PHOENIX — It took 31 tries for Martin Truex Jr. to win at Phoenix Raceway, and that 31st car Truex dubbed the best he has ever unloaded in the desert.
If his No. 19 Toyota is as good Sunday when the series returns to the 1-mile track in Arizona — this time with the 2021 championship on the line — Truex, who is title eligible, is confident he’ll be tough to beat yet again. Can neither confirm nor deny whether it’ll be the same car, though.
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know,” Truex said Thursday during Media Day at the Phoenix Convention Center. “I didn’t ask. I don’t ask about cars anymore because they’re always the same. They always bring their best ones and that’s the best one, it’s guaranteed.”
If not, practice (Friday) and qualifying (Saturday) are on tap before Sunday’s main event (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). That’ll give Truex’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew the opportunity to work out any kinks. The catch: Teammate Denny Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson — Truex’s Championship 4 competition — will also have the same luxury, along with the rest of the 39-car field.
Even if Truex does end up with the best car, that doesn’t guarantee anything. His runner-up finishes in the 2018-19 season finales and therefore final standings are proof of that, in his mind.
“I felt like both years hurt equally bad because we had the best car and we were in position, we led most of the race in both of them, and it just didn’t play out the way we needed it to,” Truex said. “So they both stung a lot.”
The championship race was held at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the time. Truex did lead laps in both — 20 in 2018 and 103 in 2019, both out of 267. He lost the front spot with 12 laps remaining in 2018 and with 53 left in 2019.
Those shortcomings were sandwiched between a high and low of Truex’s racing portfolio. In 2017, Truex won his first and only (so far) championship. Then, in 2020, he failed to make the Championship 4. That miss ended three-year slew of title shots.
“I’m sure that was probably the most different-feeling one than ever,” Truex said. “It feels kind of like we’re getting back to normal. It’s good to be here with everybody and talking about it.
“I don’t know. I feel really confident. I’ve felt confident in the other ones, but I don’t know, this one I feel a little bit better and a little bit more relaxed.”
Truex has won four races this year — tied for the second-best mark in the overall series and in his individual career. The first was at Phoenix, leading 64 circuits and winning by 1.696 seconds. He was then victorious at Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Richmond Raceway (playoffs).
Despite all that, BetMGM lists Truex at 9-2 odds — the lowest out of the Championship 4.
“Well, I won here in the spring and I won the championship before,” Truex said. “There are two things in my favor.”
In the triumphant moments after his 2010 Indianapolis 500 victory, team owner Chip Ganassi made sure to briefly stop by a pair of celebrations at the track to be properly feted for the win. Then — even as the crowd was still exiting the track — he gathered his traveling party and quickly made his way to a motorcade that ushered him to a small airport nearby.
There was no hesitation as to what Ganassi wanted to do.
As the traffic was still crawling away from the track below him, Ganassi was airborne heading to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR’s traditional Memorial Day event, where Ganassi’s current driver Jamie McMurray was chasing down Ganassi’s future driver Kurt Busch for a win.
It would have been the truest of “Memorial Day Doubles,” but McMurray finished second that day. Three months earlier, however, McMurray delivered the first half of Ganassi’s historic year by winning the season-opening Daytona 500.
That May afternoon at Indianapolis marked the first time in history a team had won both NASCAR’s crown jewel and IndyCar’s biggest race in the same year.
As he is so fond of saying, Ganassi “likes winners.” Such is his love of racing and competition.
“That was certainly one to remember,’’ Ganassi said of the 2010 season. “And we had plenty of other times with wins in both series on the same day. Those are great days you’ll never forget.
“If you could just take some of that feeling and put it in a jar and taste it every once in a while, you’d be fine.”
Over the course of a 20-year NASCAR run, Ganassi tasted from that jar often.
It’s resulted in a lot to reflect on as his esteemed NASCAR operation takes its final checkered flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. The 63-year-old Pittsburgh native has sold his stock-car assets to up-and-coming owner Justin Marks, who fields the Trackhouse Racing Team.
“It was little bit the right time, little bit the right offer, little bit the right person, the right buyer,’’ Ganassi said. “It was the right circumstance.”
The tone of Ganassi’s voice still reverberates the weight of the decision. There is plenty of solace, however, in feeling like it has been a tenure well spent and legacy well-received.
Jason Smith | Getty Images
He originally bought control of the famed SABCO team in 2001, renaming it Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. And during his ownership reign, the names of Ganassi’s teams have shape-shifted with his partners. For a five-year period from 2009-2013, it was Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and ultimately, it returned to the familiar Chip Ganassi Racing.
Through his 20 seasons, Ganassi employed 18 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, ranging from Sterling Marlin and Jason Leffler in 2001 to Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain, who will make the final starts for the team this weekend. Some of the biggest names in motorsport drove Ganassi cars from McMurray and Casey Mears to Jimmy Spencer and former series champion Matt Kenseth.
One of the most innovative aspects of Ganassi was his ability to challenge drivers – mix and match talent from both his open-wheel background and love of sports cars, too. He brought Indy 500 and Formula One winner Juan Pablo Montoya and three-time Indy 500 winner and four-time IndyCar series champion Dario Franchitti to NASCAR and took his NASCAR drivers to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, winning IMSA’s crown jewel multiple times.
This year’s leading NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson got his start with the Ganassi team as well, and joins McMurray and Marlin as the only drivers to earn multiple victories in a season for Ganassi.
Marlin’s third-place finish in the 2001 NASCAR Cup Series championship is the best-ever championship showing for the team, which during its two-decade existence earned those 20 wins, plus 36 pole positions, 196 top-five and 474 top-10 finishes. In Larson’s four-win 2017 season, the Californian led 1,352 laps of the organization’s 8,714 laps led total — 15 percent — in that one season. Ganassi doubled his victory total with 20 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins as well.
“It’s the honesty of racing to win and that’s what Chip was always about,’’ Busch said of the high level of talent attracted to drive Ganassi cars. “That’s the best way I can say it. I never felt like we were getting paid to do what we do. We just go out there to win because he sets the tone and demands it, without even having to say what has to happen. And we all have the same direction together.
“That’s why it was the best place for me at this point in my career, and I think that’s why McMurray was there for so many years. I think it’s why Montoya had such an allegiance to Chip. Guys like [David] Stremme and Sterling Marlin and Kyle Larson, the whole fraternity that raced for Chip had fun, but knew we were there to get that trophy.’’
Loyalty and long tenures
McMurray was so fond of Ganassi, he drove for him twice, competing from 2002-2005 then coming back to the team in 2010 when he earned both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 trophies.
“I think probably the most impressive part of Chip — whether on the IndyCar side or NASCAR side — is that there are very few owners that have success where racing is their business,’’ McMurray said. “I know Chip was always proud that he didn’t own 5,000 car dealerships. He didn’t own a truck leasing company. Literally, racing was his business. That’s how he made a living. And he had the longest-tenured sponsor, Target, for 25 years. He was able to have a super successful race team as his job.
“I think it was pretty amazing Chip was able to survive as long as he did and not only survive but win the biggest races. And I think his big home run was coming out on top when he left.”
Brian Lawdermilk
Ganassi almost always had the respect of his drivers and quickly earned the respect of NASCAR titans as well — even those who initially may have considered him an outsider. If they were unsure of what to expect from this open-wheel stalwart, they quickly discovered his process worked in stock cars, too.
“I think Chip has a unique feel for racing because he’s been a driver,’’ NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Rick Hendrick said. “He’s been a driver and an owner and he’s been successful in everything he’s done. I’ve enjoyed working with him with the engine program and just being close to him as a Chevrolet team. He’s a good friend and I admire his racer mentality. He’s driven to win in anything he’s in and he’s in a lot right now. Cadillac program, off-road, electric trucks and running all over the world.
“I hate to see Chip leave NASCAR but when you look at the success as a racer and an owner he’s had in IndyCar and NASCAR, he’s one of the very best,’’ Hendrick continued. “He builds an unbelievable team and his success record in IndyCar and NASCAR has been phenomenal.”
The great irony is that for his love of cars and his immense competitive spirit, it was actually Ganassi’s fondness of people that helped him succeed.
He gave young drivers their first real shot in competitive equipment and he gave veteran drivers the confidence to expand their resumes in different genres.
“If you look back over the 20 years he competed in NASCAR, he had the right people,’’ said Max Jones, who served as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Managing Director of NASCAR. “He didn’t win a championship, but he was always a top-running team. He gave a lot of people opportunities that weren’t going to maybe get that opportunity — not only drivers, but crew chiefs and crew members and business people.
“A lot of people judge success by wins and championships, but what he was able to do was bring a company like Target in for all those years and from a business standpoint, I think he helped NASCAR. He’s been a mover and shaker in this sport. He’s won all the big races in the world. When you look at his success, you put him right there next to Roger [Penske]. I’m honored I got to work for him.
“He likes winners. I know that’s a hashtag he has going on, but if you break it down, that really is him. He doesn’t tolerate complacency or people that don’t want to give it their all. And he’s a super loyal guy to everyone who works for him.”
It’s a reflection of Ganassi’s personality and style that even his former drivers still speak so fondly of him, still value the difference Ganassi made in their careers and their lives.
“I loved my time getting to race for Chip,’’ said Larson, who was hired by Ganassi in 2012 as an unsung 19-year-old and is now a nine-time race winner in 2021 with Hendrick Motorsports, contending this weekend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship
“He was an amazing team owner, leader, motivational speaker. I will forever be grateful for what he was able to do for myself, my career and my family, taking a shot on a relatively unknown young dirt racer and propelling me to the Cup Series in a short amount of time with a great race team and great people was amazing.
“I’m very, very thankful for the friendship I was able to make with him in the years I got to race for him and the success we got to share in and I wish him all the best in the future and I know he’s still going to leave a massive impact on the sport of motorsports.’’
Brian Cleary
A fond farewell
It’s evident when Ganassi speaks about his tenure in NASCAR which things stand out. He won a Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, made runs at the championship and fielded cars for some of the biggest names in the sport.
Yet as competitive as he is, Ganassi doesn’t consider true success based solely only upon a trophy count. It’s not just about the speed, the parts, the hardware, but about the smiles, triumphant feels in Victory Lane and the constant desire to keep up the good work even when you aren’t getting showered in confetti or spraying champagne.
It’s about weekdays at the shop surrounded by motivated, talented people who seized the process and wanted more of the good feels. He likes winners, and that description is broad.
As for his farewell, Ganassi chooses to be full of gratitude and fond memories. He took on a challenge in NASCAR, pushing his comfort level.
And winning.
“Just a lot of great competitors, a lot of great wins, a lot of great relationships and overall a positive experience for 20 years,’’ Ganassi said. “People are always looking for the difficulty or the melancholy in things, I kind of look at it another way. It was a very successful 20 years. I saw families grow. There were a lot of successes in having a 20-year business that never really make the final standings, they don’t show up in the win-loss column. They don’t even show up in the profit-loss column. But there were still a lot of successes there that we can be very proud of.
The stage is set for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin enter Arizona with a shot at the title, ready to take the green flag Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with the rest of the series’ stars.
OLD-FASHIONED RACE WEEKEND
Teams will have more time to prepare for this weekend’s race thanks to an hour-long practice session on Friday (4:05 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App).
Additionally, Sunday’s starting lineup will be set by traditional single-car time-trial qualifying on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, CNBC/NBC Sports App). This marks the first weekend the Cup Series will practice or qualify since the Aug. 15 weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
NASCAR released purse information for the upcoming national series races.
NASCAR Cup Series: $10,053,801
NASCAR Xfinity Series: $1,622,583
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: $908,369
PHOENIX HISTORY
— Phoenix Raceway opened in 1964 with hopes of becoming a western beacon of open-wheel racing and held its first race on a road-course layout. AJ Foyt won the track’s first oval race in March 1964.
— Richard Petty won the venue’s first NASCAR-sanctioned event, a Winston West Series victory in 1978.
— In 1988, three years after Buddy Jobe purchased the track from Dennis Wood, Phoenix held its first Cup Series event, won on Nov. 6 by Alan Kulwicki who celebrated with the first “Polish Victory Lap” by driving the opposite direction around the track.
— International Speedway Corporation purchased Phoenix in 1997.
— The track was first reconfigured and repaved in 2011, widening the then-frontstretch by 10 feet while extending the backstretch dogleg by 95 feet and tightening its radius. Progressive banking was also added in Turns 1 and 2.
— The track was again reconfigured and renovated in 2018 as part of a $178 million project which saw the start/finish line move to the exit of what was previously Turn 2. Enhancements were made to provide a new pedestrian tunnel as well as upgrade the media center, Victory Lane and garage area.
— Sunday marks the 51st race at Phoenix and second championship race, the first coming in 2020.
NASCAR Cup Series cars will utilize the 750-horsepower, low-downforce package this weekend, which features shorter spoilers and front splitters in an effort to minimize the impact of aerodynamics at tracks shorter than 1.4 miles in length.
GOODYEAR TIRES
After switching to the higher-horsepower package in March 2020, Goodyear adjusted its tread compounds to give Cup teams more mechanical grip to compensate for the lost aero grip. These tires also wear more, leading to necessary tire management by the competitors.
This weekend also marks the final NASCAR Cup Series race on a 15-inch tire before the Next Gen welcomes Goodyear’s 18-inch tire in 2022.
“For the Cup Series this weekend, someone will go down as the last driver to win a championship on a 15-inch tire,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.
This tire compound is the same utilized at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway, where it was used most recently.
— Kyle Larson (9 wins), Martin Truex Jr. (4), Chase Elliott (2) and Denny Hamlin (2) enter Phoenix as the Championship 4 contenders battling for the Cup Series title. Whichever driver finishes highest on Sunday claims the championship.
— Kyle Larson is the only championship contender who has not yet won at Phoenix. Elliott won here in 2020 to claim the title; Hamlin has two Phoenix victories, including the fall race in 2019; and Truex went to Victory Lane in March.
— Chase Elliott is the lone contender yet to win in these playoffs. His teammate Kyle Larson has won four times in the last nine races, Hamlin twice and Truex once (Richmond). In fact, Larson, Hamlin and Truex are the only playoff drivers to win this postseason.
— Denny Hamlin has made the Championship 4 for the third consecutive season. He is the only driver to qualify for the playoffs more than 10 times yet to win a championship.
— Sixteen drivers have won multiple championships. Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. can join that elite list with a title on Sunday.
— The last five Phoenix races were won by five different drivers.
— Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won four of the past six Phoenix events.
— The driver who led the most laps has won four of the last six races at Phoenix.
— There were 27 laps of caution at Phoenix in November 2020, the fewest in the last 21 races there; four cautions, the fewest in the last 11 races.
— The final green-flag stretch was 25 laps or less in four of the last six Phoenix races, but last November’s run to the finish was 112 laps.
Source: Racing Insights
CHAMPIONSHIP BETS
He might be the lone member of the Championship 4 field without a win at Phoenix Raceway, but Kyle Larson remains the betting favorite for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at 7-4 (+175) odds, according to BetMGM.
Odds heavily favor the title contenders this weekend — and for good reason. Since NASCAR’s shift toward elimination-style playoffs in 2014, the resulting champion has won the race every time. Defending champion Chase Elliott enters with 7-2 (+350) odds while Denny Hamlin (4-1) and Martin Truex Jr. (9-2/+450) follow behind.
Numbers drop off significantly behind Truex, with Kyle Busch given the next-best chance at 16-1 odds. But perhaps William Byron (18-1) may be the underdog pick this week. His speed throughout the playoffs has been exceptional and kept him up front. A complete effort by the No. 24 team might result in a sneaky upset from outside the Championship 4.
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out the playoff version of NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now and offers a fresh start for those of you who played the regular-season contest. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts, and there is a $10,000 prize for the winner.
The 2021 Fantasy Live points leaders are Kyle Larson (1,402), Denny Hamlin (1,382) and Chase Elliott (1,191).
This year, NASCAR.com also has the Playoffs Grid Challenge game, presented by Ruoff Mortgage, where you can pick the winners for each round of the playoffs right up through the Championship 4. First prize is $10,000.
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
New for this season, NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
And finally, head over to the NASCAR Mobile App for AR Racing presented by Mobil 1, where you can design your own car and race the playoff drivers at the playoff tracks in augmented reality.
PHOENIX — With a shot to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) John Hunter Nemechek is ready to race and ready to finish out his personal best NASCAR season by hoisting a trophy.
And he doesn’t take the opportunity for granted after a heart-stopping penultimate playoff race last weekend.
Nemechek, 24, who drives the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, was wrecked out of last Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway just after the halfway point and forced to watch the remainder of the event on television – hoping his points lead would be enough buffer to advance him to this week’s Championship 4 Round.
It was. And now Nemechek’s focus is clearly set on the exclamation point to a big-time year.
“It definitely was stressful, nerve-wracking, kind of every emotion I guess,” Nemechek said during Thursday’s Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 Media Day.
“A helpless feeling sitting there on the sidelines not being able to do anything about your position.”
“It definitely sucked,” he said, conceding he paced inside his team hauler as the race completed. Ultimately, he had just enough of a point cushion to qualify for Friday’s Championship 4 along with Ben Rhodes, three-time series champion Matt Crafton and Zane Smith.
Going forward, Nemechek said he was hopeful Friday’s night race would include an increased amount of competitive “respect” for the four drivers racing for a title. He acknowledged that the series is a major stepping stone for young drivers trying to make a name for themselves and advance up through the ranks.
And he insisted, “you can’t change the past,” referring to an aggressive move by a young driver, not in playoff contention, last week that wrecked Nemechek out of the Martinsville race.
“In the end, I was that young guy at one point, coming in and not knowing any better than just to go out and race everybody just as hard and I expect that when we race tomorrow and I expect that in all three series, everyone is going to race each other super hard,” Nemechek said. “The guys that aren’t in the playoffs are still out there to win a race.”
Nemechek emphasized it was up to each driver to know who they were racing around and the motives of other drivers. His motive at this point in his career, he reiterated, was rather simple,
“Mine, is just go race,” said Nemechek, who acknowledged his team owner, two-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch reminded him, “It’s more about mindset going in and we know what we have to lose.”
PHOENIX – In the NASCAR Cup Series, drivers seldom win consecutive titles.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the feat is almost commonplace.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are the only two Cup drivers in the last 25 years to earn consecutive championships—Gordon with titles in 1997-1998 and Johnson with a record five straight from 2006 through 2010.
In the Xfinity Series, on the other hand, championships seem to come in pairs. Randy LaJoie won in 1996 and 1997, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1998 and 1999. Martin Truex Jr. was champion in 2004 and 2005, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed trophies in 2011 and 2012.
Most recently, Tyler Reddick won titles in 2018 and 2019 for two different teams, JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing.
Austin Cindric will be racing for his second straight Xfinity title in Saturday’s championship event at Phoenix (8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). If he wins, it can’t be considered a break in form.
“It sounds great to me,” Cindric said of the prospect of a second championship. “It absolutely sounds great. So I’ll take it if you’re handing it out, but otherwise, I’ve got to go get it.
“I think the value for me is having another season to let things slow down and focus on some smaller details that might help me in the future. Those are the things I think I’ve benefited from in the 2021 season versus 2020.”
Obviously, the experience of winning a series championship is unique to Cindric within a Championship 4 that also includes Regular Season Champion AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric.
“I think there’s less newness, as far as that’s concerned for me, as far as what to expect out of myself,” said Cindric, who also is trying for his third straight win at Phoenix. “I feel like I learned a lot in a positive way from the mentality that I took. I think I’m bringing that mentality back—just the fact that I’m happy to be here.
“Yeah, I’ve won the championship, but that doesn’t guarantee me anything on Saturday. So, happy to be here, happy to have a shot, happy to be a part of the conversation, happy to be driving fast race cars. So I’m looking forward to making the most of that opportunity.”
PHOENIX — Setting foot this week on the concourses at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport, travelers to the desert capital city couldn’t miss the full-court publicity blitz for NASCAR Championship Weekend. Look up, and a video display showed highlights, a schedule and ticket information. Look down, and graphics of cars placing makeshift burnouts on the terminal floors were everywhere.
Add in the stories-high building downtown wrapped with Chase Elliott’s trophy celebration from a year ago, throw in the full-sized billboards around town, and the big-event feel has grown even stronger. The Phoenix area has recently hosted the Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball Final Four and the college football championship game. This week, it’s giving big-league stock-car racing the same treatment.
All those plans, though, were deferred dreams. Phoenix Raceway was announced as the championship site for the 2020 season all the way back in March 2019. Track president Julie Giese said that the buildup for that event started from that day on, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic one year later forced necessary adjustments for Phoenix’s debut as title-race host.
“We tried really hard to still capture that championship moment because for a lot of fans who could still attend, our season ticket holders, it was their first championship,” Giese said as part of a kick-off ceremony Thursday morning at the Arizona Capitol Building. “So we wanted to make sure we could make it as special as possible, given the restrictions and protocols that were in place. We learned a lot, honestly, and it helped us understand some different ways that we could celebrate.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
“So for us now, this event that we’re having this weekend, we started planning that in March of ’19. We’re able to take a lot of those ideas and now finally bring them to life.”
NASCAR will crown three national-series champions this weekend, culminating with Sunday’s Cup finale (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the Phoenix-area oval for the second straight year. Thursday signified almost a grand reopening, with dignitaries rolling out a welcome at the capitol, a processional of the Championship 4 haulers through downtown Phoenix and one of the first in-person media days since the pandemic began.
Some of the elements that made last year’s title weekend somewhat muted — with limited fan attendance and other personnel restrictions in place — have been amended or lifted altogether. Sunday’s race is a sellout, and campgrounds and other fan amenities have been reopened.
“I’m super glad to hear that,” said Elliott, who added that he’d seen pictures of his image on the downtown building, but had yet to see it in person. “I feel like Phoenix has been a great host. I’d like to see (the finale) continue to jump around, but I appreciate everybody out here in the Phoenix area supporting us and those that have traveled in to see it, too. Been a great host, and hope it’s a good show for them.”
Elliott is back to defend his Cup Series championship, but said that he didn’t feel like the lack of fanfare in 2020 took anything away from the competition. “I think the buildup was still there,” Elliott said. “The same thing is on the line, right?” Austin Cindric also returns to try to repeat the Xfinity Series title march that he made a year ago. Should he win, a repeat of the celebration — such as it was under protocols — might also be in order.
“Not that I would say it wouldn’t happen this year, but our team celebration last year was in the parking garage of our hotel in the back of a pickup truck with a cardboard box full of beer,” Cindric said. “So, not as glamorous as you might think, but probably just as effective as a team experience.”
Glamorous and effective are certainly goals, and Phoenix is hoping to achieve both in drumming up community interest. The NASCAR logo, images of the trophy and drivers have been wallpapered around town, and Giese said plans are already stirring for next season’s championship weekend — already locked in for the Arizona track in 2022.
“I think this is something that we want to continue to grow,” Giese said. “I’ve been around this sport a long time and I want to keep raising the bar, like, I don’t want it to ever settle and I don’t want anybody to ever think, well we did this already or this looks the same as last year. Hopefully our fans will notice that when we go out to the race track. Our community notices it, so I want to grow it bigger and better.”
PHOENIX — Two of the Championship 4 drivers—Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr.—have NASCAR Cup Series championships to their credit, but Elliott is the only one who can go back-to-back with a victory in Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
If Elliott can win a second straight title, he’ll join fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson as the only Cup competitors in the 21st century to win consecutive championships. Johnson won five straight from 2006 through 2010.
The last driver before Johnson to go back-to-back was another Hendrick stalwart—Jeff Gordon in 1997 and 1998.
“I think, having gone through the motions last year, we learned a lot about ourselves and about what’s important,” Elliott said. “How to perform in a big moment is a nice thing you can carry with you forward. On the same token, we didn’t have any of that experience last year, and it worked out OK.
“I feel like, for us, we just dive into what matters, and the guy who goes the fastest and runs the best race and executes a good day on Sunday will be rewarded, and that’s where our focus is.
PHOENIX — Within a year, Kyle Larson went from watching the championship race at Hendrick Motorsports to competing in the championship race for Hendrick Motorsports.
During the 2020 finale, Larson sat among team engineers in front of numerous TVs inside Hendrick Motorsports’ control center at the Concord, North Carolina shop, seeing and hearing firsthand the information they relayed to at-track personnel as Chase Elliott piloted his way to the organization’s first title since 2013. Larson left that night with a renewed sense of motivation for the 2021 season, his first with Hendrick Motorsports.
“I mean, I was obviously excited to be back in a Cup car,” Larson said Thursday during Media Day at the Phoenix Convention Center. “But I remember walking out of that room thinking, like, ‘Wow, they just won the championship. I’m racing for the best team going into the season.’ ”
Not only is he racing for arguably the best team – Hendrick Motorsports boasts a series-best 16 wins in the 35 events so far – he’s racing for a championship with arguably the best team. Larson is one of Hendrick Motorsports’ two drivers in the Championship 4; the other being Elliott. Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. from Joe Gibbs Racing complete the quartet for Sunday’s title showdown (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Larson signed with Hendrick Motorsports in October 2020 – about a week after he was reinstated by NASCAR officials following his completion of sensitivity training and more than six months after his April suspension for use of a racial slur during an iRacing event. Since his debut in the No. 5 Chevrolet, he has won a career-high and series-best nine races, including three of the last four.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve truly raced for a championship, and I don’t really remember how I felt then,” Larson said. “I won a sprint-car championship in 2010. I won the K&N championship in 2012. So, it’s been almost a decade since I’ve been in this position with a championship. I feel like, though, if I was nervous then, I don’t feel nervous now.”
It’s his first Championship 4 appearance, though.
“I’m sure once Sunday comes around, I will have butterflies,” Larson said. “But right now, I haven’t felt them.”
Larson’s best playoff run until now was 2019, when he made it to the Round of 8 and finished sixth in the final standings. Otherwise, he had two Round of 12 showings in 2017-18 and a Round of 16 nod in 2016. Of course, in 2020, he was not playoff eligible.
Circumstances sure are different this year.
“This is something you always dream about, being in this position to win a championship,” Larson said. “I’m just very happy and thankful and lucky to be sitting where I am right now.”
PHOENIX — As far as Championship 4 Media Day appearances go, Thursday’s session with NASCAR Cup Series title hopeful Denny Hamlin was an all-timer.
Hamlin, fresh from a controversial late-race clash with Alex Bowman last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, turns the page just a few days later to this Sunday’s championship race (3 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Phoenix Raceway. Lest anyone think that’s a tough transition to make, Hamlin explained how he’s dealing with it — from the post-race frustration to the fallout from his fiery interview to the fan reaction that rained down on him from the Martinsville stands.
“I mean, how do I get up in the morning and take my kids to school at 7:30, how do I go to 23XI and work for a couple days in the middle of the week during a playoff run. I live in chaos,” Hamlin said during Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day at the Phoenix Convention Center. “My life is chaos, and I just, I thrive under chaos. Honestly, you can probably ask Kyle, the more (expletive) that is stirred up around me, the more I come at it. So I don’t mind things like that. …
“To me, it’s just fuel. I have so much fuel in my tank right now from just motivation. There’s a lot of motivation there.”
Hamlin will be vying for his first Cup Series championship again, making the Championship 4 for the third consecutive year. He’ll take the measure of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., plus Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson in Sunday’s season finale.
Getting to the championship round was its own adventure. Hamlin’s seemingly comfortable points gap looked plenty vulnerable at Martinsville, where he rallied from the back of the field twice (once for pre-race tech violations, another for a pit-road speeding penalty) to contend for the win. The ending of that comeback story unraveled when Bowman’s aggressive push with less than 10 laps remaining left his No. 11 Toyota spinning, demoting him to 24th place at the end.
That move prompted a testy reaction on multiple levels, especially in the context of one Sunday’s race to the next.
“I really wanted to make a pretty strong statement at Martinsville, starting in the back, from back to the back again, and driving all the way to the front and winning that race would be like the old foot on the throat heading into this weekend, right?” Hamlin said. “I feel like that that momentum was taken away, was taken from us. But again, the momentum then in my head swings back around into now ultra-motivated, because I just I love the feeling of just proving people wrong.”
Bowman had said he planned to contact Hamlin in the wake of their late-race confrontation, but Hamlin said he had yet to hear from him. “It just shows, again, the lack of respect, right? I mean, so you know, I think they think that well, I said ‘sorry’ on TV, so that’s good. It’s just, guys aren’t men anymore.”
That note led Hamlin down the path of describing the differences — in racing styles and perceived integrity — between the newer crop of drivers and his own demographic, the older, veteran guard of the series. Meantime, Bowman’s camp had T-shirts printed that made light of Hamlin’s post-race remarks, where he referred to the race winner as an “absolute hack” in televised interviews.
“I mean, I don’t have a reaction to it,” Hamlin said, adding that he did not buy one. “It’s you know, they’re gonna thrive off of any kind of bump or hit that they can get during that time. You know, certainly, I think drivers in general in our series lack originality. So I’m glad I could help them out.”
Hamlin might be considered a sentimental favorite for Sunday’s title as a driver who has paid his dues and a veteran looking for the lone missing piece from his Cup Series resume. Last Sunday’s sentiment was mixed at best and overwhelmingly negative at its most honest worst.
Being a home-state favorite with a history of Martinsville success didn’t matter much Sunday, given the raucous reaction from the crowd after Hamlin’s spin and his piped-in interview over the track’s public address. Hamlin still ties it all back to his spinout of Elliott at the same track in 2017, making a nod to Elliott’s disagreement with Kevin Harvick that stirred the playoff cauldron.
“It doesn’t correlate to common sense. Honestly, we were the guys that were crashed. We were booed?” Hamlin said. “I’m confused. What’s going on? Obviously people were passionate about their driver, which, that’s OK. But honestly, it doesn’t make any sense in the grand scheme of like what’s actually going on. It’s just bitter fans from half a decade ago. They just cannot get over it.
“There was controversy a few weeks ago, right? Eventually one of the drivers said, I’ve had enough, I’m done taking your (expletive), I’m going to crash you. I think that probably needs to happen a little bit more often to get some respect back. Obviously NASCAR’s not going to police the stuff. This is stuff that certainly fuels popularity. The drivers have to get back to self-policing, I think. That probably is going to have to come through the hard way.”
Back to the chaos-thriving part, does Hamlin necessarily bristle at the negative fan feedback?
“You would rather be booed than ignored,” Hamlin said. “The moment you get ignored, it’s bad news, you’re on your way out.”
In this roundabout campaign for Hamlin, one filled with remarkable consistency, a shockingly winless regular season and a steady playoff upswing, he still has a chance to cash in on another chance for postseason glory.
If that happens in front of a packed house Sunday and the reaction is somewhere between cheers and boo-birds — polite golf clap, perhaps? — Hamlin says he’ll be able to tune out the noise and simply bask in the moment.
“I’m not sure. I’ll be so happy for myself and my team, I won’t care. I really won’t,” Hamlin said. “I know how hard we worked to get here, how hard I worked, all the sacrifices my family has made to get me to this point. I’m going to try to find my family as soon as possible, give ’em a hug.”
Craig Lutz just landed a new home for the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
Danny Watts Racing confirmed on Thursday that Lutz will pilot the No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials/Danny’s Cesspool machine for the full 16-race slate in search of the championship. Lutz will bring crew chief Douglas Ogiejko and his established team to the Danny Watts Racing stable to try and get right to Victory Lane.
Goodie Racing, the team Lutz sat behind the wheel for over the last few years, shut down in the middle of the 2021 season, leaving Lutz without a ride. After a few one-off appearances for different teams, including one for Watts Racing at Riverhead Raceway in September, Lutz was heading into the offseason with a lot of question marks about what 2022 might look like.
Although Lutz will not drive for him, Goodie Racing and owner Russell Goodale will join the new team as a sponsor.
“Being able to plug in all of our guys is a huge part of putting this deal together,” Lutz said. “Danny Watts has everything there to make this all happen, and we’re excited to head to New Smyrna for the season opener in February. Russell and Goodie Racing are still going to be coming on board to help us and I couldn’t be more grateful for their support.”
In 88 career Whelen Modified Tour starts, Lutz has three wins, including checkered flags at Jennerstown Speedway, Thompson Speedway and Stafford Motor Speedway. His best career finish in points was fourth, twice. It was the 2020 season in which the Miller Place, New York, driver really broke out — winning two of nine races in the abbreviated COVID season.
Lutz will also drive the car for the historic Islip 300 at Riverhead Raceway as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series action in New York on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Anthony Nocella, who drove the car for Danny Watts Racing for the last two years, will part ways with the team.
“We would like to thank Nocella Paving along with the whole Nocella family for the past two seasons together,” Watts said. “We are grateful for everything they have done to make our team successful. We want to wish Anthony nothing but the best in the future. We’re excited to get started at Riverhead.”
NASCAR announced the 16-race slate for the 2022 season on Wednesday. Thirteen races have already been established, including the season opener as part of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway on Feb. 12, 2022, and the championship race at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. Three races are still to be announced.
Danny Watts Racing tabbed Lutz for 2022, looking to add more checkered flags to their stable next season. (NASCAR)
