Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

Until last year, the winner of the championship race was one of the four drivers eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series title.

Last year, Ross Chastain won the season finale while not one of the Championship 4 as Ryan Blaney finished second on his way to the championship on the 1-mile Phoenix oval.

Blaney is back to defend his title this year after a walk-off moment Sunday at Martinsville Speedway vaulted him into the Championship 4. The four drivers who race at Phoenix (among the rest of the non-championship eligible drivers) with the best of those four being crowned the champion.

All four of the drivers this year — Blaney, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and William Byron — have three wins apiece. None have led more than 600 laps this year.

The three drivers who combined to lead 3,632 laps (nearly 40 percent) — Kyle Larson (six wins), Christopher Bell (three wins) and Denny Hamlin (three wins) — were all eliminated at Martinsville, leaving this championship even more wide open.

“I never look at favorites when it gets to the Champ 4 because everyone is there for a reason, and all teams are really fast,” Blaney said. “They can be fast no matter what, any given weekend, any given track.”

Here’s a breakdown of the four drivers with analysis of why each can win the title — and why each won’t. They are listed in order of car number: 

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske No. 12 Ford

2024 season: 3 wins (Iowa, Pocono, Martinsville-2), 11 top-5s, 1 pole, 555 laps led

Next Gen Phoenix finishes: Mar2024-5th; Nov2023-2nd; Mar2023-2nd; Nov2022-2nd; Mar2022-4th

Championship 4 experience: 2nd appearance. 2023-Finished 1st

Why Blaney Will Win: He did it before and he can do it again. Last year, Blaney used a Martinsville victory to propel him into the championship and he has completed one-half of that equation this year. Even bigger is that his Martinsville victory came a week after Reddick passed him on the final lap at Homestead. And look at those finishes at Phoenix. He has led more laps in the Next Gen car than any other driver at Phoenix, and he already has two wins this year at tracks 1-mile or shorter.

Why Blaney Won’t Win: No driver has gone back-to-back in the playoff elimination area (which started in 2014); the last driver to defend his title was Jimmie Johnson, who won five consecutive championships from 2006-2010. And which Blaney will be racing at the finish? The driver who saw that win slip away at Homestead or the driver who triumphed at Martinsville?

Joey Logano, Team Penske No. 22 Ford

2024 season: 3 wins (Nashville, Atlanta-2, Veags-2), 6 top-5s, 3 poles, 307 laps led

Next Gen Phoenix finishes: Mar2024-34th; Nov2023-18th; Mar2023-11th; Nov2022-1st; Mar2022-8th

Championship 4 history: 6th appearance. 2014-Finished 4th, 2016-2nd, 2018-1st, 2020-3rd, 2022-1st

Why Logano Will Win: Logano has been on cruise control the past two weeks as he won at Las Vegas and didn’t have to worry about his Homestead and Martinsville finishes. He’s had no pressure. He’ll be fresh. And then there’s that even-year thing — this is his sixth championship appearance, with them all coming in even years. But, seriously, the dude seems to perform best when it matters most. And he hates to lose.

Why Logano Won’t Win: If Logano didn’t already have two Cup titles, he would be totally counted out already. He finished 15th in the regular-season points. He won a five-overtime race at Nashville just to get into the playoffs. He won a drafting race at Atlanta and then used a fuel-mileage strategy to win at Las Vegas. Of any of the drivers in the Champ 4, he’d be the hardest sell as having a “championship” year. You know what? He doesn’t care.

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet

2024 season: 3 wins (Daytona-1, Austin, Martinsville-1), 12 top-5s, 1 pole, 338 laps led

Next Gen Phoenix finishes: Mar2024-18th; Nov2023-4th; Mar2023-1st; Nov2022-6th; Mar2022-18th

Championship 4 history: 2nd appearance. 2023-Finished 3rd

Why Byron Will Win: Byron has run the most laps in the Next Gen car at Phoenix in the top-5 than any other driver. And it’s not even close as he has run in the top-5 for 1,058 laps — the next best among these four is Blaney (749). Byron won there in March 2023 and he seems comfortable there. He is the only Hendrick driver to make it to the championship round, so he’ll have a full effort from that organization.

Why Byron Won’t Win: While he has run in the top 5 for 1,058 laps in the Next Gen car at Phoenix, only 171 of those laps were actually in the lead. He hasn’t won since April as he carries a 27-race winless streak into the championship race. He knows he’ll be very good. The problem is he doesn’t know if he’ll be great.

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota

2024 season: 3 wins (Talladega-1, Michigan, Homestead), 12 top-5s, 3 poles, 597 laps led

Next Gen Phoenix finishes: Mar2024-10th; Nov2023-22nd; Mar2023-3rd; Nov2022-23rd; Mar2022-3rd

Championship 4 history: 1st appearance

Why Reddick Will Win: Reddick has led more laps this year than any other driver in the Champ 4. He was the regular-season champion and has shown the ability to gut out good runs when he needs them the most. Plus, he will probably have co-owner Michael Jordan there rooting him on. No pressure. 

Why Reddick Won’t Win: This will be Reddick’s first trip to the Champ 4 as well as the first trip for his crew chief, Billy Scott. Reddick did win two Xfinity titles in this format, but Cup is a different level. Phoenix is not one of his better tracks and all of his wins this year have come at tracks 1.5 miles in length or greater.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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Enea Bastianini pronounced himself “angry” after being unable to compete with factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin for victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Italian inherited third place after Marc Marquez fell off his 2023-spec Gresini Ducati but finished over 10 seconds down on winner Bagnaia.

Although Marquez’s fall allowed Bastianini to close to within a single point of the Spaniard heading to the MotoGP season finale in Barcelona, the British and Emilia Romagna GP winner was disappointed that he couldn’t show such form at Sepang.

Asked if he was satisfied with the podiums he had picked up in both the Saturday sprint and the main race on Sunday, Bastianini said: “No, I’m not very satisfied. Because I’ve been fighting with the bike a lot all weekend.

“We started [well] but then we lost something. I was confident we could resolve the problem this morning but nothing changed. 

“I was lucky in the [grand prix] today because Marc crashed. But otherwise nothing is positive.

“I was slow in the middle of the corners and had no speed on the entry. Today it was impossible for me to give 100% and I’m angry.”

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Barcelona will represent a chance for Bastianini to atone for a difficult Catalan GP in May, when he qualified 11th and was classified 18th in the race after earning a 32-second penalty for ignoring ride-through sanctions.

The season-closing race has been moved from its traditional Valencia venue due to flooding in that region, which Bastianini says will be an advantage for Marquez, who hails from Cervera, outside Barcelona.  

“For Marc, it’s an advantage to go to Barcelona, it’s his town,” said Bastianini. “We have to give 100% and I have to be much stronger compared to the Barcelona race at the start of the season because I was fast but got two or three long-lap penalties!”

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Marquez, however, does not see Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as advantageous in terms of riding, listing his home track alongside Sepang as one of the two tracks with which he struggles the most.

Bastianini added that he considered simply moving the Valencia race elsewhere in Spain ethically problematic given the level of the catastrophe in the original host city. 

“For me, it wasn’t correct to race in Spain,” he said. “But that’s how it is, that’s [MotoGP promoter] Dorna’s choice.” 

Lamborghini looks set to downscale its LMDh programme for 2025 and to compete in either the World Endurance Championship or the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The Italian manufacturer, which has partnered with the Iron Lynx team in both series, is undertaking a review of its activities with the SC63 LMDh.

All options are on the table, including axing the programme entirely, according to Lamborghini chief technical officer and acting motorsport boss Rouven Mohr.

Mohr explained that the new regulatory requirement in the WEC next year for manufacturers competing in the Hypercar class to run two cars is the reason for the reassessment for next year.

“At the moment we are investigating all the opportunities for next year,” Mohr told Motorsport.com.

“The biggest issue for us is that the second car [in WEC] was not foreseen. “It generates in our company issues to support the second car in an adequate way.”

#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat

Photo by: Andreas Beil

“Our wish would have been to continue with one car in IMSA [for the full season rather than in just the endurance races as this year] and one car in WEC.

“Now we are in a situation where we need to find a way to manage two cars in WEC and one car in IMSA, or it could be that we have to decide which programme we run.”

He said that a decision “depends a little bit on the package we can afford”, adding “this at the end of the day, this is the question mark”.

Asked if ending the SC63 programme was the least likely option, he replied: “Yes, for sure.”

“I can say it could be every option, but our wish and clear target is to continue,” he added.

Mohr pointed out that Lamborghini, although part of the Volkswagen group, is a small company in comparison with its rivals running in Hypercar in the WEC and GTP in IMSA.

“We are different to other manufacturers because we are quite new in this field of motorsport,” said Mohr.

#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara, Daniil Kvyat

Photo by: Andreas Beil

“Squadra Corse [Lamborghini’s in-house motorsport department that manages the LMDh project] is less than 30 people.

“Before we did GT3 and this is another step for us – you cannot grow from one week to the other.”

Mohr’s latest comments represent a slight change in rhetoric from Lamborghini.

At the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, the company’s top brass stressed the benefits of running two cars in WEC, at the same time as stopping short of continuing in IMSA.

Lamborghini’s slot for the 2025 IMSA series was listed as an enduro-only entry when IMSA took the wraps off next year’s grid last month.

Should Lamborghini opt against continuing in WEC, it would close the door on its participation next year at Le Mans.

Iron Lynx boss Andrea Piccini told Motorsport.com that the team was ready to run two cars in WEC and one in IMSA next year, but directed questions about the future of the programme to Lamborghini.

He pointed out in Bahrain ahead of last weekend’s WEC finale that Iron Lynx and Lamborghini were taking part in the official rookie test the day after the race and also in a Michelin test focussed on development of a new range of tyres for 2026 on Tuesday.

The presence of Michele Gatting and Celia Martin – who are part of Iron Lynx’s Iron Dames programme for female drivers – in a Manthey Racing Porsche 811 GT3-R at the Bahrain rookie test has fuelled speculation of a breakdown in the relationship between the Italian team and Lamborghini.

Mohr suggested that not too much should be read into this and it should not be “interpreted as a negative thing”. He insisted that Lamborghini and Iron Lynx are “still in partnership”.

It appears increasingly certain, however, that the Iron Dames programme will switch to a Manthey Porsche from one of the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s for next year.

Mohr pointed out that time was ticking for Lamborghini and that it was taking longer than expected to come to a decision.

Entries for the WEC close on 18 November.

While Ryan Blaney won his way into the finale, chaos was unfolding behind him in the fight for the fourth and final transfer spot.

Questionable radio comms, manufacturer loyalty on full display and a surprise wallride defined the final race to make the Championship 4. After lengthy deliberations and tense scenes on pit road, NASCAR finally made a decision.

Christopher Bell, who had beat William Byron on a tiebreaker, was removed from the Championship 4 due to a safety violation after he throttled up along the outside wall.

The final four will consists of two Team Penske drivers, one 23XI Racing driver, and one Hendrick Motorsports driver.

Joey Logano – No. 22 Team Penske Ford

Best Points Result: CHAMPION (2018, 2022)

Tyler Reddick – No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

Best Points Result: 6th in 2023

Ryan Blaney – No. 12 Team Penske Ford

Best Points Result: CHAMPION (2023)

William Byron – No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports

Best Points Result: 3rd in 2023

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images

2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo has said Yamaha’s latest step in performance is down to an electronics tweak that allows the riders to have more input on the throttle.

Last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix saw Quartararo and team-mate Alex Rins both qualify inside the top 10 for the first time in a difficult 2024 campaign. Quartararo finished sixth in the race on Sunday, concluding a series of flyaway races that was positive apart from the marque’s home race in Japan.

Both Quartararo and Rins highlighted the progress made on the electronics side.

“I am much more the traction control now,” joked Quartararo after qualifying on Saturday. “We have made some big changes on the electronics.”  

Asked if it was like riding an old 500cc grand prix bike, the Frenchman said: “Not exactly, but basically it’s a little bit like that.

“I have to control [it] much more and it’s much more difficult for me to ride the bike but we have more performance and this is what we are looking for.

“It’s much more difficult to use the throttle and have the best performance but I think we have made a good step in only a few days.”

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Asif Zubairi

Rins added similar sentiments following his best weekend of the season in terms of points, thanks to the eight he picked up for eighth place on Sunday.

“I have the bike a little bit more in my hand, which is so important for me. I got used to riding like this on the Suzuki – to control the spin a bit more, picking up the bike when it’s spinning…so it was quite nice.”

Yamaha, which benefits from concessions designed to help it rediscover the winning performance it has lost over the past two seasons, also brought a new engine to Malaysia.

Quartararo was unable to race with it after his broke in practice, and also had to race the spare bike in the grand prix after being caught in the first-corner incident. Rins, however, was able to use the new motor.

“Regarding the power and the top speed, it’s more or less the same,” said Rins. “But it works a little better for the electronics.”

“[On Saturday] morning we tested the strategy on the electronics that we tested with this engine in Misano. And the good feeling came back again.”

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Asif Zubairi

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Quartararo summed up the Asia-Pacific leg of the season as a positive one in terms of progress.

“We can take positives from all the [flyaway] circuits. Japan was one of the weakest, but in Australia the pace was great, also in Mandalika. In Thailand we were fast in the wet and the dry.

“Here we were fast also. So we can be happy about this end to the season and hopefully we can now see the difference to where we were at Barcelona in the summer.”       

He added that he looked forward to the post-season test that has been rescheduled at Barcelona instead of Valencia, considering the room for improvement Yamaha has there.

“Barcelona is a great choice [for the test]. It’s been a really tough track for us in the last two years. The grip is super low and that’s been our weakest point. The test there will be quite nice for us.”

Fernando Alonso has opened up on the back pain, emotions and mystery brake problems that he battled to drag his Aston Martin to the finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard had been struggling throughout last weekend with the new bumpy Interlagos surface, but matters reached a peak in the race as the repeated impacts were felt in his spine.

But despite the pain, a far from competitive car that had been repaired after his qualifying crash, plus brake issues that kept trying to pitch him off the track, he said there was no way he was going to simply give up.

During the race, Alonso came on the team radio to tell his team why he did not want to retire the car.

“I will finish the race for the mechanics,” he said. “They did a very good job today. But my back is hurting, man. This bouncing is not normal.”

After being consoled and hugged by a mechanic as he gingerly got out of his car after the race, Alonso explained that his situation had been getting worse and worse – but at no point was he ready to retire.

“There was a lot of bouncing, a lot of porpoising in the second half of the race,” he said. “I don’t know why, but it was a tough race. We were out of the points.

“I think in any other circumstances, probably I would have stopped. But the mechanics did an incredible job before the race to put the car ready on the grid, so I had to finish it for them.”

Alonso said he had been aware before of the challenges his back would face in the race. And that was on top of the other issue of an intestinal infection that had prompted a trip back to Europe after Mexico and his late arrival in Brazil.

“It was painful, for sure. The lead-up to this race, it was a lot of preparation from my side, a lot of checks, a lot of work, a lot of physio and doctors in order to come here in Brazil,” he said.

“So it was a lot of effort from everybody: the same effort as the mechanics put today.

“It was not comfortable in the car. But there are people worse than me, also in Valencia, we have these terrible images. And people struggling. So I had to struggle a couple of laps for everybody.”

Brake issue

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

As well as battling the pain barrier, Alonso also had to overcome huge challenges in staying on track in the race – with his Aston Martin car suffering from brake problems.

In what appears to have been a repeat phenomenon to what pitched Lance Stroll off on the formation lap, Alonso said the rears kept locking after the restarts.

“I think Lance had the brake problem in the formation lap, and I had the brake issue after all the restarts, where all the brake balance goes completely rearwards,” he said. “It was like braking with a hand brake.

“So all in all it was a nightmare out there. We need to get better for the next three.”

Stroll, who compounded his formation lap spin into the barrier at Turn 4 by getting beached in a gravel trap that he tried to get across at low speed, said there was no immediate explanation for the brake issue.

“Yeah strange,” he said. “As soon as I touched the brakes, I just had a huge rear lock, and then I was a passenger from there.

“I never felt that in the car [before]. So maybe there was a brake failure problem. We have to look into it.”

The brake issue across both cars could be a consequence of the team’s brake mapping for wet restarts, aimed at warming the rear tyres by shifting the balance backwards, not resetting.