{"id":40965,"date":"2022-11-03T18:05:50","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T23:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=40965"},"modified":"2022-11-04T22:07:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T03:07:52","slug":"nascar-cup-series-championship-4-media-day-notebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/03\/nascar-cup-series-championship-4-media-day-notebook-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 Media Day Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A detail view of the Bill France 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship trophy during the NASCAR Racing Experience Event at Phoenix Raceway on October 21, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Chastain still can’t believe he pulled-off the move at Martinsville<\/b><\/p>\n

PHOENIX, Ariz. \u2013 Ross Chastain has spent much of his young career overcoming obstacles and exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n

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Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, greets a young fan during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

However, the 29-year-old Floridian\u2019s singular clutch move to qualify for Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Phoenix Raceway wasn\u2019t even an expectation, it was a once-an-era moment that will undoubtedly go down in NASCAR lore. And Chastain himself, still can\u2019t help but smile when he talks about it.<\/p>\n

His last lap, last-ditch effort to make his first title field is one of the most talked-about, tweeted-about, replayed moves in recent history. With less than one lap to go at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last Sunday, he purposely slammed his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet hard into the outside wall, floored the gas and \u201cwalled\u201d his way from the 10th position to finish fifth place \u2013 enough to secure the final Playoff transfer into Sunday\u2019s Championship Race.<\/p>\n

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Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

This week Chastain said he\u2019s heard from people he hasn\u2019t talked to in years, or ever before. His phone is full of voicemails, and he counted a thousand text messages. Team co-owner, Grammy Award-winning superstar Pitbull called too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe checks in, more than just for the wins and good races,” Chastain said of Pitbull. \u201cHe loves it that we\u2019re up against some real giants in the sports and we keep fighting and we keep winning. Not that we won the race in Martinsville, but we won the moment to transfer, and he was really excited.”<\/p>\n

Chastain said he has looked back at the video and still cannot explain the physics of his move, \u201cwhat happened, why that car did not slow down, why it kept air in the tires,” – how he made it to the finish line and actually set a new track record.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy it worked, I don\u2019t know, but I have no ideas, no plans to ever do that again because it was not pleasant,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of it, I\u2019m proud we\u2019ve moved the needle for fans and casual people that were not fans and now they want to experience NASCAR and come to track and feel that roar that thunder when we go by,” Chastain said, noting how members from other teams came out to congratulate him and give him back slaps when came down pit road after the race.<\/p>\n

Chastain is optimistic about his title hopes this weekend. His best finish in eight starts is a runner-up showing this Spring. He is having a breakout year with the second year old Trackhouse organization scoring his first two career NASCAR Cup Series wins (at Circuit of The Americas and Talladega-1). He has a career high 20 top-10 finishes and led a career high 692 laps.<\/p>\n

Chase Elliott has high expectations for Phoenix<\/b><\/p>\n

Chase Elliott refused to select a favorite from among his Championship 4 colleagues during Thursday\u2019s NASCAR Media Day press conference, insisting that after a 35-race season to date if you qualified for this weekend\u2019s Championship Race. You could be the champion.<\/p>\n

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Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Elliott\u2019s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will compete against Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain, Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Christopher Bell and Team Penske\u2019s Joey Logano for the season trophy Sunday. Both Elliott and Logano are racing for their second championship. Both Chastain and Bell are making their Championship 4 debut this weekend.<\/p>\n

Elliott has a strong record at Phoenix \u2013 winning the 2020 title race from pole position to claim his first championship. He has scored eight top-10s in 13 starts and led 546 laps at the one-mile track. He comes into the championship finale with only a pair of top-10 finishes in the nine Playoff races \u2013 a win at Talladega, Ala. and a runner-up at Bristol, Tenn.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, being a part of it the last couple years and as this format has kind of progressed and changed, I think if you make it to that last race, I think you have a shot,” Elliott said. \u201cIf you\u2019re in the Final Four, I think you have a chance.<\/p>\n

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Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, sign autographs for young fans during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen this, you don\u2019t have to dominate all day to win [the title] . \u2026  What Jimmie did in 2016 is a great example of not necessarily being the best car all day but when it came time to execute at the end of the day, put together some good restarts, some good pit stops and make it happen, they did.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Playoffs hasn\u2019t been great but with this format, it really doesn\u2019t matter now. If you\u2019re part of the show, you\u2019re part of the show. And if you have a shot this weekend, you have a shot to change the narrative and write the end of the story however you want.”<\/p>\n

Both Logano (Las Vegas) and Bell (Martinsville, Va.) won races in the Playoffs’ Round of 8 to earn their title opportunity. Elliott and Chastain \u201cpointed\u201d their way into championship contention.<\/p>\n

In a rather unusual twist, the Hendrick Motorsports team could capture both the driver and team championship but with different drivers. Elliott is racing for the driver\u2019s title and Kyle Larson qualified the team\u2019s No. 5 Chevrolet for the team owner\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing that could happen is one of us wins the race and the other runs second and you can check both boxes and we all go home happy,\u2019\u2019 Elliott said. \u201cThat would be choice number one for me, and I think that\u2019s feasible.\u201d<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/NCSChamp4MediaDayChaseElliott110322.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

For Joey Logano, nothing short of a championship will do<\/b><\/p>\n

To say Joey Logano is optimistic about the way circumstances have played out over the past three weeks would be a massive understatement.<\/p>\n

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Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

First of all, Logano won the first race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs\u2019 Round of 8 on Oct. 16 at Las Vegas. The certainty of advancement to the Championship 4 has given his No. 22 Team Penske team the luxury of extra time to prepare for Sunday\u2019s title race at Phoenix.<\/p>\n

At 32, Logano is the oldest of the four Championship 4 drivers. With 14 full seasons in the Cup Series and 506 races under his belt, he is by far the most experienced. He and Chase Elliott are the only two drivers vying for the title who already have won a championship.<\/p>\n

For Logano, it\u2019s an opportunity not to waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re in a great spot right now,\u201d Logano said on Thursday during Championship 4 Media Day interviews at the Phoenix Convention Center. \u201cI feel like our team is in a great spot for a lot of reasons. For one, we\u2019re not happy to be here. We\u2019re not just happy to be in the Championship 4. This isn\u2019t enough for us.<\/p>\n

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Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, greets young fans during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI feel like that\u2019s the number one driver for the 22 team to win this thing. I think with that mentality and the three weeks that we\u2019ve had since Vegas to really focus in here, it\u2019s going to give us a huge advantage to not only have a good practice plan and set our car up, but also execute this race correctly, on top of the experience we\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never felt more solid in this position than I do right now. With that said, I\u2019m ready to go racing and get out there, because we feel prepared. We\u2019re ready to go to battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/NCSChamp4MediaDayJoeyLogano110322.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Entering championship race, Christopher Bell is OK with relative obscurity<\/b><\/p>\n

Given the dramatic way Christopher Bell has advanced to the Championship 4, it might seem strange that the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota thinks of himself as completely under the radar.<\/p>\n

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Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DeWalt Toyota, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

In a win-or-bust situation at the Charlotte ROVAL on Oct. 9, Bell took advantage of a late caution, won the race and catapulted into the Round of 8.<\/p>\n

After suffering two flat tires a week later at Texas and finishing 11th a week later at Homestead-Miami, Bell once again needed a victory to keep his championship hopes alive. He took control of the Round of 8 elimination race shortly after the halfway point and triumphed once again.<\/p>\n

Bell comes to Phoenix with crew chief Adam Stevens on his pit box. Stevens is the only active crew chief in the Cup garage with more than one championship, having won titles with Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2019.<\/p>\n

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Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DeWalt Toyota, signs a painting by artist Bill Patterson during the NASCAR Championship 4 Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 03, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

But Bell thinks Stevens may be overlooked this season\u2014because of his driver. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that maybe has a lot to do with my role,\u201d Bell said. \u201cNobody really realizes I drive race cars for a living, for the most part. I embrace that role. I guess I don\u2019t do anything else to advocate myself or anything like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time it seems like people are teamed up with me, they\u2019re off the radar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell says he doesn\u2019t mind the perceived anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just kind of the way it\u2019s unfolded over my\u2026 I don\u2019t really know how long,” he said. “That\u2019s fine by me. Maybe I\u2019ll be the least famous Cup champion one day.\u201d<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/NCSChamp4MediaDayChristopherBell110322.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service Chastain still can’t believe he pulled-off the move at Martinsville PHOENIX, Ariz. \u2013 Ross Chastain has spent much of his young career overcoming obstacles and exceeding expectations. However, the 29-year-old Floridian\u2019s singular clutch move to qualify for Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":40972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,395],"class_list":["post-40965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-phoenix-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-1436328080-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-aEJ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40965"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40983,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40965\/revisions\/40983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}