It all comes down to Phoenix: What to expect at the title race in the desert
NASCAR.com's Alex Weaver breaks down what you need to know ahead of the race that will decide the NASCAR Cup Series champion at Phoenix.
Transcript
00:00 It all comes down to this.
00:02 A duel in the desert to crown our 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
00:06 champion.
00:07 Hello, I'm Alex Weaver, and welcome to Phoenix Raceway,
00:10 one of the most iconic views in all of motorsports.
00:13 And there is a lot on the line for one
00:15 of our drivers in today's race.
00:17 And let's set the stage for this championship four.
00:20 Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell both
00:22 know the pressures as they've been in the championship
00:24 four before.
00:25 But the newcomers of William Byron and Ryan Blaney,
00:28 this is their first time going after a title.
00:31 Now, it was a tale of two halves in qualifying
00:33 for our championship four drivers.
00:35 Unfortunately, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell
00:38 failed to make the second round of qualifying.
00:41 So they have some work left to do in today's race.
00:44 It's hard when you don't qualify in the top 10.
00:46 And I think we snuck in at homestead at 10th,
00:51 but we've been outside the top 10 in Vegas and Martinsville
00:54 and was able to drive our way forward.
00:56 So hopefully, we have that kind of race pace tomorrow.
00:58 But yeah, we got to work cut out for us tomorrow.
01:00 Hopefully, our car is good enough to where
01:01 we can drive through it.
01:02 But long race, we can get there.
01:05 I'm probably more optimistic because I've never
01:07 won a race from the pole.
01:08 So obviously, the pit stall is a great advantage.
01:14 And we gave it to William.
01:15 So congratulations on that.
01:17 Yesterday in practice, my car showed great pace.
01:20 And that leaves me feeling very optimistic.
01:24 And certainly, the whole weekend has gone a lot better
01:27 than it did 12 months ago.
01:29 I'm not counting out Blaney or Bell at all.
01:31 And it's a long race.
01:33 So they'll overcome wherever they start.
01:35 We all saw the practice sheets yesterday.
01:37 I think the 12 and the 20 looked a step better than especially
01:42 me and even William a little bit.
01:44 So I was honestly surprised that they didn't
01:47 make the final round there.
01:49 And I think they'll find their way to the front pretty quickly.
01:52 And on the flip side, the two teammates
01:54 from Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson and William Byron,
01:57 will be starting inside the top 10.
01:59 William Byron will have the best seat in the house.
02:01 He's your bushlight pole sitter and said
02:03 that the extra time on track this weekend
02:05 gave his team an opportunity to make some much needed changes.
02:09 We improved the balance of our car.
02:11 We were right there in the mix.
02:12 I thought the 12 and the 20 looked really strong
02:14 off the truck.
02:14 And I thought we kind of inched our way forward to them.
02:17 So made a lot of improvements overnight.
02:19 Definitely leaned on Kyle Bush, fellow Chevy teammate,
02:23 and some of the setups there.
02:25 So it was awesome.
02:26 It's a battle all day long.
02:28 It's really all about the last round.
02:30 It's about today, and then it's about the last round tomorrow.
02:32 So it's going to be one of those old fashioned battles
02:36 between the four of us.
02:36 I can't wait.
02:37 Let's go.
02:38 The Cup Garage has been a very busy place
02:40 here at Phoenix this weekend.
02:42 And teams were allowed a little extra time
02:44 to tweak the car in a 50 minute practice session on Friday,
02:47 and then a qualifying session on Saturday.
02:50 Crew chiefs for the championship four
02:51 know the importance of unloading fast here at Phoenix.
02:56 I think the stock I'll take in to that
02:58 is that Ryan Blaney gets around Phoenix really, really well.
03:02 There's never been a time here that we haven't had speed,
03:05 at least short run speed, in our car.
03:07 So I think the challenge for us as a team
03:08 is to put a car under him that'll hold on
03:10 through a long run.
03:11 I mean, you're really giving William a shot
03:13 to see the strengths and weaknesses of his car.
03:16 And you don't know that could be a bad run.
03:18 It could not be--
03:19 they could have made a change that was bad,
03:20 and they're still making laps.
03:22 But anyways, the characteristics of the car
03:24 generally transfers over throughout the weekend.
03:26 So I think that part's good.
03:28 Certainly the track conditions are a bit different today
03:31 than what we'll see on Sunday.
03:34 It's going to be really hard for any of us
03:35 to predict exactly how to pinpoint what
03:38 that needs to be for our cars.
03:39 But we'll keep working on it and give it
03:42 our best shot for Sunday.
03:44 Every day of every year, we've worked
03:46 to put ourselves to be in this position
03:48 that we're in right here today.
03:50 And that's true on races that we're winning,
03:52 and that's true when we're getting our asses kicked.
03:55 We're trying to make it to race for a championship.
03:57 And how could you not enjoy yourself when you get here
04:00 is the question I would ask.
04:01 The drivers know what's on the line in today's race.
04:04 The first one of our championship four contenders
04:07 to cross the start/finish line will
04:09 be crowned the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
04:13 Make sure and tune in to the grand finale of the season.
04:15 We're racing at Phoenix Raceway, and we're
04:17 going to crown a champion today, 3 PM Eastern on NBC.
04:22 (upbeat music)