San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
SEASON FINALE
MOTORSPORTS
Denny Hamlin will try to win his first NASCAR championship today in Phoenix.
Denny Hamlin is 0 for 3 in championship chances, his shot at an elusive first NASCAR crown ending just short each time.
It’s his turn again, without rival Kevin Harvick in his way and his Toyota teammates all eliminated. Hamlin today 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 twotime 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. NASCAR was among the first series to resume racing during the pandemic, returning in May with a rebuilt schedule as it worked to get venues open across the country.
It took doubleheaders, midweek races and one-day shows to get to Phoenix, where the highest finisher of the final four wins the championship. The champion has also won the race — at Homestead-miami Speedway, however — every year since this format debuted in 2014.
Harvick is a nine-time winner at Phoenix. Yet all four remain convinced they will win the race.
Logano won Phoenix in March, the final race before the 10-week shutdown. He has zero friends on the race track and that will include his Penske teammate.
Elsewhere
Austin Cindric charged on fresh tires to his first NASCAR championship with a gutsy overtime drive to win the Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix Raceway. The victory gave Team Penske one championship on the weekend with a shot for one more today.