#23xi racing

[mxgicdave]

Stars are out in Richmond tonight! 💫

[rosenqvists]

x

[coimbrabertone]

NASCAR Numerology: How NASCAR's Current Teams Got Their Numbers: Part Four.

Welcome everybody to the mission creep blog! We've done Trackhouse, Penske, Wood Brothers, RCR, SHR, Hendrick, RFK, and Spire, which means we've cleared the first ten numbers!

Today we're going to talk about:

Joe Gibbs Racing, who runs the #11, the #19, the #20, and the #54 this year.

Kaulig Racing, who runs the #13, the #16, and the #31.

Rick Ware Racing, who run the #15 and the #51,

and 23XI Racing, who run the #23, the #45, and sometimes the #50.

So, starting with Joe Gibbs Racing...and their story starts with none of their current numbers! Rather, it starts with the #18 in 1992.

Why the #18? Once again, it was a story of lowest available number, as 1-12 were taken, the #13 was being used by a part time time along with various superstitions around it, and #14, #15, #16, and #17 were taken as well. Thus, JGR debuted in 1992 with Dale Jarrett in the Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. This partnership won the Daytona 500 in 1993 and won at the fall Charlotte race in 1994, but for 1995, Dale Jarrett would leave. He moved to Yates Racing to take over the #28, subbing for the injured Ernie Irvan, and when Irvan returned to the #28 in 1996, Jarrett moved to a second Yates car, the #88.

Thus, JGR had to make their own story with Bobby Labonte, who impressed immediately by winning the 1995 Coke 600 and sweeping Charlotte.

1997 would bring only one win, at Atlanta, so for 1997, JGR switched to Pontiac. This era of JGR, with Bobby Labonte running the Interstate Batteries #18 Pontiac, is when the team really broke into the top of NASCAR.

Bobby would finish second to Dale Jarrett in 1999, but in 2000, Bobby Labonte would win the championship for JGR.

This was also the time that JGR became a two car team for the first time, but more on that in a moment.

For now, Labonte continued in JGR through the end of the 2005 season, with his last three years in a Chevrolet as GM began phasing out the Pontiac brand in NASCAR. Upon his retirement, he was replaced by JGR development driver JJ Yeley, but Yeley would only last two winless seasons.

He would be shuffled off to Hall of Fame Racing for 2008.

This is when JGR experienced its biggest change in history when, feeling like they were second or even third fiddle at Chevrolet, they switched to Toyota for the 2008 season. Toyota looked downright bad in 2007, but with a year of experience and JGR making the switch, there was hope.

Another reason to hope was that Kyle Busch, the hotheaded but fast kid from Hendrick Motorsports, made the switch, with JGR signing M&Ms as a sponsor over from Yates.

Thus, one of the most recognizable partnerships in modern NASCAR began, with Kyle Busch, Toyota, and M&Ms - they won the 2015 and 2019 championships together, took countless wins, and along with Kevin Harvick of SHR and Martin Truex Jr., Kyle formed part of the "Big Three" drivers that dominated the late Gen 6 era of NASCAR, particularly 2017-2019.

However, during the 2022 season, Mars Inc., parent company of M&Ms, announced that they were ending their NASCAR sponsorship. Kyle Busch was forced to move to the #8 car at RCR, while Joe Gibbs announced that his grandson, Ty Gibbs, would move up to the NASCAR Cup Series.

Rather than the #18, he would continue in his Xfinity number, driving the #54.

Ironically enough, the #54 originates with Kyle Busch, as Kyle Busch Motorsports has long run the #51 (a tribute to Days of Thunder antagonist Rowdy Burns, who Kyle has nicknamed himself after) and the #4 in trucks. When KBM moved up to the second-tier Nationwide series in 2012 neither number was available, so they ran the #54 instead.

Kyle and Kurt Busch split the season, with Kurt taking its only win at Richmond.

For 2013, KBM's Nationwide team was sold to Joe Gibbs Racing, where, in 2022, Ty Gibbs ran the #54 to the Xfinity series championship (for those who don't know, Busch, Nationwide, and Xfinity are all the second-tier NASCAR series, it just doesn't have a proper name so it has always been known by its title sponsor, which has changed a few times).

So, the #18 became the #54.

Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs' second number was the #20, introduced in 1999. Why the #20? Because the #19 was taken by a part-time team at the time, so the #20 was the next available number after #18. This number was initially ran by Tony Stewart with immediate success, winning the championship in 2002 with Pontiac and 2005 with Chevrolet. The Home Depot #20 was one of the iconic cars of NASCAR's boom era, and Tony Stewart was its superstar driver. In 2008, however, JGR switched to Toyota, while Tony was an all-American GM guy to his core.

The awkward partnership only lasted for one year before Tony left JGR to start his own team with Gene Haas, forming SHR.

Joey Logano replaced Tony in the #20, showing flashes of brilliance, but with only two wins in four seasons, Logano was replaced with Matt Kenseth for 2013. Logano would move to Penske, with much more success there than he had at JGR.

Matt Kenseth, meanwhile, saw the #20 switch from Home Depot sponsorship to running a Dollar General primary. Nevertheless, Kenseth showed immediate success, taking seven wins and falling just nineteen points off championship leader Jimmie Johnson.

Two years later in 2015, Kenseth was on for another championship contending season before being spun out from the lead at Kansas by none other than Joey Logano. Getting caught up in a wreck at the next race at Talladega saw Matt Kenseth get eliminated in the round of 12, while Logano won his third race in a row at Talladega to sweep the round of 12.

In retribution, at Martinsville two weeks later - the first race of the round of eight - Matt Kenseth wrecked Joey Logano as the crowd cheered. Kenseth was suspended for two races, but getting wrecked at Martinsville, a tyre problem at Texas, and failing to win Phoenix meant that Joey Logano didn't advance either.

A historic feud between drivers of the #20.

Kenseth would leave JGR after 2017, handing the #20 over to Erik Jones for three seasons, before it ended up in the hands of current driver Christopher Bell in 2021.

Bell has made the championship four in both 2022 and 2023, but finished fourth in the standings both years.

JGR's third car was the #11, co-owned by JD Gibbs and running the #11, which was the number JD used in college football at William & Mary. The #11 debuted in 2004, running various drivers such as JJ Yeley, Jason Leffler, Ricky Craven, and even Terry Labonte before settling on Denny Hamlin at the end of 2005. Hamlin went full time for 2006.

The team, with primary sponsorship from FedEx, has run ever since.

Denny Hamlin and the #11 team have won three Daytona 500s, fifty-four races, and have basically done everything in NASCAR besides winning a championship. Truly the Chicago Cubs of the stock car racing world.

Last on the list for JGR is the #19, which Joe Gibbs was finally able to secure in 2015. They had already poached Matt Kenseth from Roush for the #20, so Gibbs decided to do it again and nabbed Carl Edwards for the #19, a partnership that lasted two years before Carl abruptly retired at the end of the 2016 season for reasons NASCAR fans still speculate about to this day.

In the words of Carl Edwards himself...he had taken too many knocks to the head over the years and with him then starting a young family with a neurosurgeon wife, he decided to retire.

Daniel Suárez replaced Edwards for 2017 and 2018, before the other leading Toyota team in the form of Furniture Row Racing collapsed, giving JGR the chance to pick up 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. for the 2019 season. Truex brought sponsors Bass Pro Shops and Auto Owners Insurance over with him.

2024, however, will be Truex's last season. Chase Briscoe will take over the #19 for 2025.

One team down.

Kaulig Racing has two full time cars, the #16 and the #31, as well as a part-time #13. The #31 is driven by Daniel Hemric, the #16 by AJ Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen, Josh Williams, Derek Kraus, and Ty Dillon, and the #13 has been used by Allmendinger in races where both he and SVG were running, such as COTA and Chicago.

Kaulig took #16 since it was available in 2021 (their usual Xfinity numbers, #10 and #11, were both taken), the #31 was chosen for their chartered entry for 2022 since RCR had vacated it after 2019, and the #13 because one: it was vacated, and two: it's the inverse of the #13. Yeah, not much story there, Kaulig is a new team and their numbers don't have much historic meaning behind them.

I mean, Roush ran the #16 for a long time, most successfully with Greg Biffle, but there's no link between that and Kaulig.

Kaulig does have two wins - Indianapolis Road Course 2021 and Charlotte Roval 2023 - with AJ Allmendinger, which is the most success the #16 has had since Biffle, for whatever that's worth.

Now onto Rick Ware Racing.

Rick Ware Racing has built up their history as a start-and-park team running the #51, and initially their numbering scheme was built on that, running numbers such as #52, #53, and the #54 as well. This is also the number that Rick Ware uses on its co-entries in other series, such as its alliance with Dale Coyne Racing in Indycar - where the #51 is currently run by a slew of drivers, of which Katherine Legge is expected to finish out the season - and IMSA LMP3 racing, where Rick Ware runs his son Cody.

Cody Ware was arrested in 2023 for assaulting and strangling his then girlfriend, so that's the first and only time I will mention him on this blog.

Anyway, more recently Rick Ware Racing has started professionalizing its NASCAR efforts, with Justin Haley showing promise in the #51 car that he runs in alliance with RFK Racing. Their other car, the #15, is still somewhat of a revolving door of drivers, but it does appear to be improving.

So, that's the #11, the #13, the #15, and the #16. Roush has the #17, the #18 is currently vacant, JGR has the #19 and the #20, Wood Brothers has the #21, Penske the #22...that means 23XI is next.

23Xi Racing, a joint venture by Michael Jordan (the 23 part) and Denny Hamlin (the 11 part, or XI in Roman numerals) is another new NASCAR team, having entered NASCAR in 2021 in alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

The history of their numbers is quite simple, the #23 is Jordan's jersey number, and the #45 is the number he wore when he returned to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 after a brief sabbatical during which time he played for the White Sox's minor league affiliates.

Bubba Wallace has run the #23 since it was established in 2021, while Kurt Busch was the initial driver of the #45 before a career-ending crash at Pocono. Ty Gibbs was drafted in to replace Kurt, before 23Xi briefly switched Bubba into the #45 to compete for the owner points playoffs. Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek also had starts in 23XI cars in 2022.

For 2023 though, Tyler Reddick has been brought in to drive the #45, winning twice in 2023, and another two times so far in 2024.

Bubba, meanwhile, won Talladega 2021 in his #23, and Kansas 2022 while filling in in the #45.

23XI's third car was initially the #67 - get it, like 2,3,4,5,6,7? - but this year, in a promotion with sponsor Mobil 1, it has run as the #50 to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Travis Pastrana, Kamui Kobayashi, and Corey Heim have all started in the #67/#50, while Juan Pablo Montoya is scheduled to run the #50 at the 2024 NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen.

So yeah, we started with a college football number in the #11, and we finish on a team named after basketball numbers with 23XI.

I believe tomorrow will be the end of this series, as Front Row Motorsports with the #34 and #38, Legacy Motor Club with the #42 and the #43, and JTG Daugherty with the #47 are the only remaining full-time teams.

Higher numbers are a bit sparse in NASCAR these days, huh?

[kittykatknits]

Looks like NASCAR and Michael Jordan are going to war.

[leo-dh11]

hello! this is my brand new nascar side blog!!

i literally am just getting in to nascar so you'll have to bear with me here.

im colin / leo!! im 20 and a huge motorsports fan (i have f1 and indycar sideblogs as well) and im just recently getting into nascar! kinda did it in reverse considering im a born and raised american but later is better than never

i really enjoy denny hamlin! hes currently my favorite driver but i can be convinced to gain more favorites

final note, i am an rpf lover!! (pls if anyone has some good nascar rpf PLEASE link me it i will read it) but if rpf isn't you're thing then just ignore that content!

[daaytonaa]

Happy Birthday to Kurt Busch getting shaken baby syndrome

[dchan87]

From 23XI’s insta story

[zikbitume]

@NASCAR All in the details @23XIRacing | @officialwcc

[nascarwallpapers]

2021 NASCAR Cup Series: Darrell Wallace Jr., #23 DoorDash Toyota, 23XI Racing. Download full resolution & extras on Patreon.

[pinkiepieclevlandguardands]

[xoxostephanie11]

[whipplefilter]

@ryanthedemiboy

REDDICK IS MY CURRENT TOP NEMESIS. 😂 (But I'm replying in this fashion because I feel like I need to explain myself and need more than 140 characters.)

I have tried *so egregiously hard* to be a Reddick fan. FOR YEARS. Years!!

Reasons I should be a Reddick fan:

He's from California! Me too! I love Californian drivers! (or try to)

He comes from a dirt background! I love dirt racing!

I rooted for him in Xfinity!

He's part of a team I like! Go 23XI!

His cat died the night of one of his Xfinity championships, which is super sad and is, for some reason, always something I remember about him.

Demeanor-wise, he's a really good guy! Passionate, thoughtful, funny.

(But being a "really good guy" has never kept someone from being a nemesis. I really like Brad out of the car, and I think Joey as a person is phenomenal. I've always found Cindric and Chase Elliott's senses of humor very much to my taste. CBell's probably never done anything wrong in his entire life. These people have all been Top Nemesis at some point or another.)

So when time came to start choosing Youth Generation (Youth Generation 1.5? If Chase/Blaney/Bubba/Danny/WB etc. are 1.0) drivers I wanted to root for, Reddick seemed like a natural pick. Even if it meant rooting for RCR.

Then I saw him win in person. Crickets from my heart.

And frankly, being a reflection of/resurgence of the whole Oscar Piastri and Alex Palou contract sagas should only have improved his appeal, in moving from RCR to 23XI. Silliest season.

Any time he's won, actually. Any time he's been in contention to win. Zero feeling. Zero to negative, in fact.

I've found myself rooting for Joey over him!! JOEY. (I have seen Joey win two championships and I will die if I have to witness a third any time soon, especially if Denny goes out with *zero*--and I'd still root for Joey over Reddick at Phoenix.)

During the Nashville postrace, Reddick offered a devastated interview and I did not feel bad for him at all. Whereas I felt super bad for Ross Chastain, my nominal and long-time Nemesis, after his devastated interview.

I was reasoning this through with @the-kings-tail-fin in the car, and I was like, I feel like part of this might actually be because I like Kurt Busch more than Tyler Reddick, so the 45 was cooler BEFORE; and I like Bubba Wallace more than Tyler Reddick, so I want him to be the best 23XI car, which means rooting against Reddick. And we were like, yeah, that makes sense. I mean, by real-world logic it doesn't. But by sports world logic it does!!!!!

So I thought, well, the facts can't lie, here. Tyler Reddick is my new Top Nemesis. I have no choice. The NASCAR whims have spoken. And so here we are.

TOP NEMESIS TYLER REDDICK

[rosenqvists]

in reference to my previous post (x)

[coimbrabertone]

NASCAR Numerology: How NASCAR's Current Teams Got Their Numbers: Part One.

So this blog has been a bit NASCAR heavy these past few weeks, but my request, I'm going to do one more: NASCAR Numerology: How the Current Teams Got Their Numbers.

To start with, a brief introduction: in European motorsports like Formula One and MotoGP, the norm has become that drivers chose their numbers. Lewis Hamilton, for instance, has chosen the #44 and will take that number from Mercedes to Ferrari when he moves after this season. The exception to this is the #1, which is typically reserved for champions. Max Verstappen (normally #33) and Pecco Bagnaia (normally #63) currently run the #1 plate in F1 and MotoGP, respectively.

Neither of these rules exist in NASCAR. In American racing (NASCAR and Indycar in particular) numbers are associated with the teams, with some teams having run the same number for decades. How these numbers came about various - some were chosen as they were the lowest available number, some to go along with sponsor, others to go along with a numbering convention at a given team. We'll get into these stories here.

We're going to start at the beginning...and the end, with Trackhouse Racing, who run the #1 and #99. Ironically enough, their story begins with the #99, as Trackhouse first entered the sport in 2021 with Daniel Suárez. Trackhouse was, at this point, a one car operation leasing a charter from Spire Motorsports, getting engines from Richard Childress Racing, and running out of a space in the RCR shop. They chose the #99 as a tribute to Carl Edwards, who ran the number from mid-2004 to 2014 as part of Roush Racing.

In a happy coincidence, Daniel Suárez had run the #99 in his very first race in Monterrey, Mexico at the age of seven.

As for the #1, well...for 2022, Trackhouse wanted a more permanent arrangement, so they bought out Chip Ganassi Racing and took control of their two charters. Ganassi had been running the #42 team for Ross Chastain, and the #1 team for Kurt Busch. Busch was off to 23XI anyway, thus the #1 charter was given to the #99 team.

The #42 team meanwhile, with Ross Chastain as driver and the CGR crew behind him, was switched to the #1. Why? Well, for starts #1 and #99 is a good number combo - the first and last numbers available and they add up to 100 - and furthermore, it has history.

Justin Marks and Pitbull are the owners of Trackhouse, but the team is run by Ty Norris. Now, in 1996, Norris was handpicked by Dale Earnhardt to help create the Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) team, with support from Dale's current team, Richard Childress Racing. DEI would go full time in NASCAR in 1998, with driver Steve Park driving the Pennzoil #1 Chevy. Yeah.

Furthermore, the #1, the #8, and the #15 would be DEI's numbers throughout the 2000s. In 2008, DEI would merge with Ginn Racing (formerly MB2 Motorsports) who ran the #01 Army Chevy with Regan Smith and Mark Martin as drivers. As the recession continued, this team would merge again, this time with Chip Ganassi Racing, in time for 2009.

Chip Ganassi at this point ran the #41 Target Dodge for Reed Sorenson and the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge for Juan Pablo Montoya.

DEI, meanwhile, had the #01 Principal Finance Chevrolet for Regan Smith, the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for Martin Truex Jr., the #8 US Army Chevrolet for Mark Martin and Aric Almirola (the #01 had the Army sponsorship originally but the #8 was DEI's flagship car so the sponsorship moved over), and the #15 Menards Chevrolet for Paul Menard.

The 2009 season would essentially be a bloodletting for the team, and come 2010, the merged Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing would run the #1 Bass Pro Shops/McDonalds Chevrolet for Jamie McMurray, and the #42 Target Chevrolet for Juan Pablo Montoya. These are the same numbers that CGR would run when Trackhouse bought them, and the #1, with its lineage going back to 1998, would be reunited with Ty Norris at the Trackhouse team.

And in another move in relation to the Earnhardts, Trackhouse will add the #88 Chevy for Shane van Gisbergen for 2025. The #88 was last run by Hendrick Motorsports, first for Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 2008 to 2017, and then by Alex Bowman from 2018 to 2020. More on that in a bit.

All of that for the #1...now onto #2!

Team Penske has run the #2 since 1991, when they acquired the services of Rusty Wallace and his long-term sponsorship deal with Miller Brewing Company. Rusty had driven for the Blue Max Racing team (and won a championship for them in 1989) but that relationship collapsed in 1990. With a new program and a driver as decorated as Rusty, Roger let him choose the number - Rusty chose the #2, which he had last used in 1985.

That car, with Rusty Wallace from 1990-2005, Kurt Busch from 2006-2010, Brad Keselowski from 2011-2021, and Austin Cindric since 2022, has been the Penske flagship car.

In 2012 with Brad Keselowski behind the wheel, it won its first championship.

Penske's other cars have, typically, mimicked the #2. When Penske took over the Kranefuss car of Jeremy Mayfield for 1998, they renumbered it from #37 to #12, with Mobil 1 sponsorship. Mayfield was fired late in 2001, and Rusty's brother Mike filled out the season, before Ryan Newman and Alltel took over the #12 car for 2002. Newman would leave for Stewart-Haas Racing for 2009, and David Stremme would take over that car.

As mentioned a few weeks ago in my Viceroy rule blogpost, Alltel was bought out by Verizon in 2008, and that caused a problem as NASCAR's title sponsor was Sprint. Alltel was grandfathered in, Verizon was not. Thus, for 2009 and 2010, the #12 would run as a black and red Penske Truck Rentals car that totally wasn't mimicking the Verizon logo.

Anyway, David Stremme would be replaced by Brad Keselowski at the end of the 2009 season, and he'd remain in the #12 for 2010.

In 2011 however, Penske secured a new major sponsor in the form of Shell/Pennzoil, and Shell wanted a flagship entry with a flagship driver. Thus, Kurt Busch was moved from the #2 to the new #22, while Brad's #12 team became the new #2 Miller Lite team. Kurt Busch would essentially have a meltdown in the 2011 season - screaming at his team in multiple races - and would be fired at the end of the season. AJ Allmendinger and Sam Hornish would fill in for 2012, and for 2013, current driver Joey Logano was hired for the #22.

Meanwhile, the #12 would return to full time competition in 2018 with Ryan Blaney as driver and Menards as the main sponsor.

Logano's #22 would win the championship in 2018 and 2022, while Ryan Blaney would win in 2023. The #2 is Penske's original number, but now, all three have won championships. Furthermore, all three - plus now the Wood Brothers car they prop up - are now locked into the 2024 NASCAR playoffs.

Speaking of, this blog is running long and I'm gonna have to make this into a bit of a series over the next week or so, but while we're on the topic of the Wood Brothers, lets finish off that car real quick.

The Wood Brothers is NASCAR's oldest team and has run the #21 from the beginning. On rare occasions when the Wood Brothers ran multiple cars, back in like the 60s and 70s, it would usually be something that pays homage to the #21 - examples include the #12, the #121, and the #41.

NASCAR's modern era is considered to have started in 1972, and since then, the Wood Brothers has always run the #21 except for a controversial two-year exception in 1985 and 1986 when the team, then fielding Kyle Petty, had a 7Eleven sponsorship and thus ran the #7. They would return to the #21 in 1987, and at the 2024 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, they won their 100th race with driver Harrison Burton.

So yeah, the story of some of NASCAR's current teams' numbers. I'll pick up with RCR tomorrow (spoiler alert: all they have going for them is Earnhardt nostalgia) as this numerology project turns out to be bigger than I expected.

[danieldrivesfast]

Tagging Formula 1 to reach everybody!

This weekend, NASCAR is racing a street course in downtown Chicago for only the second time. Let's be real, most of these guys still aren't with it when it comes to a street course.

So if you're a racing fan and want to watch something with massive silliness potential, I encourage you to tune in if you're awake! The Xfinity race is at 3:30 Eastern time today and the big Cup race is tomorrow at 4:30 Eastern.

(If you're worried about cheering on a problematic driver, I suggest sticking to Trackhouse, 23XI, JR Motorsports, and Kaulig, or doing a suuuuper deep dive on whoever you pick. It's a minefield, and there's a lot of shitty people. 😅 My personal friends' safe group for Cup is Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, Shane Van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and a reformed Chase Elliott.)

Happy to answer questions if you're not familiar with NASCAR since it's been my thing for over thirty years I'm so old help.

[sortanonymous]

Last-Minute NASCAR Cup Playoff Predictions (No visual grid, sorry)

Round of 16 Exits:

Harrison Burton (I'm sorry, but... duh!)

Daniel Suárez (At least my second-favorite Trackhouse driver got in)

Austin Cindric (Penske playoff magic isn't unlimited)

Joey Logano (Please tell me reality sets in for both the Steelers of NASCAR and football this fall!)

Round of 12 Exits:

Alex Bowman (Making it this far would honestly be miraculous considering the dumb off-field distractions)

Martin Truex Jr. (I don't even really care about the title. Just please racing gods, let this legend go out with just one more win after the hell you've put him through these past 14 months!)

Chase Briscoe (SHR's final ride has almost certainly already peaked, but I still can't wait to see Briscoe in the 19 - as long as James Small doesn't waste his prime like he wasted MTJ's twilight)

Ty Gibbs (This last cut was tough, but I think his sneakily solid sophomore season goes no further, unless he can come close to a win anyway.)

Round of 8 Exits:

Denny Hamlin (I was initially on the fence between "It's his time" and "He'll choke again", but that brutal penalty could really be the dagger by this round)

Chase Elliott (Consistency should yield championships, but it unfortunately doesn't in modern NASCAR, so he may fall behind the other win-worthy drivers.)

Brad Keselowski (Maybe I'm high-balling him, but I think Brad has enough recent playoff energy left in him to carry RFK this far, but not any farther.)

Ryan Blaney (VERY close between him and Byron, but while Blaney is coming into these playoffs better than his championship year, I just get the feeling Hendrick will turn it up again and get Byron back to Phoenix. I saw someone call this the modern version of Jummie and Knaus's formula for the Chase, and I think they've got a point.)

Championship 4 and why they could win:

Kyle Larson - Even if this isn't his best season, it feels like a true banner year for Larson as a racecar driver, and with him being just one point away from the Regular Season title even after getting washed away from the most valuable race of the year, he could have a good case to win his second Bill France Cup. (Heck, it looked like he would seal it last year off another clutch pit stop, but unlike in '21, he wouldn't hold on during the final restart.)

William Byron - As said earlier, Byron may be catching onto the same formula the 48 team made a dynasty out of, and even if his championship-caliber season last year didn't end on a high note, his past success at Phoenix could be enough to put the legendary 24 car in championship lane for the first time in 23 years.

Tyler Reddick - Moving onto my two real championship contenders, Reddick made a heck of a late charge to win the Regular Season title on fumes (albiet with a little help from Mother Nature in Indy), and being arguably the best driver in Cup this year, he should be able to get over the hump and get 23XI to not just its first Championship 4 berth, but perhaps the first championship ring of any kind in decades for both of its very differently decorated owners. (Maybe its last Final 4 berth though considering this charter drama that I already lost track of like four months ago.)

Christopher Bell - Chalk it up all you want to bias for who will, after a certain retirement, soon become my second-favorite driver, but not only has Bell been insanely clutch in the playoffs as of late (he's damn near NASCAR's Mr. October at this point), but if the October Bell indeed rings all the way to Phoenix, he'll be in his paradise of the kind of flat tracks he's been so good at. (Legit, he may be the only person in the world who isn't a NASCAR executive that wants Phoenix to stay as the championship track, even if he's had championship success at Homestead in lower divisions.) Yeah, he lost his first two Final 4 berths, but those were respectively due to an OP Logano car and his tire becoming a nuke just as the race got going. Considering how he's already had his best season so far, he may have just enough to secure the 20 team (and in fact any JGR ride not driven by Kyle Busch) their first Cup title in nearly two decades. (It'd be especially since SHR's closing may mean the end of the last #20 car champion's 26-year involvement in NASCAR, as if Smoke really seems to care about that.)

And my pick for 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion is...

Christopher Bell! (Reddick was really close, but the Phoenix factor could be the difference. No, I'm just high on hopium after one of my two favorites collapses out of a playoff spot and the other is on pace to easily the saddest final season and a half of any Hall-of-Famer (present or future) that didn't die on the track.)

Now watch as these age like milk and the Wood Brothers win their first(?) ever Cup with a driver they issued a pink slip to months ago! 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃