Ryan Blaney crowned first NASCAR Cup Series championship; Ross Chastain wins finale at Phoenix

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November 5, 2023

Blaney David Myers — Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

As Ross Chastain concluded the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season on a strong note by winning the season-finale NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 5, Ryan Blaney captured the main spotlight by winning his first NASCAR Cup Series championship with a runner-up finish and by outdueling title rivals Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell on the track.

The 29-year-old, third-generation Blaney, who was born in Hartford, Ohio, but grew up in High Point, North Carolina, led two of 312-scheduled laps in a finale where he started the deepest of the four championship finalists in 15th place, but used the long runs to his advantage as he methodically carved his way through the field and found himself mixed within the battle for the title against Byron, Larson and Bell. With Bell falling out of contention amid an early incident and Blaney left to battle against two Hendrick Motorsports competitors for the title for the remainder of the finale, Blaney continued to persevere against the competition, even against a multitude of non-title contenders vying for the finale victory.

Despite being overtaken by both Larson and Byron during the final pit stop during a caution period with less than 40 laps remaining, Blaney, who restarted inside the top 10 during the final restart with 31 laps remaining, drove his way back to the front and overtook Larson for both the runner-up spot and the lead in the championship battle with 20 laps remaining. From there, Blaney managed to pull away and remain ahead of Larson by more than a second for the remaining scheduled laps as he crossed the finish line in the runner-up spot behind race winner Chastain and captured his first championship in his eighth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, November 4, title contender William Byron notched his fourth Cup pole position of the 2023 season and the 12th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 132.597 mph in 27.150 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Martin Truex Jr., who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 132.509 mph in 27.168 seconds. Byron’s title rivals, which included teammate Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney qualified fourth, 13th and 15th, respectively.

Before the event, Brad Keselowski dropped to the rear of the field after being absent during Saturday’s qualifying session due to his wife going into labor, which resulted in this year’s Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer qualifying Keselowski’s No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing entry.

When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, William Byron rocketed ahead with the lead over Martin Truex Jr. as the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns. With the field still fanning out through the backstretch, Byron proceeded to lead the first lap while Kevin Harvick challenged Truex for the runner-up spot followed by a hard-charging Kyle Larson.

Then as Larson used the dogleg in an attempt to overtake both Harvick and Truex for the runner-up spot during the following lap, Harvick and Larson continued to battle for the runner-up spot through the first two turns while Bubba Wallace battled and overtook Truex for fourth place. As Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney tried to muscle their way into the top 10, Byron retained the lead by a steady margin over Harvick and teammate Larson through the fifth lap.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, title contender Byron was leading by more than a second over Harvick followed by teammate/title contender Larson, Wallace and Denny Hamlin as Truex, Ross Chastain, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top 10. Behind, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher were running in 11th and 12th followed by title contenders Bell and Blaney while Kyle Busch occupied 15th place in front of Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Austin Dillon. Meanwhile, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in 21st ahead of Alex Bowman, Aric Almirola, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland while Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger were mired in the top 30 ahead of Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, Ty Dillon, JJ Yeley, BJ McLeod and Ryan Newman.

Ten laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to a second over Harvick while third-place Larson trailed by more than three seconds. As Wallace and Truex continued to run in the top five on the track, title contenders Bell and Blaney were still mired back in 13th and 14th, respectively. Byron would continue to lead by more than a second over runner-up Harvick and by more than three seconds over teammate Larson by Lap 30 while Bell and Blaney were mired back in 11th and 14th, respectively.

At the Lap 40 mark, Byron retained the lead by more than a second over Harvick. Behind, Wallace overtook Larson for third place followed by Chastain, Truex, Buescher, Erik Jones and Hamlin. Meanwhile, Bell cracked the top 10 as he was up to 10th place while Blaney battled Tyler Reddick for 11th place.

By Lap 50, Byron’s advantage decreased to six-tenths of a second over runner-up Harvick, who started to gain ground on the former’s lead and used the inside lane through the turn to gain even more ground amid lapped traffic, while third-place Wallace trailed by a second. Behind, Larson was back in fifth after being overtaken by Chastain, Bell was running ninth behind Erik Jones and Blaney was battling Hamlin for 10th.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, title contender Byron fended off a late charge from Harvick to claim his ninth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season and to strike first in his bid for his first Cup title. Harvick settled in second place after following Byron by four-tenths of a second followed by Chastain, Wallace and Larson while Buescher, Truex, Erik Jones, Bell and Blaney were scored in the top 10 on the track. By then, all four championship finalists that included Byron, Larson, Bell and Blaney were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron pitted for the first service of the afternoon. Following the pit stops, Byron retained the lead after exiting pit road first from the first pit stall ahead of Harvick and Chastain while Larson, Buescher, Wallace, Truex, Blaney, Bell and Hamlin followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Busch and BJ McLeod were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

The second stage period started on Lap 68 as Byron and Harvick occupied the front row. At the start, Byron retained the lead from Harvick and Chastain as the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg before navigating their way through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Byron maintaining the lead through the frontstretch, Harvick and Chastain battled for the runner-up spot ahead of Larson and Wallace while Blaney moved up to sixth as Bell battled Buescher for seventh. Blaney would proceed to overtake Wallace for fifth place as Bell followed suit in sixth, leaving both to gain ground on Larson for fourth place. Meanwhile, Byron retained the lead in both the race and the championship battle by seven-tenths of a second over Harvick at the Lap 75 mark.

Just past the Lap 80 mark, Byron extended his advantage to more than a second over Harvick followed by third-place Chastain, who trailed by two seconds. Behind, title contenders Larson, Blaney and Bell occupied fourth through sixth on the track while Wallace, Buescher, Truex and Hamlin were running in the top 10 ahead of Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Reddick, and Ryan Preece. Byron would retain the lead by six-tenths of a second over Harvick and by a second-and-a-half over third-place Chastain by Lap 90 while Larson, Bell and Blaney retained fourth through sixth, respectively.

Then on Lap 93, Harvick used the outside lane through the first two turns and entering the backstretch to rocket past Byron and move his No. 4 Busch Light Harvick Ford Mustang into the lead. Harvick would proceed to stretch his advantage by more than half a second over Byron while third-place Chastain tried to close in on Byron for the runner-up spot.

At the Lap 100 mark, Harvick was leading by more than a second over Chastain followed by Byron, who now trailed the lead by one-and-a-half seconds but continued to lead the championship battle. Behind, however, Blaney moved up to fourth place and started to close in on Byron for the championship lead while Bell and Larson occupied fifth and seventh, respectively, on the track. With Buescher running sixth, Truex, Wallace and Erik Jones were in the top 10 while Hamlin, Suarez, Briscoe, Reddick and Keselowski followed suit in the top 15.

Five laps later, Blaney drew himself into a side-by-side battle with Byron for third place on the track, but for the lead in the championship battle. After spending the next two laps battling Byron for the spot, Blaney managed to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang past Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 3 and 4 assuming both third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. By then, title contenders Bell and Larson trailed in sixth and seventh, respectively, while Harvick continued to lead the race over Chastain.

Shortly after, the caution flew after Bell, who was running in sixth place and had radioed braking concerns a few laps earlier, went dead straight toward the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4 after his brake rotor exploded as he scraped and heavily damaged the right side of his No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota TRD Camry. The incident all but evaporated Bell’s hopes of winning this year’s Cup Series championship as he retired from the race in 36th place, dead last.

Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“That was my first time I’ve ever exploded a rotor in my career,” Bell, who ended in fourth place in the final championship standings, said in the infield care center on NBC. “I was surprised. Just obviously a disappointing way to end, but super, super proud of this No. 20 team, all of our partners DeWalt, Rheem. To be in the Final Four, it’s something that we’re really proud of. It stinks to not have the shot at the end of it. Obviously, we were all four [title contenders] really close and we all four showed strengths at different times, so I think it’s gonna be a great championship race. Whoever’s [the championship] is his is gonna be well-deserving.”

During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Harvick pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Harvick retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Chastain, Byron, Buescher, Larson, Truex and Blaney.

With the race restarting under green on Lap 116, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Harvick maintained the lead over Chastain and Byron. Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Buescher would move into third place and Chastain would move into the lead over Harvick while Byron was in fourth ahead of Truex, Larson, Erik Jones and Blaney. As the field navigated through the frontstretch, contact was made between teammates Briscoe and Preece as Preece slipped up the track. With the field still fanned out to four lanes through the dogleg, Chastain maintained the race lead over Harvick and Buescher while Byron, who was in fourth, retained the lead in the title battle over teammate Larson and Blaney.

Just past the Lap 125 mark, Chastain was leading by half a second over Harvick followed by third-place Buescher, who trailed by more than a second, while Byron retained the lead in the championship battle in fourth place. Behind, Truex occupied fifth place ahead of title contenders Larson and Blaney while Wallace, Erik Jones and Hamlin were scored in the top 10 ahead of Suarez, Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Logano and Reddick.

Fifteen laps later, Chastain continued to lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Buescher and Truex while Byron, who continued to lead the championship battle, fell back to fifth place in front of title rivals Larson and Blaney. Meanwhile, Austin Cindric, who got into the wall earlier, was on pit road and mired multiple laps down in 35th place.

At the halfway mark on Lap 156, Chastain was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Buescher followed by Harvick and Truex while Byron maintained the lead in the championship battle while running fifth place on the track ahead of Blaney and Larson. Meanwhile, Wallace, Erik Jones and Keselowski occupied the remaining spots in the top 10 on the track while Suarez, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Hocevar, Logano, McDowell, Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon were running in the top 20 ahead of Reddick, Chase Elliott, Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Briscoe.

Fourteen laps later, Chastain’s advantage decreased to two-tenths of a second over Buescher, who started to gain ground on the former for the top spot, while third-place Harvick trailed by three seconds. As Truex retained fourth place, Byron continued to lead the title battle and retain fifth place in front of Blaney and Larson. A lap later, Buescher muscled his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang past Chastain’s No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time. Buescher would stretch his advantage to half a second over Chastain by Lap 175 while Harvick, Truex, Byron, Blaney and Larson followed suit in the top seven.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Buescher, who was eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 8 finale last weekend, captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Chastain and Harvick settled in second and third followed by title contender Byron while Truex, Blaney, Larson, Wallace, Keselowski and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Buescher pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Chastain reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Byron, Truex, Larson, Blaney, Harvick, Keselowski and Buescher.

With 119 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Chastain and Byron occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the frontstretch’s dogleg, Chastain maintained the lead while Byron and Truex battled for the runner-up spot. As the field navigated back to the frontstretch, Byron fended off Truex to retain the runner-up spot on the track and the lead in the championship standings over Blaney and Larson, both of whom were running fourth and fifth, while Chastin continued to lead the race. Meanwhile, Harvick slipped to sixth as he was running in front of Wallace, Keselowski, Buescher and Hamlin.

With 100 laps remaining, Chastain was leading the race by more than a second over Blaney, who overtook Byron two laps earlier to assume the lead in the championship battle. With Byron following pursuit of Blaney in third place, Truex slipped to fourth place on the track while Larson occupied fifth place ahead of Harvick, Wallace, Buescher, Keselowski and Hamlin.

Twenty laps later, Chastain retained the lead by less than three-tenths of a second over Blaney, who started to close in on Chastain for the race lead and continued to lead the championship battle, while Truex was up to third place. Meanwhile, title contender Byron trailed in fourth place on the track and by more than four seconds followed by teammate/title contender Larson while Buescher, Harvick, Wallace, Keselowski and Hamlin occupied the top 10. Chastain would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Blaney with 75 laps remaining while Byron and Larson continued to run fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Truex.

Then with 73 laps remaining, green flag pit stops commenced as title contenders Byron and Larson pitted from the top five. The leader Chastain and Blaney would pit during the following lap along with Buescher, Harvick, Wallace, Keselowski, Bowman, Kyle Busch, Logano, Suarez, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Reddick, Truex, Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Preece and others. Amid the green flag pit stops, Hamlin, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Briscoe and Stenhouse while Chastain and Blaney, the first two competitors who pitted, followed suit in fourth and fifth.

Hamlin would then surrender the lead to pit his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry under green with 61 laps remaining as Briscoe assumed the lead. Two laps later, however, Chastain rocketed past Briscoe to reassume the lead followed by a hard-charging Blaney, who retained the lead in the championship battle. By then, title contenders Larson and Byron were mired back in fifth and sixth on the track while Truex moved up to third place on the track before Briscoe pitted his No. 14 Mahindra Tractor Ford Mustang under green.

With 55 laps remaining, the battle for the race lead intensified as Blaney attempted to make a move beneath Chastain entering the backstretch. With Chastain still running on the outside lane, Blaney drag-raced Chastain entering the frontstretch and led the following lap by a hair before Chastain fought back on the outside lane. Chastain then used the lapped competitor of Ryan Newman to muscle ahead through the backstretch, but Blaney fought back on the inside lane.

Then with 53 laps remaining, Blaney gave Chastain a bump in the rear bumper, which allowed Truex to join the battle entering the backstretch. Amid the battles, Blaney and Chastain continued to duel for the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns until Blaney muscled ahead with the lead on the inside lane. Chastain, however, pulled a crossover move on Blaney through the backstretch as both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and in front of Truex. Chastain would then reassume the lead and pull away from Blaney through the backstretch entering the backstretch as Truex made his move beneath Blaney, who got loose, to assume the runner-up spot in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry. Despite losing ground of the race lead, Blaney, who fell back to third, retained the lead in the championship fight as he was ahead of title rival Larson by more than two seconds and with Byron running in fifth place with 50 laps remaining.

With 44 laps remaining, the battle for the lead between Chastain and Truex ignited as Truex made his move beneath Chastain for the lead through the frontstretch as Chastain was getting mired in lapped traffic. With both competitors dueling for the lead through the backstretch, Chastain used the outside lane to retain the lead as Blaney closed back in on the two leaders. Blaney then made his move beneath Truex entering Turns 3 and 4 to overtake the runner-up spot over Truex with 43 laps remaining before proceeding to regain ground on Chastain for the race lead.

Then with 37 laps remaining and just as Blaney attempted to take the lead from Chastain, the caution flew after Kyle Busch spun his No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Chastain and Blaney pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin and Erik Jones exited pit road first and second, respectively, after both opted for two-tire pit stops while title contender Larson exited in third place and as the first competitor with four fresh tires followed by Chastain, Byron, Blaney and Truex.

Down to the final 31 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out through the frontstretch’s dogleg, Hamlin muscled ahead with the lead before Larson and Chastain attempted to pin Hamlin in a three-wide move for the lead through the first two turns. With all three leaders remaining in three-wide formation through the backstretch, Chastain used the outside lane to muscle ahead with the lead before Larson and Hamlin fought back in three-wide formation through the frontstretch.

Then as Larson tried to muscle ahead from the inside lane with 30 laps remaining, he got loose entering Turns 1 and 2, which allowed title rivals Blaney and Byron to join the battle. As Chastain and Larson dueled for the lead through the backstretch, Chastain muscled ahead to control the race lead. Larson settled in the runner-up spot as Byron, Blaney and Hamlin battled for third place. As Chastain retained the race lead by a second with 25 laps remaining, the battle for the championship ignited as Larson, who was running second, had Blaney close in on his rear bumper while Byron trailed both by a second in fourth place.

Then with 22 laps remaining, the battle for this year’s championship ignited as Blaney closed in on Larson’s rear bumper. Then as Larson got loose and nearly wrecked in the frontstretch during the following lap, Blaney moved to the outside lane and made his bid to overtake Larson through the first two turns. With both Larson and Blaney dueling against one another through the backstretch, Blaney then gassed his No. 12 Ford ahead of Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the outside lane and to claim both the runner-up spot on the track and the lead in the championship battle with 20 laps remaining. Blaney would then move in front of Larson through the frontstretch and muscle ahead with a slight advantage through the backstretch. With Larson trying to use the outside lane to regain ground, Blaney, however, maintained his ground and remained in front of Larson during the following lap.

With less than 15 laps remaining, Chastain continued to lead the race by two seconds over Blaney, who remained a half a second ahead of Larson in his bid to win the title, while Byron, who was in fourth, trailed his two title rivals by two seconds followed by Buescher, Truex, Harvick and Hamlin. Blaney would retain the runner-up spot on the track and the lead in the championship battle by eight-tenths of a second over Larson with 10 laps remaining while Chastain retained the race lead by nearly two seconds.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Chastain stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Blaney, who continued to lead the title battle by more than a second over third-place Larson as fourth-place Byron trailed Blaney by nearly four seconds.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chastain remained as the race leader by more than a second over Blaney, who remained as the championship leader by nearly two seconds over Larson and by four seconds over Byron. Following one final circuit around the Phoenix circuit, Chastain was able to cross the finish line in first place to claim the victory in the finale while Blaney was able to follow suit in the runner-up spot and win the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

With the championship, Blaney became the 36th different competitor to win a NASCAR Cup Series championship and the third to do so while driving for Team Penske, which achieved its fourth Cup career title. Blaney, who became the eighth different competitor to win a Cup title since the inception of the current Playoff-elimination format in 2014, also recorded the second consecutive Cup driver’s title in recent years for Ford as the Ford nameplate achieved a sweep in driver’s titles across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Ben Rhodes won the Craftsman Truck Series title and Cole Custer won the Xfinity Series title). The championship was also the first for crew chief Jonathan Hassler and Penske’s No. 12 entry.

Overall, Blaney, who achieved his first Cup title in his eighth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, capped off the 2023 season with three victories (Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway in October), which tallied his wins total to 10. He also earned six stage victories, eight top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 562 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It was just time to go to work [on the final restart],” Blaney said on NBC. “We did a good job of getting where we needed to be and [Larson and Byron] had two good pit stops, so just needed to go to work. [I was] Hoping our car was good enough, which it was. Just so proud of this team. What an unbelievable year. What an unbelievable Playoffs for us. To win back-to-back Cup titles for Mr. [Roger] Penske, that’s so special, and to have my family here on my first Cup title. I got emotional in the car. I’m not a very emotional guy, but so cool. Thank you, [fans], for coming. I hope it was an awesome show. Can’t wait to celebrate with my guys.”

“[I was praying] No yellow,” Blaney added. “[I] Didn’t want a caution and knew once I got to the white [flag], I felt pretty good about us just getting there and finishing it off. I just didn’t want a yellow and luckily, everyone kept it straight. We were going good. I wanna shout out also to Kyle [Larson] and William [Byron]. That was fun racing those guys all day, and [Christopher] Bell. Racing those two guys at the end there, racing clean. That’s what racing’s all about. That was a lot of fun. I think in the summer, we were struggling a little bit, but we never gave up. We just went to work and I’ve said that all week. This group goes to work and they figure out problems. That’s why they’re such an amazing group to be with the Team Penske folks because they just put their heads down and do the work and accept the challenge. It was a lot of hard work by a lot of amazing men and women over at our race shop and I can’t thank them enough for that. They deserve this [championship] just as much as the guys who travel here as much as me. They’re just a big part of it.”

Upon receiving the championship trophy on the championship stage, Blaney echoed his praise towards his crew chief, team owner Roger and his team for the hard work and perseverance towards achieving this year’s Cup title while paying homage to his family’s deep background of racing that includes his grandfather, Lou, and father, Dave.

“I think we did an amazing job on [never giving up],” Blaney said. “It was somewhat of an up and down year, but you’re gonna have those moments and through the summer we just worked really hard to get back to where we needed to be and set a deadline for the playoffs and we met that deadline. I’m just super proud of the effort by everybody at Team Penske who put in tons and tons of hours of hard work and nobody really got down. They just put their heads down and decided to really put in a lot of work and it showed up, especially these playoffs and especially the last five weeks. It’s so cool to have all of their hard work pay off, so they should be proud. Obviously, I come from a family of racers – my grandfather and dad and uncle. Dad is obviously who I grew up watching and admiring and wanted to be like, so to be able to do what he did because as a kid I just wanted to do what dad did, so to be able to race and let alone compete for wins and championships and still have my parents around and people that you look up to that are still around it makes it even more special.”

“It’s, obviously, a great place to be here today,” Roger Penske, team owner of Penske Racing, added. “The job that Blaney did racing clean with [Larson, Byron and Bell] was a pleasure to be in this race. To race my best friend, [owner] Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs, what a team. You can’t beat this. That’s why we do this every day. At the end of the day, [Blaney]’s a champion. That’s what counts.”

“It’s incredible,” Jonathan Hassler, Blaney’s crew chief, added. “It’s just a huge testament to the whole organization and this No. 12 team, working hard day in and day out and never being afraid to be a little bit better.”

“Yes, I believe it,” Dave Blaney, Ryan Blaney’s father and former NASCAR competitor, added. “A huge day. I don’t even know how to describe it. I thought [Ryan Blaney] was gonna win it five times and lost it five times. He just kept getting after it and did it. Proud of him and everybody on the team. He’s so talented. It’s just building confidence and if this doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will. I’ve seen it for a long time. Great kid. I’ve seen a lot of races, but this was the coolest one.”

As Blaney celebrated his first Cup Series title, Larson and Byron, both of whom finished third and fourth, respectively, on the track, were left disappointed on pit road after both fell short of winning their second and first title, respectively, while representing Hendrick Motorsports in the finale. For Larson, the 2021 champion who ended up in the runner-up spot in the final standings for the first time in his career, he concluded this season with four victories, eight stage victories, two poles, 15 top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 1,127 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.6.

“[Blaney]’s car was really fast, really the last few months, and especially today,” Larson, who applauded the competitive and clean racing with Blaney and who commended the fast pit services from his pit crew, said. “Our pit crew and pit road just really kept us in the game. We weren’t the greatest on the track, but I was just hoping for pit stops because I knew the way our team executed our lights and the way our pit crew can execute a fast pit stop, I knew it was gonna be our only shot to win. They did everything in their power to give us the winning job there, so huge thank you to them. I needed to come out [as] the leader on that restart. I’m not sure if it would’ve made a difference. I was just not as good as a few guys, especially Blaney and Ross [Chastain], probably. It would’ve been difficult, but my team did a really good job all season, so I’m extremely proud of them. We had an up-and-down year and we finally put together two solid weeks in a row. We’ll come back next year and try to be stronger. A lot of fun there. Congrats to Ryan. He’s a deserving champion. Him and his team have done an amazing job. It’s been fun to kind of come up through the ranks with him and now, you see him be a champion. Congrats to Team Penske and their whole team. We’ll try and beat them next year.”

For Byron, who led 95 laps, won the first stage, and achieved a career-best third place in the final standings, he concluded the 2023 season with a career-high six victories, a season-high nine stage victories, four poles, 15 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 1,016 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.0.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Once the track rubbered out, we got really tight,” Byron said. “Especially when we lost the lead on track, we just had a big balance shift and got tight back in second through fifth and just couldn’t gain a lot of speed through [Turns] 1 and 2 and just kind of having to really over-slow the car and get it to the bottom [lane]. That’s all we had there. Just really proud of our AXALTA team. Just a great season. It stinks to come up short, but I’d like to think we’re gonna be back in this position and we’re gonna have more shots at it. Just gotta keep working, gotta keep working on the short track program for us. It was definitely the tough part of our season, but I felt like we brought a good car this weekend and really until the track kind of changed, I thought we were in the game. All we had there. We’ve had a great season. Lots to be proud of and we’re gonna keep digging hard, so this was a great season for us.”

Amid Blaney’s championship celebration, Ross Chastain celebrated in Victory Lane for the first time at Phoenix and for the second time in the 2023 Cup Serie season after leading a race-high 157 of 312 laps. Chastain’s fourth career victory in NASCAR’s premier series and the sixth overall for Trackhouse Racing was enough for the 30-year-old native from Alva, Florida, to conclude this season in ninth place in the final standings as he became the first competitor not vying for the title to win the finale since Denny Hamlin won the 2013 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“We did something else that’s never been done before, for everybody on this Worldwide Express team,” Chastain said in Victory Lane. “This vision for Trackhouse [Racing] and what this was was goals like this and they were lofty. I couldn’t think of anything I would want to do more as to try to be like Kevin Harvick and race with him early in the race was bucket list, little kid in me, racing that 2005 GameCube game. I am beside myself that we were able to do that. That last caution, we were really tight and it saved us. [Crew chief] Phil Surgen and this group at Trackhouse, all our GM support staff, SIM staff and everybody at Trackhouse, somehow, came up with a way to make this thing turn and we drove off into the sunset.”

On the track, Chris Buescher finished in fifth place while Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Michael McDowell and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10.

Notably, Harvick finished seventh in his 826th and final career start in the Cup Series while teammate Aric Almirola finished 13th in his 460th and final full-time event as a Cup competitor. In addition, Ty Gibbs, the 2023 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, finished 21st in front of Reddick, Carson Hocevar finished 19th in his final event with Legacy Motor Club, Ty Dillon finished 28th in his final event with Spire Motorsports and Justin Haley finished 29th in his final event with Kaulig Racing. Denny Hamlin, who finished eighth, claimed fifth place in the final standings while Chase Elliott, who finished 16th, settled in 17th place in the standings over Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and teammate Alex Bowman.

There were 18 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Ross Chastain, 157 laps led

2. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

3. Kyle Larson

4. William Byron, 95 laps led, Stage 1 winner

5. Chris Buescher, 18 laps led, Stage 2 winner

6. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

7. Kevin Harvick, 23 laps led

8. Denny Hamlin, 14 laps led

9. Michael McDowell

10. Bubba Wallace

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Austin Dillon

13. Aric Almirola

14. Ryan Preece

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Chase Elliott

17. Alex Bowman

18. Joey Logano

19. Carson Hocevar

20. Erik Jones

21. Ty Gibbs

22. Tyler Reddick

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

25. Kyle Busch, one lap down

26. Harrison Burton, one lap down

27. JJ Yeley, one lap down

28. Ty Dillon, two laps down

29. Justin Haley, two laps down

30. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

31. Corey LaJoie, four laps down

32. AJ Allmendinger, four laps down

33. BJ McLeod, six laps down

34. Ryan Newman, seven laps down

35. Austin Cindric, 11 laps down

36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates championship finalists

Final standings

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Kyle Larson

3. William Byron

4. Christopher Bell

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Chris Buescher

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Ross Chastain

10. Bubba Wallace

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Joey Logano

13. Kevin Harvick

14. Kyle Busch

15. Michael McDowell

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash on February 4, 2024, that will air at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This event will be followed by the 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which will occur on February 18, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX and officially commence Cup Series’ 76th season of competition.

Harvick finishes 7th in final Cup Series career start at Phoenix

By

Andrew Kim

-

November 5, 2023

Harvick David Myers — Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

In the midst of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series championship battle that was won by Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick displayed a strong, competitive performance before finishing in seventh place in the final start of his illustrious NASCAR career during the season-finale NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 5.

The 2014 Cup Series champion from Bakersfield, California, rolled off the starting grid for the final time in his career in third place, but quickly made his presence at the front known as he navigated his No. 4 Busch Light Harvick Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot, where he closely trailed title contender William Byron after the first stage period. Then after restarting on the front row during the start of the second stage period on Lap 68, Harvick led the first time on Lap 93 after muscling his way past Byron. He would then lead the next 23 laps until he was overtaken by Ross Chastain during the start of another restart period on Lap 116.

Finishing in third place at the conclusion of the second stage period and restarting in the top 10 at the start of the final stage period with 119 laps remaining, Harvick would spend the remainder of the event running in the top 10 on the track before claiming his final checkered flag in seventh place, which marked his 14th top-10 result of the 2023 Cup Series season and his first top-10 result since finishing sixth at Texas Motor Speedway in September.

Despite concluding his final Cup season winless, Harvick tallied a total of one stage victory, six top-five results, 14 top-10 results, 157 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.7 throughout the 36-race schedule, which were enough for him to end up in 13th place in the final standings with 2,241 points.

Amid the strong result, Harvick, who received a standing ovation and shared a photo with his family, team and every Cup Series competitor on the field prior to the event before sharing tears, laughs and a toast with his crew, teammates and friends at the event’s conclusion, took a moment to reflect on the illustrious and eventful journey he experienced throughout his 23-year career as a competitor in NASCAR’s premier series that started in the early stages of the 2001 season when he took over the ride that was piloted by the late seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster, for sure,” Harvick said on NBC. “I think as you look at this last week, this really means a lot to me just because I love driving the race car, I love being around the people more. I love our sport. It’s giving our family so much through the years to be thankful for and proud of. I can’t wait to be able to walk in that tunnel with my head up and look around and just look at all the really cool things that are NASCAR racing in every venue that we go to with great fans and people all over the place. I think for me for the last 23 years in Cup, you walk into that tunnel laser just focused on how do you make your car go faster and communicate with your team the best that you car. Sometimes you don’t see everything that’s around you. I’m fortunate to be able to kind of close this. I opened this chapter unexpectedly in 2001, and closed it in 2023 how we wanted to. That was to be competitive. The thing that means the most is having the respect of the drivers and competitors and the crew chiefs, my team, organization, all the past people that I worked for or worked with. There’s been so many great stories and things that have happened over this year, but especially this week.”

Scoring his first Cup Series career victory in his third series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2001 after edging four-time champion Jeff Gordon by 0.006 seconds, Harvick’s career blossomed as he would achieve 22 additional victories from 2001 to 2013 while driving for Richard Childress Racing. Among his early accomplishments included winning the 2001 Rookie-of-the-Year title, the 2003 Brickyard 400, five race victories in 2006, winning the 2007 Daytona 500 after edging Hall of Famer Mark Martin by 0.020 seconds, the 2007 All-Star Race, three Daytona Shootout victories in 2009, 2010 and 2013, two Coca-Cola 600 victories in 2011 and 2013 and finishing third place in the final standings in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Then in 2014, a new chapter presented itself for Harvick, who departed Richard Childress Racing to join forces with Stewart-Haas Racing to pilot the No. 4 entry for his longtime friend Tony Stewart and owner Gene Haas while Rodney Childers served as his crew chief. The move resulted in the Californian achieving a career year in NASCAR as he would win his first Cup Series championship in a season where he notched five victories, including the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway and during the current Playoff’s elimination-style format as Harvick transferred through all three rounds to contend for the title in the finale.

Harvick would record an additional 32 victories from 2015 to 2022 as a driver for Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 4 entry, which were enough for him to tally 60 career wins in NASCAR’s premier series as he currently sits in 10th place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. To coincide with his Cup title in 2014, Harvick’s top achievements as an SHR competitor include winning the Southern 500 in 2014 and 2020, notching a career-high nine victories in 2020, winning the 2018 All-Star Race and adding two consecutive Brickyard 400 victories to his resume in 2019 and 2020. His final Cup victory occurred at Richmond Raceway in August 2022. Since the start of the Playoffs in 2004, Harvick made 17 appearances in the Playoffs, including this season, and five in the Championship 4 round.

Overall, Harvick concludes his 23-year career as a Cup Series competitor with a total of 60 victories, 31 poles, 251 top-five results, 444 top-10 results, 16,058 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.8 through 826 career starts. Through 2023, Harvick has also achieved 47 Xfinity Series career victories and two championships through 349 series’ starts and 14 Craftsman Truck Series starts through 124 series’ starts.

Named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers earlier this season, Harvick departs from full-time NASCAR competition with hopes that he will be recognized for giving it his all both on and off the track since his first laps to his final ride. He also took the moment to applaud and express his gratitude for the memories he cherished and shared with his fellow competitors and current/former team owners, crew chiefs and crew members.

“I think for me, we gave it all we had, right?” Harvick added. “Every lap, every week in some way, shape or form, we touched every aspect of this race car. I care about how everything looks, whether it’s the color of the car, the stickers. I sit in the sponsorship meetings, the marketing meetings, the team meetings, and there’s just not any piece of it that I don’t’ feel like we are a part of in some way, shape or form. We built a team here at Stewart-Haas Racing. We built a team at [Kevin Harvick Inc.]. We built a management company. We built so many things from the bottom up. I think the hard work is something that people recognize, but as you guys have seen through the week, I’m a pretty emotional person. I’ve just done a really good job of hiding that through the years, to make you think I’m super tough, but I’m really not. I love people, I care about people and it’s been a lot of fun to get to know a lot of the drivers, crew chiefs, just people in NASCAR racing and it’s just been so much fun to tell a story about the last 30 years of my career this year. I think everybody’s done a great job and I can’t thank them enough.”

With his full-time racing career in NASCAR concluded, Harvick is set to join the FOX Sports broadcast booth to call the Cup Series action alongside Mike Joy, Stewart and Bowyer. Meanwhile, Harvick’s No. 4 entry will be taken over by Josh Berry, who graduates to the Cup circuit following a two-year run in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports and will contend for the 2024 Cup Series’ Rookie-of-the-Year title, as Rodney Childers will continue to work as the crew chief for the team.

The NASCAR Cup Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash on February 4, 2024, with the event’s broadcast time to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This event will be followed by the 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which will occur on February 18, 2024, and officially commence a new season of Cup Series competition. The Daytona 500’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Ryan Blaney Wins NASCAR Cup Series Championship As Ford Sweeps All Three Titles

By

Official Release

-

November 5, 2023

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Championship Race | Sunday, November 5, 2023

RYAN BLANEY WINS FIRST CUP SERIES TITLE AS FORD CAPTURES ALL THREE NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY

Ryan Blaney won his first NASCAR Cup Series championship today at Phoenix Raceway.
It’s also the second straight championship for Mustang after Joey Logano won the title last year.
Blaney’s title completes a weekend that saw Ford win all three major NASCAR touring championships for the first time in its history.
It also marks the first time an OEM has won all three titles in the same season since 2001, and the sixth time that has happened in NASCAR history.
The Cup championship is the fourth for team owner Roger Penske
Ford has won the Cup Series championship 11 times by nine different drivers.

UNOFFICIAL FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd – Ryan Blaney
5th – Chris Buescher
7th – Kevin Harvick
9th – Michael McDowell
13th – Aric Almirola
14th – Ryan Preece
15th – Brad Keselowski
18th – Joey Logano
24th – Chase Briscoe
26th – Harrison Burton
27th – JJ Yeley
30th – Todd GIlliland
34th – Ryan Newman
35th – Austin Cindric

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang – CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW:

HOW MUCH OF THE STORY OF THIS 12 TEAM THIS YEAR IS ABOUT NEVER GIVING UP AND OVERCOMING ADVERSITY? “Yeah, I think we did an amazing job on that. It was somewhat of an up and down year, but you’re gonna have those moments and through the summer we just worked really hard to get back to where we needed to be and set a deadline for the playoffs and we met that deadline. I’m just super proud of the effort by everybody at Team Penske who put in tons and tons of hours of hard work and nobody really got down. They just put their heads down and decided to really put in a lot of work and it showed up, especially these playoffs and especially the last five weeks. It’s so cool to have all of their hard work pay off, so they should be proud.”

WHAT ABOUT YOUR DAD. HOW MUCH HAS FAMILY MEANT TO YOU? “It’s been everything. Obviously, I come from a family of racers – my grandfather and dad and uncle. Dad is obviously who I grew up watching and admiring and wanted to be like, so to be able to do what he did because as a kid I just wanted to do what dad did, so to be able to race and let alone compete for wins and championships and still have my parents around and people that you look up to that are still around it makes it even more special.”

HOW ABOUT THE JOB JONATHAN HASSLER DID FOR THIS TEAM? “He’s been amazing. It’s been a fun two years. We had a shot to get here last year and I made some mistakes that kept us out, so we worked really hard in the winter to try to get back to where we know we can be and he’s such a dedicated hard worker. Every single person on this 12 group is, from the pit crew to the mechanics and truck drivers. Everyone has a part in it and they work their asses off, so it’s cool to see all that stuff pay off. It’s fun to work with Jonathan and hopefully we can get some more.”

HOW ABOUT ROGER PENSKE. WHAT HAS HE MEANT TO YOUR CAREER? “It’s been amazing. It’s been over 10 years when I walked through the doors of that place. It’s hard to believe. It’s gone by so fast. I was telling everybody all week that having the opportunity to go back-to-back Cup champions for Mr. Penske hasn’t been done. He hasn’t done that and it’s not very often you get to do something in motorsports that RP hasn’t done because he’s done everything and accomplished everything, so to be able to be a part of this and bring him another championship and be a driver that’s brought him a championship is very special, so it’s been a fun decade and hopefully another fun decade ahead.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Harvick Ford Mustang – WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS? “It’s kind of a relief, to be honest with you. There was just so much going on before the race and this week, but it was pretty cool to lead some laps there in the last race. I’m just proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing, everybody that works on this car and has worked on this car for a long time. I’ve just got to thank all the fans and NASCAR and my family and everybody for all of the support. It’s been a great ride and I can’t complain.”

WHEN YOU TOOK THE LEAD COULD YOU HEAR THE ROAR OF THE CROWD? THEY WERE ON THEIR FEET. “I figured. The fans have been great wishing us well to do the best that we can on the racetrack. It’s been an up and down year, but we’ve had some good runs and we were at least competitive. We didn’t ride around in the back, so that’s the main thing – just doing all that we can do.”

WHAT DO YOU FEEL? “Relief now. The emotions are kind of over at this particular point. This was a tough week with everything going on and lots to do. I think, for me, it’s been a great ride, so I don’t have anything to complain about. I’m just happy that we got to this point and kind of closed the book on our own.”

IT LOOKED LIKE YOU MIGHT WIN. “Yeah, as the sun went down we kept getting tighter in the corner and then we lost a few spots on a pit stop and the cars are so even you couldn’t really make it back up, but we just got a little bit too tight. We were OK. We were right in the middle of where we needed to be, but just on the wrong side of that front group.”

HOW DO YOU WALK OUT OF THIS TRACK? “This whole year has been incredible with the fans and the garage and everybody for all the support. We wanted to tell a story for 30 years and I think we did a pretty good job with that.”

YOU SAID TO KEELAN, ‘WHAT NOW?’ WHEN YOU GOT OUT OF THE CAR. WHAT NOW? “Yeah. Everything is already in place with everything that we have going on with television and businesses and Keelan’s racing and school. We’ve got so many things in motion with the next couple of years with plans and what we want to do, so we’re gonna go back to work. I do already have calls next week with the folks from Fox and starting to work on end of the year things for what we want to do there, but I still think the responsibility is just as big to go up there and try to give the fans as much information as possible and do a good job for Fox and everybody with this sport to tell the best story that we can. We have a lot of great drivers, a lot of great personalities and I hope everybody gets to see that.”

YOU’RE LEAVING ON YOUR OWN TERMS WHILE STILL COMPETITIVE. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR OTHER THAN A WIN OR TITLE? “It really hasn’t been about wins or losses, but you never want to flop around, so to be able to lead laps in the last race kind of tells you how competitive we still are and I think with some tweaks and adjustments to some of the things at Stewart-Haas, you could go right back out there and be where you need to be with everything that we have going on. Josh is gonna do a great job. I can’t wait to see Josh drive this car around. Busch is still in this sport. Mobil is still in this sport. It gave everybody time to do and evaluate what they wanted to do and that’s really what I wanted. I wanted to leave here and be able to look at all you guys, look at the fans, walk in the TV booth and walk into any trailer in that garage, whether it’s a driver, a crew chief, NASCAR, whoever it is, and be able to end on good terms and I think we did that.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – “I wish we would have been in the Championship 4 because we certainly had a shot at it here today. We drove forward. The first run we needed about 20 laps and after that we needed about five laps and after that we fired off good, so we had a good short and long run speed Fastenal Ford Mustang. I’ve never had that much fun here at Phoenix and I surely appreciate all those guys and girls’ hard work to get us to that point. That was fun. It was a great race. We got behind on one pit stop and then I think we had something happen at the end. It felt like we dropped a cylinder or something to the point we weren’t 100 percent. To still battle and come home fifth was a fantastic race for us. I’m super proud of everybody on this team. What a fantastic year. I would have loved to been in that Championship 4 because I think we would have had a real shot at this thing today. It’s a huge accomplishment for this season and I can’t wait until next year.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang – “It’s a frustrating way to end the season. Obviously, I wish we could have had a better run. This has statistically been our best track and I thought we were gonna be OK. We were able to drive up to 12th and had a restart there where I kind of got drove through and lost all of our track position and from there could literally never get it back. That was aggravating to say the least, but we’ll try to come back next year better and stronger and I’m already looking forward to it.”

PRESS CONFERENCE

MARK RUSHBROOK, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports – ARE YOU SHOCKED WINNING ALL THREE? “This is NASCAR and all three national series are so competitive and you’ve got to be on your game for every element of the program, whether it’s the engine, the chassis, the setup, the aero, the driver, the pit crew – everything has to be right. Yeah, we did struggle for sure, especially in Cup early on certain style tracks, but all of our racing teams worked together. Nobody gave up and kept digging and certainly came on strong, especially with Team Penske and the 12 car through the playoffs. We had some strength with RFK through the season. We’ve had seasons where we’ve won a lot of races and not won a championship and that’s been a disappointment. We didn’t win as many races as we would have liked to this year, but to win three championships just makes a statement about the team we have at Ford Performance and the partnership and the family that we have racing our cars and trucks on track, so I’m really proud of what everybody has done.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THE END RESULT? “Well, I said this week in some of the interviews during the week as we were unveiling our new car and people were asking about the championship and you want to always have at least one driver in the Championship 4 for every series. You’d like to have more and we had one driver in and I knew we had a good shot with all of those drivers and teams, but so much happens during the race, especially Friday night. Things could have gone in any direction, but Ryan was so strong today that he was driving to the front on every run and he was racing hard against everybody. He certainly earned the championship today.”

WHEN THE PLAYOFFS STARTED YOUR GROUP GOT WHITTLED DOWN. WHAT HAVE THESE LAST 10 WEEKS BEEN LIKE? “We entered in Cup with more drivers than Chevy and Toyota to start, but then we lost more in the first round going from 16 to 12 and we were on the other side of it, but that is what makes this playoff format exciting are those cutoffs where every three races you’re cutting out four of the drivers and you’ve got to peak at the right time and have the right finishes at the right time. It certainly, especially for the 12 car and Team Penske, they came on strong winning at Talladega and then really strong again at Miami-Homestead and then winning at Martinsville and strong here again today.”

WAS THIS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST SEASONS FOR FORD WITH THE EARLY STRUGGLES? “I feel like we work so hard every year. Everyone does. That’s what NASCAR racing is, but when you do have struggles early in the season it does make you at some level dig deeper and work harder. It stresses relationships for sure, but ultimately you come back together as family and partners and get through it.”

WHAT CAN YOU CHALK THIS SUCCESS UP TO? “We’ve increased the emphasis on our program every single year and certainly with the relevance we were really big at pushing for the Next Gen car back in the early days when it was first being talked about – the relevance and everything, which made it even more important for us to be successful with it, so we were working hard, obviously, on the Next Gen car before we were ever racing it, and not just on the body but also making sure we understood what the common chassis was, running it in our simulator, so really understanding it is what it takes to be successful.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO WIN WITH MUSTANG IN CUP AND CAN YOU MARKET THIS INTERNATIONALLY? “Winning is everything for us, just as a point of pride. It’s certainly going to be a celebration in Dearborn. My phone has been blowing up with Ford family members and our senior executives already so excited about it, so it means a lot internally to the customer because motorsports is so important to us. But that is the basis for a successful marketing program is success on the racetrack, so you have to win races and you have to win championships to have that credibility and for fans to engage with your brand and want to make them proud to have a Ford parked in their driveway or their garage. And for us, NASCAR, even though we’re racing a Mustang, we certainly sell Mustangs because of it, but we sell more F-150s to NASCAR fans than we do Mustangs. But this is a proof point for them. As far as the international question, Mustang is our global sports car. It is the best-selling sports car in the world and when we took the decision back in 2015 to have Mustang go global that was an important decision for us to be able to have that, and now with the commitment of our company for the seventh generation Mustang and to have that continue to be selling globally as a road car, but we’re racing it globally, not just in NASCAR and NHRA, but in Australia SuperCars, Mustang GT3, Mustang GT4, Dark Horse R with the spec challenge. We take the benefits from any Mustang success and market it globally. It helps all of our Mustang racing programs be more successful.”

WHAT HAS KEVIN HARVICK MEANT TO FORD? “We love Kevin Harvick. That was a big part of bringing Stewart-Haas to Ford was knowing that Kevin Harvick was there. It’s a weird moment. I was talking to Delana on pit road before the race and asking her how she felt and, for her, it was like suddenly the day is here. You know it’s coming and we feel the same way. We’ve known that Kevin was going to retire for quite some time and suddenly here we are in Phoenix and he had a great race. He was running up front as he usually does in Phoenix and he’s meant a lot to our program. He’s won 25 Cup races with us in just seven years of racing with us and we’re certainly going to miss him. He’s done a lot for us in terms of extra stuff away from the track that we’re really going to miss.”

IT’S BEEN SINCE 2001 AN OEM HAS WON ALL THREE TITLES. WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE DRIVERS WHO WILL REPRESENT THESE SERIES AND FORD AS CHAMPIONS? “As much as we’re a car company and we make and sell cars and trucks and we’re out here racing them, we’re also a family company, a people company and it’s all about the people that are racing these cars inside the shop and ultimately the drivers that get it done on track. Those three drivers that we had win this weekend to win a championship, to have Ben Rhodes, Cole Custer and Ryan Blaney as champions for this sport and representing our brand, we’re really proud of what they’ve done. I knew they all could do it and really glad to see them as champions.”

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN TERMS OF DRIVERS GOING FORWARD AND A POTENTIAL YOUNG DRIVER BASE GOING FORWARD? “It’s the future of the sport. We’ve always got to be planning for that future, whether it’s from an engineering perspective, a team perspective, but certainly the drivers and there’s a lot of youth right now and that is important for the future of this sport, not just with having them be successful on track, but building those drivers to have a brand to engage with fans and keep the sport healthy with fans in the stands. Ryan Blaney, for us, is somebody that certainly developed. He’s got his own brand, his own person, and we love him for who he is and proud that he’s representing our brand.”

DO YOU OFFICIALLY NAME THIS FORD CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND NOW? “I’ve heard a few people saying that. We had a lot of pride in Ford Championship Weekend in Miami-Homestead for a long run and unofficially I guess we could call this Ford Championship Weekend.”

Stewart-Haas Racing: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale at Phoenix

By

Official Release

-

November 5, 2023

STEWART-HAAS RACING
NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale at Phoenix

Date: Nov. 5, 2023
Event: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/125 laps/127 laps)
Champion: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Race Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Chris Buescher of RFK Racing (Ford)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 3rd, Finished 7th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)

● Aric Almirola (Started 28th, Finished 13th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)

● Ryan Preece (Started 12th, Finished 14th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)

● Chase Briscoe (Started 26th, Finished 24th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)

SHR Points Final:

● Kevin Harvick (13th with 2,241 points)

● Aric Almirola (22nd with 675 points)

● Ryan Preece (23rd with 637 points)

● Chase Briscoe (30th with 534 points)

Championship 4 Final:

Ryan Blaney (5,035 points)
Kyle Larson (5,034 points)
William Byron (5,033 points)
Christopher Bell (5,001 points)

Harvick Notes:

● Phoenix marked Harvick’s 826th and final NASCAR Cup Series start. The 47-year-old from Bakersfield, California, has officially retired as a Cup Series driver, and the surefire, first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer leaves an incredible mark on the sport.

His 826 career starts ranks eighth all-time.
He won the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship (in the inaugural season of elimination-style playoffs).
His 60 points-paying wins ranks 10th all-time.
His 63 runner-up finishes ranks sixth all-time.
His 251 top-five finishes ranks ninth all-time.
His 444 top-10 finishes ranks fifth all-time.
His 309,630.958 miles completed ranks fourth all-time.
His 16,058 laps led ranks 11th all-time. His 1,299 starts across NASCAR’s top-three series – Cup, Xfinity and Truck – is the most all-time (and 85 more than the next-best driver in this category, Kyle Busch, who has 1,214 starts).
His 121 wins across NASCAR’s top-three series ranks third all-time. His 29 wins after turning 40 ranks third all-time. His 37 wins since 2014 (when his career with SHR began) are the most of all drivers. His 784 consecutive starts is the third-longest streak in NASCAR Cup Series history.
● Harvick earned his 14th top-10 of the season and his 31st top-10 in his series-leading 42nd career NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix.

● This was Harvick’s fourth straight result of 16th or better. He finished 16th Oct. 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 11th Oct. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and 16th last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

● This was Harvick’s 21st straight top-10 at Phoenix – a streak that began in March 2013.

● Harvick’s nine wins, 20 top-fives and 31 top-10s at Phoenix are the most among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present.

● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has not finished outside of the top-10 at Phoenix and has scored five of his nine wins.

● Harvick finished second in Stage 1 to earn nine bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points.

● Harvick led twice for 23 laps to increase his laps-led total at Phoenix to a series-best 1,722.

● Harvick has now led 11,643 laps since joining SHR in 2014.

SHR Notes:

● Phoenix served as Almirola’s final race with SHR. The 39-year-old from Tampa, Florida, joined the organization in 2018 and scored two points-paying victories, won two non-points races, earned five poles, made the NASCAR Playoffs four times and finished a career-best fifth in points in 2018 during his six-year tenure with the team. Almirola is not retiring from racing. He is instead “ready for the next adventure.” SHR wishes him well and is grateful for all the contributions he made to the company.

● Almirola earned his 12th top-15 of the season and his 15th top-15 in 26 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.

● This was Almirola’s fourth straight top-15. He finished 14th Oct. 15 at Las Vegas, ninth Oct. 22 at Homestead and second last Sunday at Martinsville.

● Preece earned his 12th top-15 of the season and his second top-15 in nine career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.

● This was Preece’s third straight top-20. He finished 13th Oct. 22 at Homestead at 20th last Sunday at Martinsville.

● This was Preece’s second straight top-15 at Phoenix. He finished 12th in the series’ prior visit to the track in March.

● Briscoe led once for two laps to increase his laps-led total at Phoenix to 114.

Race Notes:

● Ross Chastain won the NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale to score his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the year and his second at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Ryan Blaney was 1.23 seconds.

● Blaney, in his eighth fulltime season, earned his first NASCAR Cup Series championship by virtue of his runner-up finish. He is the 36th different driver to win the series title.

● Blaney, from High Point, North Carolina, is the 11th NASCAR Cup Series champion from the state of North Carolina. The others are Buck Baker (Charlotte), Dale Earnhardt (Kannapolis), Bobby Isaac (Catawba), Dale Jarrett (Hickory), Ned Jarrett (Newton), Lee Petty (Randleman), Richard Petty (Randleman), Herb Thomas (Olivia), Rex White (Taylorsville) and Benny Parsons (Ellerbe).

● This was Ford’s 729th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory, its eighth of the season and second in a row. Blaney won last weekend at Martinsville.

● This was Ford’s 11th NASCAR Cup Series championship by its ninth different driver. Joey Logano won in 2018 and again in 2022. The only other Ford driver with multiple championships is David Pearson, who won back-to-back titles in 1968 and 1969. Ford’s other champions are Ned Jarret (1965), Bill Elliott (1988), Alan Kulwicki (1992), Dale Jarrett (1999), Matt Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004).

● This was Ford’s series-leading 20th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Phoenix. The manufacturer won the first two races at Phoenix with NASCAR Hall of Famers Alan Kulwicki on Nov. 6, 1988 and Bill Elliott on Nov. 5, 1989. It has now won the three of the last four races at Phoenix with Briscoe (March 2022), Logano (November 2022) and Blaney (November 2023).

● There were four caution periods for a total of 27 laps.

● Twenty-four of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

Sound Bites:

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster, for sure. I think as you look at this last week, this really means a lot to me just because I love driving the racecar, I love being around the people more. I love our sport. It’s given our family so much through the years to be thankful for and proud of. I can’t wait to be able to walk in that tunnel with my head up and look around, just look at all the really cool things that are NASCAR racing in every venue that we go to with great fans and people all over the place. I think for me, you walk into that tunnel laser focused on how you make your car go faster and communicate with your team the best you can. Sometimes you don’t see everything around you. I opened this chapter unexpectedly in 2001, and closed it in 2023 how we wanted to. That was to be competitive. The thing that means the most is having the respect of the drivers and competitors and the crew chiefs, my team, organization, all the past people that I worked for or worked with. There have been so many great stories and things that have happened over this year, but especially this week. I think for me, we gave it all we had, right? Every lap, every week in some way, shape or form we touched every aspect of this racecar. I care about how everything looks, whether it’s the color of the car, the stickers. I sit in the sponsorship meetings, marketing meetings, the team meetings, and there’s just not any piece of it that I don’t feel like we are a part of in some way, shape or form. We built a team here at Stewart-Haas Racing. We built so many things from the bottom up. I think the hard work is something that people recognize. As you guys have seen through the week, I’m a pretty emotional person. I’ve just done a really good job of hiding that.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light HARVICK Ford Mustang

“I’m going to really miss that part right there. Going to battle with my guys. Just competing – competing at the top level with this 10 team. That’s the coolest thing about my job. I get to do what I love to do with people I love. It’s enjoyable to do this with the people that you love. I will certainly miss competing at the top level and competing with them and stepping into that racecar and feeling like a gladiator going to battle in front of a packed out racetrack. I’m so grateful and so thankful. God has blessed me in ways I never imagined possible.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The 2024 season begins with the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 66th Daytona 500 on Feb. 18 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Both events will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

CHEVROLET NCS AT PHOENIX CHAMPIONSHIP: Post-Race Report

By

Official Release

-

November 5, 2023

NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
NOVEMBER 5, 2023

Chastain Takes Chevrolet to Season-Finale Win at Phoenix Raceway
Chevrolet Ends 2023 NCS Season with 18 Triumphs

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain took Chevrolet to victory lane in the NASCAR Cup Series season-finale at Phoenix Raceway, marking Chastain’s second victory of the 2023 season and his fourth career win in NASCAR’s top division.
Falling just short of his second career NASCAR Cup Series championship, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team recorded a third-place finish at Phoenix Raceway to lead Chevrolet in the final points standings in the runner-up position.
In his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship Four appearance, William Byron capped off a career season by driving his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place finish, ending the 2023 season third in the final points standings.
With the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season complete, Chevrolet led its manufacturer competitors in NASCAR Cup Series wins (18), top-fives (77), top-10s (149), laps led (3,631) and stage wins (26) this season.
The 2023 season brought Chevrolet its 42nd NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championship; its 25th Bill France Performance Cup in the NASCAR Xfinity Series; and its 11th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturer Championship – the Bowtie Brand’s fifth time sweeping the manufacturer championship titles across all three NASCAR national series (2012, 2005, 1998 and 1996).
With its 42 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships, 33 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Championships, and 851 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title of winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
3rd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
4th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on February 4, 2024.

TEAM CHEVY RACE WINNER QUOTE:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1

Finished: 1st

“For me, for everybody with Worldwide Express, to end the season like this. We lost Rob Rose (of Worldwide Express) last year, but it’s his vision that started this program. Really for Advent Health, Moose, Jockey, Kubota, all of our partners, there were some questionable times this year, and as we went, we continued to fight and prepare the same. There were some tough days and nights, and sleepless nights, but it made us even hungrier and we brought the thunder this weekend.”

Talk about racing with the championship contenders…

“That last caution saved me. We were way too tight. Phil Surgen, these boys and girls, Michael Hann, our whole sim group, General Motors’ sim group, the whole workforce of 140-plus employees at Trackhouse, came up with a way to make this hot rod turn. She turned that last run, and drove off into the sunset.”

TEAM CHEVY CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR: POST-RACE QUOTES

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Finished: 3rd

“(Ryan Blaney’s) car was really fast, really for the last few months especially here today. Our pit crew and pit road just really kept us in the game. We weren’t really the greatest on the track but I was hoping for pit stops because I knew the way our team executed our lights, and the way our pit crew can execute a fast pit stop, I knew that that was our only shot really to win. They did everything in their power to give us the winning job done there. A huge thank you to them. I needed to come out the leader on that restart. Ross (Chastain) got a really good start from the second row, and was hoping I could’ve got clear of Denny (Hamlin) and get the lead and have Ross (Chastain) protect behind me. I’m not really sure that would’ve made a difference, really. I was just not as good as a few guys, especially (Ryan) Blaney and Ross (Chastain) probably. It would’ve been difficult, but my team did a really good job all season. I’m extremely proud of them. We had an up and down year, and we finally put together two solid weeks in a row. I don’t know if we’ve done that all year. A huge thank you to HENDRICKCARS.COM, Team Chevy, Valvoline, Jinya Ramen Bar, everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, everyone. We’ll come back next year and try to be stronger.”

Ryan Blaney made a point in his interview to talk about how respectful you and the two other contenders raced….

“I tried to take as much as I could in turns one and two to see if I could do anything just because (Ryan Blaney) was a lot faster. He was behind me a number of times during the race and never touched me, so I would say, for me and my respect level, it started with him. He raced with a lot of respect early on in the race. He always has, too. It was fun watching Ryan (Blaney), and William (Byron), and (Christopher) Bell kind of when he was still out there, us all racing hard. A lot of fun there, and congrats to Ryan (Blaney) – he’s a deserving champion. Him and his team have done an amazing job. It’s been fun to come up through the ranks with him, and now see him as a champion. Congrats to Team Penske and their whole team, and we’ll try to beat them next year.”

William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1

Finished: 4th

You dominated the beginning parts of this race. Around Stage Two, it seemed to get away from you guys.

“Yeah, once the track rubbered in, we got really tight, especially when we lost the lead. We just had a big balance shift and got tight back in second through fifth and just couldn’t gain a lot of speed through (turns) one and two, and just had to really over slow the car to get it to the bottom. That’s all we had there.

Just really proud of this No. 24 Axalta Chevy team. It’s been a great season. It stinks to come up short, but I’d like to think we’re going to be back in this position and we’re going to have more shots at it. We just have to keep working. Keep working on the short-track program for us – that’s definitely been the tough part of our season. But I felt like we brought a good car this weekend, and really until the track changed, I thought we were in the game. Just all we had there.”

What was it like racing with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson? You guys were so close at times and you know you’re racing for the win, but also for a championship.

“Yeah, I feel like we all raced really hard. I felt like in Stage One and Two, I could kind of take Ryan’s (Blaney) lane away a little bit and get him tight. And then once he got in front of us, it was really hard to chase him back down. With (Kyle) Larson, I thought we were pretty even. We came off pit road and he did a good job the last run. They had more speed than us the last run. The last run of the race, we were pretty tight there.

Like I said, just really proud of this team. We’ve had a great season and there’s a lot to be proud of, and we’re going to keep digging hard.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ryan Blaney secures first NASCAR Cup title as Ross Chastain wins at Phoenix

By

Official Release

-

November 5, 2023

GettyImages-1777088281-1 — Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, finishing first of the Championship 4 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway on November 05, 2023 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

AVONDALE, Ariz. – For the first time in 10 years of the elimination Playoff format, the NASCAR Cup Series champion failed to win the title race—not that it mattered one bit to 2023 champion Ryan Blaney.

When he took the checkered flag in second place in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race, the driver of the No. 12 Ford gave Team Penske its second straight title in NASCAR’s premier series and gave Ford a sweep of Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

Oh, and as Blaney was pulling away from Kyle Larson and William Byron over a 31-lap green-flag run to the finish to claim his first Cup championship on Sunday, Ross Chastain secured his second victory of the season.

In a fierce battle for the title against 2021 champion Kyle Larson, Blaney edged ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver on Lap 292 and secured second place behind Chastain, who grabbed the top spot from Denny Hamlin after a restart on Lap 282.

Chastain crossed the finish line 1.230 seconds ahead of Blaney, whose elation wasn’t dulled one iota by the runner-up result—given the bigger prize he won by finishing second.

“Unbelievable year, unbelievable Playoffs for us,” said Blaney, who won last week at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4 with Larson, Byron and Christopher Bell. “To win back-to-back Cup titles for (team owner Roger) Penske, that’s so special. Having my family here, winning my first Cup title, I got emotional in the car. I’m not a very emotional guy.

“You never want to count yourself out. I mean, I think in the summer we were struggling a little bit, but we never gave up. We just went to work. I’ve said that all week, like, this group goes to work, and they figure out problems. That’s why they’re such an amazing group to be with, with the Team Penske folks, ’cause they just put their head down and do the work, accept the challenge.”

Bell fell out of the race on Lap 108, but Blaney, Larson and Byron came home second, third and fourth. Blaney’s margin over Larson at the finish was 2.243 seconds. Though Larson beat Blaney off pit road during the final caution for Kyle Busch’s spin in Turn 3 on Lap 275, Larson couldn’t hold off Blaney’s superior car.

“Yeah, his car was really fast,” Larson acknowledged. “Really the last few months. Yeah, especially here today. Our pit crew and pit road really kept us in the game. We weren’t the greatest on the track, but I was just hoping for pit stops ’cause I knew the way our team executed… the way our pit crew can execute a fast pit stop, I knew that was going to be our only shot really to win.

“They did everything in their power to give us the winning job done there. Huge thank you to them. I needed to come out the leader on that restart. Ross got a really good start from the second row. Was hoping I could get clear of Denny and get the lead, have Ross kind of protect for me behind me.

“I’m not sure if it would have made a difference.”

Byron took off from the pole position and won the first 60-lap stage wire-to-wire but not without a challenge from third-place starter Kevin Harvick and a charge from Chastain, who was eighth on the grid to start the race.

Over the final three laps of the stage, Byron used the high line through the corners to hold off Harvick, who finished second. Chastain was third after 60 laps, 0.584 seconds behind the stage winner at the green/checkered flag.

First off pit road from stall one, Byron opened a lead of more than a second after the break. Larson, Blaney and Bell all improved their positions on pit road and soon were running fourth, fifth and sixth with Byron in the lead and Harvick and Chastain in front of them.

On Lap 86, Bell made a deft pass of Blaney for fifth. Lap 93 brought a dramatic change at the front of the field, as Harvick surged to the outside of Byron in Turns 1 and 2 and cleared him down the backstretch. Byron dropped another spot to Chastain and traded third with Blaney, who secured the position on Lap 107.

“Once the track rubbered in, we got really tight,” Byron said. “Especially when we lost the lead on track, we just had a big balance shift and got tight back in second through fifth, just couldn’t gain a lot of speed through (Turns) 1 and 2, just kind of having to really over-slow the car, get it to the bottom.

“That’s all we had there.”

On Lap 108, Bell’s race fell apart. Complaining of brake issues, he crashed hard into the outside wall in Turn 3 when his right front rotor exploded and was eliminated from the race in 36th place, leaving Blaney, Byron and Larson to battle for the championship.

“Well, I mean that was my first time I’ve ever exploded a rotor in my career,” Bell said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “So, yeah, I was surprised, but early on in the race I had a little bit of brake fade, and the second run it just kept getting worse and worse. I don’t know. Just obviously a disappointing way to end.

“It stings to not have a shot at the end of it, obviously. We were all four really close, and we all four showed strengths at different times.”

Bell’s accident caused the second caution and provided a welcome opportunity for pit stops and adjustments. After the subsequent restart on Lap 117, Chastain passed Harvick for the lead and stayed out front for 54 consecutive laps until Buescher passed him for the top spot on Lap 171.

Buescher pulled away to win the second stage, which ended on Lap 185. Byron finished fourth and held the edge in the championship battle over Blaney in sixth and Larson in seventh.

As the laps counted down, however, the race came to Blaney.

Chastain led a race-high 157 laps to 95 for Byron. Harvick finished seventh after leading 23 laps in his final season as a full-time driver NASCAR Cup Series driver.

“We built a team here at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Harvick said. “We built so many things from the bottom up. I think the hard work is something that people recognize. As you guys have seen through the week, I’m a pretty emotional person. I’ve just done a really good job of hiding that.”

For his part, Chastain enjoyed competing against Harvick in his final race almost as much as he enjoyed winning.

“Racing him early in the race was bucket list, little kid in me,” said Chastain who won for the first time at Phoenix and the fourth time in his career. “Racing that 2005 (NASCAR) game, I drove as the 29 GM Goodwrench car (Harvick’s first Cup car with Richard Childress Racing). Now I’m driving a Chevy for GM to Victory Lane, a Camaro.

“I am beside myself that we were able to do that. That last caution we were really tight. It saved us. (Crew chief) Phil Surgen and this group at Trackhouse, all of our GM support staff, sim staff, everybody came up with a way to make this thing turn, and we drove off into the sunset.”

NASCAR Cup Series Race – NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Phoenix Raceway
Avondale, Arizona
Sunday, November 5, 2023

            1. (8)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 312.

            2. (15)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 312.

            3. (4)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 312.

            4. (1)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 312.

            5. (9)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 312.

            6. (2)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 312.

            7. (3)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 312.

            8. (6)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 312.

            9. (19)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 312.

            10. (5)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 312.

            11. (16)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 312.

            12. (21)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 312.

            13. (28)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 312.

            14. (12)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 312.

            15. (31)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 312.

            16. (20)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 312.

            17. (23)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 312.

            18. (17)  Joey Logano, Ford, 312.

            19. (22)  Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 312.

            20. (7)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 312.

            21. (11)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 312.

            22. (10)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 312.

            23. (24)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 312.

            24. (26)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 312.

            25. (18)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 311.

            26. (25)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 311.

            27. (34)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 311.

            28. (33)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 310.

            29. (35)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 310.

            30. (14)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 309.

            31. (29)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 308.

            32. (32)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 308.

            33. (36)  BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 306.

            34. (30)  Ryan Newman(i), Ford, 305.

            35. (27)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 301.

            36. (13)  Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, Accident, 108.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 108.827 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 1 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.230 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 27 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: W. Byron (P) 1-92;K. Harvick 93-111;W. Byron (P) 112;K. Harvick 113-116;R. Chastain 117-170;C. Buescher 171-188;W. Byron (P) 189;R. Chastain 190-240;M. Truex Jr. 241;D. Hamlin 242-251;C. Briscoe 252-253;R. Chastain 254-257;R. Blaney (P) 258;R. Chastain 259-260;R. Blaney (P) 261;R. Chastain 262-276;W. Byron (P) 277;D. Hamlin 278-281;R. Chastain 282-312.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ross Chastain 6 times for 157 laps; William Byron (P) 4 times for 95 laps; Kevin Harvick 2 times for 23 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 18 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 14 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 2 times for 2 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 2 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,4,1,23,5,17,19,43,20,12

Stage #2 Top Ten: 17,1,4,24,19,12,5,23,6,43

Ty Gibbs named 2023 Cup Series Rookie of the Year

By

Andrew Kim

-

November 5, 2023

Ty Gibbs Mike Biskupski — Photo by Mike Biskupski for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Ty Gibbs has officially been named the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

The 21-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, capped off his rookie Cup Series season with Joe Gibbs Racing, his grandfather and championship-winning team owner Joe Gibbs’ team, in 21st place during the season-finale NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 5, despite starting in 11th place, but settling in 18th place in the final driver’s standings with 771 points.

Gibbs’ inaugural presence in the Cup Series occurred during the second half of the 2022 season, when he drove the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry entry at Pocono Raceway in late July as an interim competitor for Kurt Busch. The move was made after Busch, the 2004 Cup Series champion, wrecked while qualifying for the main event and suffered concussion-like symptoms that would prevent him from returning for the remainder of the season and lead to his retirement. The move also occurred as Gibbs was competing on a full-time basis in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and contending for the series’ championship. Despite starting at the rear of the field due to a driver change, Gibbs finished 16th in his Cup debut.

Ultimately, Gibbs would compete in the next 14 Cup Series events of the 2022 season. He initially competed his first five events in 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry, where he notched his first top-10 career result at Michigan International Speedway in August after finishing 10th. Once the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs commenced, 23XI Racing swapped rides from their two-driver lineup that resulted with Gibbs piloting the No. 23 entry formally piloted by Bubba Wallace, who contended for the owner’s championship in the No. 45 entry. In nine starts in the No. 23 Toyota, Gibbs recorded a 15th-place result at Darlington Raceway in September and a total of three top-20 results. He was replaced by Daniel Hemric for the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November after Gibbs did not participate due to the death of his father, Coy Gibbs.

Ten days after winning the 2022 Xfinity Series title, Gibbs was officially named a Cup Series competitor for JGR as he would pilot the No. 54 Toyota TRD Camry led by Chris Gayle, who won the Xfinity title with Gibbs during the previous season. Piloting the No. 54 Toyota TRD Camry, Gibbs commenced his rookie Cup season by finishing 25th during his first Daytona 500 attempt. Four races later, he notched his first top-10 result of the season after finishing ninth at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. He backed up his strong finish at Atlanta by finishing in the top 10 during the following three events at Circuit of the Americas, Richmond Raceway and the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course before finishing no higher than 13th during his next nine starts. Despite achieving his first two top-five career finishes of fifth place, a total of six top-15 results in an eight-race span from July to August and remaining in contention to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, a late multi-car wreck and a 35th-place result in the regular-season finale at Daytona in August derailed Gibbs’ hopes of making his first appearance in the Playoffs as a title contender.

With his Playoffs hopes for this season evaporated, Gibbs commenced the 2023 Playoffs with respective finishes of 21st and 14th before notching a strong performance at Bristol Motor Speedway during the Playoff’s Round of 16 finale, where he led 102 of 500 laps and settled in fifth place. Two races later, he notched a career-best fourth-place result during the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. He then recorded respective finishes of 34th, seventh and 18th throughout the Round of 8 before capping off his rookie Cup season in 21st place during the season-finale event at Phoenix.

With his accomplishment, Gibbs became the fourth different competitor while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing to achieve a Cup rookie title, a feat that includes Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. He also became the fourth different competitor from North Carolina to achieve a Cup rookie title within the previous six seasons and the first Toyota competitor to win the rookie title since Erik Jones made the last accomplishment in 2017. Gibbs is also the first competitor to win the Cup rookie title a year after winning the Xfinity title since William Byron made the last accomplishment from 2017-18.

Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Gibbs’ lone rival for this year’s Cup rookie title was Noah Gragson, who competed in 21 of the first 22-scheduled events for Legacy Motor Club before he was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR competition and released by LMC in early August for violating a section highlighting member conduct within NASCAR’s rulebook.

With the completion of his first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series, Gibbs is set to return for a second Cup Series stint in 2024 with Joe Gibbs Racing as he will continue to compete alongside teammates Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.

The NASCAR Cup Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash on February 4, 2024, with the event’s broadcast time to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This event will be followed by the 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which will occur on February 18, 2024, and officially commence a new season of Cup Series competition. The Daytona 500’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Toyota Racing – NCS Phoenix Post-Race Report – 11.05.23

By

Official Release

-

November 5, 2023

BRAKE FAILURE ENDS CHRISTOPHER BELL’S CHAMPIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Ty Gibbs Wins Cup Series Rookie of the Year

CHANDLER, ARIZ. (November 5, 2023) – Christopher Bell’s championship hopes ended in the middle of the second stage after a brake rotor failure caused contact with the wall in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season-finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Martin Truex Jr. was the highest-finishing Toyota in sixth while Ty Gibbs earned Rookie of the Year honors in his first full Cup Series season.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Phoenix Raceway
Race 36 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ross Chastain*
2nd, Ryan Blaney*
3rd, Kyle Larson*
4th, William Byron*
5th, Chris Buescher*
6th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
8th, DENNY HAMLIN
10th, BUBBA WALLACE
21st, TY GIBBS
22nd, TYLER REDDICK
36th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem – DEWALT Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 36th

What happened to take you out of the championship race early?

“Well, I mean that was my first time I’ve ever exploded a rotor in my career. So, yeah, I was surprised but early on in the race I had a little bit of brake fade and the second run it just kept getting worse and worse. I don’t know. Just obviously a disappointing way to end. I’m super, super proud of this 20 team and all of our partners at DEWALT and Rheem. To be in the Final 4 is something we’re really proud of.”

Was there any sign of it yesterday in practice?

“Not from my standpoint in the car. No.”

Are you disappointed to be out of the race so early?

“Yeah, I mean it stings to not have a shot at the end of it obviously. We were all four really close and we all four showed strengths at different times. I think it’s going to be a great championship race and whoever wins is going to be well deserving.”

Was there any warning what was happening before you hit the wall?

“Yes, I did have brake fade. In the first run of the race, I did have some pedal fade and I think that was run two – it got worse and worse.”

How do you summarize the season after the rough day today?

“I’m very proud of the effort put forth by our team to get to the Championship 4, but I do feel like we left a lot on the table at various races throughout the year. I’m excited about the future. We haven’t reached our potential yet.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).

CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: Recapping the Rookie Test

By

Official Release

-

November 5, 2023

Final laps for Corvette C8.R in the hands of Corvette Racing

SAKHIR, Bahrain (November 5, 2023) – The championship-winning No. 33 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R turned its final laps in the hands of Corvette Racing on Sunday as part of the annual FIA World Endurance Championship Rookie Test, with two drivers new to the mid-engine GTE car having the opportunity to sample it the day after the Eight Hours of Bahrain:

· Antoine Doquin: Nominated by the WEC following an LMP3 championship in the Asian Le Mans Series and a strong showing in the European Le Mans Series’ LMP3 category

· Timur Boguslavskiy: GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion in 2023 and GTWC Europe Sprint Cup runner-up in 2020, 2022 and 2023

Corvette Racing and program management used Sunday’s pair of sessions to test and evaluate each driver for potential future opportunities with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which will begin competing next year in the WEC, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Fanatec GT World Challenge America.

In the next garage over from the C8.R, Corvette Racing’s Nico Varrone received the opportunity to test Cadillac Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar a day after his GTE Am championship season closed. Varrone won three times this year with Corvette Racing – including the 24 Hours of Le Mans – and teammates Ben Keating and Nicky Catsburg, who also turned his final laps in the C8.R on Sunday.

Varrone, who drove for the first time with Corvette Racing at last year’s Rookie Test, will be part of AWA’s GTD full-season lineup in the WeatherTech Championship as the team transitions to Z06 GT3.R with two entries in 2024, starting with the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.

NICKY CATSBURG: “To me, the best thing about today was to look at my teammate Nico and see how he did in the Cadillac Hypercar. We all have high expectations for him, so it’s very cool for him to get this opportunity. For me, it was nice to turn my last laps in this car before it goes into Ben Keating’s garage! That’s always a pleasure. I loved this car right from the start when I first drove it four years ago. It always has been a car that suited my driving style and I always felt comfortable in it. On one hand, I feel like next year’s Corvette GT3 car is going to be similar so it doesn’t feel like a final goodbye. I enjoyed today as much as I could and see if I could help the rookies out a little bit.”

NICO VARRONE: “Bahrain continues to be very special to me! I have been dreaming of the opportunity to drive a Hypercar, but I thought it would never come so early in my career. It has been great. It’s a different car, full of power and in the top class of endurance racing. The high-speed corners with the aero was really nice. Braking was a little bit difficult, of course, and it was one of the main things. But it was so nice to drive!

“GM is like a family. At Le Mans and this season, we shared a lot of time and space together. You get to know everyone, even if it’s just saying hi. It was quite relaxing rather than coming into a new place. They were all very nice, I have to say. It was great. I’m really thankful to the entire Cadillac team, to GM, to Laura (Wontrop Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager), Christie (Bagne, Corvette Z06 GT3.R Program Manager) and many others. This is an opportunity I will never forget.”

ANTOINE DOQUIN: “That was really, really fun and I enjoyed that a lot! Thank you to the WEC and Corvette Racing for the opportunity. This was my first time in a GTE car, and I absolutely loved it. It’s a GT3 car but 10 times better without ABS, so it’s all about the braking. It was a very good day but very tough with tire management. The track is quite tough for a stint with the tire degradation. I learned a lot and know now how the Corvette team works. I’m really happy and we will see what the future brings us. I would love to be with Corvette. There is such a great atmosphere with the team and the mechanics. I have been with them for two days, and they are very, very kind… always funny and always with a smile! A big thanks to all of the team from the mechanics to the engineers for this moment because I really loved it.”

TIMUR BOGUSLAVSKIY: “This was my first ever in a Corvette, and I like it quite a lot. I have tested three cars in my life, and this is more like a prototype than any GT3 car I have tested – a proper racing car. I enjoyed how the team works and you can see immediately why they have so much success. With the car, I feel I was struggling with the brakes because I am normally driving with ABS. To go to a car without it, you have to change your style and you are going to be inconsistent. At the end of the day, I don’t think I did a bad job. This track is not easy. Overall this was a great feeling and I hope to continue to work together again with Corvette in the future.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

The Elite Rise of Christopher Bell

By

Quinn McCullough

-

November 5, 2023

Christopher Bell GettyImages-1771351428 — AVONDALE, ARIZONA - NOVEMBER 02: Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT Toyota, speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship Media Day at Phoenix Raceway on November 02, 2023 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Heading into the championship finale weekend for NASCAR’s three main touring series at Phoenix Raceway, Christopher Bell is looking to win his first career Cup Series Championship. Bell won the Truck Series Championship in 2017 and this year, he is the only playoff driver for Toyota after Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Tyler Reddick were eliminated from contention.

The Oklahoma native drives the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing and has six wins in his Cup Series career. This is his third year at JGR after leaving the now-defunct Levine Family Racing and he has been tearing it up in the Cup Series.

Along with his six wins in his Cup Series career, he has two Championship 4 runs in the Playoffs as well as 10 poles and 62 top 10’s. This year Bell has shown immense speed at various types of tracks.

P7. Solid day. Now it all comes down to one race…we’ll be ready. #TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/YyVpR6Fkkz
— Christopher Bell (@CBellRacing) October 29, 2023

Before arriving in NASCAR, Bell was an established dirt track racer and still is today. He has raced in the World of Outlaws Series and many other dirt track series across the United States. He won this year’s Bristol Dirt Race which will be the final Bristol Dirt Race since NASCAR turned Bristol back to a paved track.

With his mastery of different types of race cars and race tracks, he has developed a diverse craft of racing skills and abilities. The key for Bell in the Championship Race is whether he can stay consistent and get the win.

Make sure to tune in to the race and all the action on Sunday on NBC at 1 p.m. CT.

SpeedwayMedia.comOnline Resource for Motorsports Information

SpeedwayMedia.comOnline Resource for Motorsports Information

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Toyota Racing – NCS Phoenix Post-Race Report – 11.05.23

CORVETTE RACING AT BAHRAIN: Recapping the Rookie Test

The Elite Rise of Christopher Bell

SpeedwayMedia.comOnline Resource for Motorsports Information

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