FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: PHOENIX CHAMPIONSHIP 4 NOTES
Five Ford drivers will be trying to win championships this weekend as NASCAR hosts its final weekend at Phoenix Raceway for the first time. Grant Enfinger looks to win Ford’s second straight NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series title on Friday while Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric battle for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship on Saturday. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski will both try to win their second NASCAR Cup Series crown on Sunday.
Here is a look at how Ford has done in each series as well as a snapshot of each driver competing for championships this weekend.
NASCAR CUP SERIES
Ford comes into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series finale having already won a title, clinching the manufacturers’ championship last weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the second time in three years. Ford leads al manufacturers in wins with 18, led by Kevin Harvick’s nine. Brad Keselowski (4), Joey Logano (3), Ryan Blaney (1) and Cole Custer (1) have the others. Ford has also had good success at Phoenix Raceway, having won 17 times. Championship 4 contender Joey Logano is going for a season sweep at Phoenix after winning the series’ first race at the one-mile track in March.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Team Penske
This marks the fourth time in seven years Logano has made it to the Championship 4 and improved his finish on each occasion, going from fourth in 2014, to second in 2016, to winning it all in 2018…In 23 starts at Phoenix Raceway, he has two wins, five top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes…This will be Logano’s fourth Championship 4 appearance, which is the most of any Ford driver…He qualified for the Championship 4 by winning at Kansas Speedway in the Round of 8.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Team Penske
Keselowski is going for his second NASCAR Cup Series championship after winning in 2012…This is his second appearance in the Championship 4 with his first coming in 2017 when he finished seventh in the race and fourth in the title race…Keselowski is still looking for his first Cup win at Phoenix as this weekend marks his 23rd start…He has six top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes during that span…Keselowski made the Championship 4 on points.
FORD’S NCS CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS
1965 – Ned Jarrett
1968 – David Pearson
1969 – David Pearson
1988 – Bill Elliott
1992 – Alan Kulwicki
1999 – Dale Jarrett
2003 – Matt Kenseth
2004 – Kurt Busch
2018 – Joey Logano
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
The duo of Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric have carried the Ford banner throughout the 2020 NASCAR XFINITY Series season and have combined for a manufacturer-best 14 victories. Briscoe and Cindric have both qualified for the Championship 4, giving Ford more than one driver in the finale for the first time since NASCAR instituted the format for the series in 2016. Ford has 13 all-time NXS wins at Phoenix Raceway with the last one coming by Brad Keselowski in 2018.
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang – Stewart-Haas Racing
This will be Ford development driver Chase Briscoe’s first appearance in the Championship 4 and he’s made it on the strength of nine series victories…Briscoe, who will be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021 as driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, has three NXS starts at Phoenix Raceway…He has finished in the Top 10 on each occasion, finishing sixth and eighth in the two races last year and sixth earlier this season.
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Menards Ford Mustang – Team Penske
Austin Cindric will be making his second career Championship 4 appearance, but first in the NASCAR XFINITY Series…Cindric was part of the title race in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2017 and finished fifth in the race, which was good for third in the final standings…In five NXS series starts at Phoenix, Cindric has four top-10 finishes with a career-best fourth coming in 2018.
FORD’S NXS CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS
2002 – Greg Biffle
2007 – Carl Edwards
2011 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2012 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2015 – Chris Buescher
MUSTANG LOOKING TO ADD ANOTHER TITLE
Mustang has dominated the NASCAR XFINITY Series since it joined the circuit full-time in 2011, winning at least one championship in seven of its first nine seasons. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won back-to-back drivers’ championships in 2011 and 2012 while Team Penske followed that with three straight owner’s titles from 2013-15 and again in 2017. Overall, Mustang has won nine driver’s and owner’s championships combined going into Saturday’s final event at Phoenix Raceway.
MUSTANG NASCAR XFINITY CHAMPIONSHIP STREAK
2011 — Driver’s Championship (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.)
2011 — Owner’s Championship (Jack Roush, No. 6)
2012 — Driver’s Championship (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.)
2013 — Owner’s Championship (Roger Penske, No. 22)
2014 — Owner’s Championship (Roger Penske, No. 22)
2015 — Driver’s Championship (Chris Buescher)
2015 — Owner’s Championship (Roger Penske, No. 22)
2017 — Owner’s Championship (Roger Penske, No. 22)
2018 – Owner’s Championship (Stewart-Haas, No. 00)
NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES
Ford comes into this weekend looking to win its second straight series championship after Matt Crafton captured last season’s title. Grant Enfinger will have the opportunity to do that after winning four races, including last week’s Round of 8 elimination event at Martinsville Speedway. Ford’s six series victories this season, which includes one each by Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes, is the most since it won eight in 2006. Ford has three series wins at Phoenix with the last one coming in 2001 by Greg Biffle.
GRANT ENFINGER, No. 98 Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford F-150 – ThorSport Racing
Grant Enfinger will be making his first Championship 4 appearance and he earned it in style, winning a final lap duel last weekend at Martinsville to take the checkered flag first and clinch his spot…Enfinger is tied for the most series wins this season with four and is looking to add a post-season truck championship to the regular season title he won in 2019…Enfinger has three career series starts at Phoenix and back-to-back top-5 finishes (4th in 2018; 5th in 2019).
FORD’S NGROTS CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS
2000 – Greg Biffle
2019 – Matt Crafton
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT PHOENIX
1988 – Alan Kulwicki
1989 – Bill Elliott
1991 – Davey Allison
1992 – Davey Allison
1993 – Mark Martin
1995 – Ricky Rudd
1997 – Dale Jarrett
1998 – Rusty Wallace
2000 – Jeff Burton
2001 – Jeff Burton
2002 – Matt Kenseth
2005 – Kurt Busch (1)
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2013 – Carl Edwards (1)
2016 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1)
2020 – Joey Logano (1)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT PHOENIX
2000 – Jeff Burton
2001 – Greg Biffle
2003 – Bobby Hamilton Jr.
2005 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2009 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)
2018 – Brad Keselowski (1)
FORD NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT PHOENIX
1997 – Joe Ruttman (2)
1998 – Mike Bliss (2)
2001 – Greg Biffle
