NASCAR Championship Race promises wide-open battle among rising stars

AVONDALE, Ariz. — As one Fall Classic comes to a close in Arizona, another is set to take place in this weekend when Phoenix Raceway hosts what’s sure to be a memorable NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.

In what’s been considered a wild and unpredictable season by most, it’s reasonable to expect the same as the 2023 season comes to an end. These notions are heavily reflected in the make-up of the Championship 4 drivers who will be vying for the 2023 Bill France Cup on Sunday.

Composed of a youthful quartet that exudes all of the qualities it takes to cement their name in the history books, this title fight is truly as wide open as it’s been since the one-race-take-all format was introduced in 2014.

The drivers for all three NASCAR series were at Phoenix Raceway on Thursday to get championship activities under way. Here’s a closer look at the four drivers vying for the Cup title:

Kyle Larson: the favorite

The veteran of the group, Larson, 31, enters as one of two drivers making a second Championship 4 appearance. In his first, he dominated at Phoenix, en route to the 2021 title and his maiden victory at the one-mile track.

For this reason, among many others, Larson is considered the favorite to become the 18th different driver to have multiple Cup championships.

Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels have a chance to replicate what they did in 2021 after winning the first Round of 8 race at Las Vegas and having another three-week head start on the competition for Phoenix, which should be scary for the rest.

Due to the fact he didn’t win in the spring, many are quick to forget the performance Larson put on. While he wound up fourth, the driver of the No. 5 led the most laps and won a stage, but got burned on an overtime restart.

Since joining Hendrick Motorsports, Larson has four top-10s in five starts with 81% of his laps led at Phoenix coming in this span. He’s also the only contender with a title and win at Phoenix.

Even with the success and accolades, Larson has his eye on another contender: the “underdog” Christopher Bell.

“I definitely have a ton of respect for him,” Larson said. “In my opinion, he’s one of the best race car drivers in the world. “(He’s) just a guy that you can never count out. Him and his team have been able to capitalize on things and execute the ends of the races really well. It’s cool to see another dirt guy run as good as him and have another dirt guy in the final (round).”

Christopher Bell: Shifting into high gear

Many aren’t favoring Bell as high as the other drivers, but maybe they should. The resilient 28-year-old is making his second-straight Championship 4 appearance and comes from the same dirt-racing background as Larson, who gave him a glowing endorsement.

The most striking thing about Bell’s Cup career has been his ability to shift into a different competitive gear when it counts. This postseason, he’s combined for an 8.6 average with only one finish outside of the top-15 through nine races.

Where apprehensions about Bell’s quest for a Cup title come into question is his history at Phoenix. With a 14.4 average and no laps led in seven starts, he will have to be better in an event where the champion has always perennially been the race winner as well.

The silver lining is Bell has four top-10s at Phoenix, all of which have come in his last five attempts. Additionally, he finished a career-best sixth there in the spring.

What does he think about going through Larson for the title?

“He’s got to be the favorite,” Bell said. “I mean, he’s won the (four) races. He locked himself in earliest. He’s going to be tough to beat, but I beat him plenty of times and Phoenix is 312 laps, so it’s a long time.

“Kyle’s strength is his raw talent. His 90-percent is everyone else’s 100-percent, so he’s able to run the car at the ragged edge a lot easier than other people can.”

William Byron: Opportunistic winner

Byron enters his first Championship 4 as the driver who realistically should be favored. With series-best marks in wins (six), top-10s (20) and average finish (11.2), why shouldn’t he be?

In addition to the statistical success, Byron and his team have made a case as the most opportunistic in the sport in the way they’ve been able to capitalize off late-race adversity for others. This was prominently on display when he won at Phoenix in the spring over Larson in overtime.

At Phoenix, Byron hasn’t quite lit up the stat sheets with six top-10s and an 11.9 average through 11 starts, but he’s had impeccable postseason prowess. Through nine races, he only has two finishes outside of the top-10 with a lowest finish of 15th and an average of 6.3.

Entering his first Championship 4 as the youngest driver at 25 years old, but the most going for him in 2023, does he consider himself the favorite?

“I think (Ryan Blaney) is really fast,” Byron said. “He does a good job managing his car and his race. I’d say, in the summertime, it didn’t look like Penske had a lot of speed … but once the playoffs started, they’ve been on kill. It’s been pretty impressive how fast they were in the last round.”

Ryan Blaney: Knocking on the door

The driver entering with the most momentum and seemingly the world on his side is fan favorite Ryan Blaney, who completed a walk-off victory at Martinsville Speedway last weekend to qualify for his first Championship 4.

In what’s been statistically a down year (again) for Team Penske and Ford, Blaney is hoping for more of the same result from last year, when his teammate Joey Logano shocked the racing world by winning his second championship in almost an identical position.

While Blaney might have inexperience in this phase of the postseason, he boasts probably the best stats at Phoenix of all the Championship 4 drivers.

Riding a six-race top-10 streak at the one-mile track, Blaney also has finished top-four in his last four starts, including runner-up in his most recent two attempts with 321-of-429 career laps led at Phoenix during this stretch.

Additionally, going back to the 2020 Championship Race, Blaney has a 4.7 average — the same average he’s posted over the last five races this season with two wins and one runner-up in this time.

He might be winless at Phoenix, but he’s been knocking on the door — eerily similar to his arc at Martinsville prior to last week. Could this be the weekend he finds victory lane in the desert?

“I think the biggest obstacle is you have three other teams going for it,” Blaney said. “I mean, those are the toughest obstacles — beating everyone else. That’s what makes racing so hard. I’ve always said driving race cars is really easy, but when you’re trying to beat everybody else, that’s what makes it really hard to do.”