Ben Rhodes sealed the deal Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, winning the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in his first-ever appearance in the Championship 4. After six full-time seasons in the Truck Series, the 24-year-old ThorSport Racing driver has a truck title to celebrate.
The Championship 4 battle came down to the final laps. Zane Smith appeared to be in championship-winning position, but with eight laps remaining, Rhodes found enough speed in his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford to pass Smith, nudging the back bumper of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet in Turn 2 to get by him.
Rhodes finished the race in third. Smith finished fifth and second in the championship standings.
“I thought it was gone,” Rhodes said during the trophy presentation. “When the 21 (Smith) drove past me, I thought it was all over. He just kept driving away further and further and further. The end of the race, when everybody started wearing their stuff out, I didn’t think I had anything left. I was sideways every corner. But we had just enough, just enough.
“… This sounds weird, but this felt special from the time I got here, but I didn’t want to ruin it,” he added. “I didn’t want to say anything, I didn’t want to do anything out of context, I just wanted to stay 100% focused.”
Another Championship 4 driver, John Hunter Nemechek, had his title chances quickly evaporate at the start of the race. A left-front tire went down on his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after the start of the race as a result of some contact with another truck. Nemechek lost two laps after pitting to change tires. He earned both laps back and recovered for a seventh-place finish to finish third in the championship standings.
The final Championship 4 driver, Matt Crafton, fought an ill-handling No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford throughout the night. Crafton finished 12th and took the fourth spot in the final playoff rankings.
Rhodes opened the season with a statement, winning back-to-back races at Daytona International Speedway and the track’s road course layout. Those proved to be his only two wins throughout the remainder of the regular season, but his consistency radiated throughout the year with seven top-five finishes, 15 top 10s and a trio of runner-up finishes this season heading into Phoenix.
The Phoenix finale caps off a career year for Rhodes in the Truck Series, including his first multi-win season, but he’s no stranger to success behind the wheel.
Before landing at the top of the Truck Series standings, Rhodes burst onto the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (now ARCA Menards East) scene with a stellar 2014 campaign. At 17 years old, Rhodes scored five wins, 11 top fives, 13 top 10s and six pole awards in 16 races. He had just five finishes outside the top four all season, resulting in a series championship. That same year, Rhodes ran four races in the Truck Series and brought home three top-10 results.
That early success landed Rhodes a part-time ride in the Xfinity Series, driving 10 races for JR Motorsports in 2015. One year later, he earned into a full-time role in the Truck Series behind the wheel for ThorSport and hasn’t looked back since. Rhodes joins veteran Matt Crafton (2013, 2014, 2019) on the list of championship drivers for ThorSport.
“I wouldn’t even be here today if it wasn’t for Duke and Rhonda (Thorson, ThorSport team owners),” Rhodes said. “They gave me my opportunity in this sport. They were my very first full-time national team that I raced for and I’ve been with them ever since. They’re so amazing and I can’t even begin to thank them enough. This has just been a ride of a lifetime. I hope it’s not over. I want to keep going now. This is amazing.”
AVONDALE, Ariz. – NASCAR President Steve Phelps stuck to his guns.
In his first state-of-the-sport press conference after taking office in 2018, Phelps acknowledged that NASCAR racing faced significant headwinds but proclaimed, “I do believe as we head into 2019 that our best days are ahead.”
The 2021 season has given Phelps no reason to retract that statement, and the promise of 2022, with the introduction of the Next Gen car for the NASCAR Cup Series, only serves to enhance the optimism.
“The first time I had the opportunity to do this was in 2018 in Miami,” Phelps said Friday at Phoenix Raceway during his fourth end-of-season session with reporters. “At that particular point, the sport was going through some challenges, some headwinds, right? Those were real. I think we felt that.
“I remember using the phrase that our best days are ahead. I’m not sure everyone in this room or folks around the country, (or the) world, believed that to be true. I did. I think the results that we have seen are more than encouraging. I’m very proud of them, right?
“It really took an industry coming together in order to make that happen. It took race teams, our broadcast partners, our sponsors, tracks that we own or tracks that we don’t own, that all came together to create an opportunity for our sport to grow, which is exactly what’s happening.”
Emblematic of that growth is the continuity of NASCAR’s presence on television, a reflection of the sanctioning body’s agility in completing a full 36-race 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule despite the complications of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are the most stable sport on television since 2018,” Phelps asserted. “No other sport—none—can match what NASCAR has done from a stability standpoint with our ratings. If you consider our share numbers since 2019 in our Cup Series, it’s up 18 percent, which is hard to do at this point. It’s just hard.
“Then you look at our ratings for Xfinity and our Camping World Truck Series, they’re up double-digits. The share in both of those series is up 25 percent to 30 percent. We are having a moment as a sport. It’s important that we keep it going, which is exactly what we’re going to do.”
Growth in attendance, fueled by imaginative scheduling, has paralleled the increase in television share. Phelps said every NASCAR-owned track, with the exception of Darlington, showed an increase in per-event attendance over 2019—and Darlington added a race in 2021.
Notable, too, were road course additions to the schedule at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, and Road America in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin.
“I think the schedule variation is critical for the success of this sport,” Phelps said. “I think you saw really strong results from schedule variation, whether you’re talking about COTA, you’re talking about Road America, you’re talking about even format changes like Bristol Dirt, which might as well have been a new venue.
“Ben Kennedy (senior vice president of strategy and innovation) and the team put together the most aggressive schedule we’ve had in 50 years. I think it worked. Attendance was fantastic at all the new venues. The racing was good at all the new venues.
“As we look to the schedule in 2022, going to the L.A. Coliseum to kick off our debut with our Next Gen car as a proof point, frankly, to we’re going to be bold in what we’re doing, whether it’s the schedule or the car—all of it—we’re going to take calculated risks.”
Though NASCAR is still addressing steering and heating issues with the Next Gen car in advance of its debut in the Feb. 6 Clash at the Coliseum, the car is on course for its inaugural race. Currently, there are no problems with the supply chain for the components.
“What I would say is that this car has been tested, run, (with) more collaboration than any other new car in the history of this sport,” Phelps said. “Not even close. The Gen-6 car that came out, we ran a test in January before we raced it at Bristol for the first time.
“I am confident, and we check all the time on supply chain issues. As of now, there are no issues. We’ll continue to monitor that because it’s important. If you’ve got 30 major components to the car, (and) you only have 29 of them, you have a problem. Until the car is on the race track, we’ll continue to give it all the attention that it deserves, which is a lot.
“With respect to issues with the car that we’re working through, right now it’s really down to two things that we see, which is steering, which you guys have talked about, and getting that right. The other is the heat in the car. We’ve got some solves for that that the drivers I believe are feeling more satisfied with.”
Phelps also indicated that NASCAR is having conversations with new manufacturers about entering the sport. One prevalent rumor has Dodge returning to competition.
“There are some discussions that are going on with other OEMs, new OEMs, that would come into the sport,” Phelps acknowledged. “Our three existing OEMs are happy about that. Our race teams are happy about that. We’re happy about that. It’s been widely rumored that Dodge is one of those or closest. I won’t confirm or deny that.
“It is important. We’ve made no bones about the fact that we want to have a new OEM in our sport. I think we got delayed with the pandemic. With that said, we are an attractive place, I believe, for OEMs to come into the sport. Now is an important opportunity for them to do that because of the Next Gen car.
“I also believe the fact that the sport is growing and has a relevance that it hasn’t had in decades is causing some real interest from other OEMs.”
Brad Keselowski topped the speed charts in the lone NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway in his final weekend driving for Team Penske in the No. 2 Ford. Keselowski posted a fast lap of 135.384 mph in the session, a week after being eliminated from playoff contention in the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Kyle Larson led the way among the Championship 4 drivers as he came in second in the session in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a fast lap of 135.293 mph. As for the rest of the Championship 4: Chase Elliott was fifth (135.019 mph) in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin was eighth (134.118 mph) in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Martin Truex Jr. was 18th-fastest (133.427 mph).
Of note, Truex was the lowest-ranked of the four Championship 4 drivers and of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. Elliott ran the most laps in practice among this foursome with 50 laps, then Larson at 46, Hamlin at 43 and Truex at 32.
Matt DiBenedetto came in third in his final weekend in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (135.11 mph) while Christopher Bell placed fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (135.084 mph).
A caution came out in the opening minutes for fluid coming out from underneath the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford of BJ McLeod.
Friday’s 50-minute practice session was the lone practice time this weekend for the Cup Series field and the first practice time since the mid-August race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Qualifying will take place on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC/NBC Sports App to set the lineup for Sunday’s championship race (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course Kyle Larson is the betting favorite heading into Phoenix Raceway for Sunday’s Cup Series championship. But odds shorter than 2-to-1 is rare territory in NASCAR outright markets, and a price at which it’s difficult to find value.
The favorite has opened at less than +200 at the market-making SuperBook USA exactly three times this Cup season — Chase Elliott twice on road courses and Larson in July at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he failed to deliver for bettors, finishing 18th in the midst of a ridiculous run of success similar to the one he’s on now.
“You have to make Larson a strong favorite. I don’t think there’s any way around it, and that’s kind of been the case for the latter half of the season,” sharp bettor Blake Phillips told NASCAR.com this week. “Does that mean he’s a lock to win? Absolutely not. …
“I just don’t think you can make him 2-to-1. I don’t think he’s that strong, especially at Phoenix.”
Here are the odds from four sportsbooks — the SuperBook, plus three NASCAR sponsors — to win Sunday’s race, followed by odds to win the 2021 title.
ODDS TO WIN SUNDAY’S RACE
Driver
SuperBook
BetMGM
Barstool
WynnBET
Kyle Larson
+160
+175
+190
+175
Chase Elliott
+350
+350
+350
+350
Denny Hamlin
+400
+400
+450
+425
Martin Truex Jr.
+500
+450
+500
+500
William Byron
+2500
+1800
+1800
+1800
Kyle Busch
+2500
+1600
+1800
+1800
Brad Keselowski
+3000
+2000
+2200
+2000
Joey Logano
+3000
+2000
+2200
+2200
Ryan Blaney
+3000
+2000
+2500
+2200
Kevin Harvick
+4000
+2500
+2500
+2500
Alex Bowman
+3000
+2500
+3000
+3000
Christopher Bell
+4000
+4000
+4000
+4000
Kurt Busch
+10000
+5000
+6000
+6600
ODDS TO WIN 2021 TITLE
Driver
SuperBook
BetMGM
Barstool
WynnBET
Kyle Larson
+150
+140
+165
+165
Chase Elliott
+300
+275
+255
+250
Denny Hamlin
+350
+350
+300
+300
Martin Truex Jr.
+400
+450
+365
+425
While two of Larson’s nine wins this season have come on ovals that employ the 750-horsepower, low-downforce package, he hasn’t finished in the top five in any of the four races at Phoenix and its two most comparable tracks — the short, flat layouts of Richmond and Loudon. He’s led just nine total laps during those four races.
Speed is speed, however, and the No. 5 has been the quickest car from the best garage week in and week out this season.
“Hendrick has (had) the fastest cars at almost all the races all year long, so I find it hard to believe they’re not going to be the fastest cars again,” said Ed Salmons, vice president of risk management at the SuperBook.
Elliott, though, has been less than spectacular on 750-hp tracks in the second half of the season. While Larson’s Hendrick teammate has a solid Phoenix history, claiming last year’s title here, some handicappers are not expecting a repeat.
“The driver I have the lowest hopes for is Chase Elliott, which sounds strange,” Phillips said. “Elliot has some great finishes at Phoenix, but going into this weekend, he’s the driver that I have the least expectation for. “
Onto Gibbs …
We hope you heeded advice we relayed to you back in July to consider a Truex futures wager at odds ranging from 9/1 to 10/1. We feel good about having that ticket in our pocket with the No. 19 in the championship mix at fewer than half of those prices.
Jim Sannes, the purveyor of that advice, said he’s considering hedging his Truex futures bet with a play this weekend on Hamlin +450, a price offered at FanDuel.
“Problem is my simulations show only the tiniest amount of value there (18.3% versus 18.2% implied),” Sannes, a quantitative NASCAR betting and fantasy analyst at numbersFire, said this week in a direct message. “So … I’m likely holding off until after practice Friday to see if anything opens up. I’d be more open to betting Hamlin at a very short number if he’s fast there.”
Truex is the longest shot remaining in the Championship 4, but he won in March at Phoenix and in September at Richmond. His other two wins this season have also come on 750-hp tracks — Martinsville and Darlington.
Phillips said he jumped aboard the Truex futures train mid-season as well, with bets riding into Sunday at 9/1 and better, a position he’s obviously liking. Oddsmakers, in fact, have Truex mispriced for Phoenix, the bettor believes.
“If you look at the odds for the Championship 4, Truex is more of a long shot than Elliott. I think that’s one where it’s slightly flipped,” Phillips said.
Stealing Their Thunder?
Since the 2014 implementation of the current format — whereby the top finisher among the Championship 4 in the final race is crowned champ — the last race has been won by a title contender all seven times. Guys not named Larson, Elliott, Hamlin or Truex are not given much of a chance Sunday, as the oddsboard attests.
That result may tempt bettors into playing a long shot to win Sunday, but if there’s a driver outside of the Championship 4 you like, consider the different NASCAR markets sportsbooks offer.
“I’m looking hard at Christopher Bell, just likely not for an outright due to the championship contenders.” Sannes said. “He grades out really, really well by my numbers because of what he has done on the short, flat tracks.”
Bell is offered at +1000 at Barstool for a top-three finish, odds that justify a play, per Sannes’ model.
As for an outright bet on a non-contender, it’s probably best to steer clear.
“The thing I learned about the last race is you can almost take every driver not in the four and just make them 100-to-1, because they have no chance,” Salmons said. “Last year in Phoenix, I posted (Kevin Harvick) at 25-to-1, and people were betting him like they were stealing. He just hung around in fifth to seventh all day and stayed away.”
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.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota for Saturday’s Xfinity Series championship was a late arrival Friday at Phoenix Raceway, riding into the garage on an alternate hauler after the team’s primary transporter broke down in Texas.
The team quickly unloaded the primary car that Daniel Hemric will drive in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season finale (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The team began its preparations shortly after its approximately 5:30 p.m. ET arrival. That prep included an initial technical inspection by NASCAR officials and the car hit the track shortly after the 6:05 p.m. ET start of the series’ lone practice.
According to a team representative, the No. 18 crew will use tools and other equipment from JGR’s ARCA Menards Series West operation. That series will hold its season finale at the 1-mile Arizona oval Saturday (3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Gold TrackPass).
Hemric is vying for his first Xfinity Series championship, battling fellow title contenders AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson in Saturday’s 200-miler. He has made the Championship 4 field in each of his three full-time Xfinity seasons.
Denny Hamlin will win the 2021 championship because …
It’s finally time to complete the mission.
After years of the sport’s highest honor eluding him, Hamlin has the potential to put all the pieces together at Phoenix Raceway for his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship. It’s for good reason, too.
While he hasn’t gone on a winning tear this year like he did with six victories in 2019 and seven in 2020, Hamlin has put together the most consistent season of his 17-year career so far. Accompanying his pair of victories this season, which both came in playoff races at Darlington Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hamlin is on track to earn his best season average finish. He’s currently at 8.6. That is consistency at its finest and Hamlin will finally be able to capitalize on it.
The final 312 scheduled laps at Phoenix will be tough considering his competition on Sunday, though. Kyle Larson’s nine-win season proves he’ll be fast on Sunday, defending champion Chase Elliott won this race last year to earn his first title and Martin Truex Jr. won at Phoenix in the spring. Hamlin, though, also has a pair of wins at the 1-mile Arizona track, with the last coming in the fall of 2019. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, led by trusty crew chief Chris Gabehart, has all the tools and talent at its disposal to come out on top.
On top of the strong average finish this season and past success at Phoenix that back Hamlin up, there’s just a different energy about him this time around. A fire was lit under Hamlin after last Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway following his run-in with Alex Bowman. He carried that heat into Championship 4 Media Day on Thursday in downtown Phoenix, saying he’s taking all the anger and negativity and turning it into positive thoughts. That’s just the right amount of toughness and a sprinkle of crazy that make for a championship mentality.
Let’s leave you with this quote from Hamlin: “I live in chaos. My life is chaos. I thrive under chaos.”
That’s good for him because the Championship 4 season finale in the desert is always … chaotic.
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.
