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Heim has been a championship contender -- and arguably the best driver in the series -- in his two years in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with TRICON Garage. Heim won six races in 2024 alone, and advanced to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season.

While Herbst has put up solid numbers during his time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a best points finish of seventh and just three wins over five full-time seasons don't come close to matching Heim's numbers.

Heim's ceiling seems to be much higher than Herbst's, and at 22 years old compared to the 25-year-old Herbst, Heim has more potential to grow as a young driver.

You might find it surprising, then, that when 23XI announced the driver of their third car on Wednesday, it was Herbst that was tapped for the job.

The reason comes in the form of green rectangles.

No disrespect is meant toward Herbst, but it's no secret that his family's business relationships have played a big part in furthering his career. When put up against Heim, the numbers just don't add up from a statistical standpoint -- but the figures in the bank do.

Herbst's longtime sponsor in Monster Energy -- a company that's been tied to 23XI since 2022 -- will join him, sponsoring his No. 35 Toyota Camry XSE during his first Cup Series campaign.

There's an old saying that perfectly encapsulates the situation 23XI found itself in: Money talks and, well, you know the rest.

It's not Herbst's fault that 23XI's decision boiled down the sponsorship dollars -- an asset Heim doesn't bring to the same degree. The business model of NASCAR and its teams has always been dependent on sponsors. It was reportedly a lack of funding that led to Anthony Alfredo leaving Our Motorsports at the end of this season, and it was funding that led the team to sign Kris Wright on Wednesday morning.

If a blue-chip prospect such as Heim exhibits extraordinary talent but doesn't bring sponsorship dollars to the team, their chances of getting the ride over a relatively ordinary prospect who brings plenty of funding to the table is very slim.

It's a model of finding drivers who bring the most money rather than finding the best driver.

That's exactly the situation Heim finds himself in now. Herbst was considered a very talented prospect who might find himself a Cup Series ride with a lower-level team. If that didn't pan out, he could've stayed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

While Heim toils in the Truck Series for another season, Herbst will have a chance to prove his critics wrong and quell doubts that he doesn't have what it takes to be successful in the Cup Series. If his rookie season doesn't produce results, however, don't be shocked if 23XI bites the financial bullet and gives Heim his shot.

Ryan Preece has thrown the aforementioned proverb to the wayside.

On Tuesday, RFK Racing announced that Preece will be the pilot of the organization's third NASCAR Cup Series entry in 2025, marking Preece's third Cup Series team in five years.

It's a welcome opportunity for the 34-year-old from Berlin, Conn., whose previous team in Stewart-Haas Racing shut down at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Preece's career has been marred by constant criticisms and the narrative that the short track ace doesn't have what it takes to compete in the Cup Series. After making his Cup Series debut at his home track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2015, Preece waited until 2019 for his first full-time opportunity at NASCAR's highest level.

Preece teamed up with JTG-Daugherty Racing and Kroger -- who ironically, was announced as a new primary sponsor of RFK alongside Preece's signing on Tuesday -- and remained with the team through the end of 2021. In 2021, however, Preece's No. 37 was an unchartered entry, quickly becoming a money pit for the organization.

Just like that, Preece was back to square one.

Soon, a hero emerged in the form of three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, who chose Preece to drive the No. 41 at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2023. Preece remained with the team in 2024, but in May, it was announced that SHR would shut its doors after the season came to a close.

For the second time in three years, Preece was left looking for opportunities.

Just like his Stewart-Haas teammates, though, Preece's talent was noticed. As Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe were signed to the Wood Brothers, Front Row Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively, talks were underway to bring back RFK Racing's third Cup Series entry for 2025, with Preece behind the wheel.

Preece's signing marks a fresh start for both driver and team, and puts a feather in the cap of co-owner Brad Keselowski. Preece marks the first full-time driver signing RFK has made since Keselowski became a co-owner of RFK in 2022.

Preece's results in the Cup Series so far can't be sugar coated. During his tenure with both JTG-Daugherty and Stewart-Haas, he failed to win or make the playoffs. In five full-time seasons, he only has 14 top-10 finishes.

In his defense, however, JTG-Daugherty was still an organization trying to find stability after the departure of AJ Allmendinger. By the time 2023 rolled around, Stewart-Haas was long removed from their success in 2020, and in 2024 the team's employees were focused on finding work for the future.

RFK Racing will be the most stable situation Preece has walked into during his Cup Series career. It's an organization on the rise, and a team coming off of five wins and four playoff appearances between its two cars over the last two seasons.

Preece doesn't have any excuses to put forth mediocre results at RFK, but if he performs to his potential, that won't be a problem.

Preece will join co-owner/driver Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the team's three-car lineup.

"Having a third team gives us another shot at the win on any given weekend," Keselowski said over Zoom. "It's a great opportunity for us at RFK. Our goal is to be an elite organization, I would say a world-class organization, and to do that in NASCAR, you've got to win races. The more teams you have, the better that opportunity is to elevate all the programs."

Preece, 34, joins RFK on the heels of Stewart-Haas Racing closing its operations following this season.

"It's (an opportunity) that I'm really eager and excited for," Preece said. "It's somewhere that these guys had speed last year. I mean, you look at how many weeks in a row that Brad and Chris finished top two or top three and had some extremely good stats and found Victory Lane.

"So for me, it's a great opportunity, one that's filled with pressure. But I think if you've looked at my career in those pressure-type situations, I've succeeded. I'm grateful for the opportunity."

Preece is still looking for his first win in the Cup Series but has two each in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series.

A U.S. District judge denied 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports a court order on Nov. 8 that would have let the teams compete as chartered members without actually signing a charter.

The teams argued that they would risk losing drivers, sponsorships and fans if they raced as open teams instead of chartered ones, but Judge Frank D. Whitney said those concerns were merely speculative.

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports now want the appellate court to quicken their review process and produce an oral argument before Dec. 14, as court would not be held again until Jan. 28, 2025.

But attorney Gregory G. Garre does not think that should happen.

Garre said on behalf of NASCAR that the teams' appeal is "highly unfair" and would significantly burden its client and judges.

He also wrote that there is "no urgency" to honor the teams' "extraordinary request to require NASCAR to file its opening brief within a mere 12 days, over a period that includes the Thanksgiving holiday, when many counsel for NASCAR are traveling to be with their families."

Garre further argued that judges would only have a week to review the teams' appeal along with any additional cases.

Sports litigator Jeffrey Kessler, who represents 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, announced Saturday that his clients will compete as open teams next season, which begins Feb. 2. They will not have to forgo their antitrust claims after NASCAR provided an open team agreement that does not involve a release of claims provision.

Jordan, an NBA Hall of Famer, owns 23XI racing along with three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.

The racing team confirmed Monday that it will have a process allowing drivers to request competing outside the NASCAR Cup Series on dirt tracks and in other forms of motorsports -- something Gibbs has restricted. The policy change follows Chase Briscoe, a former Stewart-Haas Racing driver and dirt star, joining JGR in 2025 to replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr.

Gibbs told The Athletic in a story on Monday that he has "always preferred (drivers') focus remain on racing in NASCAR." However, with his team including former dirt racing champions Christopher Bell and Briscoe, and a third driver, Ty Gibbs, interested in that extracurricular competition, Gibbs had a change of heart.

"We sort of talked things over to come up with a process by which they can request to run certain races," Gibbs told The Athletic. "If they get approval from everyone they need on our competition side, then they are free to run the race. That includes dirt, but also potentially other forms of racing."

Briscoe is a dirt car owner who regularly drives on those tracks, while Bell won the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

"I was definitely caught off guard by the change of policy," Bell told The Athletic. "I was super shocked, but with Chase coming on board and Ty growing an interest in dirt racing, it's nice we have the majority of our team aligned with it now."

The fourth driver on the JGR Cup roster, Denny Hamlin, is not a dirt racer.

Neither Briscoe nor Bell have announced plans in any non-Cup Series races but said they're pleased to have more options.

"It's refreshing knowing I'll be able to do whatever I want to do," said Bell, who believes the experience of driving sprint cars is advantageous for stock car racing. "I'm super excited to reconnect with my dirt fan base and see everybody at a dirt track soon."

"I'm trying to grade that really honestly," the former Cup Series champion recently told NASCAR.com when asked to assess his performance in the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Elliott, 28, recorded one win in the Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway in April, adding 11 top-five finishes and 19 top-10 runs in 37 starts. The win at Texas ended a 42-race drought for the native of Dawsonville, Ga.

Elliott reached the Round of Eight but finished second in a must-win situation in the Martinsville playoff race on Nov. 3. That was part of an encouraging stretch run that began with a runner-up finish at Bristol on Sept. 21 and included fifth-place showings in the playoff races at the Charlotte road course (Oct. 13) and Miami (Oct. 27).

"I am really proud of where we've come from and where we have been, particularly over the last few months of the season, and even more so over the last few weeks," Elliott said. "I just feel like we have a really good direction, I feel like I have a good direction."

The 2014 Cup Series champ's career trajectory is back on track after an eventful 2023 season saw him miss seven races, six after breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident and one for a suspension for rough driving.

For his offseason plans, Elliott said he might do some non-NASCAR racing, but he is also looking forward to taking a break before the 2025 campaign revs up in February.

"I think naturally you're going to think about racing, just because that's what we do," he said. "But I certainly intend to just get away, take some time, recharge the batteries, just like everybody in the room here."

New Faces in New Places

NASCAR free agency arguably has never been more chaotic than it is right now. Whether due to retirements, team closings or expiring contracts, a host of drivers will be with new organizations in 2025.

The most notable individual of the bunch is Chase Briscoe, who will take over the No. 19 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing following the retirement of Martin Truex Jr. and the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. It's an excellent opportunity in his young career, and 2025 has the potential to be a huge year for a driver still trying to prove that he's a perennial contender.

Two other Stewart-Haas alumni have found Cup Series opportunities for 2025 as well. Josh Berry will run his second Cup Series season with the fabled Wood Brothers following the departure of Harrison Burton, while Noah Gragson will take over the vacant seat at Front Row Motorsports left by 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell.

Spire Motorsports will be the next team to employ McDowell's services behind the wheel, as he'll join the up-and-coming organization in 2025, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro. The No. 71 was left vacant after it was announced that Zane Smith would leave Spire at the conclusion of 2024.

There are quite a few seats still open for the 2025 season as of this writing. Rick Ware Racing has yet to confirm a driver for 2025, leaving the future of Corey LaJoie, who finished out the season driving the team's No. 51 Ford in doubt.

23XI Racing and the aforementioned Front Row Motorsports are both expected to run a third entry next season, though the teams' ongoing antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR could potentially hinder those plans. Kaulig Racing also has yet to announce a driver for their second full-time Cup Series entry, while Team AmeriVet has not announced a driver for what is expected to be a 15-17 race schedule in 2025.

Will Kyle Busch bounce back?

Busch's 2024 season made headlines, but for all the wrong reasons. His 20th Cup Series campaign was his first without a win and his worst year statistically since his rookie season in 2005. The two-time champ is capable of winning on any given Sunday, but the No. 8 team and Richard Childress Racing have work to do in order to get back to their winning ways.

Will Penske retain its momentum?

It's safe to say that Roger Penske is at the top of the motorsports mountain for the time being. After winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship with Joey Logano, the 87-year-old racing mogul and his team have shown how to consistently win championships in NASCAR's playoff era. Ryan Blaney, the 2023 champion, has proven himself to be one of the top drivers in the sport, while the indomitable Logano can never be counted out of contention, as his 2024 title run showed.

How will Hendrick, Gibbs respond?

Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing dominated the first half of the 2024 season, but both were shockingly torn down by Penske in the playoffs. Their lack of firepower in the postseason was extremely surprising, as only one car of the eight fielded by the two four-car operations -- Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron -- made it to the Championship 4. Hendrick and Gibbs each boast four of the top drivers in the sport, and both Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs have to be motivated to reach the top of the mountain again in 2025.

Which young driver will take the biggest step forward?

The Cup Series is littered with young talent going into 2025. Gragson, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and Blaney make up only part of a young core that makes the NASCAR Cup Series so competitive. However, one young talent is lurking in the shadows: Michigan's Carson Hocevar, who ran away with the Rookie of the Year award in 2024. With a growing Spire Motorsports behind him and a year of Cup Series experience under his belt, don't be surprised if he takes massive strides in 2025 en route to his first career win or a potential playoff berth.

Because the season gets underway in February, the short turnaround time means a more extensive overhaul would have to wait until 2026, per the report.

Joey Logano was crowned the 2024 Cup Series champion on Sunday at Phoenix despite having the fewest top-five finishes (seven), the fewest top-10 finishes (13) and lowest average finishing position (17.1) for a series champion in the modern era.

NASCAR has used its current playoff format since 2017, consisting of four rounds: Round of 16, Round of 12, Round of 8 and the Championship 4. The first three rounds include three races each, while the Championship 4 comprises only the season finale (Phoenix).

According to Wednesday's report, topics under review include whether wins should automatically qualify a driver for the playoffs, as is currently the case; whether the regular season champion should get locked into one of the playoffs' later rounds; and whether the final round should consist of multiple races instead of just one.

After passing William Byron by going from fifth to first in one lap following a restart with 54 laps to go, Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front and went on to win by 0.33 seconds over defending champion Blaney, giving owner Roger Penske his third straight title.

Logano made it into the championship playoffs after Alex Bowman was disqualified after the Southern 500 at Darlington.

He parlayed that into his third title -- also doing it in 2018 and 2022 -- and became the 10th racer all-time to win at least three Cup titles.

Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell completed the top five in the race that featured four cautions. Title contender Tyler Reddick was sixth.

Carson Hocevar finished 18th and earned Rookie of the Year honors.

Two-time champion Kyle Busch was 21st and failed to win over the 36 races, ending his NASCAR-record streak of 19 consecutive seasons with at least one win.

In his final start as a full-time driver, 2017 Cup winner Martin Truex Jr. brought them to green from the pole position at the Arizona desert's 1-mile track, but teammate Ty Gibbs created the first caution when he scrubbed the wall in Turn 4 in his No. 54 then smacked the Turn 2 wall hard on Lap 2 in a single-car incident.

Logano powered past Truex on the restart and set the pace in the 312-lap event to close 2024. Soon, all four of the title contenders were running inside the top 10 before the halfway point of 60-lap Stage 1, which Logano won after leading 54 laps.

However, Logano's pit crew had difficulties on the right side during the pit stop, gridding him fifth when the group led by Chase Elliott left pit road with Byron and Blaney running in third and fourth.

In the race's oddest moment as the field was about to restart, the Toyota pace car turned late onto pit road and made hard contact with the sand-filled yellow barrels abutting the beginning of the pit road outer wall. That wreck created a red-flag period.

A week after being penalized for wall-riding on the final turns at Martinsville and eliminated from title contention, Bell had the look of a champion on the rare Champ 4 weekend when Joe Gibbs Racing did not have an entry among the quartet of Cup seekers.

A day after saying he felt wronged by NASCAR and "cheated" out of a title chance, Bell had a strong No. 20 JGR Toyota for most of Stage 2.

However, Blaney showed his strength by moving past Bell in the final laps as Penske Fords pulled off the segment sweep in the first 185 circuits around the slightly banked layout.

With Bell leading following Stage 2's conclusion, Blaney, Byron and Logano occupied the next three spots, while Reddick slotted ninth with 117 laps left.

Allison has his name littered throughout the record books, ranking fourth all time in NASCAR premier series wins (85), second in top-five finishes (336) and 14th in starts (718).

Those were among the accomplishments that landed Allison in NASCAR's second Hall of Fame Class back in 2011. He was also a three-time Daytona 500 winner, four-time Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway winner and three-time Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway winner.

During his 1988 victory at Daytona, Allison had to hold off his son, Davey, to take the checkered flag.

"Bobby Allison personified the term ‘racer.' Though he is best known as one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history, his impact on the sport extends far beyond the record books," NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France said in a statement. "As a driver, he won races and championships across several NASCAR divisions. But as the leader of the famous ‘Alabama Gang,' Bobby connected with fans in a profound manner.

"In the most significant ways, he gave his all to our sport. On behalf of the France family and all of NASCAR, I offer my deepest condolences to Bobby's family, friends and fans on the loss of a NASCAR giant."

Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers back in 2023, Allison put together a career that started in 1961 and ended midway through the 1988 campaign.

In addition to everything he was able to accomplish in the Cup Series, Allison won twice in what is now known as the Xfinity Series and took home an International Race of Champions title in 1980. He was named NASCAR's most popular driver on six occasions.

Allison and his younger brother Donnie teamed up with modified racer Red Farmer to take over the short-track racing scene down in the Hueytown, Ala., area during the late 1950s, leading to the inception of the original "Alabama Gang."

The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will start on the front row alongside Team Penske's Joey Logano, the top qualifying 2024 championship contender. Logano's No. 22 Ford was .010 seconds slower than Truex's Camry in the qualifying session Saturday around the desert one-miler.

"It's very cool, honestly, you always want to be a guy known for going fast at any track, any situation," said Truex, who claimed the pole with a lap of 134.741 mph and is racing for his first victory of the season. "It feels good, very cool. The big prize is tomorrow though and hopefully we can get that one."

Logano, who is racing for his third series title, was equally as happy with his effort and the championship implications.

"We've got them where we want ‘em right now, just got to keep them there," Logano said, smiling.

Three of the four championship-eligible drivers advanced to the final round of qualifying for the season finale. Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron will start his No. 24 Chevrolet from eighth position and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick will start his No. 45 Toyota 10th.

Reigning series champion Ryan Blaney was the only driver among the four title contenders not to advance out of the opening round, his No. 12 Team Penske Ford got loose between Turns 1 and 2 on his hot lap and he will start 17th in the 40-car field.

Because Logano's car had to go through inspection two extra times before passing, he lost the benefit of getting to select his pit stop, and his car chief was ejected for the race. Logano did not appear to be overly concerned, however.

"We feel confident," Logano said. "I feel like our car is strong.

"We feel strong about our team and these type of pressure situations, we feel very solid as far as our team and these moments. We're just executing our plan."

His Penske teammate Blaney also remained confident despite the qualifying setback.

"Our lap obviously didn't go well, I just got kind of free going into (Turn) 1 and ruined it all and couldn't really make it back up," Blaney said. "I'm surprised honestly it ran as well as it did for as loose as I got. I think our car is pretty good and still nice to have a decent pit stall.

"We'll just kind of take it how we can get it tomorrow, just work through the first handful of laps and kinda start marching forward. Pretty similar to last year. Hopefully, it ends the same. If we can charge through the field, I think our race car is good enough we can make that happen."

Byron was pleased to get that first pit stall pick with his qualifying effort, but had hoped to turn in a faster lap. He was quickest in the opening round.

"Sucks, didn't just quite get the lap I wanted in the second lap but feel really good about our race car and get first pit pick and that's huge. Really excited about those things and just want to put together a good start to the race. It's such a long race, it's really about getting to the finish and having what you need there."

Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson will start third and fourth, respectively. Hendrick's Chase Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs make up the third row.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell and Byron will line up alongside one another on the fourth row with Wood Brothers Racing's Harrison Burton and Reddick completing row five.

23XI and Front Row Motorsports asked to continue to be recognized as chartered teams while they pursue legal action against NASCAR.

The two racing teams refused to sign a take-it-or-leave-it charter agreement presented to them in September, which the other 13 organizations racing in the Cup Series signed. Their lawsuit, filed in October, called NASCAR "monopolistic bullies" for its business practices and claimed the league put a "gun to our head" to get them to sign the next charter.

Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI with Jordan, has said that team owners sought "roughly double" their current share of NASCAR's revenue, which is set to skyrocket starting in 2025 thanks to a new $7.7 billion media rights deal.

The revenue distribution for the new charter has not been made public.

This week, in a court in Charlotte, N.C., an attorney representing the two teams argued that they should get to compete as chartered teams while they pursue their litigation despite not signing NASCAR's agreement.

"Plaintiffs have not alleged that their business cannot survive without a preliminary injunction. Instead, they allege that their businesses may not survive without a preliminary injunction," U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney said Friday, according to media reports.

23XI and Front Row Motorsports still can compete in 2025 as "open" teams, but without chartered protection, they aren't guaranteed entry to certain races nor will they receive the benefits of revenue sharing.

23XI features driver Tyler Reddick, who enters this weekend in the Championship 4 -- one of four drivers who can win the season-long Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.

This race is bigger than that and officially will wrap up the 2024 season on Sunday in Avondale, Ariz.

But how did we get here?

With so much at stake last weekend at Martinsville and the six drivers either having to win (Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott) or point their way into the field (William Byron, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson) as one of the two drivers filling the Championship 4 field, it came as very little surprise that controversy ensued at the end.

Of course, Blaney pulled off the hard part by winning at the half-mile track and advancing for the second straight year with a penultimate-race victory at Martinsville.

Last year, his clutch performance led to his first Cup title, and the No. 12 Ford racer hopes to carry that momentum to the Phoenix-area desert Sunday.

What went on behind him is another story entirely, and it didn't unfold without consequences.

The scenes played out dramatically in the final laps: The Chevrolets of Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon ran two-wide behind Byron's No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, generally rivals on the track but bowtie brethren in the closing circuits that would decide if at least one Camaro would compete for a title.

It will, but only one.

Amazingly, Byron made it in as the only Hendrick or Chevy ride to get in, but it didn't come without a long wait while NASCAR Race Control pieced together what went on.

In the end, Byron advanced with title hopes, while Christopher Bell's were dashed as he was deemed to have violated a safety regulation -- riding the wall like Chastain in 2022, despite the Joe Gibbs Racing racer not passing one car for position -- and perhaps getting a boost from fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace.

Jeff Gordon, Hendrick's vice president since 2022, said he didn't believe Chastain and Dillon set up a Chevy roadblock to protect Byron's position. He saw it as hard racing.

"But (they were) also racing to advance and racing to make sure you're aware of what others are doing and what they had on the line," said Gordon, a four-time Cup winner.

"That means you don't go wreck somebody or turn somebody. You just give them a little bit more room and leniency. And I feel like that's what I saw from a Chevy side of things."

Chastain, Dillon and Wallace weren't penalized Tuesday, but members of their teams were. That leads us to what could go on Sunday, but historically hasn't happened in a championship setting.

During, say, the final 25 laps of the 312-lapper, what happens when Byron is out front with three Hendrick cars flanking him like a wall with Reddick, Blaney or Team Penske teammates Joey Logano or Blaney bearing down?

Blaney finished second in Arizona a year ago to win his first title and is the favorite from the oddsmakers in Las Vegas to win Sunday, with eliminated racer Bell holding the second-best odds.

And while shenanigans occurring in the final laps to interrupt championship dreams may not have been a thing so far, it surely could be in a fast-paced sport where sudden moves or a slip-up might ruin a fairly obvious outcome.

Look no further back in history to last Sunday.

Ryan Blaney:

The defending champion will try to take home the title for the second year in a row. Blaney's 2024 season has been a carbon copy of his 2023 campaign: A solid regular season followed by a dominant playoff run. Last year, Blaney finished second at Homestead-Miami, won at Martinsville and went on to win the championship at Phoenix. This year, he finished second at Homestead-Miami, won at Martinsville and has a shot at his second trophy.

Keys to Victory

If there's any team in the Championship 4 that is most likely to bring a perfect car to Phoenix, it's the No. 12 team. Blaney's wins so far in 2024 have come in races when he had a clear-cut top-five car from the beginning, which could be necessary at a track like Phoenix where passing is more difficult than usual. If not for a matter of inches at Atlanta and a lap of fuel in St. Louis, Blaney could be sitting on a five-win season.

History in the desert

Here's a stat that should leave the other championship contenders shaking in their boots: Blaney hasn't finished worse than fourth at Phoenix since March of 2021, including runner-up finishes in the last two Phoenix fall races. In the last six Phoenix races, Blaney has an average finish of 3.2. The only thing missing from his resume over those races? A win, which would automatically grant Blaney the championship on Sunday.

Tyler Reddick:

It has been a breakout year for Reddick, who propelled himself to the Championship 4 with a daring move in turns three and four at Homestead-Miami. That win is the shining diamond in a playoff run that's been mostly dark for Reddick, but he's done enough to make this quartet. Now comes a track type that 23XI Racing still seems to be behind at -- a short, flat oval that was the death knell for Reddick's 2023 campaign.

Keys to victory

One of 23XI's weak points as an organization has been its pit crews. In 2023, Reddick appeared to be in contention for the win at Michigan -- until a loose wheel forced him to come back down pit road. That kind of mistake can't happen on Sunday, where fast pit stops could be the difference in winning the championship or finishing last among the title contenders.

History in the desert

Unlike Blaney, Reddick has been rather inconsistent at Phoenix. He has three top-10 finishes in five Next-Gen starts at the track, but finished 23rd and 22nd, respectively, in the other two races. The good news? Reddick finished 10th at Phoenix in March in a race where Toyota whipped the field. Reddick led 68 laps in that race, and as the sole Toyota in the Championship 4, he should feel good about his chances.

Joey Logano:

If you had told fans that Logano would be in the Championship 4 back in June, they would pass the comment off without a second thought. However, the two-time champion finds himself 312 laps away from winning a third title after victories at Nashville (June 30) and Las Vegas (Oct. 20) fueled another Cinderella playoff run. Logano hasn't had much speed this year, but he did have two extra weeks to prepare for the championship race, just as he did in 2022 when he dominated the finale.

Keys to victory

Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe have been no stranger to gutsy strategy calls this year. Without them, the No. 22 team might not even be in the playoffs, much less the Championship 4. The decision by Wolfe to leave Logano out on fumes at both Nashville and Las Vegas are the sole reason why he won those races, and if Logano finds himself in a hole on Sunday, it wouldn't be surprising to see another crazy strategy be employed by Team Penske.

History in the desert

Logano has 16 top-10 finishes and three wins in 31 starts at Phoenix, but hasn't run very well at the one-mile track as of late. Finishes of 11th, 18th and 34th in his last three Phoenix starts don't inspire much confidence, but a dazzling performance in 2022 should. With the extra time to prepare that he also had this year, Logano led 187 laps in the 2022 finale en route to the race win and the title. Don't be shocked if Logano and Wolfe pull another rabbit out of the hat on Sunday.

William Byron:

Byron and Hendrick Motorsports would like to forget the controversy that got them into the Championship 4 in the first place. Unfortunately, the race manipulation scandal that rocked the NASCAR world Sunday takes away from what has undoubtedly been a great season for Byron as he establishes himself as one of NASCAR's elite. He hasn't won since April 7 at Martinsville, but he's in the Championship 4 for the second year in a row with the best team in NASCAR backing him.

Keys to victory

At Daytona and Martinsville, Byron was able to ward off the field on late-race restarts in order to win. Like Blaney, the No. 24 team could easily bring an unstoppable car to Phoenix. However, if the championship is decided on a late-race restart, Byron could be the favorite. His wins at Texas, Las Vegas and Phoenix in 2023 were also decided on late-race restarts. If you need to pick a Championship 4 driver to shoot the middle or make a big late-race block, Byron is your man.

History in the desert

Phoenix was surprisingly a struggle for Byron in March, as he failed to lead any laps and finished 18th. In 2023, however, Byron won the spring race after leading 64 laps, and led 95 laps en route to a fourth-place finish in the championship race. With a year of Championship 4 experience under his belt, Byron will be a strong contender on Sunday, provided he's not given a lemon like he was in the spring.

If you're trying to put out a fire, aiming for the base of the fire rather than the flames is usually a good idea.

So it was confusing when NASCAR handed down penalties for the race manipulation incident that occurred in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville on Sunday, the sanctioning body aimed the fire extinguisher at the flames.

NASCAR suspended crew chiefs, spotters and team executives from Trackhouse Racing's No. 1 team, Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 team and 23XI Racing's No. 23 team on Tuesday after all three teams influenced the results of the race and therefore the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings. The drivers of those cars -- Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace -- were docked 50 points and fined $100,000.

Let's not mince words: The drivers, crew chiefs and spotters for those respective teams did have a major hand in manipulating the results of both the race and the playoff picture, but they are not the root cause of the problem.

Earlier in the race, Ryan Blaney made contact with the lapped car of Shane van Gisbergen while racing William Byron for a crucial position on the racetrack. Blaney's contact with van Gisbergen knocked the New Zealand native's Chevrolet into the fellow Chevy of Byron, damaging the toe link of Byron's No. 24.

As the field lined up for a late-race restart, van Gisbergen was told by his spotter to "not forget what the No. 12 did to you earlier," referencing the contact Blaney made with van Gisbergen earlier in the afternoon.

That message is commonplace in NASCAR, especially at short tracks, but it was the sentence that followed that exposed the murky waters the race took place in.

The next words from van Gisbergen's spotter? "That message is from Chevrolet."

Van Gisbergen did not make contact with Blaney or affect Blaney's race in the closing laps.

That radio evidence, combined with archived communications from the No. 1 team of Chastain and the No. 3 team of Dillon, is enough to indict Chevrolet, as are the suspicious circumstances and radio communications surrounding Wallace's No. 23 team and Toyota.

But NASCAR's penalty report on Tuesday seems to directly blame team personnel for the transgressions that took place, rather than the source.

Manufacturers have, of course, been ingrained with NASCAR since the beginning. The appeal of stock-car racing for automakers is the "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday," strategy that is the cornerstone of NASCAR's business and sponsorship models. Factory teams in NASCAR popped up early in the organization's existence, and today, the top teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports are considered key partners of their respective manufacturers.

This was a case of NASCAR -- a sport more reliant on brand identity and consumerism than any other -- being afraid to bite the hand that feeds them, despite a pile of incriminating evidence that points to the opposite approach being a more effective punishment.

If NASCAR wanted to take a stand and shake those in Detroit to their core, what penalties could they hand out?

For a start, stripping points in the manufacturer standings. Those standings aren't followed closely by the fanbase, but the manufacturers themselves can point to said standings as tangible evidence that their vehicles rise above the competition.

But to truly hurt teams, taking away assets on the competitive side of the sport would be the strongest stance. Taking away allotted time in the wind tunnel or at test sessions directly hurts manufacturers in their quest to gain competitive advantages.

With no rules or penalties currently in writing to punish the manufacturers and executives that ultimately make these decisions, NASCAR officials must have conversations over the offseason regarding the future.

It's true that NASCAR can't exist without a healthy relationship with its manufacturers, but if said relationship means the manufacturers can walk all over the sanctioning body, it's far from healthy.

NASCAR needs its manufacturers like its cars need gas, but at some point, it needs to draw a line in the Daytona sand: Race manipulation has no place in the world's premier stock-car racing organization, regardless of who instigates it.

NASCAR chose to try and put out the fire by spraying the flames. If it wants to stamp out any future instances of race manipulation before they have a chance to formulate, attacking the root cause would be a great place to start.

NASCAR conducted an investigation from the final laps and came to the conclusion that those three drivers violated sections 4.4.B&D: NASCAR Member Conduct of the Rule Book. Those sections include actions detrimental to stock car racing along with race manipulation.

The owners of each team -- 23XI Racing (Wallace), Richard Childress Racing (Dillon) and Trackhouse Racing (Chastain) -- were fined $100,000 and had 50 owner points taken away.

The crew chiefs and their respective spotters, along with team executives, will miss the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway as a result of these violations.

All three racing teams said they would file appeals.

"We took and looked at the most recent penalty that we had written for an infraction, very similar, which was the 41 car a couple of years ago at the Roval," NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said. "We felt like we wanted to ramp this one up and we did, we did that in a way that we included team leadership. And this one, something that we feel like that, you know, we want to get our point across that it's a responsibility of all of us, the team owners, the team leadership as well as ourselves here at NASCAR to uphold the integrity of our sport."

In the Round of 8 finale and a week after losing on the final turn at Homestead, Blaney hustled his No. 12 Team Penske Ford by Elliott's No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the frontstretch to advance to Phoenix and defend his Cup championship.

Kyle Larson lost the lead with 24 laps to go and finished third, followed by Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin.

Christopher Bell passed Bubba Wallace on the backstretch, drifted up into the wall and rode it to the checkers to earn a tie with William Byron for the fourth spot in the Championship 4 and would have advanced on the tiebreaker.

However, after a lengthy wait, NASCAR's Race Control ruled Bell's move a safety violation, and Byron was allowed to join the championship foursome with Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and Blaney after Bell was dropped from 18th to 22nd.

Bell, Larson, Elliott and Hamlin were eliminated from title contention.

NASCAR brought its softest tire compound in history to the track, providing more grip at the start of runs, and polesitter Martin Truex Jr. used that right away in the 130-lap Stage 1 until he was eventually passed by Elliott on Lap 42.

Problems developed for the first playoff contender when Bell, who started with the best points advantage among the six drivers, spun his Toyota while running underneath Corey LaJoie on Lap 77 in Turn 1.

Elliott gained the maximum 10 bonus points for his first Stage 1 win since February's Daytona 500, but Byron took full advantage of Bell's difficulty and moved into the top four in points with a second-place finish.

In Stage 2, Blaney, Hamlin and Bell all stayed out on older tires and moved inside the top five as the rest of the field pitted. The segment became a battle of two Fords: Blaney and Brad Keselowski as the duo pulled away from Hamlin.

For the first time this season, Keselowski took the top points in Stage 2, but potential championship qualifiers Blaney, Hamlin, Larson, Byron and Bell completed the next five finishers for bonus points, respectively.

Bell had a terrible pit stop due to a loose lug and wound up in the low 20s after having to come back to pit road. However, with Larson in the top five and unable to gain positions, Bell cut into the lead and moved into championship contention by climbing to 21st by Lap 315.

Blaney used his No. 12 Ford to nudge Shane van Gisbergen into Byron, securing second place with nearly 150 laps left around the half-mile track.

With 100 laps to go, Carson Hocevar was spun for the ninth caution, and pit strategy became an issue. Elliott, Blaney and the lapped car of Bell all pitted, while Larson and Byron stayed out to form Row 1 with Elliott in third.

After a final-round lap at 96.190 mph (19.686 seconds), Truex will start from the top spot in Sunday's Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Behind him and next to him, six Playoff drivers, led by second-place starter Chase Elliott, will begin their battle for the final two positions in the Nov. 10 Championship 4 Race at Phoenix Raceway.

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Playoff driver Denny Hamlin, Truex's teammate, will start from the rear after a bizarre wreck in practice damaged his No. 11 Toyota, preventing him from making a qualifying run.

"I feel great about our car on stickers (new tires)," said Truex, who was 0.049 seconds faster than third-place starter William Byron, who posted a lap at 95.951 mph (19.735 seconds) in the final round. "You never want to get too optimistic, but I fired off really good in practice, especially that second run with the track rubbered-in.

"I was like ‘If we can just hit the balance here for qualifying, it should be really fast.' "

Earlier this season, Truex announced he will retire from full-time racing at season's end.

"We've got two more chances to win," said Truex, who earned his third pole at Martinsville, his first of the season and the 24th of his career. "We want it bad, we're working hard, we're not giving up and, hopefully, we can get it for everyone."

Though he was fifth fastest in the final round, Elliott starts second because he was the fastest of the five qualifiers in Group A. That left Byron third, Chase Briscoe fourth and Ty Gibbs fifth.

Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon will start from positions six through 10, respectively. The three Hendrick Motorsports drivers -- Elliott, Byron and Larson -- are the only Playoff drivers in the top 10 on the grid.

Other Playoff drivers qualified as follows: Joey Logano 12th, Ryan Blaney 14th, Christopher Bell 16th and Tyler Reddick 31st. Logano and Reddick already have qualified for the Championship 4 with respective victories at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami.

As qualifying progressed, Hamlin's crew was trying to repair his primary car, which backed into the Turn 3 wall when the throttle stuck during practice, thanks to a chunk of rubber that found its way into the throttle body.

"We had just come back out, we had just made an adjustment to the car, and it was doing everything it needed to do," Hamlin said. "It was maneuvering through the pack pretty well. I went into Turn 3, and the car just didn't slow down, and the throttle hung on us. The throttle had no chance to come backwards.

"That certainly caught me off guard, but it happens. We just got unlucky."

Truex was sympathetic to his teammate's misfortune but wasn't worried about a similar circumstance on his car.

"About as much as I'm concerned about getting hit by lightning," Truex quipped. "One-in-a-million. I don't know how -- his number just came up."

The tight, 0.526-mile speedway that opened in 1947 sits near the North Carolina state line and just a two hours-plus ride for most teams from their Charlotte-area headquarters.

But more is at stake than area bragging rights this weekend for these half-dozen drivers: Two will join Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick and compete for a title next Sunday in Phoenix.

Christopher Bell (+29 points) -- No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Bell's points position gives him a major edge on the field in the elimination race. The Oklahoman has three wins, 14 top fives and 11 stage wins so far. The 29-year-old has more wiggle room than any other racer and would benefit the most by a non-contender taking the checkered flag.

Martinsville wins: 1 (2022)

Championship 4 appearances: (2023, 2022)

William Byron (+7) -- No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Byron won three of the season's first eight races but hasn't visited Victory Lane since April 7 at the Virginia track. The fourth-place driver also is trying to hold off the winningest driver in the sport. This is the spot where the racing really begins to warm up.

Martinsville wins: 2 (2024, 2022)

Championship 4 appearances: (2023)

Kyle Larson (-7) -- No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

What more needs to be said about Larson, who has led a season-high 1,615 laps in one fewer race thanks to some completely dominant race weekends? He ran runner-up to Byron at Martinsville in April, losing by 0.550 seconds, and posted a win and a sixth-place finish in the two events there in 2023.

Martinsville wins: 1 (2023)

Championship 4 appearances: 2 (2023, 2021)

Denny Hamlin (-18) -- No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

A strong contender at Martinsville, the Virginia racer is in position to take advantage of a bad day by someone (or two) in front of him, but it would also require a strong run in his Camry. Seemingly unbeatable at times at NASCAR's shortest track, his last win there was nine years ago.

Martinsville wins: 5 (2015, 2010-twice, 2009, 2008)

Championship 4 appearances: 4 (2021, 2020, 2019, 2014)

Ryan Blaney (-38) -- No. 12 Team Penske Ford

The reigning champion made a title run at Phoenix by winning this race, and he's in a must-win situation again. Blaney was ready to put losing off the final turn in Homestead last Sunday behind him. "We just move on to the next thing -- good, bad or indifferent," the 30-year-old Ohioan said.

Martinsville wins: 1 (2023)

Championship 4 appearances: 1 (2023)

Chase Elliott (-43) -- No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

The 2020 Cup champ has five top-three showings since his first race there in March of 2015 and an average finish of 12.7 in 18 starts. He has led 1,104 laps on the paper-clip-like layout, but he needs to lead the 500th (or final one) Sunday for any chance at a second title.

Martinsville wins: 1 (2020)

Championship 4 appearances: 3 (2022, 2021, 2020)

Prediction:

It's hard to imagine any championship scenario that leaves out Larson and his series-best six victories. However, Bell finds himself in a good place, and Byron is due to show his earlier season strength. The final 50 laps may be the most intense racing this season.

Until Phoenix.

And, for the second year in a row, Larson stepped ever so slightly over the line that differentiates aggression from foolishness, spinning out of second place with 13 laps to go.

It was a miracle that Larson was racing for the win at all in South Florida, as a flat tire on lap 47 relegated him to the back of the pack. After many pit stops and adjustments, however, Larson broke back into the top-five in the closing stages, eventually climbing back into second place.

However, Larson's over-aggressive attempt to squeeze between Blaney and the lapped car of Austin Dillon may cost the 2021 champion much more than the race win.

Larson's incredible display of throttle modulation meant he only lost one spot during the spin, but the damage done to the diffuser of his car forced his pit crew to spend precious seconds making repairs, dropping him multiple positions on pit road.

When the checkered flag flew, Larson found himself in 13th with a 24-point day -- certainly not the worst outcome possible considering his circumstances early in the race, but a disappointing result nonetheless.

Larson's late spin now puts the Hendrick Motorsports driver in unfamiliar territory as he chases his second championship. In Larson's two Championship Four appearances, he clinched his spot in the championship race by winning the first race of the Round of 8.

That was far from the case in Las Vegas on Oct. 20, when Larson dealt with myriad issues on pit road and was forced to scratch and claw his way to an 11th-place finish.

Larson's results in the first two races of the round mean he's on the outside looking in for the Championship Four as the circuit heads to Martinsville for the penultimate race of the season. Larson currently sits fifth on the playoff grid, seven points behind teammate William Byron for the final transfer spot.

Larson's current placement mostly stems from the series of unfortunate events that have plagued the No. 5 team over the last two weeks, but plenty of other opportunities throughout the season can also be partially blamed for the dangerous situation he's in.

His decision to run the rain-delayed Indianapolis 500 on May 26 rather than start NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 ended up being the difference in Tyler Reddick -- who won Sunday's race in Miami -- winning the regular-season championship following the Southern 500 at Darlington.

Larson missed out on five extra playoff points that were instead awarded to Reddick. If Larson had those points now, he'd only be two behind Byron for the final spot.

Another flat tire at Kansas in the opening race of the Round of 12 meant Larson never had a chance to contend for the win at one of his best tracks. Another over-aggressive move at Michigan in August resulted in Larson spinning and finishing 34th.

At Iowa, Larson -- who was trying to make his way back through the field -- was forced into a three-wide situation, which resulted in a crash and subsequent 34th-place finish.

In Chicago, he lost traction on the wet city streets, plowing his way into a tire barrier and a 39th-place finish. A crash in the opening race of the playoffs at Atlanta also negated any opportunity to gain crucial playoff points, which could be the difference between him advancing to the Championship Four or watching his teammate advance instead.

All these incidents have brought Larson to the present, where he needs a stellar performance in order to make the Championship Four for the third time in four seasons.

Larson won at Martinsville in April 2023, but it was his main competitor in Byron who won in the Cup Series' first visit to the track on April 7.

Sunday's race will be a battle within the battle for Larson -- the chance to make the Championship Four is right there for the taking. But the battle to not push the envelope and make another risky move will be just as important in completing the mission.