Throughout the country, as the NASCAR season draws to a close, the weather is getting colder and the off-season is coming. Not in Phoenix. NASCAR’s Championship Weekend brings the heat, with 90-degree temperature in the air and a great battle on the track.
Specifically, it’s a battle between four drivers and two teams to lift the championship and crown off their season: Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin.
Like every other race in the NASCAR Playoffs, every other driver in the field is also on the track, so the Championship 4 drivers will have to battle with the pack to get the race win. But all they have to do to earn the big season trophy is finish best of the four.
And all eyes will be on the Championship 4. For three of the four – Hamlin, Byron, and Briscoe – winning that battle would mean earning their first-ever championship.
Championship 4 Odds via BetMGM
+350 – Denny Hamlin
+425 – Kyle Larson
+475 – William Byron
+650 – Chase Briscoe
Drivers will get a full-length practice session on Friday at 5:35 p.m. ET (airing on TruTV, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and qualifying will take place on 5 p.m. ET on Saturday (airing on TruTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The race will start at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday (airing on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin enters the race with simultaneously the lowest odds and the highest number of ‘oh-so-nearly’s. Hamlin has appeared in the NASCAR Playoffs 19 times, all but one year of his decorated full-time Cup Series career, and finished in the top five in the season standings multiple times. But the overall championship has always eluded him.
There aren’t many chances left. Hamlin has himself said that he intends to retire after his current contract expires in 2027. The sport’s most successful driver without a championship, with 60 wins to his name, Hamlin will end his career a legend of the sport. But a championship would be the long-awaited icing on the cake.
“It’s cliché, but definitely true, that the losses make you appreciate the wins more,” Hamlin expressed.
“Over the 700-some starts I’ve had in this series, I’ve certainly lost a ton more than what I’ve won. I’ve had opportunities to win championships. It’s not happened. That’s been a failed mission. If and when it does happen, it absolutely will be more gratifying.
“If we were to win it, we’re a very deserving team. We’ve paid our dues in this thing, so hopefully it all happens.”
Hamlin explained that his approach heading into the week wasn’t particularly different to preparing for any other race weekend since the goal is always to win. The big difference was the win at Las Vegas, the earliest opportunity to lock himself into the Championship 4, gave the team time to start focusing only on Phoenix as early as possible compared to previous years.
“It feels a little bit different,” Hamlin acknowledged. “Less rushed, I guess you could say, just simply because we did so much of our work for Phoenix before this actual week. So just kind of less rushed is the biggest feel of difference that I have this time over previous.
“I’m grateful that we won Las Vegas, that’s for sure.”
That sense of preparation is coupled with a new sense of optimism and unflappability that Hamlin said he’s developed over time. It’s a combination of changing his focus from pure results to just trying to get the most possible out of every race as well as knowing his career has a definite endpoint that allows him to relax and focus on making the most of his remaining time in the sport.
“I definitely feel optimistic about it,” Hamlin described his emotions coming into Phoenix. “A lot of it just comes from I’m not really panicked about missing any of the details. I feel like I’ve gone through them all.”
Nevertheless, for this race, the goal is certainly to win. Hamlin believes that the Championship 4 is strong enough that nothing short of an overall race win will guarantee finishing best of the group.
Another new approach for Hamlin was a more emotional outlook. After the win at Vegas, his 60th in his career, Hamlin turned emotional as he reflected on the sacrifices his parents made for him to reach his dreams as his father battles a serious illness.
If Hamlin could finally manage to win the championship in the curtain call of his career, after so many years of coming so close to the greatest achievement in the sport, it’s hard to imagine a more emotional conclusion.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson wants to spoil the feel-good story. Every other driver in the Championship 4 is going for their first championship, either to solidify themselves as an emerging superstar in the sport or to wrap up a legendary career missing one piece of silverware, but Larson already won it and is widely considered one of the sport’s current best talents.
Another championship would only increase his legacy. But Larson doesn’t believe that having won a championship in the past is any particular advantage.
“I don’t think winning a championship does any sort of benefit. But I think just having been in the Final 4 before, three of the four of us, we’ve been in it multiple times, we get an understanding of what the week looks like, all the hype kind of around it,” Larson explained.
“I think your first time through it, the bright lights, the fans, the TV cameras, all that, it’s different than any other week. Just getting used to that, knowing it’s coming, it helps.”
A big part of countering that is by learning to loosen up and take your mind off of racing. Larson said achieving a sort of balancing in the lead-up to the race is crucial.
“I think it’s really important. I mean, I think it’s obviously important to prepare like you would for any race. I’m the type that I think it’s good to get your mind off of it, too,” he said.
“Yeah, I think getting to go, really getting to come to Arizona in general, there’s so much to do and all that that it gets your mind off of it. I enjoy riding my bike. We went on a cool climb up Mount Lemmon yesterday.”
Once on the track, though, Larson said the race feels the same as any other week. All the drivers battling for a championship compete at a level where the goal is to win week-in and week-out and that doesn’t change at all for the championship race.
One thing Larson noted about Phoenix is the impact of the rest of the field, particularly on restarts, since the track design allows cars to fan out multiple rows wide down the dogleg frontstretch.
“I would say restarts,” Larson noted as his biggest worry. “Lap traffic is always concerning, how quickly you can get through it. But restarts are when the whole field is packed up. You have the dogleg where it can be five-wide into turn one. Yeah, I mean, restarts are more sketchy at every track.”
Nevertheless, the No. 5 team is looking forward to Phoenix, a track where they’ve won in the past. A test earlier this season at Gateway, a similar style of flat track, helped the team dial in their setup.
“I just enjoy this track,” Larson said. “I’ve been decent here in the past. I’ve won. I feel like we’ve almost won a few other ones, too. Hopefully this week we can be competitive again and hopefully be more competitive than we’ve been.”
Larson is proving himself a perennial championship contender. If he can win at Phoenix, he’ll knock down the hopes of the other contenders and take that championship for himself to add to his total.
William Byron
Wiliam Byron is emerging into the spotlight in his own right. The cover star of the NASCAR 25 Game is in his eighth season in the sport and is making his third Championship 4 appearance in a row.
Byron earned his spot as a championship contender by performing when the lights were brightest. In the final chance to transfer at Martinsville, Byron dominated the race, and then survived a late challenge from fellow Playoff driver Ryan Blaney to win that race and clinch a spot in the fight for a title.
“Last weekend just was a big shot in the arm for our team just to be able to execute like that under the circumstances,” Byron described the win a week on at Phoenix. “Just kind of the way the Playoffs has been, it felt like we were just wanting to see things kind of go our way for once, so it was good.”
Despite a rough Playoff stretch – Byron’s Round of 8 results include the win at Martinsville and a 25th and 36th – the win puts the momentum firmly on Byron’s side heading into the most important race of the postseason and gives the team confidence in their ability to perform under pressure.
“It’s great. Feels good this week. This sport is always humbling that we’re going to get back on track tomorrow, it’s going to be a new task. Can’t be naïve to that,” he acknowledged. “We’re going to use, if anything, the mindset and the approach and our process. We’re going to use that and have confidence in that.”
The ability to turn the momentum around also gives the team a real reassurance that they should never count themselves out. A race in NASCAR can change on a dime with a caution and Overtime restart and the team has to stay in the game until the race is done and dusted.
“I just think we’ve learned the hard way this year that it’s never over. I think that’s what sticks with me,” Byron said. “I mean, honestly, until that guy throws the checkered flag, the race is not over. I’ve learned that, like I said, the hard way this year. That’s kind of fueled the way I prepare.”
That preparation has looked like intense focus this week. From the win at Martinsville, the team’s focus immediately shifted to Phoenix, and the No. 24 crew has been preparing to be fast.
“I can’t necessarily tell you where the team’s headspace is at because I feel like we’re just kind of focused on what we’re doing,” Byron said.
Byron said that his team takes pride in getting to the Championship 4 three years in a row but highlighted that just getting there is only the start. He’s used that experience to modify his approach and be better prepared coming into this year’s finale.
“I’m a totally different person than I was back then,” Byron admitted. “That’s true with anybody. Like with age, you should be learning, you should be improving. I’ve learned so much since then.
“I don’t really look back at that person and say, ‘Man, how do I just be a little different?’ There’s so much different. Probably the only thing the same is the track and the car I’m driving. Yeah, it’s a constant evolution.”
Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe is the only one of the championship contenders making his first-ever appearance in the Championship 4. Briscoe moved to new team Joe Gibbs Racing this year, his fifth season in the Cup Series, and has exceeded any expectations for his first year in that car.
Even Briscoe acknowledged that his quick adaptation and huge success in that car – earning three wins this season – has been a surprise to him also.
“I knew when I signed on at JGR, it was definitely a potential. But yeah, with how the beginning of the season started, I was like it’s going to take a little bit longer than I anticipated just to be competitive,” Briscoe admitted.
“I would say around August I was like, man, if we just continue this, we can make a run at this deal. Obviously the whole Playoffs I felt like the whole time we were more than capable of doing it. It’s a surprise I guess in some senses, but not a surprise at the same time ’cause I knew that all the pieces to the puzzle were certainly there.”
The No. 19 team comes in with the longest odds of the championship contenders, but Briscoe isn’t put off and feels like he has as good a shot as any of the other drivers.
“I mean, my whole career I’ve been the underdog with the longest odds. I kind of like that, truthfully. But, I don’t know, I don’t feel like we’re some underdog. I feel like Playoff-wise we scored more points than anybody up till last week. I feel like we’re all honestly really evenly matched. It’s just a matter of executing.”
Now that he has the speed, Briscoe explained that it is a question of executing at the highest level and under the most pressure, especially in comparison to the equipment he used to have.
“I mean, speed is the first part. You have to have speed to go run up front. You’re not going to take a slow car and run up front with it. Speed has not been our issue,” Briscoe said.
“For me, after the first part of the season, is understanding the speed that I had, learning that I don’t have to make a lot of these moves I’ve had to the first four years of my career. I can let the race play out… Once I just let the races come more naturally to me, I feel like that’s when the results started turning around.”
The good news? Exceeding expectations means there’s no pressure for any specific result. While a championship is always the goal, Briscoe is free to go out and perform, safe in the knowledge that the season has been a success by any measure.
“Honestly, I don’t feel like there’s any pressure. That probably sounds weird to say. Nobody really expected us to be here anyway, so…
“Yeah, there’s really no pressure. I feel like there’s more pressure next year with how good this year went, now the expectations are there. This year there was really no expectation for anything outside of maybe winning a race.”
Whether he accepts the designation or not, Briscoe offers an underdog story, fighting to take the championship trophy home in his first Championship 4 attempt.
Can Anyone Steal Zilisch’s Title in the Xfinity Series?
It’s been Connor Zilisch’s year in the Xfinity Series this season. The rookie has won ten races and mastered every type of track, from the road courses he has so much experience on to all different types of ovals.
However, in the NASCAR Playoff system, winning the most races or scoring the most points does not confer the championship. Instead, Zilisch will have to beat out the other Championship 4 contenders in a head-to-head final race.
Those four drivers are Zilisch, his JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil, and Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love.
Allgaier is the only driver of that group to have won a championship or even to have won at Phoenix at all. He is the veteran of the group. Zilisch and Kvapil are both rookies and Love is in his sophomore season. By contrast, Allgaier is in his 16th year in the Xfinity Series.
Note that the Xfinity Series owners’ championship has a different complexion to the drivers’ championship (partially a result of some cars featuring multiple part-time drivers). The cars eligible for that title are the No. 88 of Zilisch and the No. 1 of Kvapil as well as the No. 21 of Austin Hill and the No. 19 to be driven by Aric Almirola at Phoenix.
The owners’ championship is settled the same way as the drivers’ championship: the highest-finishing car will win. If either Hill or Almirola finish ahead of the Championship 4 drivers, there could be different champions in both categories.
It is also the end of the road for longtime series sponsor Xfinity. The brand is leaving entitlement sponsorship from next season. O’Reilly Auto Parts will step in as the replacement for 2026. Phoenix offers one last goodbye for a major partnership for the sport.
Practice will start at 4:35 p.m. ET on Friday (airing on the CW App) and qualifying will start at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (airing on the CW App). The Xfinity Series Championship Race will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (airing on the CW Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Corey Heim Hopes to Wrap Up Perfect Season with Long-Awaited Truck Championship
The clocks are going back this weekend as Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. Corey Heim, though, hopes to stay on Heim Time one more weekend.
Heim has ruled the Truck Series of late. This season, he scored eleven wins, so many that his win stickers had to be moved to a second row on his truck, including three wins in a row. His percentage of laps led this year is an all-time series record and he has led at least a few laps in every race so far this season.
But last year is proof that a dominant season doesn’t necessarily result in championship. He won six races that year, still more than any other driver, and ended up second in the championship because Phoenix was one race he didn’t win. In fact, Heim has never won at Phoenix, in the Playoffs or not.
Corey Heim is still going for his first-ever Truck Series title. If he can get it, it will cap off his dominant tenure in the sport’s third-tier series. However, he’ll have to face a challenge from ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski, Halmar-Friesen Racing’s Kaden Honeycutt, and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Tyler Ankrum.
Practice will start at 7:35 p.m. ET on Thursday and qualifying will start at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday (airing on FS2). The Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday (airing on the FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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