It’s finally here. Four NASCAR drivers will battle for the Cup Series Championship on Sunday at the Phoenix Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET and will air on NBC. It will also stream on Peacock, and the four drivers competing for the title are Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain.
Elliott and Logano are the two experienced drivers in the Championship 4 as they have won titles in the past. Elliott won it all in 2020 while Logano won it in 2018. And both drivers have had strong seasons with Elliott winning five Cup Series races while Logano has won three. Both drivers know they can’t afford to make mistakes if they want a shot at being multiple champions.
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“You got to do everything right, to be honest with you,” Elliott exclusively told PopCulture earlier this week. “And obviously until the race kind of unfolds, it’s hard to know the fine details as to what’s going to go on. But right now it’s just about a good week of prep, talking about the things we need to improve on, talking about the things maybe that we’ve done good in the past out there. Try to focus on our strengths and make sure we execute those things at a high level.”
Bell and Chastain are considered underdogs as they are competing in the Championship 4 race for the first time in their careers. And the interesting thing is both drivers had to finish strong last Sunday to have a shot at the title. Bell won the race at Martinsville, while Chastain finished 4th after being in 10th on the final lap. Chastain made a bold move by wall-riding on the final lap to not only clinch a spot in the championship but also eliminated Denny Hamlin from a chance at winning the title.
“We weren’t doing burnouts in the front stretch, partly because my car wouldn’t even do burnouts, if I tried, it was destroyed,” Chastain exclusively told PopCulture. “But I was in the car and I don’t really have any interest in doing that again. It was a rough ride. There was a lot happening inside the car. It was violent and that was at our slowest and shortest track. I really couldn’t imagine doing it on purpose anywhere else. So no, no plans, no plans for Phoenix and I didn’t practice it before then.”
