The final NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2021 season has arrived. The Cup Series Championship takes place today at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, and four drivers will battle for the Cup Series title. The Championship 4 race will start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. It will also stream on Peacock and the NBC Sports App.
The four drivers who are competing for the Cup Series Championship are Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Larson seems to be the favorite to win it all as he has been the top driver all year, winning nine races including three of the last four. Larson is hoping he can maintain this type of success year in and year out.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“I hope this is the new normal. I would love to win nine races a year for the rest of my life,” Larson said, per NASCAR.com. “I don’t know. It’s all about opportunity. I feel like I’ve been blessed with a great opportunity, with a great team, with Cliff Daniels leading it. Yeah, I mean, I think timing, too, is important. Yeah, I mean, it’s been really good. I’m glad that we’ve been able to take advantage of it.”
Elliot is the defending Cup Series Champion and has had as strong of a 2021 season as Larson. The 25-year old won two races this year while finishing in the top five in 12 other races. Elliott spoke to PopCulture.com earlier this year and revealed how he can win the championship again.
“We just have to peak at the right time,” Elliott said to PopCulture. “That was really what we did best last year, was we really peaked at the right time and got hot for a stretch of races that was perfect timing. And unfortunately, you can’t always draw that up. That’s not just something that you can just snap your fingers and make happen. It’s a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of effort. And it comes from everyone at our race shop, everyone on the road. Myself, our off-track help. Everything has to just really be clicking at the right time.”
Many believe this could be Hamlin’s time to finally win a Cup Series title. The 40-year-old has done everything in NASCAR except win a Cup Series Championship. What helps Hamlin is he has experience competing in the Championship 4 race, finishing fourth in 2019 and 2020. Truex is competing in his fifth Championship 4 race and won it all in 2017. The 41-year-old driver has won four Cup Series races this year and coming off of a strong performance at Martinsville Speedway.
