After 35 weeks of triumph and hardships, four drivers enter the NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway with one goal in mind — hoisting the championship trophy.
Three of NASCAR’s most prominent teams are represented in the Championship 4 with a pair of Hendrick Motorsports drivers facing off against single entries from Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske.
Each driver’s 35-race path to the Championship 4 has differed, so let’s look back at how Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and William Byron earned their way to fight for a title.
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
For the second straight year, Christopher Bell is set to compete for his first Cup Series championship. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been a factor all season long, beginning with a third-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February.
Bell locked himself into the NASCAR Playoffs early with a victory on the temporary dirt surface at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Easter Sunday.
Entering Sunday’s race at the one-mile Phoenix oval, Bell has 19 top-10 finishes, two wins and an average finish of 12.3.
Bell locked into the Championship 4 with a thrilling drive to victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway two weeks ago.
Last year, the driver of the No. 20 Toyota ended his title hopes in third with a 10th-place finish.
The 28-year-old has four top-10 finishes at Phoenix, including a sixth-place finish in the spring.
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, guns for a second title aboard the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet.
Larson’s hectic schedule, which included a dominant Knoxville Nationals triumph in August, winning the High Limit Sprint Car Series championship earlier this month and rookie orientation test in an Indy car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hasn’t slowed Larson’s pursuit of the Cup Series title.
Alongside his million-dollar victory in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway’s Cup Series resurrection, Larson tallied four victories.
His win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to open the Round of 8 solidified Larson’s bid for a title after fending off fellow playoff competitor Bell.
The 31-year-old was eliminated in the Round of 8 last season. Entering Sunday’s event, Larson has 17 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 15th.
At Phoenix, Larson has 11 top-10 runs in 18 starts, which includes a win in 2021 to secure the championship.
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Sunday’s championship fight will be Ryan Blaney’s first shot at title glory in his eighth year of full-time Cup Series racing.
The Team Penske driver wheeled his No. 12 Ford to victory lane at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway to solidify his bid for a championship.
Blaney locked into the playoffs with a win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway during Memorial Day Weekend. Once the playoffs hit, it was tough sledding for the 29-year-old racer.
In the Round of 12 finale at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Blaney entered the treacherous event 11 points below the cutline and promptly secured a spot in the Round of 8 by winning the race.
Despite the win, Blaney was behind the eight-ball again after the points reset for the ensuing round. Blaney sat as the eighth and final driver before the Round of 8 began, 10 points in the danger zone.
Though a sixth-place effort at Texas Motor Speedway and runner-up result at Homestead-Miami Speedway pushed Blaney to contender status entering Martinsville. He finished the job in victory lane at “The Paperclip.”
In 35 starts this season, aside from his three victories, Blaney 17 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 14.4.
Blaney’s track record at Phoenix has been impressive of late, which includes two consecutive second-place finishes and eight top 10’s in his last nine starts.
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron walks into the Championship 4 arena for the first time as the youngest of the four competitors at the tender age of 25.
Byron, however, put the series on notice with a series-leading six victories. That total was two more than his previous five seasons combined (four).
The Hendrick Motorsports driver cruised through the first and second round of the playoffs with six top-10 finishes in the first seven playoff races.
While a seventh-place effort at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a fourth-place effort at Homestead continued Byron’s surge, Martinsville was a battle for the driver of the famed No. 24 Chevrolet.
Byron struggled throughout the 500-lap race as he hovered around advancement and elimination.
Byron, however, muscled his way to a 13th-place finish and edged Denny Hamlin by eight points for the final spot in the Championship 4.
“Obviously we were not very good. Our worst race of the year,” Byron admitted after the race. “These guys deserve it so much. They work so hard. Honestly, probably with 50 to go I felt really, really bad.
“I just had to drive the hell out of it. The guys stuck with me, they kept motivating me through little bits and pieces, just kind of keeping my mind straight.”
Byron now gets a fresh slate at Phoenix. Entering the title-deciding race, Byron scored 20 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 11.2 through the first 35 races.
Byron won at Phoenix in March and boasts six top-10 finishes at the one-mile oval.