Championship contenders Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell both powered their way into the Championship 4. Bell took the checkered flag in two win-or-be-eliminated races, and Chastain made an odds-defying video-game move at Martinsville.
But how will they do at Phoenix?
As I did for Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, I separate regular-season and playoff statistics. I include absolute numbers as well as the driver’s rank compared to other full-time drivers.
Green boxes indicate a driver ranking in the top five in a metric, while metrics where the driver ranks between six and 10 are shaded yellow. Anything out of the top-10 is red.
Ross Chastain
Chastain’s aggressive driving made headlines, as well as a few enemies, during the season. He lowered his profile over the summer before riding the wall into the Championship 4 at Martinsville. He enters Phoenix with 150 Cup Series starts, which is the second-smallest number of starts a driver has had entering the championship race.
Chastain, who turns 30 in December, earned personal-best numbers of wins, top fives, top 10s and laps led in 2022. And he did it with a team in its second year of existence.
Chastain’s performance this year is uniformly uneven. For example: He celebrated his first two career wins at COTA and Talladega, but is the only driver in the Championship 4 not to have won a playoff race.
His string of four top-five finishes near the start of the season gave way to seven finishes of 15th or worse heading into the playoffs. But his last three finishes are two seconds and a fourth.
Chastain’s loop data stats are similarly inconsistent. Although he’s improved from the regular season to the playoffs in some areas, he’s moved down in others.
In the playoffs, Chastain leads the Championship 4 drivers in finishing position and running position; however, he’s last in green-flag speed and restart speed.
The restart speed stat is worrisome because the fall Phoenix race has an average of 3.8 cautions in the last stage since 2017. Chastain ranks 3.3 positions worse in restart speed then the lowest of the other three drivers.
Chastain has the second-most penalties of the championship contenders with eight. His 30-second penalty at the Indy G.P. for shortcutting the track is a good reminder that not all of Chastain’s choices work out as well as at Martinsville.
The most concerning aspect of Chastain’s stats is the amount of on-track contact. His 15 accidents and two spins tie Kyle Busch for the most caution-causing incidents this season. Additionally, he’s been involved in a half-dozen more incidents that didn’t cause cautions but did hamper his track position.
Compounding that concern is the number of drivers holding grudges against Chastain. Even if all they do is race him extra hard, that’s one more challenge in an already tough battle.
Chastain finished second at Phoenix in the spring. Chastain has never won at Phoenix, but none of the Championship 4 drivers has ever won at Phoenix in the Next Gen car, either.
Christopher Bell
Because this is only Bell’s third full-time Cup Series season, I had assumed he was the youngest of the four competitors. He’s actually almost a year older than Chase Elliott, who is the youngest of the Championship 4.
Bell required only 107 Cup Series starts to reach the Championship 4, which breaks Elliott’s record of 184 starts. Chastain making it in on only 150 starts pushes Elliott to third place.
Bell is one of the drivers who grew into the Next Gen car. He started the season with two DNFs, a 10th-place finish at Las Vegas, and then two more finishes of 23rd and worse. That forced him to spend the first half of the season climbing out of the resulting points hole.
Bell won his sole regular-season race at New Hampshire in mid-July. That’s a positive for his championship performance because New Hampshire is a good comparison track for Phoenix.
Only six other times has a driver avoided playoff elimination by winning. Bell is the only driver to do it twice in a single season. Escaping such holes is impressive, but not getting into them is better.
Bell has six DNFS, with two in the last nine races. That’s fewer than the season record of nine, but the most of all Championship 4 drivers. He also has the most penalties (12) of the four drivers competing for the championship.
Bell’s loop data averages show clear improvement in absolute numbers and rank. In the playoffs, Bell makes the top five in every metric shown except for running position. There, he ranks sixth.
Bell led more laps in the nine playoff races than he led in the 26 regular-season races. But he comes in second overall for laps led in the playoffs to Kyle Larson, who led 328.
The Crew Chiefs
If Christopher Bell wins at Phoenix, Adam Stevens will become the only active three-time Cup Series champion crew chief and only the fifth crew chief to win titles with multiple drivers.
Phil Surgen is wrapping up his second full-time year as a Cup crew chief. Seventy-one of his 88 total starts have been with Ross Chastain. If the No. 1 car wins, Surgen will become the 45th different championship-winning crew chief in the series.
Team Penske driver Joey Logano dominated Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway, winning the 312-lap chase and claiming his second NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Logano won the pole and dominated much of the race, winning the first two stages. He led 187 of the 312 laps, including the final 30.
Chase Elliott‘s shot at the championship disappeared with 112 laps to go when he was spun by Ross Chastain. Elliott hit the inside wall, damaging his car. He returned to the track but couldn’t keep pace with the other contenders.
Christopher Bell fell victim to a slow pit stop late in the race.
Chastain chased Logano over the closing laps but couldn’t mount a serious challenge.
Phoenix Cup results
Joey Logano made the drive to a second NASCAR Cup Series championship a Sunday afternoon beatdown.
Logano dominated Sunday’s 312-mile season finale at Phoenix Raceway to win the race and the Cup championship, the second of his career. He easily outran championship contenders Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott.
Remarkably, Logano was ahead of the other three championship drivers Sunday on every green-flag lap except one.
Logano surged to the race lead after a restart with 33 laps to go, firing off from third place to pass leader Chase Briscoe. Chastain was seventh on the restart and couldn’t keep pace with Logano, who had the best car most of the afternoon. Chastain made gains in the final few laps but couldn’t challenge Logano.
Following Logano in the top five were Ryan Blaney (Logano’s Team Penske teammate), Chastain, Briscoe and Kevin Harvick. Blaney failed to win a race (other than the All-Star event) for the first time since the 2016 season.
Bell finished 10th, and Elliott was 28th.
MORE:Phoenix Cup results
The race for the title became a competition between Logano and Chastain over the closing miles. Bell fell back because of a slow pit stop, and Elliott’s car was damaged earlier in the race.
Logano’s championship completed a successful year for team owner Roger Penske. Will Power won the IndyCar title for Team Penske, marking the first time Penske has won both championships in the same year.
Logano, 32, became the first Ford driver to win two Cup championships since David Pearson won titles in 1968 and ’69. Logano is the 17th driver to win multiple Cup titles.
“It’s all about championships.,” Logano said. “That’s what it’s all about, and we worked so hard the last couple weeks trying to put ourselves in position. And everything that happened in 2020, I knew we just wanted to have a solid run and do this today. I can’t thank Ford and Shell-Pennzoil enough for supporting me over the last 10 years, getting us a couple championships today. All our partners at Team Penske, everybody that works on these cars. It’s such a big deal to win these championships. It impacts so many people’s lives.”
A major incident involving the championship contenders occurred on a restart with 112 laps remaining. Elliott dropped to the inside entering Turn 1 and was clipped from behind by Chastain. The contact sent Elliott into a side and into the inside wall, damaging his car. Elliott lost a lap as his crew made repairs, and he dropped to 30th place. Slowed because of the damage, he finished 28th, two laps down.
Logano, the pole winner, led all 60 laps to win the first stage. There were no cautions during Stage 1.
The first on-track caution occurred early in the second stage when Landon Cassill bounced off the outside wall in Turn 2 and was hit by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ty Gibbs, who won the Xfinity Series championship Saturday, missed Sunday’s race because of the death of his father, Coy, Joe Gibbs Racing’s vice chairman. A moment of silence was held in memory of Coy Gibbs prior to the race.
Stage 1 winner: Joey Logano
Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney
Next: The 2023 Cup season is scheduled to begin Feb. 5 with the Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
AVONDALE, Arizona — The NASCAR world was in mourning Sunday as the death of Coy Gibbs cast a pall over the Cup Series’ championship finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Gibbs, the vice chairman and chief operating officer at Joe Gibbs Racing, died in his sleep at 49 just hours after his son, Ty, won the 2022 Xfinity Series championship with a victory in the season finale.
NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France said in a statement that “we are heartbroken by the loss of Coy Gibbs.”
“Racing is a family and the relationships within the entire garage go so much deeper than on-track competition,” Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson said in a release. “Today, we lost a dear part of our family. The loss of Coy Gibbs is devastating to everyone at Toyota and TRD. Our deepest condolences and prayers are with Joe, Pat, Heather, Ty, Case, Jett and Elle and the entire Gibbs family and Joe Gibbs Racing family.”
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Coy Gibbs, father of Ty Gibbs.
He was 49. pic.twitter.com/ELwW21twuf
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 6, 2022
Longtime JGR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch (who was making his final start as a Gibbs driver before moving to Richard Childress Racing next season) both tweeted they would be racing with heavy hearts on the 1-mile oval.
“Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest,” Hamlin wrote.
On the prerace starting grid, Busch appeared to be quavering during the national anthem, which followed a moment of silence for Gibbs in the invocation.
“Words can’t describe this day,” Busch posted on social media. “Today already was going to be tough enough, but it’s even more gut-wrenching now. Heartbroken.”
Joe Gibbs Racing was competing for the Cup Series championship Sunday with the No. 20 Toyota of Christopher Bell, whose pit crew includes front tire changer Jackson Gibbs. The son of the late J.D. Gibbs posted a tribute on his helmet to his Uncle Coy.
Several other NASCAR drivers (and Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks) also posted their support for the Gibbs family.
Ty Gibbs had been scheduled to drive in Sunday’s race but was replaced by Daniel Hemric in 23XI Racing’s No. 23 Toyota.
Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest. @JoeGibbsRacing
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 6, 2022
Words can’t describe this day. Today was already going to be tough enough but it’s even more gut wrenching now. Heartbroken.
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) November 6, 2022
My heart is with the Gibbs family and our @JoeGibbsRacing family during this incredibly difficult time. https://t.co/q6DGZZTWpq
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) November 6, 2022
Sending all of our love and prayers to the Gibbs family and Joe Gibbs Racing. https://t.co/Fz4qck4qfJ
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) November 6, 2022
Thinking about you and your family @JoeGibbsRacing @TyGibbs
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 6, 2022
Thinking and praying for the entire Gibbs family today.
— Chase Briscoe (@ChaseBriscoe_14) November 6, 2022
AVONDALE, Arizona – Coy Gibbs, the son of NASCAR and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, died in his sleep, according to a release from Joe Gibbs Racing.
Coy Gibbs was 49. He was the vice chairman and chief operating officer at JGR and the father of Ty Gibbs, who won the 2022 Xfinity Series championship Saturday by winning the season finale at Phoenix Raceway hours before his father’s death.
“It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night,” the team said in its statement. “The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time.”
Coy Gibbs had moved into a bigger executive role at JGR since his older brother, J.D., had vacated the team president role while battling a degenerative neurological disease. J.D. Gibbs died Jan. 11, 2019 at the age of 49.
Coy Gibbs also started and ran Joe Gibbs Racing’s motocross team, which was a winner and championship contender in Supercross.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs,” NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France said. “On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer.”
Before becoming a racing executive, Coy Gibbs was a successful athlete in multiple sports. He starred as a middle linebacker at Stanford University from 1991-94 before moving into a racing career as a driver.
After racing Late Models in NASCAR series in the late 1990s, he made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 2000 and raced full time on the circuit from 2001-02. In 58 trucks starts, he had six top five finishes.
After his Xfinity Series debut in 2002, he raced full time on the circuit for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2003. He retired from driving after the season to focus on his role in racing management and nurturing Ty’s burgeoning career.
Ty Gibbs had been scheduled to drive in Sunday’s Cup Series championship finale for 23XI Racing but was replaced by Daniel Hemric.
During the NBC prerace show, analyst Dale Jarrett, who won the 1993 Daytona 500 with Joe Gibbs Racing, said he was “stunned, devastated” by the news.
“It’s family to me because of my association and the opportunities they gave me,” Jarrett said. “To get to know this family and to see Coy come from a college football career, try racing, do anything and everything to be a part of the family business there. And to bring Ty along and put him in a championship situation.
“If there’s any consolation in thinking about this, he was able to watch Ty win his championship yesterday. But my heart, my thoughts and prayers to Joe, Pat, Ty and everyone in the Gibbs family.”
NASCAR on NBC analyst Kyle Petty, who lost his son, Adam, in a 2000 crash, said he had many discussions with Joe Gibbs after the death of J.D. Gibbs.
“These are the days in this sport we are a family,” Petty said. “You hurt for this family. There are no words. This is his second son, and I was just crushed when I found out about it. It’s the worst thing a parent can go through to lose a child. But Coy was loved and we can look at so many positive things. That’s what we have to look at, anytime you have this situation, you have to look at the positive side.
“And Joe Gibbs, Pat are strong in their faith. That’s all you have is that faith you’re going to see them again. They’re in a better place. It breaks my heart. It truly, truly again brings you back to that moment in your life. And I know it takes him back and Pat back to that moment they lost J.D. It’s a sadness that will fall on this place as more and more people find out.”
Joe Gibbs started his NASCAR Cup Series team in 1993 after winning three Super Bowls as the coach of the Washington Redskins. Joe Gibbs was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020 after his fourth Cup Series championship.
Coy Gibbs is survived by his wife, Heather, and four children.