Did You Notice?… The NASCAR Cup Series championship isn’t the only thing that gets decided on Sunday (Nov. 10)? There’s so much focus on that quartet it’s easy to lose site of what else is at stake.
Here’s a guide for what to look for beyond what’s going on in the championship chase.
Keeping Win Streaks Alive: Ross Chastain proved last year it’s not preordained the champion wins in the season finale. It should give Kyle Busch the slightest bit of hope he can fight to keep his NASCAR record streak intact: at least one win in 19 straight seasons since moving up to Cup full-time in 2005.
Busch’s Phoenix track record is spotty as of late, as his last win came back in 2019 with Joe Gibbs Racing. He’s run 25th and 22nd the last two times out in his new ride at Richard Childress Racing, becoming a rollercoaster of speed and inconsistency throughout this postseason where he missed the cut.
But don’t underestimate Busch’s mental push to keep the streak alive. Expect the No. 8 team to try something – staying out under a caution flag, stretching fuel mileage – that leaves him with the track position needed to pull a major upset from the driver’s seat.
There’s two other winless drivers this season looking to keep one-year streaks alive: Martin Truex, Jr. (three wins in 2023) and Michael McDowell (one). Two other 2023 winners, AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen, aren’t entered at Phoenix this weekend and are guaranteed to end the season without a trophy (although Allmendinger could end up the NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, a pretty nice consolation prize).
Retirements: Truex is the most notable driver about to end his full-time Cup career. The 44-year-old is a certain future Hall of Famer: one championship (2017), 34 Cup wins, 24 poles, and five Championship 4 appearances overall in the 10 years of this format.
The New Jersey native will still be around in some form, running part-time for 23XI Racing and chasing some of the crown jewels in the sport that have evaded him (Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Bristol Night Race). But his departure from the sport now leaves Denny Hamlin as the only full-time Cup driver who raced in the original version of the sport’s postseason format: a 10-driver, 10-race playoff from 2004-06. Boy, have things changed since then…
There’s a handful of others running Sunday whose futures remain uncertain. Could this race be the final one forever for Jimmie Johnson, a…
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