35 races, a season full worth of close finishes, bent fenders, fights between drivers. But four drivers, will need to put all those thoughts behind them, and focus on the next 312 laps. Because if you finish in front of the other 3 contenders, you can call yourself a NASCAR Cup Champion. It is the final race of the year and four drivers have the opportunity to either add onto their championship patch on their firesuit or get one added. Today we will be breaking down the main storylines coming into today’s championship race, the championship 4’s chances at taking the title today, as well as my pick for the NASCAR Cup Series Champion.

9 sets of Goodyear Eagles, Fuel Runs 95-105

3:31 EST Green Flag

312 Laps (500 km) 60 S1-125 S2- 127 FS

• Martin Truex will start on pole once again, following his pole in Martinsville, he went back to back here in Phoenix in what is his final race as a full time driver. Thank You Truex!
• Stewart Haas in their final race as a four car team will start 12th (Briscoe) 21st (Gragson) 33rd (Preece) and 39th (Berry)
• Christopher Bell said in a news conference that he feels cheated out of being in the championship 4. Byron shouldn’t count on Bell to help him at all today.
• Logano failed pre race inspection twice, they will lose their pit stall selection for this race which isn’t a huge disadvantage here at Phoenix
• Jeb Burton on the other hand failed inspection 4 times, the team will lose their car chief and pit stall selection; They will also need to come down pit road once the green flag flies so Burton can serve a stop-and-go
• Ryan Blaney may be starting the deepest out of the other four championship contenders but he did start 15th last year, and then went on to win the championship.
• Kyle Busch has one more race to keep his streak of winning a race every season that he has been a Cup driver, Busch starts 25th today.
• Byron and Blaney earlier in the season we’re involved in a incident which proceeded Blaney to same some not so nice things over the radio about Byron and the other driver involved in the incident. I doubt we see any retaliation come from that in this race, since both drivers race with extreme class. But it is something to keep in the back of your mind, just in case.
• NASCAR said in their news conference that this championship format is here to stay, well fans will definitely watch this race with a close eye, to see if this format is really what we need as fans, or if this is purely for entertainment purposes.

William Byron – 2024 Daytona 500 Champion, 2017 Xfinity Series Champion

Byron’s Phoenix stats

10.3 avg finish in 7 races with 1 win and 2 top 5’s

2024 Byron stats

13.2 avg finish with 3 wins, 12 top 5’s and 4 DNF’s

Joey Logano – 2015 Daytona 500 Champion, 2018 and 2022 Cup Series Champion

Logano’s Phoenix stats

12.1 avg finish in 7 races with 1 win and 2 top 5’s

Logano’s 2024 stats

17.6 avg finish with 3 wins, 6 top 5’s and 6 DNF’s

Ryan Blaney – 2023 Coke 600 winner, 2023 Cup Series Champion

Blaney’s Phoenix stats

4.1 avg finish in 7 races with 0 wins and 6 top 5’s

Blaney’s 2024 stats

15.6 avg finish with 3 wins, 11 top 5’s and 6 DNF’s

Tyler Reddick – 2018, 2019 Xfinity Series Champion, 2022 Brickyard Winner

Reddick’s Phoenix stats

15.6 avg finish in 7 races with 0 wins and 2 top 5’s

Reddick’s 2024 stats

13.4 avg finish with 3 wins, 12 top 5’s and 4 DNF’s

Now this championship will feature four of the drivers who have all combined for 12 race wins this season, which is about 33% of races won by the Championship 4 drivers this season, i know for some fans this format might not be their favorite as it doesn’t really reward the best driver that season, but whoever got hot in the playoffs. Despite this though, we still have a champion to crown and NASCAR has no plans in reverting the format.

Drivers like William Byron and Tyler Reddick will both be looking for their first ever cup championship while Logano is looking to make it 3 and Blaney is looking to go back-to-back. He’d be the first driver to do it since Jimmie Johnson. Now like i said, this format doesn’t necessarily mean you need to go out and win the race, just finish better then 3 other drivers. Now out of the four drivers, one of their stats at Phoenix stands out the most to me. He has 11 top 5’s and with some bad luck that has hit this team, and a average Phoenix finish of 4.1. Ryan Blaney is my pick for the Cup Series championship today. Now he will need to come from a little ways into the field just like he did last season but if any driver is able to handle adversity, it’s Blaney.