Hamlin favored in NASCAR final four

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin is 0-for-3 in championship chances, each shot at an elusive first NASCAR crown ending just short.

It’s his turn again, without rival Kevin Harvick in his way and his Toyota teammates all eliminated. Hamlin on Sunday will try to close his own career-defining season with the Cup title in NASCAR’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Hamlin will be racing with Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, Ford teammates from Team Penske, as well as NASCAR’s most popular driver. Chase Elliott last week drove Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports back into the championship race for the first time since 2016.

Elliott’s win at Martinsville put him on NASCAR’s biggest stage for the first time in his career, but the upset also bounced Harvick out of the finale. Harvick won a Cup Series-high nine races and was the regular-season champion, and Harvick and Hamlin went head-to-head nearly all summer in a rivalry worthy of NASCAR’s golden days.

Harvick’s elimination theoretically made Hamlin the favorite. He won seven races this season, and the title for the first time is being decided at Phoenix, where Hamlin is a two-time winner including last November when he raced his way into the championship four.

The Cup is now his, right? “I think it’s unlikely anyone considers us an underdog, especially our competition,” said Hamlin.

All four of the finalists are confident they will take the winner-take-all showcase of a grueling season.

Logano won Phoenix in March, the final race before the 10-week shutdown. He has zero friends on the race track and on Sunday that will include his Penske teammate. Logano has made it to the championship race four times and is the only one of this year’s finalists to win the title in this format, in 2018 when he won Homestead and the title.

Keselowski won the 2012 title under a different format and has been to the final four only once.

Logano and Keselowski this year adjusted to new crew chiefs after Roger Penske’s offseason three-team swap. They’ve done it without practice or qualifying, and many remote meetings. Penske likes his two chances. “We don’t have any team orders,” Penske said. “They’re going to race their hearts out. We’re going to execute in pit lane. The best driver is going to win out of the two.”

The Associated Press Gerry Broome Denny Hamlin won seven races, and the title for the first time is being decided at Phoenix, where Hamlin is a two-time winner.