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Good news and bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of season finale in Phoenix
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Good news and bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of season finale in Phoenix

The NASCAR Cup season concludes this weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Tyler Reddick will race for the championship on Sunday (coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).

Here’s a look at the good and bad news for the Cup teams ahead of the season finale.

23XI Races — Good news: Two-time Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick makes his first Championship 4 appearance. …Three of the last four Cup champions have won the title in their first Championship 4 appearance. …This is also 23XI Racing’s first chance to win a Cup title. … Bubba Wallace has a career-high six top-five finishes and 13 top-10 finishes this season. Bad news: Reddick has a 19.9 playoff average, the lowest of any driver to enter the title race.

23XI Racing co-owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, along with Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins and NASCAR Chairman Jim France, attended Monday’s hearing.

Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Phoenix races. Bad news: McDowell’s seven top 10s this year are his fewest in a season since 2021. … Todd Gilliland has finished no better than 17th in five Cup starts at Phoenix.

Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron, seeking his first Cup title, has finished sixth or better in the last six playoff races. … Byron has completed a series-best 59 consecutive races without a speeding penalty on pit road. … Byron’s pit crew ranks second based on average pit stop time with four tires, according to Racing Insights. …Kyle Larson has eight top-five finishes in 20 Cup starts at Phoenix. … Larson has a series-best six wins this year. Bad news: Byron is winless in his last 27 Cup races, the longest drought of any driver to advance to Championship 4 in the Stage Era (since 2017). … Alex Bowman has finished outside the top 10 in 12 of Phoenix’s last 13 races. … Chase Elliott has finished 11th or worse in his last four starts at Phoenix. … Larson’s 17 top 10s this season are his fewest for a full-time season since 2019.

A new No. 1 has appeared in this week’s NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings.

Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell won in Phoenix in March. … Bell has 14 top 5s, 22 top 10s and has led 1,002 laps this season, all career highs. … Martin Truex Jr., in his final full-time Cup season, is making his 684th consecutive start. … Denny Hamlin led 68 laps at Phoenix in March. … Hamlin has six top 10s in the last seven races, including three top fives. Bad news: This is the first time Joe Gibbs Racing has not had a car in Championship 4 since the format’s debut in 2014. …Martin Truex Jr. is winless in his last 51 Cup starts. … Truex has four 10s in the last 23 races. … Ty Gibbs has a top 10 in the last 10 races.

JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has three top-five finishes this season, his most in a season since 2020. Bad news: Stenhouse has two top 10s in 23 starts at Phoenix.

Kaulig Racing — Good news: Derek Kraus, who drives the No. 16, is making his sixth career Cup appearance. … The organization has had at least one car in the top 20 in nine consecutive races, its longest streak of the season. … Daniel Hemric remains No. 1 in number of laps completed this season. He completed 9,379 out of 9,432 laps (99.4%) Bad news: The organization has received 15 penalties for speeding on pit road this season.

Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson returns to the No. 84 this weekend. … John Hunter Nemechek has a career-high four top-10 finishes this season. …Erik Jones is among the finalists for the Comcast Community Champion of the Year title, which recognizes extraordinary philanthropic efforts by individuals in the NASCAR industry. Bad news: Nemechek has finished 30th or lower five times in the last seven races. … Erik Jones has two career-low top 10s this year.

The other finalists are Scott Crowell and Susan McKee.

Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon just finished seventh at Martinsville. Bad news: Kyle Busch has finished outside the top 10 in each of the last eight races. That’s tied for his longest streak without a top 10 in Cup. … Busch is winless in a career-high 56 consecutive races. … Dillon has finished no better than 12th in Phoenix’s last 11 races.

Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Kaz Grala makes his 23rd start of the season this weekend, a career high. Bad news: Corey Lajoie has placed 35th or lower in four of the last seven races.

RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher finished second at Phoenix in March. … Buescher has placed in the top five in the last two races at Phoenix. … Brad Keselowski led a record 170 laps last week at Martinsville. … Keselowski’s nine top-five finishes this season are more than he had in 2022 and ’23 combined, when he had eight. Bad news: Keselowski has finished in the top 15 in the last five Phoenix races.

Spire Motorsports — Good news: The organization has seen a car finish 16th or better in 13 of the last 14 races. … Carson Hocevar gave Spire its best finish in Phoenix by placing 15th in the March race. …Zane Smith has finished 21st or better in eight of the last nine Raes. Bad news: Justin Haley has finished 26th or lower in four of the seven races he has run with Spire since joining the team.

Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Chase Briscoe has four top 10s in the last five races at Phoenix, including his victory there in March 2022. …Ryan Preece’s pit crew made the fastest four-tire pit stop at Martinsville in 9.264 seconds, according to Racing Insights. … Noah Gragson placed 11th at Martinsville, tied for his best finish since Indianapolis in July. Bad news: This is the last Cup race for SHR. …Josh Berry’s 10 DNFs are the most in the series this year.

Team Penske — Good news: The organization is aiming for its third consecutive Cup title. Joey Logano won the 2022 championship. Ryan Blaney won the 2023 crown. … Blaney has finished in the top five in each of the last six Phoenix races. … Logano is the only repeat winner in the last 11 races at Phoenix. … This is Logano’s sixth appearance in Championship 4, the best in the series. …Austin Cindric has recorded four of his seven top-10 finishes this season in the playoffs, including last weekend’s fourth-place finish at Martinsville. … The organization has had at least one car in the top five in the last 12 Phoenix races. Bad news: Although there are two teams in the title race, this year will mark the fourth straight season where the organization’s total number of top 10 finishes has declined.

Ryan Blaney’s victory gives him a chance to win a second consecutive NASCAR Cup championship.

Trackhouse Racing – Good news: Ross Chastain has finished in the top six in four of the last five races at Phoenix, including his victory in last year’s season finale. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has a top 10 finish in the last eight races.

Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton started sixth last week at Martinsville, his best starting position of the season. Bad news: Burton has finished 30th or lower in 16 races this year.