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NASCAR Cup Championship Challengers Eye the Prize at Phoenix – Motorsports Tribune

NASCAR Cup Championship Challengers Eye the Prize at Phoenix – Motorsports Tribune

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. 36 of 36

Where: Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, Arizona (Opened: 1964, first NASCAR Cup event was 1988)

When: Sunday, November 5

TV/Radio: NBC, 3:00 pm ET / MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90

Track Size: 1.0-mile oval

Banking: Eight to nine degrees in Turns 1-2, 10 to 11 degrees in Turns 3-4 and frontstretch dogleg

Race Length: 312 laps, 312 miles (500 km)

Stage Lengths: Stage One – 75 laps each, Stage Two – 115 laps, Final stage – 122 laps

Pit Road Speed: 45 mph

Fuel Window: 85 to 90 laps

March 2024 Race Winner: Christopher Bell – No. 20 Toyota (Started 13th, 50 laps led)

November 2023 Race Winner: Ross Chastain – No. 1 Chevrolet (Started eighth, 157 laps led)

Tale of the Tape – How the Championship 4 Stack Up:

Ryan Blaney – No. 12 Team Penske Ford

Photo: Luis Torres/Motorsports Tribune

2024 Stats: Three wins (Iowa, Pocono, Martinsville), 11 top-five finishes, 17 top-10 finishes, one pole, 555 laps led, 15.6 average finish

Phoenix Specific Stats: 17 starts, no wins, eight top-five finishes, 12 top-10 finishes, three poles, 431 laps led, 10.9 average finish

Practice Result: First

Starting Position: 17th

How He Got Here: Wins at Iowa and Pocono secured Blaney’s spot in the Playoffs, moving cleanly through the first and second rounds of the postseason with points to spare, but in the third round, things got interesting for the No. 12 team for the second year in a row.

Blaney fell agonizingly short of winning at Homestead to secure his place in the Championship 4, setting up a win or go home scenario last weekend at Martinsville to keep his title defense alive and Blaney delivered.

Marching through the field to take the lead late in the going, Blaney was not going to be denied, scoring the walk-off win to make his triumphant return to Phoenix to try and be the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Jimmie…

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