Weather Forecast for NASCAR’s 2024 Phoenix Championship Weekend
What’s Happening? It’s the final race weekend of the NASCAR season, and the series is on a hot streak of non-weather-affected…
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It’s Championship week in NASCAR’s three top series, and each of these series is wrapping up a grueling ten-race playoff. Now, four drivers from each series have a chance to win their respective Championship in Phoenix. So, what do you need to know about entering this weekend?
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The NASCAR Championship Race is the finale of the NASCAR Season for its top three series, known as the NASCAR National Series. These Series, the Craftsman Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series, have different lengths of seasons and playoff schedules.
The Truck Series has a 23-race season, followed by a 10-driver, seven-race, three-round playoffs. The Xfinity Series has a 33-race season followed by a 12-driver, seven-race, three-round playoff. The Cup Series, NASCAR’s premier series, has a 36-race season, followed by a 16-driver, ten-race, four-round playoff.
Despite the differing schedules, the Playoffs follow the same principle for each series. During the regular season, if you win a race, you are locked into the playoff field. Every three races, a single round, of the playoffs, four drivers are eliminated. To advance, the win and, in principle, applies. This process widdles down the field to four drivers racing it all out for the Championship.
The Championship race despite just four key drivers in each series gunning it out for the Championship, all three races have a full field of drivers. This causes chaos as the winner of the Championship Race might not be eligible for the Championship.
Historically, the winner of the Championship race is a member of the Championship Four, but there is a history of a non-eligible driver winning the race. In this case, the highest-finishing driver in the Championship Four will win the Championship.
While this system promotes survival and winning, one driver has worked the system in the past to win without winning a single regular season or playoff win. In 2019, NASCAR Truck Series driver Matt Crafton gamed the system and won the Championship with no wins, finishing fourth in the championship race.
While the other two lower series have moderate storylines entering Phoenix, the Cup Series has the most.
At the Round of Eight cutoff race at Martinsville this past Sunday, a controversial finish saw Christopher Bell, driver of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20, removed from the Championship Four for a safety violation. The safety violation stems from Bell accelerating off the wall in turn four after passing Bubba Wallace, a violation of NASCAR’s rules.
However, this was far from the most controversial aspect of the finish, as radio chatter suggests that Wallace, a fellow Toyota teammate, may have faked a low tire to allow Bell to pass and qualify for the Championship Four. While the wall ride removed Bell from the Championship Four, the alleged pass may also affect his standing.
Furthermore, William Byron, who took Bell’s Spot in the Championship Four, appeared to have a blockade behind him, as one loss of position would have removed Byron from the Playoffs. This blockade, made up of Chevrolet drivers Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, allowed Byron to hold his position for several of the closing laps of Sunday’s race.
As of Press Time, NASCAR has not penalized any drivers involved other than Bell. However, it is not expected that it will affect those racing for the Championship.
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