This (Championship) Weekend in NASCAR – Phoenix

NASCAR Cup Series

• Next Race: NASCAR Cup Series Championship
• The Place: Phoenix Raceway
• The Date: Sunday, November 7
• The Time: 3 p.m. ET
• The Purse: $10,053,801
• TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 312 miles (312 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 190), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 312)

Spotlight turns to Phoenix Raceway for Championship Weekend

The anticipation and intensity that has been building over the last 35 races of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season will culminate this Sunday (Nov. 7) in the Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Four drivers have scratched and clawed their way into the series’ Championship 4 Round. Two are former Cup champions – Martin Truex Jr. (2017) and Chase Elliott (2020) – and the other two – Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin – are hoping to etch their name on the NASCAR Cup Series champions list.

It was announced in March of 2019 that the NASCAR Cup Series would be moving its Playoffs’ Championship Race from Homestead-Miami Speedway, where it had resided since the inception of the Playoffs in 2004, to Phoenix Raceway for the first time in 2020. Prior to the 2020 season, Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs season finale for 16 seasons (from 2004-2019). Phoenix Raceway is just the second track to host the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race in the Playoffs.

2021 marks just the second year the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race will be held at Phoenix Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona (2020-2021). Since the inception of the Playoffs in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2004, Phoenix Raceway has occupied three different positions on the postseason schedule. In 2004, Phoenix Raceway hosted the eighth race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – the event was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. Then from 2005 – 2019 (15 seasons), Phoenix Raceway has hosted the penultimate race (ninth) in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

A total of 10 different drivers have won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races at Phoenix Raceway. Kevin Harvick leads the NASCAR Cup Series in Playoff race wins at Phoenix Raceway with four victories (2006, 2012, 2013 and 2014). Last season, Chase Elliott secured his first NASCAR Cup Series title by winning the season finale at Phoenix Raceway (Nov. 8, 2020).

Four non-Playoff drivers have won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Phoenix Raceway:

·       In 2005, Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Phoenix Raceway and was ranked 19th in the point standings at the time of the win.

·       In 2011, Kasey Kahne won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Phoenix Raceway and was ranked 14th in the point standings at the time of the win.

·       In 2015, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Phoenix Raceway and was seventh in point standings at the time of the win. Earnhardt Jr. had made the Playoffs in 2015 but was eliminated in the Round of 12.

·       In 2017, Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Phoenix Raceway and was seventh in points at the time of the win. Kenseth had made the Playoffs in 2017 but was eliminated in the Round of 12.

The worst finish in a NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Phoenix Raceway by a driver that went on to win the title the same season was 38th by Jimmie Johnson in 2016. In 2016, Phoenix occupied the penultimate event of the season.

In total, Phoenix Raceway had hosted 50 NASCAR Cup Series races producing 25 different pole winners and 26 different race winners. Of the 26 NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix race winners, 10 are active this weekend and three are Championship 4 drivers. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick leads the series in wins at Phoenix with nine victories.

Full Championship Weekend at Phoenix

Obviously, the ultimate goal is to crown a champion this weekend in Phoenix but before we do that fans will be treated to a full schedule of action this weekend, making it feel like it was back in 2019.

The NASCAR Cup Series will hold practice this weekend on Friday, Nov. 5 at 4:05 – 4:55 p.m. ET.

The series will then set the starting lineup by good ole pole qualifying on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ET.

Last season’s starting lineup for the championship race at Phoenix was set by Metric Qualifying and as a result Chase Elliott earned the first starting position. This season he will have to earn it on the 1-mile track.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

• Next Race: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship
• The Place: Phoenix Raceway
• The Date: Saturday, November 6
• The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
• The Purse: $1,622,583
• TV: NBCSN, 8 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio                   
• Distance: 200 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)

NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 (In Alphabetical Order)

Below is an in-depth look at the four drivers who have qualified for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 and will race for the title at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

AJ Allmendinger (No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet)

Allmendinger has made 32 series starts in 2020, gathering five wins (Las Vegas-1, Mid-Ohio, Michigan, Bristol, Charlotte ROVAL). He’s accumulated 18 top fives, 22 top 10s and one pole award in those 32 starts. He’s led a total of 422 laps this season and has maintained an average start of 6.6 and an average finish of 9.5. In addition, Allmendinger has posted solid season-to-date loop data statistics, including a driver rating of 110.1 (second-best), an average running position of 9.158 (fourth-best), a total of 289 fastest laps run (fourth-best), and completed 85.5 percent of his laps (4,108) in the top 15 (fifth-best). Allmendinger also earned the 2021 Regular Season Championship.

Playoff Recap: Allmendinger has had a strong Playoff run this season, having finished outside of the top 10 in only one race (Talladega) in the Playoffs. In the first round, he finished seventh at Las Vegas Motor Speedway but the following week, he finished 39th at Talladega after being involved in an incident. The Round of 12 ended at the Charlotte Roval and Allmendinger took home the victory at the track to advance. He made his first start at the Roval in 2019 and has gone on to win the Playoff event at the road course three consecutive seasons (2019, 2020 and 2021). To open up the next round, Allmendinger finished sixth at Texas, third at Kansas and last weekend, he finished seventh at Martinsville Speedway clinching his spot in the Championship 4. This is the first time in his career that he has advanced to Playoffs’ final round.

Phoenix Raceway Outlook: Allmendinger has three races at Phoenix Raceway under his belt in the Xfinity Series. His first start came in 2007, he started 16th and finished 13th. In 2008, he started 28th and finished 12th. Earlier this season, he made his first start at Phoenix Raceway since 2008 for Kaulig Racing and he started fourth and finished fifth.

Crew Chief Corner:  This season marks the first fulltime season as a crew chief for Jason Trinchere. In 2020, he was crew chief for Justin Haley in one race at Kansas Speedway, where they finished fourth. This season, he has been on top of the pit box for AJ Allmendinger and the No. 16 team for 31 of 32 races (Justin Cox was crew chief for Allmendinger at Nashville Superspeedway). In his 32 starts as a crew chief, Trinchere has five wins, 18 top fives, 22 top 10s and one pole. The season’s Playoff run marks the first of Trinchere’s career.

Team Talk: Kaulig Racing earned its first spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Championship 4 in 2020 with Justin Haley in the No. 11 Chevrolet. Haley finished the season an organizational best third in the series championship standings. Kaulig Racing has qualified for the Playoffs six times. In 2016 and 2017 with Blake Koch, in 2018 with Ryan Truex, in 2019 and 2020 with Justin Haley and in 2021 with all three of its drivers (Haley, AJ Allmendinger and Jeb Burton). Jeb Burton was eliminated in the Round of 12 this year in his first season with the team. Haley was eliminated in the Round of 8 and Almendinger is competing for the championship at Phoenix. Allmendinger was also named the 2021 Regular Season Champion.

Austin Cindric (No. 22 Team Penske Ford)

The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, Austin Cindric, is on the hunt for his second title this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Cindric, who is coming off another extremely strong season with five wins, will go for back-to-back titles in the series for the final time before transitioning to Wood Brothers Racing next season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Cindric opened the season with a win at Daytona International Speedway, punching his ticket to the Playoffs from the start of the season. He went on to win four more times. If Cindric earns his second title this weekend he will become just the 10th different driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with two or more championships.

Cindric has made 32 series starts in 2021 gathering five wins (Daytona-1, Phoenix-1, Dover, Pocono, Indianapolis Road Course), 21 top fives, and 25 top 10s. He has also led 1,075 laps this season and has managed an average start of 4.3 and an average finish of 8.4. In addition, Cindric has posted great numbers in season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 116.7 (series-best), an average running position of 7.162 (series-best), a total of 504 fastest laps run (series-best), and completed 89.9 percent of his laps (4,323) in the top 15 (series-best).  

Playoff Recap: Cindric had an extremely strong showing every single week during the Playoffs. To kick off the Round of 12, he started first at Las Vegas and finished fourth. The following week at Talladega Superspeedway, he started second and finished eighth. At the Charlotte Road Course, the conclusion of the Round of 12, he started first and finished runner-up to AJ Allmendinger. He clinched a spot in the Round of 8 based on points and his performances each week. At Texas to start the Round of 8, he started second and finished fifth and the following weekend at Kansas Speedway, he started second and finished runner-up. Last weekend at Martinsville, he started first and finished runner-up to Noah Gragson and during Stage 1, he clinched a spot in the Championship 4 based on points.

Phoenix Outlook: Phoenix Raceway is a pretty good track for Cindric, who won the first race at Phoenix this season, and will look to win again this weekend to get back-to-back titles. He made his first start at the track in 2019 and finished 16th. Since then, he’s made six more starts and has never finished outside of the top-10 since his debut. He has two wins (this race in 2020 and earlier this season), four top fives and six top 10s. He has an average start of 5.6 and an average finish of 5.9. As the winner of the last two events at the track, Cindric will head into Saturday’s race with a lot of momentum on his side.

Crew Chief Corner: Brian Wilson, crew chief or the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, joined Team Penske in 2004. He first served as a shock specialist with the team. Since then, he has served as a race engineer on the No. 22 NASCAR Xfinity Series team as well as the No. 2 NASCAR Cup Series team. Wilson played a role in the first two championships. He was the race engineer on the No. 22 team that won the Xfinity Series title in 2010 and was also the race engineer in 2012 on the No. 2 Cup Series team. In 2016, Team Penske announced that Wilson would be the crew chief for the No. 22 Xfinity Series Ford. Since he was named crew chief in 2016, he has 162 starts, 23 wins, 88 top fives and 125 top 10s. If Wilson and Cindric win the title this weekend, Wilson will become the 11th different crew chief to win multiple championships in the Xfinity Series.

Team Talk: Team Penske has won five NASCAR Xfinity Series owner championships (2013-15, 2017, 2020) and two Xfinity Series driver championships with Brad Keselowski (2010) and Austin Cindric (2020). Team Penske make their Xfinity Series debut in 1997 with NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace. This year marks Team Penske’s 19th year competing in the Xfinity Series. The team has 663 starts, 81 victories, 317 top fives and 462 top 10s.

Noah Gragson (No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet)

The 2021 season started out tough for Noah Gragson, with a 32nd-place finish to open the season at Daytona International Speedway followed by a 28th-place finish and 33rd-place finish in the next two events. However, the driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet started to rally back from the bad luck soon after. But it wasn’t until the 24th race of the season until Gragson got his first victory of the season and secured his spot in the Playoffs.

This season, Gragson has racked up three wins, including last weekend at Martinsville Speedway in a must-win situation, to secure his spot in the Championship 4. This is the first time in his career that he has advanced to the final round of the Playoffs. This season marks his third full-time season in the Xfinity Series – all with JR Motorsports. In 101 series starts, he has five wins, 41 top fives and 70 top 10s. It was announced a few months ago that Gragson would be back with JR Motorsports in 2022, once again piloting the No. 9 Chevrolet.

This season, Gragson has made 32 starts, racking up three wins (Darlington-2, Richmond, Martinsville-2), 13 top fives and 20 top 10s. He led 360 laps total throughout the season and has held onto an average start of 11.8 and an average finish of 13.4. In addition, Gragson has posted positive numbers in season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 96.9 (sixth-best), an average running position of 10.717 (seventh-best), a total of 188 fastest laps run (sixth-best), and completed 84.8 percent of his laps (4,078) in the top 15 (sixth-best).  

Playoff Recap: It was a long road to get to the Playoffs for Gragson after a very up-and-down season from the start. But, with the win at Darlington Raceway late in the season, he was able to secure his spot with only two races left in the regular season. He kicked off the Round of 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, with a third-place finish but the following weekend at Talladega Superspeedway wasn’t as good to him with a 30th-place finish. Gragson needed a strong showing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the final race of the Round of 12 and he finished sixth, ultimately getting him a spot in the Round of 8 on points.

To kick off the Round of 8, Gragson finished third at Texas Motor Speedway and then unfortunately, due to a crash at Kansas Speedway, he finished 35th, putting him in a must-win situation at Martinsville. Gragson went to Martinsville with a ton of confidence and even said in a pre-race interview with NBC that he was going to win the race. And he did. He started ninth and battled from the front all day for the victory and will now compete at Phoenix for the title for the first time in his career.

Phoenix Outlook: Gragson will make his sixth Xfinity Series start on Saturday at Phoenix Raceway. He made his first start in 2019 and started sixth and finished 11th. Most recently, earlier this season Gragson started 10th and had an engine issue that put him out of the race early and resulted in a 39th-place finish. In this race in 2020, he started sixth and finished runner-up to Austin Cindric, who won the championship that year. Gragson has one top five and three top 10s in his five starts at Phoenix. He has an average start of 8.2 and an average finish of 13.8. Lucky for him, he’s coming off of a ton of momentum from his win at Martinsville and can carry that with him for a better result this weekend.

Crew Chief Corner: In his fifth full-time season as crew chief for JR Motorsports and his third season atop the pit box for Noah Gragson, Dave Elenz heads to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race in Phoenix looking for his third title as a crew chief. In 2017, Elenz helped lead William Byron to JR Motorsports’ second series championship, NXS Rookie of the Year honors and a JRM rookie-record of four wins. From there, in 2018, Elenz led Tyler Reddick to JRM’s second consecutive Xfinity Series championship. Since then, he has been working with Gragson and looking for their first championship as a crew chief/driver duo. Prior to the 2017 season, his first as a full-time crew chief, Elenz worked with multiple driver on JRM’s “All Star” car with multiple drivers, scoring four victories, 19 top fives and 41 top-10 finished in two seasons (2016-16). In total, Elenz now has 227 starts as a crew chief with 15 wins, 77 top fives, 149 top 10s and three pole awards. Elenz is no stranger to the Championship 4 and the pressure that comes with it. If Elenz wins the title this weekend he will move solely into second on the all-time crew chief champions list for the NASCAR Xfinity Series behind series leader Steve Byrd with four titles (1989, ’95, ’96, ’97).  

Team Talk: JR Motorsports got their first NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship in 2014 with Chase Elliott and followed that up with back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 with William Byron and Tyler Reddick, totaling three championships for the organization. JR Motorsports has been competing in the series for 17 years and has 1,449 starts, 58 total wins, 398 top fives, 818 top 10s and 18 poles in those starts. In 2017, the organization made NXS history by becoming the first team to claim the top three spots in the championship standings after locking four teams in the Round of 12. The trend marked the fourth consecutive season (2014-17) that the team places at least two cars in the top four in the final standings. The team is also the only Xfinity Series team to produce rookie champions (Elliott-2014, Byron-2017, Reddick-2018).

Daniel Hemric (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)

Daniel Hemric has still never won a NASCAR national series race in his career but is competing for the championship this weekend in hopes of getting that first win in the same day he takes home his first championship title.

This season marks Hemric’s fourth full-time season in the Xfinity Series. He was fulltime from 2017-2018 before making the jump to the Cup Series. However, after his first full-time season in the Cup Series in 2019, he made his way back to the Xfinity Series to fight for a title and the first win. In 2020, he competed in 21 races on part-time schedule for JR Motorsports and this season, he has run all 32 races for Joe Gibbs Racing. It was announced a few weeks ago that Hemric will join Kaulig Racing in 2022, making the jump from Toyota to Chevrolet, in hopes of adding onto his resume.

Hemric has made 32 series starts in 2021 gathering 14 top fives and 20 top 10s. He has led 615 laps this season and has managed an average start of 6.6 and an average finish of 11.1. Hemric has been so close to that first win in so many races this season but has just come up short. In addition, Hemric has posted really good season-to-date loop data stats, including a driver rating of 104.5 (fourth-best), an average running position of 8.318 (second-best), a total of 358 fastest laps run (second-most), and completed 89.2 percent of his laps (4,287) in the top 15 (third-best).  

Playoff Recap: Hemric secured his spot in the Playoffs based off of points and had a strong showing week after week in the postseason. In the first race of the Round of 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he started seventh and finished fifth and then he went to Talladega Superspeedway the following weekend, stayed out of trouble, and finished fourth. At the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course to finish out the Round of 12, he started third and finished third and made his way into the Round of 8. The Round of 8 kicked off at Texas Motor Speedway and Hemric finished runner-up. Kansas Speedway was up next and Hemric started from the first position and finished 15th – his worst finish in the Playoffs all season long. At Martinsville, a win would have obviously been the first choice but his third-place finish and managing to stay out of all the on-track incidents, locked him in on points into the Championship 4 Round. This is the third time in his career that he has advanced to the final round of the Playoffs (2017, 2018, 2021). He finished a career-best second in the 2018 Xfinity Series final standings.  

Phoenix Outlook: Saturday will mark Hemric’s eighth Xfinity Series start at Phoenix Raceway. In his seven starts, he has two top fives and four top 10s and an average start of 12.7 and an average finish of 14.0. His first start came in 2017 and he finished seventh. Most recently, he started from the pole earlier this season at Phoenix but finished 23rd. In this race in 2020, he started 18th and finished 25th.

Crew Chief Corner: Dave Rogers is in his eighth year as a crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first season with Daniel Hemric. He has 193 career starts as a crew chief in the series with 20 wins, 69 top fives, 119 top 10s and 24 poles. Rogers hasn’t won a championship yet but has been crew chief for Cup Series champions Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano as well as a handful of races for Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, who is fighting for the series title this weekend as well. Prior to being a crew chief, Rogers worked as the technical director for JGR’s Xfinity operations.

Team Talk: Joe Gibbs Racing is a two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver champion with Kyle Busch in 2009 and Daniel Suarez in 2016. The team has a combined 10 national series owner championships (five Cup Series in 2000, 2002, 2015, 2019 and five Xfinity Series in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016). Joe Gibbs Racing now has five Xfinity Series Championship 4 round appearances and in 2018, Christopher Bell set the Xfinity Series single season wins record for a rookie with seven victories. JGR started in 1997 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte. JGR has 1,874 Xfinity Series starts and 184 wins, 642 top fives, 1,055 top 10 and 168 poles.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

• Next Race: Lucas Oil 150
• The Place: Phoenix Raceway
• The Date: Friday, November 5
• The Time: 8 p.m. ET
• The Purse: $908,369
• TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio                   
• Distance: 150 miles (150 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 150)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 (In Alphabetical Order)

Below is an in-depth look at the four drivers who have qualified for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 and will race for the title at Phoenix Raceway in the Lucas Oil 150 on Friday night, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Matt Crafton (No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota)

After missing the Championship 4 last season for the second time since the elimination-style Playoffs were introduced to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2016, Matt Crafton is back to contend for the title in Phoenix and in the process has set a new series record in Championship 4 appearances at four (2016, ’17, ’19 and ’21).

The three-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion (2013, 2014, 2019) got to Phoenix the hard way – through relentless consistency. Crafton is the only driver in the Championship 4 this season who hasn’t visited Victory Lane yet. In fact, he hasn’t hoisted a trophy since Kansas Speedway in July of 2020 – a string of 37 races without a win. But he’s strung together five top fives and 12 top-10 finishes this season and is the only former series champion among this season’s Championship 4.

During the regular season, Crafton finished on the lead lap in all but three races. And during those 15 races that set the Playoff field, Crafton led a total of 16 laps and posted an average start of 8.2 and an average finish of 12.6; including the six Playoff races, he has an average finish of 11.4 on the season.

To take a look back at Crafton’s championship seasons – he is the only champion to win titles in the original points format and the Playoff format – he had only one win in his first title campaign in 2013, the fourth race of the season at Kansas. He then finished 21st in the season finale at Homestead-Miami but had already mathematically locked-up the title by the start of the event.

In 2014, Crafton won a pair of races en route to the title – but both wins were early in the season, at Martinsville in the second race on the schedule and then at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in the sixth race. He then finished ninth at Homestead-Miami to close out the title by 21 points over Ryan Blaney (second in the final standings). The title named Crafton as the only driver in series history to win back-to-back championships, a distinction he still holds today.

Then in 2019, in his fourth attempt at winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in the Playoffs, Crafton achieved his goal. Crafton managed to become the first driver in NASCAR national series history to win a series title without winning a race. In 2019, he posted seven top fives and 18 top 10s. In the season finale of 2019, Crafton led nine laps and finished second to Austin Hill, but was the highest finishing Championship 4 contender and as a result took home the season trophy.

Playoffs Recap: While the 2021 regular season was a bit of a roller coaster for Crafton, he has found a gear in the postseason. After an average finish of 12.6 in the opening 15 races of the season, Crafton has upped his game with an average finish of 6.8 in the six Playoff races thus far.

Crafton has been running towards the front most of the Playoffs this season. In fact, Crafton has posted three top fives and fives top 10s in the six Playoff races this year. His lone finish outside the top-10 was at Talladega Superspeedway (14th). To start the postseason, he put up a runner-up finish at World Wide Technology Raceway then followed it up with a 10th at Darlington and a seventh-place finish at Bristol to advance to the Playoffs Round of 8.

Heading into the penultimate race last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, none of the Championship 4 Round spots had been locked-up. Crafton was third in the Playoff standings going into Martinsville up by 10 points over the Championship 4 cutline. The veteran driver from Tulare, California put up a strong effort and grabbed a fifth-place finish which was enough to secure a spot in the final round of the Playoffs.

Phoenix Raceway Outlook: The elder statesman of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 field, Matt Crafton, has the most experience at this weekend’s finale venue – by a lot. Crafton has raced at Phoenix Raceway 20 times, recording six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes, and he’s completed 98.7% of the laps ran in those 20 events. Last season, in the season finale at Phoenix he started fifth and finished 14th. His best series finish at the 1-mile track is runner-up back in 2014.

Crew Chief Corner: Carl “Junior” Joiner and Matt Crafton have been teamed up together at the track since 2012 and it’s been quite the successful pairing. Together they have won 13 races (all but two of Crafton’s career Camping World Trucks total) and put together 82 top-five and 158 top-10 finishes. Joiner was also atop the pit box for Crafton’s three championships in 2013, 2014, 2019.

At Phoenix Raceway, Joiner has led Crafton in nine races putting up three top fives and four top 10s. The pair have an average finish of 11.7 together at Phoenix.

Team Talk: Matt Crafton and ThorSport Racing go together like peanut butter and jelly. Crafton has raced all but 25 of his 497 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races with ThorSport (his lone year away was the 2004 season, in which he raced fulltime for Kevin Harvick Inc.). In addition to longevity with ThorSport Racing, Crafton is also in his 18th consecutive season with sponsor Menards on the hood of his truck. ThorSport Racing is the longest tenured team in the Camping World Trucks and does it all from their Sandusky, Ohio, headquarters. ThorSport Racing made its NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at the Milwaukee Mile with driver Terry Cook in 1996. The organization collected its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Flemington Speedway with driver Terry Cook on August 8, 1998. In 2013, ThorSport Racing became the only team in series history to lead the championship for an entire season; Sauter led the first three races and Crafton led the final 19 races. The organization has qualified for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs 10 times – 2016 (Matt Crafton), 2017 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes), 2018 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes), 2019 (Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter), 2020 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes) and 2021 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes). And have earned four appearances in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs Championship 4 Round – 2016, 2017 and 2019 with driver Matt Crafton – and this season it’s the first time the team qualified two of its drivers in the Championship 4 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes). And to boot, ThorSport Racing has had 15 consecutive season with at least one victory – the longest consecutive wins streak in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

John Hunter Nemechek (No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota)

During the offseason prior to 2021, John Hunter Nemechek made the announcement that he would be leaving Front Row Motorsports and the NASCAR Cup Series to return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, only this time it would be with the powerhouse organization of Kyle Busch Motorsports. And to sweeten the deal, Kyle Busch Motorsports named Eric Phillips as Nemechek’s crew chief – winningest crew chief in series history. Nemechek made it clear his intentions from the start, ‘I’m here for wins’ and that’s exactly what they have been doing.

In the first 15 races of the 2021 season, the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team had been on another level from the competition putting up a series leading five wins (Las Vegas, Richmond, Charlotte, Texas and Pocono), nine top fives and 12 top 10s. He also won nine stages and accumulated 34 Playoff points during the regular season. As a result, he claimed his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Regular Season Championship becoming the fifth different driver to accomplish the feat; joining Austin Hill (2020), Grant Enfinger (2019), Johnny Sauter (2018) and Christopher Bell (2017). Of the previous four Regular Season Champions, only Christopher Bell went on to win the overall series title at the end of the Playoffs in 2017.

In total in 2021, Nemechek has led 527 laps (second-most) and leads series in season-to-date Driver Rating (113.5). In 21 series starts this year he has posted five wins, 12 top fives and 15 top 10s – all career high-marks for the Mooresville, North Carolina native.

Playoffs Recap: Unlike John Hunter Nemechek’s regular season, the Playoffs have been a rocky road to the Championship 4 round that ultimately had him relying on his Playoff points to get him into the final round. Nemechek started the postseason with a disappointing 22nd-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway, but then quickly rebounded with a runner-up finish at Darlington and a third-place finish at Bristol to advance to the Round of 8. Then again, Nemechek stumbled out the gate and finished 33rd at Las Vegas and then answers with a fourth-place finish at Talladega to keep his Championship 4 hopes alive.

Heading into the penultimate race last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, none of the Championship 4 Round spots had been locked-up. Nemechek was the Playoff standings leader going into Martinsville up by 36 points over the Championship 4 round cutline. The veteran driver from Mooresville, North Carolina started from the pole at Martinsville but was caught in an incident with Austin Wayne Self mid-race that sidelined him for the rest of the event. He finished 39th and had to watch as the race played out, but in the end Nemechek had earned enough Playoff points to carry him to the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career.

Phoenix Raceway Outlook: John Hunter Nemechek has made seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Phoenix Raceway posting two top-five and four top-10 finishes; including two runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2017. He also led 31 laps at Phoenix but hasn’t made a series start at the track since 2019.  

Crew Chief Corner: Veteran crew chief Eric Phillips began his NASCAR national series crew chief career in the NASCAR Cup Series for NEMCO Motorsports in 2002 with driver Ron Fellows at Sonoma Raceway. It wasn’t until 2004 that Phillips would serve atop a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pit box but did so with driver Travis Kvapil and Bang! Racing owner by Alexander Meshkin. He then worked with several drivers for a few year at Morgan-Dollar Racing before jumping to Randy Moss Motorsports with driver Mike Skinner in 2009. But it wasn’t until 2010 Phillips found his home at Kyle Busch Motorsports and ever since it has been match made in heaven. Phillips has led KBM drivers to 32 of his series leading 42 Camping World Truck victories. In total he has led 10 different drivers to Victory Lane in his series career; including five times for John Hunter Nemechek this season – series-most this season.

When it comes to Phoenix, Nemechek is probably grinning ear-to-ear knowing he has Phillips on the pit box this weekend. Eric Phillips hasn’t competed at Phoenix as a crew chief since 2014 but in his last three starts at the track with three different drivers he has won – Kyle Busch (2012), Brian Scott (2013) and Erik Jones (2014). In total, Phillips has led drivers in 10 series starts at Phoenix posting three wins, five top fives and six top 10s.   

Team Talk:  Kyle Busch Motorsports was formed by owner/driver Kyle Busch in 2010 and the team made their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Daytona that season. In 2010, Kyle Busch Motorsports became the first team since the series debut in 1995 to capture an owner’s championship in its inaugural season, leading the series with eight total wins. In total, Kyle Busch Motorsports is a seven-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner champion; including five consecutive (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019). In addition, they have collected two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championships with driver Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017). KBM drivers have earned spots in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff Championship 4 round four times – 2016 (Christopher Bell), 2017 (Christopher Bell), 2018 (Noah Gragson), 2021 (John Hunter Nemechek). Plus, Kyle Busch Motorsports leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in all-time wins with 89 victories (2010-2021).

Ben Rhodes (No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota)

Ben Rhodes is looking to become just the 19th different driver in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history to win the championship and this season is the closest shot to the series title the Louisville, Kentucky native has ever had.

This is the first season in Rhodes’ six full seasons he has made the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4, and the first time ThorSport Racing has fielded two drivers in the Champ 4 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes). Rhodes made his series debut back in 2014 for Turner Scott Motorsports running four races before moving to ThorSport Racing in 2016. Since joining ThorSport, Rhodes has made 136 starts for the team posting five wins, 39 top fives and 72 top 10s.   

Rhodes’ path to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs in 2021 was set in stone from the drop of the first checkered flag, as the 24-year-old snatched the first two wins of the season in the opening two races at Daytona (oval) and the Daytona Road Course. He ultimately finished the regular season third in the standings after posting two wins, five top fives and 11 top 10s. He also won two stages and earned 19 Playoff points to take into the postseason.  

Playoffs Recap: Unlike his regular season effort that locked him into the postseason on wins, Ben Rhodes had to point his way through the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs to make the Championship 4 round. Rhodes started the Round of 10 off with a strong run at World Wide Technology Raceway (third-place finish) but then finished 34th at Darlington. With his Playoff campaign in the balance, Rhodes answered with a top-10 finish at Bristol (ninth) to move onto the Round of 8. He then put up a runner-up finish at Las Vegas and a 13th-place finish to survive Talladega.

Heading into the penultimate race last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, none of the Championship 4 spots had been locked up. Rhodes was ranked second in the Playoff standings going into Martinsville up by 35 points over the Championship 4 cutline. The rising star from Louisville, Kentucky started from third at Martinsville and raced his way to a seventh-place finish earning enough points to usher him into the Championship 4 for the first time in his career.

Phoenix Raceway Outlook: Rhodes has made six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Phoenix Raceway posting two top fives and three top 10s. His average finish at the track is 10.3. Last season in the season finale at Phoenix he started sixth and finished seventh. His career-best finish at the 1-mile track is fourth in 2019.

Crew Chief Corner: Rich Lushes made his NASCAR national series debut as a crew chief in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Hattori Racing Enterprises with driver Ryan Truex at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2016 – it was his lone effort that season. Lushes learned the crew chief ropes from competing in the ARCA Menards Series East and West. Lushes joined ThorSport Racing in 2018 as crew chief for Myatt Snider. He led Snider to finish ninth in the final standings after posting three top fives and eight top 10s. In 2021, Lushes joins forces with Ben Rhodes and success has followed the pair ever since winning the first two races of the season to qualify for the Playoffs and then earning a spot in the Championship 4. Lushes is looking to become the 20th different crew chief to win a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title.   

Team Talk: Ben Rhodes joined ThorSport Racing in 2016, his first year in fulltime racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and hasn’t looked back since. ThorSport Racing is the longest tenured team in the Camping World Trucks and does it all from their Sandusky, Ohio, headquarters. ThorSport Racing made its NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at the Milwaukee Mile with driver Terry Cook back in 1996. The organization collected its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Flemington Speedway with driver Terry Cook on August 8, 1998. In 2013, ThorSport Racing became the only team in series history to lead the championship for an entire season; Sauter led the first three races and Crafton led the final 19 races. The organization has qualified for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs 10 times – 2016 (Matt Crafton), 2017 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes), 2018 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes), 2019 (Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter), 2020 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes) and 2021 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes). And have earned four appearances in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs Championship 4 Round – 2016, 2017 and 2019 with driver Matt Crafton – and this season it’s the first time the team qualified two of its drivers in the Championship 4 (Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes). And to boot, ThorSport Racing has had 15 consecutive seasons with at least one victory – the longest consecutive wins streak in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Zane Smith (No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet)

The shooting star from Huntington Beach, California, Zane Smith, has become one of the most clutch racers in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff history. Ever since the 22-year-old, Smith, burst onto the series last year as a rookie and raced his way into the Championship 4 by finishing third in the penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway, many thought he was special. But then, when Smith doubled down last weekend at Martinsville Speedway while facing a ‘Win or Go Home’ scenario and the youngster raced his way into the Championship 4 round for the second consecutive season, the GMS Racing driver has proven he’s almost untouchable.  

Smith’s 2021 season has been a self-proclaimed rough ride. Through the regular season (first 15 races) Smith didn’t win but did manage to post one top five and 10 top 10s. He ultimately ended the regular season fifth in the standings and qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs.

Though Smith’s Camping World Truck Series has been short, it has been impressive. In 45 series starts, he posted three wins, 10 top fives, and 27 top 10s. He has qualified for the Playoffs and the Championship 4 round in consecutive seasons and finished a career-best runner-up in the final championship standings last season.

Playoffs Recap: Zane Smith’s adventure to the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs Championship 4 Round is one movie scripts are written after. Smith opened the Playoffs Round of 10 with a dreadful 35th-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway after an issue with a rear gear. He then followed it up with solid top-10 finishes at Darlington (ninth) and Bristol (eighth) to advance to the Round of 8. It was then Smith was hit with some bad luck finishing 29th at Las Vegas and then being caught in an incident at Talladega resulting in a 33rd-place finish. Smith plummeted in the Playoff standings to the basement of the leaderboard – in eighth place a massive 40 points behind the Championship 4 cutline.

Heading into the penultimate race last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, none of the Championship 4 Round spots had been locked up. Smith was facing a ‘Win or Go Home’ scenario as it would be nearly impossible to point his way into the final round. But grit, determination and the belief that he could win willed Smith to his first victory of the season, earning him a spot in the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season.

Phoenix Raceway Outlook: Zane Smith made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series track debut last season at Phoenix Raceway in the Championship finale. Smith started second at Phoenix last season, led 48 laps and finished runner-up to his teammate Sheldon Creed in a wild final restart.  

Crew Chief Corner: Veteran crew chief Kevin Manion made his NASCAR national series crew chief debut on a part-time basis in the NASCAR Cup Series with John Andretti (2003) and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2002). Manion’s biggest success as crew chief came in the NASCAR Xfinity Series when he led Martin Truex Jr. to back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. He then made the jump with Truex fulltime to the NASCAR Cup Series at Dale Earnhardt Inc. where the pair worked together from 2006-2010. He then worked with Jamie McMurray at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing from 2010-2013. In 2016 he joined Kyle Busch Motorsports and started to crew chief for multiple drivers. Manion has begun to build a reputation for cultivating young talent. In 2019, he led rookie Tyler Ankrum to his first win and first Playoff berth, and last season he did the same with Zane Smith. Manion best finish in the final championship standings in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is second, with Smith last season. Manion has worked with four different drivers at Phoenix Raceway in the Truck Series and led Daniel Suarez to a victory at the track in 2016 and Smith to a runner-up finish last season.

Team Talk: GMS Racing is a two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion (2016, 2020) – won the driver championship in 2016 with Johnny Sauter and the unified driver/owner title in 2020 with Sheldon Creed. From 2013 – 2021, GMS Racing has made more than 600 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts leading 13 different drivers to Victory Lane for a total of 41 series wins.

GMS Racing made their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in 2013 at Kansas Speedway with driver Spencer Gallagher in the No. 21 Chevrolet.

GMS Racing is the only organization to have fielded a Camping World Trucks Championship 4 driver in all six years of the current elimination-style Playoff format (Johnny Sauter, 2016-2018; Justin Haley in 2018, Brett Moffitt in 2019; Sheldon Creed, Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith in 2020 and Zane Smith in 2021). Last season, GMS Racing became the first organization since the inception of the elimination-style format of the Playoffs in 2016 that fielded three out of the four Championship 4 contenders in one season (Moffitt, Smith, Creed).