Championship 4 Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – No driver in the NASCAR Cup Series has won back-to-back championships since Jimmie Johnson in 2009-2010 at the end of his run of five straight championships. Ryan Blaney will be looking to buck that trend when the green flag flies on Sunday’s Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway where he enters as the defending series champion. In a title run eerily similar to his run a year ago, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford comes into the season finale havingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Cole Custer enters the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway with a shot of going back-to-back. A bit lost in the shuffle is not only doing so to close out his Xfinity Series career, but to end an opportune chapter at Stewart-Haas Racing at the absolute top before the team closes up shop at weekend’s end. Custer will be moving back to Cup with the Haas Factory Team in 2025 and having the chance to close out his tenure at SHRRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — “Heim Time” is here to stay for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign. Heading into the NCTS Championship Race, Corey Heim enters Phoenix Raceway with another a shot at a championship and will be staying with TRICON Garage for a third year. Despite the controversy from last year’s Championship 4 finale where his clashes with Carson Hocevar are still burning in the back of many people’s minds, Heim takes Friday’s finale with a cool and calm approach as he gets a chanceRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney earned this one. When his NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders advanced past his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the final pit stop, it could have been game over, but Blaney would not be deterred, taking the bull by the horns and chasing them back down to secure his first Cup title. While Blaney may have started the worst among the four drivers in the championship fight, he was on go from the drop of the green flag until the checkered,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — For the second straight year, Christopher Bell will have a chance of winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. In fact, Bell is the only driver who has made the Championship 4 a year ago and return to the big dance. Similar to last year, coming in clutch was the name of the game for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Only this time, he didn’t need to win the cutoff race as he punched his ticket to Arizona by winning atRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — From backing up his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford into the Championship 4 to confirmation that’ll he’ll be back with the Xfinity team next year, life has been pretty swell for Cole Custer. Last Saturday, with a ravaged Mustang and on fire, Custer did his best Tow Mater (Cars) and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) impression by limping his machine backwards to the start/finish line at Martinsville Speedway. Well aware that every position is up for grabs and can make a difference on who’llRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney has struck the first blow of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway by timing in the fastest of the four title contenders in the lone practice session of the weekend. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford put up a lap of 27.602 seconds, 130.425 mph early in the 50-minute session, putting him third on the overall leaderboard and he would not be moved for the remainder of evening. Christopher Bell followed Blaney in practice at fourth-fastestRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Track time is everything for a NASCAR driver and Carson Hocevar could have an advantage over his Championship 4 competitors heading into Friday’s Craftsman 150 at Phoenix Raceway. Not only Hocevar will have a shot of winning the Craftsman Truck Series championship, he’ll also run his ninth Cup Series race of the year with all but one being for Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 squad. In fact, the Michigan racer will go from qualifying the No. 42 truck for Niece Motorsports to partakingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. – Lap 200 was when the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race saw its chaotic shakeup and it involved Chase Elliott. Following a multi-car crash in Turn 4, the field went to war once again with Elliott slowly getting better as the race went on. Compared to his Championship 4 competitors, Elliott’s pit crew were getting the job done and helped him gain valuable track position. Elliott restarted fifth and went on the attack towards the Dogleg, to the point he clipped part of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Heading into the NASCAR Cup Series season finale, Joey Logano made it clear that his team would be the favorite to bring home the championship when all was said and done. On Sunday, he proved those prophetic words to be true with a dominating run at Phoenix Raceway to score his second title for Team Penske and the No. 22 team. After starting on pole, Logano made it known early on that whoever claimed the championship at the end of the night wouldRead More