WEEKEND HOT LAPS - NASCAR Championship Weekend
Championship Weekend has finally arrived at Phoenix Raceway and when the final checkered flag flies Sunday afternoon three drivers celebrate winning the title. I personally wish them all the best and all are worthy potential champions. But I am rooting for one thing – a clean, uneventful weekend of racing.
It’s been an exhausting season of penalties, fines, punishments, overly aggressive racing, controversies and lawsuits that have put the actual on track product on the back burner. Look no further than last week’s penultimate weekend in Martinsville, which was finally adjudicated nearly three days after the Sunday’s Xfinity 500 Cup race ended.
OPINION: Manufacturer Influence Puts Lasting Stain on Playoff Format
The race manipulation by RCR, Trackhouse and 23XI completely took the spotlight off what was one of the best Cup races at Martinsville in recent years and definitely during the NextGen era. It came after NASCAR had to make a tough ball and strike call on Christopher Bell riding the wall, a punishment that effectively altered the Championship 4 extracting the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and inserting William Byron as the next man in.
RELATED: Trackhouse Racing Loses Appeal of Martinsville Race Manipulation Penalties
In between the race ending and the penalties being announced, the injunction hearing for 23XI and Front Row Motorsports requesting to run as chartered teams next year while the team’s anti-trust lawsuit plays out began on Monday. Certainly an important story and one that one way or another shape the future of the sport however it plays out but one that just adds to the noise around NASCAR taking a lot of the eyes off the racing ball.
Editor's Note: On Friday, Judge Frank D. Whitney denied the preliminary injunction request from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports -- who were using it, so they could race as Chartered Entries in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025. The teams plan to appeal the ruling.
So here’s to a weekend in the Valley of the Sun where what happens on track is the focus. What a breath of fresh air that would be.
AIR-IZONA
The year’s Cup Series Championship 4 has some star power to it considering defending champion Ryan Blaney has a chance to be a back-to-back champ with his Team Penske running mate Joey Logano after title number three.
But outside of the NASCAR universe, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota is bringing the most interest to Sunday’s race and it’s because of who co-owns the race car. Michael Jordan’s chance to win a NASCAR title if Tyler Reddick can outrun the Penske teammates and William Byron has captured the attention of the general sports media. MJ’s presence in the sport has elevated interest since he came in with 23XI but now with a shot to win the title, the buzz has increased.
RELATED: 23XI Hoping To 'Put NASCAR in the Spotlight Again' With Michael Jordan Title
He won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and Reddick has the chance to deliver pro sports championship number seven to “His Airness” on Sunday. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Reddick to use the Alan Parsons Project as his walkout song during driver introductions on Sunday. It worked pretty well for Jordan during his playing days.
PLAYOFFS PAYING OFF
It’s been more than two decades but there are still fans that refuse to accept NASCAR’s post-season format. Granted the system has changed since the original Chase was introduced in 2004 but the concept has not; drivers and teams have to perform and execute when it matters most.
The elimination format era has no doubt created an equal amount of controversy as much as the drama, excitement and competition NASCAR had hoped for when it was devised. Like any sport’s Playoff format, it’s not perfect. But dismissing the drivers who made it through the nine-race gauntlet to advance to the championship race as not worthy is just flat wrong.
OPINION: NASCAR Playoffs Continue to Deliver... Controversy
Quite frankly drivers complaining about the format or dismissing championship contenders as not good enough to be there is nothing more than a giant bowl of sour grapes. Every driver, team and manufacturer knew exactly how the system worked when they rolled into Daytona to start the season in February.
Based on television numbers there appears to be more interest in this year’s Playoffs. NBC reported an audience of 2.5 million tuned in for last Sunday’s Martinsville race, a 14 precent increase from a year ago, and overall, the 2024 Playoffs are up six percent from last season.
Despite what some crabby drivers and social media may say, the current Playoffs format, even with its imperfections, is generating interest.
PICKS TO CLICK
The odds for all three championship races this weekend in Phoenix are a close combination of title contenders and race winners. There are only a couple of outliers with high odds around drivers who could potentially play the role of spoiler and infiltrate into the championship quartet.
The favorites for Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series main event all represent drivers chasing the crown. Corey Heim has the shortest odds at +165 to win the race and actually the jump to the next closest competitor is fairly high. Christian Eckes is in the number two spot at +285 to win with the remaining title hopefuls Ty Majeski (+425) and Grant Enfinger (+550) definitely a pair of longshots.
The story is a bit different for Saturday’s XFINITY Series title race. Defending series champion Cole Custer (+320) is just ahead of Justin Allgaier (+330). Then comes Aric Almirola, who is in the owners Championship 4 for Joe Gibbs Racing, listed at +400 to win. Chandler Smith, who got into a beef on and off the track with Custer last week at Martinsville and missed the Championship 4, is the next favorite at +450. The last two title contenders actually carry long odds into Saturday with Austin Hill and +1100 and AJ Allmendinger +1600 to win the race.
Finally for Sunday’s Cup Series finale Ryan Blaney is listed as the favorite to become a back-to-back champion at +350 to win the race. But next is Christopher Bell (+450), who of course was eliminated from the Championship 4 for his Martinsville wall riding penalty last week. The remaining title contenders round things out with Joey Logano (+450) while William Byron and Tyler Reddick are both +650 to come home first.
SHORT TRACK ATTACK
ISMA Supermodifieds and Tour Type modifieds headline the weekend of racing at Caraway Speedway Friday and Saturday for the North Shout Shootout. Sunday’s main event is the 22nd annual John Blewitt Memorial North South Shootout in memory of Charles Kepley with the Tour Tyle modifieds in action.
There have been too many announcements lately of short tracks around the country closing down so it’s great to share an opposite story. LaSalle Speedway in Illinois will return to operation in 2025 under the guidance of long-time driver and track promoter Tony Izzo Jr. Work has begun on the half-mile dirt track facility with a 2025 schedule that will include a wide variety of stock cars and open wheel divisions competing. The track already announced a two-day open late model special for May 30-31, 2025 with $25,000 paid to the winner.
Pete Pistone is a veteran motorsports and general sports reporter/journalist with nearly 30 years experience. During his career he has worked for media outlets such as WGN Radio, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicagoland Television (CLTV), CBS Sports, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Pistone has been with SiriusXM since 2008 and co-hosts “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) with Mike Bagley, which airs Monday through Friday at 7 am ET. He is also the host of “Fantasy Racing Preview,” a weekend show focusing on NASCAR gambling and fantasy racing, which is part of the channel’s NASCAR Cup Series pre-race programming. Additionally, Pistone is a member of the SiriusXM College Sports team as an on-air personality and contributor on Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372). He is one of the hosts of “Big Ten Today” and can also be heard on “Big Ten Whip Around,” a weekly hour-long program spotlighting a variety of sports around the conference. Pistone is also the host of several specials as well as providing a range of digital content for both the NASCAR and Big Ten channels. A Chicago native, Pistone resides in the northern suburbs of the city with his wife and daughter.