MOORESVILLE, N.C. — When NASCAR began its current Championship 4 format, it was designed the highest finishing driver out of those four would win the NASCAR Cup Series title.
From 2014-2022, the champion was also the race winner. Ross Chastain ended that streak with his victory in Sunday’s 2023 NASCAR Cup Series finale.
The champion was second-place finisher Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, giving the famed race team owned by Roger Penske its second-straight NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
As for the other three drivers in the Championship 4?
They left Phoenix Raceway naturally disappointed, but proud of their season-long effort.
Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports finished third in the No. 5 Chevrolet. He finished the season second in the championship. Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron finished fourth in the No. 24 Chevrolet and closes the season third in the standings.
Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing finished last in the 36-car field in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He closes the season fourth in the standings.
Consider them the Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, and Philadelphia Phillies of NASCAR in 2023. Those were three teams in Major League Baseball that advanced far enough in the Playoffs to have a shot at the World Series, but saw the Texas Rangers celebrate as the world champions of baseball.
Larson’s Bid For Two
For Larson and Byron, they were both in serious contention on the last restart of the race, but as Trackhouse Racing driver Chastain drove away with the lead and ultimately the victory, they tried to put the pressure on Blaney for the top position of the Championship 4.
“When I saw (Blaney) get to third as quickly as he did, I knew I was going to be in trouble,” Larson lamented afterwards. “I felt like I could maybe hold off William for the length of that run. Holding off Ryan was going to be tough.
“He could just move around a lot better than me, kind of be more comfortable on the edge. He definitely looked loose, but he could still push the car. I couldn’t push the car really further than what I was.
“I felt really committed to the bottom. Even when I would move around and make my car feel better, it was slower on lap time. I knew I was in a little bit of trouble and was going to try to put up a fight. Yeah, I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to hold him off.
“Ryan did a really good job. His team continued to improve on the race car throughout the last few months. Yeah, they deserved to win.”
Larson’s Chevrolet was struggling for grip throughout the race. His pit crew came to the rescue by making some key adjustments during pit stops.
“That was the only reason we were in the hunt, was pit road, pit crew obviously,” Larson explained. “The way we executed our pit road lights, the engineers and everybody who maps that out and everything, I felt like, yeah, I just wanted to keep coming down pit road.
“William was coming. If I could just stay in front of him, if we could get a caution, an opportunity to come down pit road, our rolling times were going to be good, our pit crew was going to do a good job, I could come out the leader of the four of us. I was hoping to come out the leader of race.
“Those guys had just taken two tires. I just had to work a little bit hard to try to get to the lead. Just didn’t get it done.
“I needed to get to the lead and maybe that would have been our shot.”
Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2021. He was attempting to become NASCAR’s next multiple Cup Series champion, but heads into the offseason assured that he gave his best effort.
Sometimes, it’s simply, “That’s Racing.”
“I’m at peace knowing that that was all I had today,” Larson said. “I know it didn’t look maybe like it that last run. That was all I had. Our team did a really good job of putting us in that spot.
“I am still obviously extremely bummed, as I’m sure Denny Hamlin was last week. Even though I didn’t feel like I had the fast car, I had an opportunity. It’s a bummer when you don’t win.
“At the same point, I’m probably coming up this close, probably more eager for the following season already. I know where I need to improve and I’m just ready to get back on the track and work on all that.
“Yeah, bummed but also eager to get into the off-season, get working and ready for next year.”
Byron Comes Up Empty
Byron also has much to be proud of. He won six races in the Cup Series this season, more than any driver in the series.
The youngest driver in the youngest Championship 4 in NASCAR history, the 25-year-old has plenty of time left in a promising career to win a championship.
“There are a lot of young guys out there that could get into the Final Four. I feel like it’s just really changing of who’s in the good cars and who’s kind of coming in the sport.
“I feel like some of those opportunities are opening up. I’m getting more experience, and a lot of these guys are getting more experience.”
But Sunday’s race was a disappointing result, nonetheless.
“It’s a bit of a letdown based on how we started the race,” Byron recalled. “As soon as we got into stage two, trying to figure out how do we manage what we have, maybe make it a little bit better if we can. But we just need more on the short tracks. We just struggled as a team on the short tracks.
“We had a great season, a lot to be proud of, a lot of really solid races, communicating well as a team. I feel like all that stuff can just go up a notch hopefully, just have a bit more speed at certain tracks that we know are important.
“Definitely down the stretch here it was tough. We didn’t have really what we needed, but that’s okay.”
Bell Knocked Out Early
As for Bell, he never really got a fair chance to fight it out for the championship.
When he hit the brakes on lap 108, the right front brake rotor exploded, and Bell’s No. 20 Toyota hit the wall.
“That was my first time I’ve ever exploded a rotor in my career,” Bell said afterwards. “I was surprised but early on in the race I had a little bit of brake fade and the second run it just kept getting worse and worse.
“A disappointing way to end.
“It stings to not have a shot at the end of it obviously. I’m very proud of the effort put forth by our team to get to the Championship 4, but I do feel like we left a lot on the table at various races throughout the year.
“I’m excited about the future. We haven’t reached our potential yet.”