When the checkered flag flies at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Collection will crown its 2024 champion. Here is how the Championship 4 drivers — Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and William Byron — stack up in opposition to one another:
Ryan Blaney:
The defending champion will attempt to take residence the title for the second yr in a row. Blaney’s 2024 season has been a carbon copy of his 2023 marketing campaign: A strong common season adopted by a dominant playoff run. Final yr, Blaney completed second at Homestead-Miami, gained at Martinsville and went on to win the championship at Phoenix. This yr, he completed second at Homestead-Miami, gained at Martinsville and has a shot at his second trophy.
Keys to Victory
If there’s any staff within the Championship 4 that’s more than likely to convey an ideal automotive to Phoenix, it is the No. 12 staff. Blaney’s wins to date in 2024 have are available in races when he had a clear-cut top-five automotive from the start, which may very well be essential at a monitor like Phoenix the place passing is harder than common. If not for a matter of inches at Atlanta and a lap of gasoline in St. Louis, Blaney may very well be sitting on a five-win season.
Historical past within the desert
Here is a stat that ought to depart the opposite championship contenders shaking of their boots: Blaney hasn’t completed worse than fourth at Phoenix since March of 2021, together with runner-up finishes within the final two Phoenix fall races. Within the final six Phoenix races, Blaney has a median end of three.2. The one factor lacking from his resume over these races? A win, which might robotically grant Blaney the championship on Sunday.
Tyler Reddick:
It has been a breakout yr for Reddick, who propelled himself to the Championship 4 with a daring transfer in turns three and 4 at Homestead-Miami. That win is the shining diamond in a playoff run that is been principally darkish for Reddick, however he is finished sufficient to make this quartet. Now comes a monitor kind that 23XI Racing nonetheless appears to be behind at — a brief, flat oval that was the dying knell for Reddick’s 2023 marketing campaign.
Keys to victory
Certainly one of 23XI’s weak factors as a corporation has been its pit crews. In 2023, Reddick gave the impression to be in competition for the win at Michigan — till a free wheel pressured him to come back again down pit street. That form of mistake cannot occur on Sunday, the place quick pit stops may very well be the distinction in profitable the championship or ending final among the many title contenders.
Historical past within the desert
In contrast to Blaney, Reddick has been quite inconsistent at Phoenix. He has three top-10 finishes in 5 Subsequent-Gen begins on the monitor, however completed twenty third and twenty second, respectively, within the different two races. The excellent news? Reddick completed tenth at Phoenix in March in a race the place Toyota whipped the sector. Reddick led 68 laps in that race, and because the sole Toyota within the Championship 4, he ought to be ok with his probabilities.
Joey Logano:
For those who had instructed followers that Logano can be within the Championship 4 again in June, they’d cross the remark off with out a second thought. Nevertheless, the two-time champion finds himself 312 laps away from profitable a 3rd title after victories at Nashville (June 30) and Las Vegas (Oct. 20) fueled one other Cinderella playoff run. Logano hasn’t had a lot pace this yr, however he did have two further weeks to organize for the championship race, simply as he did in 2022 when he dominated the finale.
Keys to victory
Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe have been no stranger to gutsy technique calls this yr. With out them, the No. 22 staff may not even be within the playoffs, a lot much less the Championship 4. The choice by Wolfe to depart Logano out on fumes at each Nashville and Las Vegas are the only real purpose why he gained these races, and if Logano finds himself in a gap on Sunday, it would not be shocking to see one other loopy technique be employed by Group Penske.
Historical past within the desert
Logano has 16 top-10 finishes and three wins in 31 begins at Phoenix, however hasn’t run very properly on the one-mile monitor as of late. Finishes of eleventh, 18th and thirty fourth in his final three Phoenix begins do not encourage a lot confidence, however a stunning efficiency in 2022 ought to. With the additional time to organize that he additionally had this yr, Logano led 187 laps within the 2022 finale en path to the race win and the title. Do not be shocked if Logano and Wolfe pull one other rabbit out of the hat on Sunday.
William Byron:
Byron and Hendrick Motorsports wish to neglect the controversy that bought them into the Championship 4 within the first place. Sadly, the race manipulation scandal that rocked the NASCAR world Sunday takes away from what has undoubtedly been an important season for Byron as he establishes himself as certainly one of NASCAR’s elite. He hasn’t gained since April 7 at Martinsville, however he is within the Championship 4 for the second yr in a row with the very best staff in NASCAR backing him.
Keys to victory
At Daytona and Martinsville, Byron was capable of chase away the sector on late-race restarts to be able to win. Like Blaney, the No. 24 staff might simply convey an unstoppable automotive to Phoenix. Nevertheless, if the championship is determined on a late-race restart, Byron may very well be the favourite. His wins at Texas, Las Vegas and Phoenix in 2023 had been additionally selected late-race restarts. If you must decide a Championship 4 driver to shoot the center or make an enormous late-race block, Byron is your man.
Historical past within the desert
Phoenix was surprisingly a wrestle for Byron in March, as he failed to guide any laps and completed 18th. In 2023, nevertheless, Byron gained the spring race after main 64 laps, and led 95 laps en path to a fourth-place end within the championship race. With a yr of Championship 4 expertise beneath his belt, Byron can be a powerful contender on Sunday, supplied he is not given a lemon like he was within the spring.
–Samuel Stubbs, Discipline Degree Media
