After about nine months and 35 races since the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season began back in February, it all comes down to Sunday’s championship event at Phoenix Raceway.
Surviving the first nine races of the playoffs and edging out the other 12 title contenders, four drivers — Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Christopher Bell — will compete on the one-mile Arizona track for the 2023 championship.
The final four drivers represent three different teams and manufacturers with Larson and Byron competing in Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets, while Blaney is in a Team Penske Ford and Bell a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
So ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series championship race Sunday at Phoenix (3 p.m. ET, NBC), here are five things to know about the Championship 4 drivers.
1
1 previous champion + 3 newcomers
Of the 2023 Championship 4 contenders, just one has a NASCAR Cup Series title on his resume: Kyle Larson, who won his first championship in 2020.
In addition to Larson, Christopher Bell also previously has made an appearance in the Championship 4, transferring for the first time last season before finishing third in the title standings. But for Ryan Blaney and William Byron, this is their first Championship 4 round.
2
It's the youngest Championship 4 ever (but barely)
With so many newcomers to the Championship 4, it’s not surprising that this is the youngest final four in NASCAR history since this postseason format was established in 2014. This foursome broke the record set last season for the youngest Championship 4 with an average age of 28 years, 11 months and 25 days.
Larson is the oldest at 31, followed by 29-year-old Blaney, 28-year-old Bell and 25-year-old Byron. But it’s worth noting that aside from Larson, the other drivers all have birthdays before the end of the year.
This is the youngest final four, but they’re not much younger than last season. As NBC Sports contributor and motorsports physicist Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky noted, this season’s Championship 4 is younger than last season’s by just a few months.
So here's the revised graph. The oldest driver in 2023's Championship 4 is younger than the youngest driver from 2019. pic.twitter.com/q2K1uDqmuS
— Diandra (@drdiandra) October 30, 2023
3
Each driver's path to the Championship 4
Three of the drivers advanced to the Championship 4 based on wins in the Round of 8, while the last spot was earned based on points in the playoff standings.
Larson was the first to advance to the Championship 4, which he did by winning the first race of the Round of 8, the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, to guarantee his spot.
Bell took the checkered flag in the 4EVER 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to lock himself in, and then Blaney won Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Bryon is the lone driver to qualify based on points.
4
How they fared at Phoenix Raceway this season
The championship race is the second of the season at Phoenix Raceway. The first was back in March, and all of the Championship 4 drivers finished among the top six last time out.
- Larson: 4th, 201 laps led
- Bell: 6th, 0 laps led
- Blaney: 2nd, 0 laps led
- Byron: 1st, 64 laps led
5
2023 NASCAR championship odds
For the title race, the eventual champion doesn’t actually have to take the checkered flag — though that’s usually what happens. The Cup Series champion is simply the Championship 4 driver with the best finish compared with the other three, so there’s always the potential to have different drivers for the race winner and the series champ.
Odds are via BetMGM as of Tuesday afternoon.
Odds to win the Phoenix race:
- Larson +160
- Blaney +250
- Byron +300
- Bell +400
Odds to win the 2023 NASCAR championship:
- Larson +175
- Blaney +225
- Byron +275
- Bell +375
