Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams heading into season finale at Phoenix
Today at 06:00 AM
The NASCAR Cup season comes to an end this weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Tyler Reddick will race for the championship Sunday (coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams ahead of the season finale.
23XI Racing —Good news: Tyler Reddick, a two-time Xfinity champion, makes his first Championship 4 appearance. … Three of the last four Cup champions won the title in their first Championship 4 appearance. … This also is 23XI Racing's first chance to win a Cup title. … Bubba Wallace has a career-best six top fives and 13 top 10s this season. Bad news: Reddick has an average finish of 19.9 in the playoffs, the lowest of all drivers to make the title race.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Phoenix races. Bad news: McDowell's seven top 10s this year are his fewest in a season since 2021. … Todd Gilliland has not finished better than 17th in five Cup starts at Phoenix.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron, who is going for his first Cup title, has finished sixth or better in the last six playoff races. … Byron has gone a series-best 59 consecutive races without a pit road speeding penalty. … Byron's pit crew ranks second based on average four-tire pit stop time, according to Racing Insights. … Kyle Larson has eight top-five finishes in 20 Cup starts at Phoenix. … Larson has a series-best six wins this year. Bad news: Byron is winless in his last 27 Cup races, the longest drought by any driver to make the Championship 4 in the stage era (since 2017). … Alex Bowman has finished outside the top 10 in 12 of the last 13 Phoenix races. … Chase Elliott has finished 11th or worse in his last four starts at Phoenix. … Larson's 17 top 10s this season are his fewest for a full-time season since 2019.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell won at Phoenix in March. … Bell has 14 top fives, 22 top 10s and has led 1,002 laps this season, all career highs. … Martin Truex Jr., who is in his final full-time Cup season, makes his 684th consecutive start. … Denny Hamlin led 68 laps at Phoenix in March. … Hamlin has six top 10s in the last seven races, including three top five-finishes. Bad news: This is the first time Joe Gibbs Racing has not had a car in the Championship 4 since the format debuted in 2014. … Martin Truex Jr. is winless in his last 51 Cup starts. … Truex has four 10s in the last 23 races. … Ty Gibbs has one top 10 in the last 10 races.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has three top-five finishes this season, his most in a season since 2020. Bad news: Stenhouse has two top 10s in 23 Phoenix starts.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Derek Kraus, who is driving the No. 16, makes his sixth career Cup start. … Organization has had at least one car finish in the top 20 in nine consecutive races, its longest streak of the season. … Daniel Hemric remains No. 1 in laps completed this season. He's run 9,379 of 9,432 laps (99.4%) Bad news: Organization has had 15 pit road speeding penalties this season.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is back in the No. 84 this weekend. … John Hunter Nemechek has a career-high four top 10s this season. … Erik Jones is among the finalists for the Comcast Community Champion of the Year, which recognizes extraordinary philanthropic efforts of individuals across the NASCAR industry. Bad news: Nemechek has five finishes of 30th or worse in the last seven races. … Erik Jones has a career-low two top 10s this year.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon is coming off a seventh-place finish at Martinsville. Bad news: Kyle Busch has finished outside the top 10 in each of the last eight races. That is tied for his longest streak without a top 10 in Cup. … Busch is winless in a career-high 56 consecutive races. … Dillon has not finished better than 12th in the last 11 Phoenix races.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Kaz Grala is making his career-high 23rd start of the season this weekend. Bad news: Corey Lajoie has placed 35th or worse in four the last seven races.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher finished second at Phoenix in March. … Buescher has top-five finishes in the last two races at Phoenix. … Brad Keselowski led a season-high 170 laps last week at Martinsville. … Keselowski's nine top-five finishes this season are more than the he had in 2022 and '23 combined when he had eight. Bad news: Keselowski has one top-15 finish in the last five Phoenix races.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: The organization has had a car finish 16th or better in 13 of the last 14 races. … Carson Hocevar gave Spire its best finish at Phoenix when he placed 15th in the March race. … Zane Smith has finished 21st or better in eight of the last nine Raes. Bad news: Justin Haley has finished 26th or worse in four of the seven races he's run with Spire since rejoining the team.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Chase Briscoe has four top 10s in the last five races at Phoenix, including his victory there in March 2022. … Ryan Preece's pit crew had the fastest four-tire pit stop at Martinsville at 9.264 seconds, according to Racing Insights. … Noah Gragson placed 11th at Martinsville, tying for his best finish since Indianapolis in July. Bad news: This is the final Cup race for SHR. … Josh Berry's 10 DNFs are the most in the series this year.
Team Penske — Good news: The organization is going for its third consecutive Cup title. Joey Logano won the 2022 championship. Ryan Blaney won the 2023 crown. … Blaney has finished in the top five in each of the last six Phoenix races. … Logano is the only repeat winner in the last 11 races at Phoenix. … This is Logano's series-best sixth appearance in the Championship 4. … Austin Cindric has recorded four of his seven top 10s this season in the playoffs, including last weekend's fourth-place result at Martinsville. … Organization has had at least one car finish in the top five in the last 12 Phoenix races. Bad news: Despite having two teams in the title race, this year will mark the fourth consecutive season the organization's total number of top 10s has decreased.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has finished in the top six in four of the last five races at Phoenix, including his victory in last year's season finale. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has one top 10 in the last eight races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton started sixth last week at Martinsville, his best starting spot of the season. Bad news: Burton has finished 30th or worse in 16 races this year.
