Team Penske. Hendrick Motorsports. 23XI Racing.
One of those three organizations will have the honor of being crowned the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champions at the conclusion of Sunday’s 312-lap NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
It’s a distinction that isn’t taken lightly by any of the three organizations, and for all of them, a triumph would mean something completely different.
Team Penske is the only organization with multiple drivers in the Championship 4 and tackles Phoenix Raceway with the Cup Series’ two most recent champions Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. A triumph on Sunday would mark the fifth title for Roger Penske in the last 13 seasons.
Hendrick Motorsports enters Phoenix looking to continue its standard of excellence and celebrate the team’s 40th Anniversary with a championship. Doing so would provide William Byron with his first NASCAR Cup Series title, and the first for the No. 24 in nearly a quarter-century.
23XI Racing is fairly new to the game and enters Championship 4 with the opportunity to win a NASCAR Cup Series championship in its fourth full-time season. A triumph would make 23XI the third-youngest organization to win a NASCAR Cup Series title in the modern era, behind only Stewart-Haas Racing and Rod Osterlund Racing.
A Penske Perfect Three-Peat?
Team Penske will look to enter rarified air following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, as one of three organizations to win three consecutive championships in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Hendrick Motorsports (1995-98, 2006-10) has accomplished this twice, once with two different drivers and another time with Jimmie Johnson capturing five straight titles. Junior Johnson (1976-78) has also won three straight with Cale Yarborough.
Between defending champion Ryan Blaney and multi-time champion Joey Logano, there’s been a real trend between the Team Penske drivers, where they don’t seem to come alive until the NASCAR Playoffs, regular-season performance be damned.
That appears to be the case for this season, as well, with both Logano (Las Vegas) and Blaney (Martinsville) having to score victories in the semi-final round of the post-season to qualify for the Championship 4.
Walter Czarnecki, Executive Vice President of Team Penske, spoke to members of the media on Monday and said that even though it may seem like there’s a certain time of year when the organization amps up its program, there is no set date.
“I think again as I look back at this season, Joey [Logano] winning the pole at Daytona, first time we’ve ever had a pole at Daytona, probably set the tone,” said Czarnecki. “But it’s a constant improvement process. It’s a real tribute to Michael Nelson, Travis Geisler, Tim Cindric, and all the people in Mooresville who really prepare these cars and look toward these Playoffs and then try to get a few wins along the way so we qualify for the Playoffs.”
In an era that has provided an insane and unprecedented level of parity, Team Penske has swept both of the NASCAR Cup Series championships won with the NextGen car in use, and looks to win another on Sunday.
“Our unfair advantage is the people. We’ve got a group of people that have been together for a long time. We don’t change the starting lineup very often. It doesn’t happen,” said said Czarnecki. I think a real turning point in our program began probably 10 years ago when the engineering group, and the manufacturing group, and the competition group all got together and I’ll say started talking to each other.”
“The quality of the individuals is really important, and I think it goes back to the people that we’ve hired and created an environment for those people to stay. It’s that winning attitude and they’ve carried it through. Again it goes back to the people. Roger [Penske] talks about human capital, well, this is great evidence of it as we go for this third championship in a row.”
#24in24?
It’s been nearly a quarter-century since Jeff Gordon won the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship for Hendrick Motorsports, the last time the iconic No. 24 was the season-long leader of the pack.
All these years later, Gordon has remained involved with Hendrick Motorsports, currently serving as the team’s Vice Chairman as the organization celebrates its 40th Anniversary.
That celebration has played out wonderfully after Byron captured the victory in the season-opening Daytona 500 and won again at Martinsville Speedway in the Spring — the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports’ first Cup Series win.
A championship? Well, that would be the cherry on top of an already great year.
“We just look at the year overall. Coming into this year, our 40th anniversary, celebrating such a huge year for us and our history,” Gordon told members of the media. “To start the season off with winning the Daytona 500, and to follow that up with the 1-2-3 and the win at Martinsville in our 40th-anniversary celebration race, and then the Brickyard [400], and now here we are. We’ve had all four of our cars this year win a race, get into the Playoffs, get deep into the Playoffs, and now we have one opportunity to still win the championship. It’s been a great year, it’s one that we’re going to celebrate no matter what. But at the same time, certainly, nothing would cap off this amazing year better than a championship.”
Byron, the organization’s 26-year-old superstar from Charlotte, North Carolina, returns to the championship-deciding event for a second straight year, after finishing third in final point standings — behind Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson — in 2023.
Gordon, a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion himself (albeit never using this format) believes the experiences gained at Phoenix from last season will be a major benefit for Byron and the No. 24 team this weekend.
“It’s so important to have a routine, and stay in that routine and know what your schedule is. And you have a regimen that is year-long. And there’s a lot of benefit to that, but when you get into a rhythm as a driver you don’t want to get out of that rhythm,” said Gordon. “It’s just like making laps around Martinsville or around these tracks. You get into this rhythm, and you get into a groove, and it’s almost like automatic. So, anything that disrupts that is a distraction and can take you off of your peak performance.”
“I think last year, him going into that Championship 4 being the first time, you know it’s overwhelming for anybody. But we gotta remember, he’s still young and pretty new to the Cup level and performing at this high level. He’s won championships in the Xfinity [Series] in the past, but I still think you’re excited about it. It’s amazing to be a part of that. But it’s also overwhelming at times. It’s a lot. It’s what responsibility comes with racing for a championship and you’re proud to be there and excited to be representing your team and sponsors, but it is a distraction.”
“So, I think going through those steps, not only for him, but for our whole PR group and marketing group at Hendrick and the sponsors and knowing when and where and how to manage his schedule and keep his focus as much on the racecar and the race itself I think is a big part of a whole season, but it’s a big part of this week and this championship journey.”
Should Byron triumph against Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Tyler Reddick this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, it would be the 15th NASCAR Cup Series championship for Hendrick Motorsports, the most all-time.
Reddick, 23XI Looking for MVP Status
Unlike their competitors at Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske, both 23XI Racing and Tyler Reddick are new to this Championship 4 thing.
The team, which is co-owned by NBA icon Michael Jordan, future NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Denny Hamlin, and businessman Curtis Polk, has lots of star power behind it, but on-track, that only gets you so far.
As the team finishes out its fourth season of full-time competition in the NASCAR Cup Series, three drivers (Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch, and Tyler Reddick) have scored the organization eight total victories.
Steve Lauletta, the President of 23XI Racing, recalls the five-year plan that Denny Hamlin brought to the table at the very beginning of the organization’s formation in 2020, which would have them consistently winning events and competing for championships.
“When we started in 2020, when Michael [Jordan] and Denny [Hamlin] had the idea to form 23XI Racing, Denny always talked about, and we’ve reference before, a five-year plan,” said Steve Lauletta, President of 23XI Racing. “The five-year plan was how long it was really going to take to be a consistent race-winning organization and have the chance to compete for the championship.”
After just four years in NASCAR’s premier division, those dreams have not only been achieved but exceeded. According to Lauletta, it’s a testament to those who work endlessly to make the organization a success.
“To have a chance to do it in year four really shows the amazing people that we’ve surrounded 23XI with, that work tirelessly to get us to this point and to be able to fight for a championship in our fourth season is just amazing,” Lauletta added. “Certainly, exceeded my personal expectations, I’ve been around this a long time. Everyone’s had a smile on their faces since Tyler [Reddick] won in Miami and have been focused on bringing our best efforts to Phoenix this weekend.”
Reddick has the opportunity to bring NASCAR back into the spotlight this weekend, as a championship for the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE would make both Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin championship-winning NASCAR owners.
“I think you’ve seen a lot of different ways that we bring as I said earlier more eyeballs to this team and more interest to this team because of [Michael] and Denny’s desire to start 23XI Racing,” Lauletta said. “I can think of very few professional sports teams reach the level of championship success in such a short amount of time as we could this weekend.”
“That would be newsworthy, and then you throw in the fact that the team is owned by two legends in their own sport that we’ve been talking about, I think it would be big, big news and something that will put NASCAR in the spotlight again as we’ve tried to do a few other times.”
Michael Jordan will likely be spending the weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, where he’ll be anxiously sitting on top of the pit box — or on the pit wall — as his driver, Tyler Reddick, chases an incredible moment in the history of 23XI Racing.
