{"id":55570,"date":"2025-11-01T18:45:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T23:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=55570"},"modified":"2025-11-02T10:51:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T16:51:30","slug":"nascar-championship-weekend-at-phoenix-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/01\/nascar-championship-weekend-at-phoenix-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Championship Weekend at Phoenix Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Kyle Larson\u2019s crew chief Cliff Daniels embraces the intensity of Cup finale<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson was 11th fastest on the practice chart\u2014third best among the four NASCAR Cup Series championship-eligible drivers in Friday\u2019s opening practice\u2014even after a slight brush with the Phoenix Raceway wall.<\/p>\n

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Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 01, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Larson is the only driver among the title contenders\u2014a group includes teammate William Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe\u2014with a championship trophy at home already.<\/p>\n

Much is expected of Larson, who qualified third behind Hamlin and Byron for Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race. His crew chief, Cliff Daniels, told the media Saturday morning the team is in good shape to try and make him only the third multi-time champion currently driving full-time in the series.<\/p>\n

Daniels was encouraged with the pace of Larson\u2019s No. 5 Chevrolet in practice and optimistic about race day. Even though the team hasn\u2019t won since May at 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, Larson\u2019s 21 top-10s are most among the championship contenders, and his 1,106 laps led this year are second only to Byron\u2019s 1,278.<\/p>\n

Larson is a former Phoenix winner, claiming his 2021 season championship with a win from pole position at the one-mile track.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we’re here, I do think we’re closer than what we’ve been in the past,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cSo, the flow of the weekend of just having less, let’s just call it identity question marks of \u2018Are we this package, that package?\u2019 We’re kind of zeroed in on where we want to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, just the execution side of the weekend from the team perspective, we’ve been building on our notes every year of just how to be smarter, a little cleaner, a little more efficient when we come here.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it’s actually nice to see that play out where the team and how we execute is a lot more streamlined, I would say, and a lot more buttoned-up than what we’ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Used engines are the rule for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race<\/b><\/p>\n

Kyle Larson shocked his fellow competitors when he recited the origin of the engine in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the championship race.<\/p>\n

Under NASCAR\u2019s sealed engine rule, teams must run a used engine in the season finale. Typically, not one to pore over setup details, Larson nevertheless was well aware of the source of his power plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think mine came out of Chase (Elliott\u2019s) Martinsville car last week,\u201d Larson said during a press conference featuring all four Championship 4 drivers on Saturday afternoon. \u201cSo, yeah, (crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and everybody had a long night Sunday night getting it out and getting it ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pole winner Denny Hamlin was astounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe he knows,\u201d Hamlin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t normally know,\u201d replied Larson, \u201cbut Cliff called me Sunday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Hamlin nor Briscoe knew the respective sources of their engines, but Briscoe brought down the house with his final response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Denny and I do not have our last week\u2019s engines,\u201d Briscoe quipped.<\/p>\n

Good thing. Both engines failed at Martinsville.<\/p>\n

Joey Logano highly motivated despite ouster from NASCAR Cup Playoff<\/b><\/p>\n

Three-time and reigning series champion Joey Logano will not be racing for a second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series title this weekend, but the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford remains very much motivated to hoist a trophy here again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] that [a victory] would be the most bittersweet win of all time. \u2026 But wins matter,\u201d Logano said, adding with a smile. \u201cThey count, and obviously it would be good for everybody\u2019s Christmas bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a win at Texas and two pole positions this season, Logano is ranked eighth in the standings heading into the Phoenix finale\u201480 points behind Christopher Bell in fifth place, but only seven points behind Tyler Reddick in seventh and 24 back of Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney in sixth.<\/p>\n

Having hoisted two of his three championship trophies at Phoenix Raceway and feeling obviously sentimental toward the one-mile desert oval, Logano said he understood and supported NASCAR\u2019s decision to begin rotating the championship race locations.<\/p>\n

Next year, the race returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway, which played host to the season finale from 1999 through 2019. The 1.5-mile oval was the site of Logano\u2019s first championship win in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fine, wherever we go, we\u2019ll just have to figure out how to win,\u201d Logano said of the plan to change venues for the championship. \u201cObviously, this [Phoenix] has been a great race track for us. I\u2019m not sure that when they first moved the championship race we were super excited about it being here, because we were pretty good at Homestead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t always our best race track, but the timing of it worked out well as we got good here, and hopefully the next place will be the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is pit stall No. 1 at Phoenix Raceway all it\u2019s cracked up to be?<\/b><\/p>\n

Conventional wisdom at the vast majority of race tracks says that pitting in stall No.1\u2014the box closest to the exit from pit road\u2014is a huge advantage.<\/p>\n

After all, it offers both unimpeded egress and proximity to the final timing line, allowing quick acceleration back to the racing surface.<\/p>\n

There were mitigating factors, however, in Friday night\u2019s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship event at Phoenix Raceway. At the first stage break, Ty Majeski beat eventual winner Corey Heim off pit road, even though Heim was pitting in stall No. 1.<\/p>\n

On Lap 150, on the stop that proved decisive, Layne Riggs left pit road ahead of Heim when both drivers made four-tire stops. Only a breathtaking seven-wide charge into Turn 1 made Heim a winner in overtime.<\/p>\n

Scott Zipadelli, Heim\u2019s crew chief, said rubber build-up in the first bit box prevented a smooth exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s supposed to be a benefit, but it really wasn’t,\u201d Zipadelli said. \u201cThere was a lot of rubber, residual rubber, from past races there. Our guys prepped the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens is you’re just prepping the rubber that’s already down. When he was spinning his wheels, it was just spinning on top of the rubber that was there. It got worse\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re going to see the same thing (Saturday night) and on Sunday, if they don’t scrape the boxes, put new traction compound on top of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doubtless, crew chiefs in the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series were paying close attention to Heim\u2019s difficulty. Cliff Daniels, crew chief for Championship 4 Cup driver Kyle Larson certainly was.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost likely (we) would pick that stall,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cWhat you just described is certainly a consideration for the grip level in the stall. That’s always a big thing out here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a couple other stalls in mind. Hopefully, we’re in that position where I have to make that decision. Pit stall No. 1 offers a lot of good things, so it’s hard to overlook that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed. When Larson and Daniels won the series championship in 2021, it was a lightning-fast stop in stall No. 1 that vaulted Larson from fourth to first among the title contenders and propelled him to the race win and the championship.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch reacts to NASCAR\u2019s expanded eligibility rules for lower series<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Kyle Busch\u2019s reaction was predictable.<\/p>\n

\u201cGee, what do you know? Kyle Busch isn\u2019t winning\u2014let\u2019s open it back up, OK?\u201d was Busch\u2019s tongue-in-cheek response when asked about the expanded eligibility rules next year for what will be the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series and for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not spiteful at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch is the career wins leader in both series, with 102 victories in the current Xfinity Series and 67 in Trucks. His prolific trips to Victory Lane were in part responsible for NASCAR curtailing the number of races a veteran NASCAR Cup Series driver could run to five in each series.<\/p>\n

The expanded rules, announced Saturday, will allow a Cup driver with 3-plus years\u2019 experience in NASCAR\u2019s top division to run 10 O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts events and eight Truck Series races, starting in 2026. <\/p>\n

Cup drivers remain ineligible for cut-off, Playoff and championship races.<\/p>\n

After reaching 100 Xfinity wins, Busch cut back his presence in that series. He ran four events for Kaulig Racing in 2023 and one last year for Richard Childress Racing. His last victory in the series came at Atlanta in 2021, when he won all five of his starts.<\/p>\n

Though Busch expects to run Truck Series races for Spire Motorsports next year (he won his 67th race in a Spire Chevrolet this season), his opportunities in the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series will be limited. Kaulig is abandoning its program in that series in favor of a five-truck effort with new manufacturer Ram.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be nice,\u201d Busch said of potential rides in the O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series. \u201cI don\u2019t have any free funds behind me that I could just go in and buy myself a ride. I\u2019ve got to rely on somebody calling me to put me in with something they\u2019ve got already.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s kind of where I\u2019m at, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson\u2019s crew chief Cliff Daniels embraces the intensity of Cup finale AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson was 11th fastest on the practice chart\u2014third best among the four NASCAR Cup Series championship-eligible drivers in Friday\u2019s opening practice\u2014even after a slight brush with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":55564,"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-55570","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\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2244526617-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-esi","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55570","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=55570"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55573,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55570\/revisions\/55573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}