NASCAR
Just How Evenly Matched is the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4?
312 laps Sunday at Phoenix Raceway will determine the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion. After 35 weeks, the premier division of American motor racing has been narrowed down to the Championship 4. This year’s four finalists are a unique mix of youth and experience, first-timers in the title-decider and past champs going for a repeat. Let’s take a deeper look at each of the drivers battling for the 2022 Bill France Cup, and see if any has an upper hand for Phoenix.
Joey Logano
2018 Cup Series champion Joey Logano is making his fifth Championship 4 appearance. Logano also has a pair of wins at Phoenix Raceway (2016, 2020), making him the winningest contender in The Valley of the Sun. Since the 22’s last desert triumph in March 2020, Logano has been top-10 in all but one trip here. On top of that, Logano has laps led in five of the last six Phoenix races. That includes this spring’s event, where the 22 placed eighth.
“I feel great about our chances,” Logano said after Martinsville. “Honestly, I don’t really care who else is in. It’s about the 22 team winning a second title. That’s what it’s about.
“We just got to do our job and stay focused on us. Like I said, (Sunday) we did what we needed to do to be prepared. We’ve had three weeks to think about our race car and how we want to play the race out, how we want to run practice. We’ve had the opportunity to really, really dive deep into Phoenix, so we’ll take that to our advantage and move on.”
“I feel like we’re in a great spot right now. I feel like our team is in a great spot for a lot of reasons. For one, we’re not happy to be here. We’re not just happy to be in the Championship 4. This isn’t enough for us.
“I feel like that’s a number one driver of the 22 team, to win this thing. I think with that mentality and the three weeks we’ve had since Vegas, to really focus in here, it’s going to give us a huge advantage to not only have a good practice plan and set our car up, but also execute this race correctly on top of the experience that we got.
“I’ve never felt more solid in this position than I do right now. With that said, I’m ready to go racing, ready to get out there. I know that. We feel prepared. We’re ready to go to battle.
2022 so far is shaping up to be very similar to 2018; Logano won the opening race of the Round of 8, giving the Penske team plenty of time to polish their car for the finale. Four years ago Logano stole the spotlight from the Big Three, this year he hopes to recapture the Cup after he’s been under-the-radar since winning Las Vegas. With the past three weeks to put all focus on their Phoenix car, the 22 has to be seen as a serious threat for another Cup.
Joey Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang before the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 30. Credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Chase Elliott
2020 champion Chase Elliott picked up a Phoenix win en route to the title two years ago. Since then, Elliott has two fifths and an eleventh-place finish on the desert mile. Elliott’s No. 9 team has been the picture of consistency all season long, with a series-best five wins. However, the Playoffs have been very up-and-down for the Dawsonville, Georgia native, with just three top-10s. Heading into one of his best tracks in recent times though, Elliott hopes to recapture some of his early-season magic.
“The biggest thing for us, our strengths, are just our entire team,” Elliott said. “I feel like it’s really solid. Our group puts in a lot of work. The amount of effort they’re willing to put in and the late nights and the things that they’ve done throughout this year to be good as a group is really impressive. For me personally, it’s just about them and they have always made me look better than I really am and I really appreciate their efforts and wanting to try to make me better. I just hope I can be half as good as the people I have around me and we’ll be just fine.”
When looking at 2022 as a whole, Elliott has had the best season of any driver. This Hendrick Motorsports group is arguably the best all-around group too: from driver to crew chief to pit crew. The regular season champion will try to capture another title in similar fashion to his 2020 triumph. Experience, execution, and confidence will all pay dividends in crunch time Sunday, and the 9 is not lacking in any of these areas.
Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Napa Chevrolet Camaro before the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 30. Credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Christopher Bell
The lone Toyota representative in the Championship 4, Christopher Bell has been nothing short of clutch in these Playoffs. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team clinched a Round of 12 berth a week early on points, and has won two do-or-die scenarios to make it to the finale. In elimination races where many wrote off Bell, this team found a way to silence the doubters and deliver when it mattered most, twice. After such spectacular performances in walk-off fashion from the Roval and Martinsville, Bell could defy all odds with another victory.
“What a dream come true to be racing in the Final 4,” Bell said. “I’m so honored to be in this position and hope to bring home another championship to JGR.”
“It’s just been a roller coaster of emotions for sure,” Bell said about his Playoffa. “I think I’ve been praying off-season for two out of the last four weeks, now I’m ready to race again.”
“The Round of 12 was extremely disheartening because I felt like the Round of 8 was going to be really good for us, and that would have led to a possible championship run. But then when we got out of Texas with a DNF, Talladega sucked, just being so down. The team behind me, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, they still performed to their highest level.”
“I feel like whenever I get in the car, put my helmet on, I try and do as good of a job as I can of not letting anything bother me. I don’t know, like no matter what’s going on behind the scenes, whenever you get in the car, you can’t let that bother you. They gave me a great race car (at Martinsville), the fastest car today. At the Charlotte road course when we needed to win, it worked out for us.”
“This next week is easy. We don’t have to focus on stage points or where we’re at compared to everyone else. It’s just one race. Whoever brings the best car and executes the best is going to win the race, the championship. Whatever happens happens, and I’m very proud to be in this position. The sport is all about people. Fortunately for me I ended up with the best people around me.”
The Adam Stevens-led No. 20 team has been among the best over the last nine weeks. During this span, Bell has two wins and five top-five finishes. From the start of this postseason, Bell has risen to the occasion in veteran fashion, not at all like someone in only their second Playoffs. Bell has proven many wrong twice already in this Playoff run, and now looks to walk away with the ultimate prize Sunday.
Christopher Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Tools Toyota Camry before the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 30. Credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
Ross Chastain
The move made by Ross Chastain to make the Championship 4 will likely go down as NASCAR’s defining moment of 2022. Now being dubbed “The Hail Melon,” this unlikely last-lap desperation play has been seen the world over, putting many people’s attention onto the watermelon farmer. On the strength of two early-season wins, both Chastain and Trackhouse Racing have made the finale in their maiden Playoff appearance.
“I wish I would’ve had five more points throughout the Playoffs and I could’ve just cruised in 10th and been out of sight, out of mind, and no one was the wiser that we made it, except us,” Chastain said. “Those weren’t the cards we were dealt though. This means the world. This is a life achievement, a career achievement, this is what we work for and dream about. Just getting the opportunity is all I could ever ask for. Then to do it, make the decision I did down the backstretch is wild enough. The fact that it worked, is truly unbelievable. I still watch the video and it doesn’t look real.”
“There were so many unknowns with the car, the teams we assembled. The drivers, crew chiefs and spotters who have never won a Cup race in those same positions. It means the world. It means so much that we were able to win together and be in the playoffs together, and to advance.”
“Two years ago, I went to the Southern 500, put sticker tires on the car to fight for 27th, seven laps down. Two years before that in 2018, I’m start and parking a truck at Gateway, and then a win later in 2018 in the Xfinity Series, then to come back and win in the truck in 2019 at Gateway. The progression, and the ups and downs of start and parking, to winning, to the team shutting down, to winning. It’s a lot, and I owe it to the people that build me. I was a 13th-place driver in the Xfinity Series for years. Being in the Cup Series is wild and being in a competitive car in the Cup Series doesn’t seem real. Two years ago, you know what I would’ve given to run 10th, and now this year, I’m losing my mind in the car because we are running 10th at Martinsville.”
While under far different circumstances, Chastain was a close runner-up at Phoenix in the spring. If the Trackhouse team can possibly win the championship, it would go alongside Alan Kulwicki as greatest underdog achievements in NASCAR history.
The Alva, Florida native has already proven his limit goes far beyond most driver’s logic this week. Should Chastain be anywhere near the front of the field late, then the 1 may just do whatever it takes again for the Cup. Chastain in particular may be the ultimate unknown in this Championship 4, as he’s proven that a race truly is not over until the checkered flag waves.
Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro before the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 30. Credit: Peter Stratta/TSJSports
2022’s Championship 4 may just be the most eclectic and evenly-matched cast of characters we’ve seen for the finale. Unlike in years past, none of these drivers are overwhelming favorites. Likewise, there is a very realistic path to a Phoenix victory and the Cup for all four drivers.
Don’t miss a lap of action from the 2022 Cup Series Championship. The green flag will fly from Phoenix Raceway Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The first championship race in NASCAR’s Next Gen era is sure to be memorable with these four players.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter
Photo Credit to NASCAR Media
