Championship 4 Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service No divided loyalty in Championship 4: It’s all about the team at Team Penske Team Penske owner Roger Penske has two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race for the first time. Both drivers are former Cup champions. Brad Keselowski won his title in 2012 under the 10-race Chase format. Joey Logano won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure the 2018 championship. So how does a team owner allocate his loyalties between his two drivers as they head for Sunday’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano enters NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race brimming with confidence Chase Elliott may have the illusory “momentum” — thanks to his 11th-hour victory at Martinsville Speedway — but Joey Logano considers himself the favorite to win a second NASCAR Cup Series title in Sunday’s Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Logano’s confidence is founded on facts. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the winner at Phoenix in March,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Over the past four seasons, Grant Enfinger has piloted the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and from the very beginning, he’s had long time crew Jeff Hensley calling the shots. After five wins, including a victory last week at Martinsville Speedway, the duo is now going to the championship race at Phoenix Raceway with an opportunity to exit this Friday’s race hoisting the series title. Should they get the job done in Arizona, it willRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR drama personified as Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway sure got people fired up in more ways than one. While Chase Elliott took the checkered flag and punched his ticket to the Championship 4, there was a lot of frustrated drivers because a shot at a championship were officially dashed. Four in particular had their dreams crushed like my Seattle Mariners do every year were Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., and Kevin Harvick. Yes indeed, the biggest shock of the season wasRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Arizona — Going into Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway, it was possible that one driver would make the Championship 4 via points. The man who claimed the final spot was runner-up finisher Kyle Busch. In a battle that boiled down between his teammate Denny Hamlin and rival Joey Logano, one spot would’ve made the difference of having three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers battling for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway or not. After wall contact from John Hunter Nemechek on Lap 303, the fieldRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Arizona — Christopher Bell owned the first two stages which put his stage wins total up to 22, but a speeding penalty following a spin dashed his shot at a ninth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of 2019 in Saturday’s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 at ISM Raceway. Bell finished 16th, but since he had already locked himself into the Championship 4 last Saturday at Texas, his eyes are on capturing the series title. One of the ways his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing squadRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Arizona — It started off with three ThorSport Racing drivers when the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series playoffs began in late August. Now going into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, only one made it to the big stage. That man was two-time series champion Matt Crafton. Crafton entered into Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway outside the cutoff line, trailing Austin Hill by nine points. When crossed the line in sixth, Crafton beat Hill by seven points to claim the fourth and finalRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A new chapter into NASCAR’s future has few perks as they’re further separating themselves from tradition once more. For what? To spice things up like its a game of Russian roulette? First off, I applaud the sport for making the Southern 500 at Darlington the playoff opener. A crown jewel event is the ultimate ideal start of the postseason and makes the most nostalgic weekend even sweeter. Their attempt of a doubleheader at Pocono sounds promising, but I’m not crazy about doubleheaders in major motorsports exceptRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s 61st annual running of the Daytona 500. Age: 28 Years in Cup: 10 Career Wins: 21 Biggest Accomplishment: 2018 Cup Series Champion Still relatively young at the tender age of 28, Joey Logano went from being a possible NASCAR bust in 2012, to what everyone felt he was capable of doing when he was a teenager a decade ago, becoming the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup SeriesRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The talk of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season was all around the ‘Big Three’ of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Rightfully so, given that the trio went to victory lane in 20 (Busch – 8, Harvick – 8 and Truex – 4) of the 35 races heading into Sunday’s championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On paper, the deck was stacked against the Middletown, Connecticut native. Logano was the only driver of the Championship 4 without aRead More