NASCAR defends weekend’s drama-free finale
Vows to do better job promoting young stars
Avondale, Ariz. — NASCAR on Friday dismissed the sentiment that this weekend’s championship finale lacks the pizzazz and star power of a major event.
The final four — Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and William Byron — is the youngest since the winner-take-all format began in 2014 and Larson is the only previous Cup Series champion among the contenders.
Larson and Bell are longtime dirt track rivals but have settled any simmering disputes while Byron dates Blaney’s younger sister. The drivers have acknowledged Sunday’s showdown at Phoenix Raceway lacks the hype of years past, but NASCAR pushed back as the weekend arrived.
“We have a playoff system that I believe is the toughest in sports,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “Think about the style of racing that we have, and the incredible competition that we have on the racetrack and the variety that our drivers had to go through.
“They raced on dirt. They raced on concrete. They raced on asphalt. They raced on short tracks, street courses, road courses, superspeedways,” Phelps continued. “Is there another racing series on the planet that can say that? I don’t think there is. We’ve got the best racing in the world, and I think it’s the most competitive racing in the world and when we crown that champion on Sunday, that champion is going to be very deserving.”
Nobody is questioning the versatility required over NASCAR’s 38-race season, which began this year at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February.
Still, Blaney unprompted lamented that the final four had “no bad blood, no rivalry, no one’s mad at each other in this one.” Retired driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., part of NBC’s broadcast team for the race, even said the final four were “just not very dynamic or aggressive.”
This year’s playoff field, average age of 28 with Larson at 31 the oldest, is missing five-time most popular driver Chase Elliott because he didn’t make the field. Cup champions Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were all eliminated early, young fan favorites Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace were knocked out and regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. and divisive personality Denny Hamlin fell short last week.
The four left standing are soft-spoken drivers and, with the exception of Larson, have never won anything as big as a Cup title. Bell is back in the championship for the second consecutive year, but Blaney and Byron are making their first appearances.