NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The final race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season was held at Phoenix Raceway for the fifth straight year last Sunday. Ryan Blaney was looking to retain the championship, but had to deal with his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, William Byron, and Championship 4 debutant Tyler Reddick. The finale was also noteworthy for being pole sitter and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex, Jr.’s swan song as a full-time competitor, and the final race for Stewart-Haas Racing before they closed doors after the 312-lapRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor  AVONDALE, Ariz. — The crapshoot that has become those four and five-wide restarts at Phoenix Raceway can make the difference between winning a championship and suffering through an offseason of what-if, especially when the margin of defeat is three-tenths of a second.  That’s what separated Ryan Blaney from his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano when the checkered flag flew on the NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday. Logano celebrated his third Cup Series championship and Blaney, the defending champion, exited his car exhausted after a franticRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The NASCAR Cup Series field learned an important lesson on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway: Never give Joey Logano a second chance. He’ll make you pay. And make them pay, he did. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was down and out after the conclusion of the Round of 12 in the Playoffs a month ago, but a fellow competitor’s disqualification gave him new life and he made it count. Logano went out and won in the opening race of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. — 35 races down, one to go. Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track at Phoenix Raceway for the 2024 season finale, bringing this season to a close and crowning a champion. Heading into this year’s championship race, it will be a battle between two former champions in the Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, along with William Byron and Tyler Reddick each seeking their first Bill France Cup. By the Numbers What: NASCAR Cup Series Championship, Race No.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano is in take no prisoners mode as he gears up to battle for a third title on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford posted the best time of the Championship 4 drivers in qualifying, just missing out on the pole, but securing a front row start with a lap of 26.728 seconds, 134.690 mph. “I feel like our car is strong. I think we did a good job inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Nearly a week after the conclusion of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway that saw him bumped out of the Championship 4, Christopher Bell is still processing everything that transpired that night in Virginia. In the final run to the finish at Martinsville, Bell found himself outside the top-four in points running a lap down to the leaders with his closest competitor to take the final transfer spot on points, William Byron, struggling with the handle on his Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Chalk one up for the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. In Friday’s lone practice session of the Cup championship race, Ryan Blaney and his No. 12 Team Penske ended the 50-minute warm-up at the top of the board with a lap of 27.174 seconds, 132.480 mph. In addition to posting the fastest single lap speed, Blaney was also the fastest in the five and 10 lap average speed, giving his team some good mojo as they start their title defense. “I felt prettyRead More

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 David Morgan, Associate Editor Since the end of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, the entire industry has been waiting on pins and needles to see what the sanctioning body’s reaction would be to the apparent race manipulation undertaken by 23XI Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Trackhouse Racing in the closing laps. On Tuesday, we got our answer. NASCAR took a deep dive into the data following the race and determined the No. 23 of 23XI Racing, the No. 1 from Trackhouse, and the No. 3 from RCRRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The final laps of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway were full of drama, centered on two drivers battling it out for the final transfer spot into the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4. William Byron was fading fast, trying to hold off the drivers behind him in order to maintain his place inside the top four of the standings, while Christopher Bell was mired back in the pack, just hoping to have a chance to steal that position away. Byron would be followed by two fellowRead More