{"id":44245,"date":"2023-02-04T19:00:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T01:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=44245"},"modified":"2024-02-15T08:40:23","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T14:40:23","slug":"phoenix-championship-weekend-saturday-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/04\/phoenix-championship-weekend-saturday-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix championship weekend Saturday notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service <\/em><\/p>\n

Veteran Denny Hamlin is at peace with solid 2023 season<\/b><\/p>\n

AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Perpetual NASCAR Cup Series championship favorite Denny Hamlin will not be among the four drivers competing for the 2023 title Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) \u2013 a mechanical failure in the previous round essentially doomed his hopes for a title.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

But the three-time Daytona 500 winning veteran and outspoken competitor arrived in Phoenix feeling at least \u201cat peace\u201d with his situation although obviously disappointed. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won three races and is ranked fifth in the title standings \u2013 tops among those that didn\u2019t qualify for the big trophy run.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old 18-year series veteran won three races, had 14 top-five finishes and 18 top-10 runs along with four pole positions \u2013 the most he\u2019s earned in a decade. Only one driver \u2013 Kyle Larson \u2013 has led more laps this season than Hamlin\u2019s 984. But a parts failure resulting in a 30th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway two weeks ago ultimately put him in a deficit that proved too much to overcome.<\/p>\n

Last season he missed out on the Championship 4 because of the \u201cHail Melon\u201d final lap move by Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain that propelled Chastain into the final foursome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was kind of a microcosm of my whole career honestly,” Hamlin said of missing out on a championship chance this season. \u201cI feel like every year there\u2019s been some sort of kink in the Playoffs that has either kept us from moving on or kept us from winning a championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish we didn\u2019t have mechanical failures, I wish it weren\u2019t part of our sport, I wish we all had the same equipment, and it was durable and nothing ever broke and if you ran bad, it was your fault. I wish that\u2019s the sport we had, but it\u2019s not. I had a crazy 00.1 percent chance of what happened happening (at Homestead), and it did. I can only control what I can control but to me, I don\u2019t lose any motivation behind it because I\u2019m still going to try to win every week, but there is a luck factor behind it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our teams had the same issue, but there\u2019s didn\u2019t do what mine did and so it\u2019s crummy. I wish there was a larger sample size for sure, but there\u2019s not and I\u2019ve just got to live with it.”<\/p>\n

As for the season, Hamlin said he\u2019d give his team a B-plus.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, we could have more race wins. Three race wins, I\u2019ll certainly take that, but it\u2019s probably not up to our standards.  .. it was stupid stuff that happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get five-plus wins I put it at A-minus because we didn\u2019t make the Final Four, but I feel very satisfied and content with the result of what we put on the race track and that\u2019s why every single week we\u2019re a contender you have to beat. We\u2019re not hit or miss every now and then and disappear for 15 races and then all of a sudden come back. It was a steady season for us from beginning to end and I thought we put together a nice one.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHASE ELLIOTT LEARNED A LOT THIS YEAR<\/b><\/p>\n

It was certainly not the \u201ctypical\u201d season for longtime fan favorite and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. He missed seven races total – recovering from a broken leg and serving a one-race suspension – and was never able to make up enough points to qualify for the super-competitive 16-driver Playoff field.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say the season wasn\u2019t productive, however. He said the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team still learned a lot and remains perhaps more motivated than ever.<\/p>\n

Despite missing the races, Elliott, 27, was still successful enough to climb to 17th in the season standings \u2013 the first position outside the 16-driver playoff field. His seven top-five finishes and 15 top-10 efforts are both more than three Playoff drivers who competed in every race. The 18-time winner would like to continue a five-year streak of winning at least one race a season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always wanting to be better,” Elliott said of missing the first Playoff of his eight-year fulltime career in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve learned a lot about ourselves and the things I need to do better. I know I\u2019ve learned a lot about myself and areas I want to improve in. Will try to tackle a lot of that this weekend, and get a head-start on things we want to improve o for next year. Hopefully tomorrow goes well and we can end it on a positive note.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not where I want to be, so I\u2019m not happy with it. I want to be better. I feel like I have a really, really strong team and guys working hard every week to give me the thigs I want and need and that\u2019s all you can ask for. I just want to continue on that path and continue to work hard like we have been, and I think the hard work and resilience of not quitting and giving up will eventually get us where we need to go.”<\/p>\n

ROSS CHASTAIN IS LOOKING AHEAD<\/b><\/p>\n

A year ago this week, Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain was preparing to make his Championship 4 debut at Phoenix Raceway after a sensational headline-making rally the week before in the Martinsville, Va. cutoff race.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old comes to Phoenix Raceway this week, however, ranked ninth in the championship standings, 21 points behind eighth place Chris Buescher and 36 points behind Buescher\u2019s Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammate Brad Keselowski. The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet won at Nashville this summer, has nine top-five finishes and his 483 laps led on the year is seventh best among all drivers.<\/p>\n

There is a decidedly different feel this championship week, but one that Chastain said has only motivated him more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really looked back, just been week-to-week because there\u2019s only one off-week all year,” Chastain said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a lot of times as we\u2019re preparing that I\u2019ve flashed back and remember last year because last year was the first in a lot of firsts for me, lot of first time competing week in and week out, first time in Playoffs, first time with all those nerves and all those things. So, this year I was having some flashbacks, even this weekend I had flashbacks since I flew out here about what I went through last year and the difference is this year is really just observing, not getting too excited or too down, just observing what I did last year and what I did this year.”<\/p>\n

THE FORCE IS WITH BUBBA WALLACE<\/b><\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace is hoping to close out what he considers his most accomplished season with a victory on Sunday, and he expects to be a \u201cforce\u201d to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n

His No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota will have a Star Wars theme for this week\u2019s season-ender and Wallace got to meet with Star Wars star Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the famed Star Wars series of movie blockbusters. While Wallace appreciated the opportunity, he also enjoyed it because his best friend, fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver and member of the weekend\u2019s Championship 4 Ryan Blaney is a huge Star Wars fan.<\/p>\n

“My boss is MJ, so. ..\u201d a smiling Wallace said of team owner, NBA superstar Michael Jordan when he asked if he was starstruck meeting Hamill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he [Hamill] did say, \u2018May the force be with you always,\u2019 now that was pretty cool. I\u2019ve heard that line and everybody and his mother says it but when he does, that\u2019s pretty special.”<\/p>\n

Wallace is hopeful that the \u201cforce\u201d may be with him for this weekend\u2019s season finale as he is still racing for his first trophy of 2023 despite upping his game overall by qualifying for his first Playoff berth. He has nine top-10 finishes and tied his previous best mark of top-five showings with five. And he earned his second career pole position this Fall at Texas. He has only one top-10 (10th in 2018) in 11 Phoenix starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely being talked about more for our performances and race results, and not so much the negative headlines,” Wallace said of 2023. \u201cThat\u2019s good so we just need to continue to build on that. I definitely learned a lot about who I am as a driver and just trying to be a better team leader and it\u2019s starting to click more and more. Just got to get the wick lit earlier in the season and get on a hot streak and keep that flame going.”\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

ARIC ALMIROLA BIDS FAREWELL TO FULLTIME<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Longtime NASCAR Cup Series competitor Aric Almirola will be making his final start this weekend as a fulltime competitor. The Tampa native formalized the news last weekend and said he may still make occasional starts in various series, but his primary focus now is being a dad and husband.<\/p>\n

Almirola, 39, who has three career wins \u2013 at Daytona, Talladega, Ala. and New Hampshire \u2013 qualified for five Playoff runs highlighted by a fifth-place finish in the 2018 championship standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI originally thought that I might be sad, but I\u2019m not sad – I\u2019m happy it happened,” Almirola said Saturday before qualifying. \u201cWhen I flew on the plane for five hours, I was thinking and enjoying re-living the last six years at SHR [Stewart-Haas Racing] and 12 years being a fulltime Cup driver \u2013 all the ups and downs and everything in between.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been such a journey. And through that process of sitting and thinking about it all and knowing this will be the last one of doing it fulltime, I felt a sense of gratitude really, not sad at all. Just happy it happened.”<\/p>\n

The Florida native said what he\u2019ll take away from his career is less about the victories and more about the people he met. He\u2019ll celebrate it all Saturday evening with dozens of friends and family in Phoenix to watch his final fulltime start.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wouldn\u2019t have made it in racing, I\u2019d probably still be in Florida running my grandfather\u2019s body shop and the people around me and the dynamic of what my family looks like would just be so different form today,” he said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have met my wife, wouldn\u2019t have had my kids, wouldn\u2019t have had the friendships and relationships I have because of God allowing me to become a race car driver so I feel incredibly grateful and an overwhelming sense of being blessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe friendships, the relationships will last way past the driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

BRAD KESELOWSKI IS ON BABY DUTY<\/b><\/p>\n

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing owner\/driver Brad Keselowski will miss Saturday\u2019s pole qualifying session for the best of reasons. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion returned to Charlotte to be with his wife Paige, who went into labor Saturday with their third child, and first son.<\/p>\n

Cole Custer, who is competing for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, will qualify Keselowski\u2019s No. 6 RFK Ford Mustang.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectation is that Brad will return to Phoenix Sunday\u201d to compete in the season-ender. He is currently seventh in the championship standings and racing for his first win of the year.<\/p>\n

Keselowski actually tweeted a \u201cthank you\u201d to Custer from the hospital, \u201cJust made it to the hospital. Appreciate the good news.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service  Veteran Denny Hamlin is at peace with solid 2023 season AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Perpetual NASCAR Cup Series championship favorite Denny Hamlin will not be among the four drivers competing for the 2023 title Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":44138,"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-44245","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\/2023\/10\/GettyImages-1763627582-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-bvD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44245","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=44245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44275,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44245\/revisions\/44275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}