owner Pitbull reached out to Chastain to talk about it, but he was one of many. Chastain said he received over 1,000 text messages in the wake of Sunday’s daredevil antics.

“There wasn’t much common sense in this,” Chastain admitted. “And I think the difference in it being — Travis Pastrana said the difference between stupidity and brilliance is success. And this one is brilliant because we succeeded. Now why it worked? I don’t know.”

Chastain also remained adamant this was not a decision he ever practiced in the simulator. At the white flag, Chastain was notified he needed to pass two cars in order to transfer. The idea sparked in his mind, and after confirming he heard them correctly, planted the throttle pedal and sped through the corner some 60 mph faster than his competitors.

“There was a lot of luck involved. I’m not going to shy away from that,” Chastain said. “But I did have it — like from the time we took the white flag, I had it in my mind like you cannot leave the wall. Once I’m on the backstretch, I have to follow it. And it actually has more of a kick out and like a pocket, I’ll call it, in the [Turn] 3 than I even thought.

“And I thought when I hit the wall, I hit it pretty hard on entry, which surprised me. I thought I could just kind of lay into it. And then when I walked the track on the way out that night I realized, kind of like Darlington Turn 3, … the wall goes away six or eight inches that I had never noticed before.”

That’s because no one had ever run the wall like Chastain did before Sunday at Martinsville.

Now, he faces Logano, Elliott and Christopher Bell in a battle for the NASCAR Cup Series championship this weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

Posted on by Zack Albert

PHOENIX — A remorseful Ty Gibbs rolled into the NASCAR Xfinity Series portion of Championship 4 Media Day on Thursday, saying that his selfishness and over-aggressive move last weekend left his family’s racing organization with one fewer chance for a series title. Indeed, he’ll face three JR Motorsports teammates intent on shutting him out in Saturday’s finale.

But before a lap has been turned in Saturday’s Xfinity Series curtain-closer, the war of words has already ramped up, led by old foe Noah Gragson, who derisively called the title-eligible quartet “three and a half men.”

RELATED: Weekend schedule: Phoenix

“Just voicing my opinion, I don’t like him,” said Gragson, who spoke candidly and at length about his disdain for his rival.  “It’s just speaking what everybody doesn’t want to say, but they feel it.”

Championship 4 Media Day included the return of trash-talking and gamesmanship to the pre-race festivities Thursday at the Phoenix Convention Center, with Gragson carrying the primary baton. Gragson will join teammates Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry in taking on Gibbs in Saturday’s Xfinity Series Championship race (6 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) at Phoenix Raceway.

The issue burbled up last Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, when the 20-year-old Gibbs bounced teammate Brandon Jones from the lead on the final lap of the series’ penultimate race. Gibbs had already locked into the Championship 4 field, but his bump of Jones’ No. 19 Toyota cost Joe Gibbs Racing another slot in the title-eligible field.

Jones will actually be leaving the organization at season’s end to join the JR Motorsports roster as Gragson’s replacement in the No. 9 Chevrolet. But Gibbs’ crash-inducing push had ripples and repercussions beyond the Martinsville moment, with fan opinion swaying far out of favor, and Coach Joe Gibbs – the team owner and young racer’s grandfather – saying that there would be consequences for the on-track actions.

Noah Gragson during the Xfinity Series portion of Championship 4 Media Day at the Phoenix Convention Center
Zack Albert | NASCAR Studios

“You know, going back if I could redo it multiple times, I would,” Gibbs said. “I’ve thought, I guess this scenario over millions of times, you know, and it’s hard for me because I have to live with it now. And it’s really hard, but we could have had two JGR cars, I guess, in the Championship 4, and I took that out. I took 50% of Toyota’s championship and ours, JGR’s championship away for my selfish actions. So I have to move forward and do the best I can to work and to fix these things.”

Gibbs said he had spoken with Jones after the incident, saying that he gained an understanding of Jones’ position while opting to keep other details of their conversation private. As for the potential consequences, Gibbs said he wasn’t aware of what that might entail but would accept whatever the team deemed necessary.

Dealing with that fallout has added another facet to Gibbs’ compelling pursuit of a championship in his first full year of Xfinity competition, and the specter of whether his aggression might rare up again with the title on the line.

“It’s definitely a great question to ask, but I just don’t want to be known as a dirty racer,” Gibbs said. “I want to be known as a class racer, and somebody who’s going to race hard, but not going to be dirty. And you know, I’ve been dirty and made my mistakes. But the only thing I can do now is work forward to changing that perspective.”

For Gragson, the repentance has been part of a pattern for Gibbs – show on-track aggression, apologize, vow to learn a lesson, rinse, repeat. The two rivals – one bound for the Cup Series next year and the other seemingly so – have locked horns multiple times in their head-to-head battles over the last two seasons, and Gragson said he confronted him face-to-face in June to let him know where the two stood.

Gragson didn’t hold back in expanding on that ahead of the season finale.

“I just think like, I’m just sick and tired of the ‘I’m sorry, I’m trying to learn’ deal,” Gragson said. “Like it’s been two years. … Definitely over being – I think all of us – the pinball of this series from him.”

The thought of Gibbs being potentially less aggressive in the final race, with his recent actions being top of mind? “He doesn’t care,” Gragson said. “He lives in fantasy land.”

And on Gibbs’ supposed lack of situational awareness: “I have no clue honestly what goes through his mind,” Gragson said. “God, it would be badass just to live in that kind of world where you just have no real consequences or anything.”

Asked why he doesn’t just pre-emptively crash Gibbs to prove his point, Gragson offered an alternate route: “I want to beat him straight up. It pisses him off a lot more.”

Regardless of the volume of the pre-race noise, a first-time champion will be crowned in the Xfinity Series this year from this intriguing four-driver composite. Gragson and Gibbs are young prospects aiming to cap impressive seasons as they near their Cup Series futures; in Allgaier and Berry, two veteran 30-somethings have a long-awaited national-series title in their reach – Allgaier after a journeyman’s career in Xfinity, and Berry after years of dominating at the local and regional short-track level.

Allgaier was the benefactor of Gibbs’ last gasp at Martinsville, claiming the final Championship 4 spot that belonged to Jones until the final lap. Berry said he was more outspoken than usual about the late-race move last weekend, but that he has respect for Gibbs from having competed against him first on the Late Model level and now in Xfinity.

He also made a point to say that Gibbs was not solely to blame.

“If he could do everything over again last week, I’m sure that he would do things a little bit different,” Berry said. “I don’t completely put all the blame on him for what happened. I mean, there was people watching from afar that had radios that could have made decisions and helped push him and help him maybe make a better decision in that moment. So I don’t think it’s fair to completely put the fault on him in that moment. I know that they could have been more proactive during the race to say, ‘hey, this guy’s got a lot going on the line.’

“Yeah, he roughed you up. I mean, we’ve all seen it, right? I’ve raced short tracks my whole life. People run over each other for the win and the lead, but there’s just … the playoffs create a different dynamic there, that there was a lot going on amongst all that. And you know, somebody from afar could have stepped in and helped make his life a lot easier in that moment.”