AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) There are only two certainties heading into NASCARs title-deciding season finale race: Rick Hendrick or Joe Gibbs will be the winning car owner, while the driver will be in either a Chevrolet or a Toyota.
Beyond that, the winner-take-all showdown Sunday at Phoenix Raceway is a guessing game with no obvious favorite among Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe from Joe Gibbs Racing, and William Byron and Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports.
Hamlin leads the series in race wins (six), while Briscoe is the series leader in poles (seven) and top-five finishes (15). Byron was NASCARs regular-season champion and led a series-high 1,278 laps, while Larson has the second-most top-10 finishes in the series (21). Byron and Larson are tied for the series lead in stage wins (10).
Hamlin is probably the sentimental pick. The three-time Daytona 500 winner is already regarded as the most accomplished driver to never win a Cup Series title, an unwanted moniker previously held by Hall of Famer Mark Martin.
But with 60 race wins and at least five blown opportunities to win the championship, Hamlin has seized the bridesmaid role away from Martin.
Mark Martin didnt have nearly the same amount of misses as me, theres just no way, Hamlin said before rattling off a list of bad luck, bad decisions and bad timing that has caused him to finish second to Jimmie Johnson in a 2010 head-to-head race, then fall short four separate times in the Championship 4 format in 2014.
Hes made it back to the finale this season for a fifth time, first since 2021.
Larson is the only driver in the field with a Cup title he won it in 2021 in his first season driving for Hendrick. He was runner-up in 2023, but is making just his third appearance in the championship race.
Byron, the two-time reigning Daytona 500 winner, is back in the finale for a third consecutive year after winning last week at Martinsville Speedway to grab one of the two open slots in the championship field. Larson took the final spot on points over Christopher Bell, who just missed out on giving Gibbs three shots at the Cup.
Briscoe, in his first season driving for Gibbs, is in the final four for the first time in his career. He did race in this format for the second-tier Xfinity Series championship in 2020 when he won a series-high nine races, but Austin Cindric took the title by winning the race.
I guess when I was a little kid I dreamed about winning a NASCAR championship, but it was just a pipe dream, you know? It wasnt something I thought Id ever actually get a chance to do, Briscoe said. My goal was to just race one race in NASCAR at any level just being able to do that was already a dream come true.
It is the second time in four years that the championship field is an even split between the two winningest playoff teams in NASCAR history. Hendrick got the win the first time, in 2021 when Larson defeated teammate Chase Elliott, as well as Gibbs drivers Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
We got one race. We know what were up against, somebody thats really, really good, Gibbs said. Two cars in there for them. Two for us. Hopefully this will be good for the fans and everybody and the excitement. Probably wont be good for me. Ill be so nervous.
Team Penske won the last three championships with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, but when both failed to win at Martinsville, Logano lost a shot to defend last years win and Ford was locked out of the finale. That means Chevrolet can win its first title since 2021, and Toyota has a chance at its first since Kyle Busch won driving for Gibbs in 2019.
Hamlin, Briscoe and Byron all won playoff races to advance this far, while Larson did it on points as hes mired in a losing streak that dates back to Kansas in early May before Larsons second try to complete the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
Theres a lot of races he was leading the race, and a caution came out and something happened, said Hendrick, noting that Larson was leading when he ran out of gas at Talladega and Briscoe got the victory and the automatic berth in the championship.
I think hes got the bit in his teeth right now, Hendrick continued. The guys have worked hard on our flat track, short track program. Kyles ready, and so is William. Im looking forward to this weekend and trying to get another championship.
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AP auto racing:
亚利桑那州埃文代尔（美联社）——在NASCAR赛季收官战即将到来之际，只有两件事是确定的：获胜车队老板非里克·亨德里克即乔·吉布斯，而冠军车手驾驶的赛车不是雪佛兰就是丰田。
除此之外，本周日在菲尼克斯赛道举行的这场赢家通吃对决充满悬念，乔·吉布斯车队的丹尼·哈姆林与蔡斯·布里斯科，以及亨德里克赛车运动车队的威廉·拜伦与凯尔·拉尔森之间，并无明显夺冠热门。
汉姆林以六场胜利领跑该系列赛胜场数榜，而布里斯科则在杆位次数（七次）和前五完赛次数（15次）上位居榜首。拜伦是NASCAR常规赛冠军，并以1278圈领跑全场，创下系列赛最高纪录；拉尔森则以21次前十完赛位列该榜单第二。此外，拜伦与拉尔森均以十次分段胜利并列系列赛分段冠军榜首。
哈姆林或许是情感上的热门人选。这位三届戴通纳500冠军得主已被视为纳斯卡史上最成功却从未赢得杯赛总冠军的车手——这一尴尬头衔此前由名人堂车手马克·马丁保持。
尽管汉密尔顿（Hamlin）已斩获60场分站赛胜利，但至少五次与总冠军失之交臂，这使他从马丁（Martin）手中接过了"万年老二"的称号。
“马克·马丁的失误次数远不及我，这根本不可能，”哈姆林说道。随后他列举了一连串的霉运、错误决策和糟糕时机——这些因素导致他在2010年与吉米·约翰逊的正面对决中屈居亚军，又让他在2014年“冠军四强”赛制中四次与冠军失之交臂。
这是他本赛季第五次重返决赛，也是自2021年以来的首次。
拉尔森是现役车手中唯一拥有杯赛冠军头衔的车手——他于2021年效力亨德里克车队的首个赛季便夺得该荣誉。2023年他获得亚军，但此次仅是他第三次亮相冠军争夺战。
两届戴通纳500冠军得主拜伦在上周马丁斯维尔赛道夺冠后，连续第三年跻身总决赛，成功锁定冠军争夺战的两个开放席位之一。拉尔森凭借积分优势力压克里斯托弗·贝尔，夺得最后一个晋级名额，而贝尔的失利使得吉布斯车队错失三人同时冲击纳斯卡杯赛的机会。
布里斯科（Briscoe）为吉布斯车队效力的首个赛季，便首次闯入职业生涯总决赛。2020年他曾以同级赛事最高九场胜利的成绩参加二级Xfinity系列赛冠军争夺，但最终奥斯汀·辛德里克（Austin Cindric）通过决胜局摘得桂冠。
“我想小时候确实梦想过赢得NASCAR冠军，但那不过是痴心妄想罢了，你知道吧？我从没想过真有机会实现，”布里斯科说道，“我的目标只是参加一场NASCAR比赛——任何级别都行——光是能做到这点，就已经是美梦成真了。”
这是四年内第二次出现纳斯卡季后赛历史上获胜最多的两支车队平分冠军争夺战席位的情况。亨德里克车队曾在2021年首次夺冠，当时拉尔森击败了队友蔡斯·埃利奥特，以及吉布斯车队的德尼·哈姆林和小马丁·特鲁克斯。
"我们只剩一场比赛了。我们知道对手是谁——一个非常、非常强劲的对手，"吉布斯说道。"他们有两辆车参赛，我们也有两辆。希望这场比赛能让车迷们和其他所有人都感到精彩刺激。但对我可能不太妙，我会紧张得要命。"
彭斯克车队曾凭借乔伊·洛加诺和瑞安·布莱尼连续三年夺得冠军，但此次两人未能在马丁斯维尔站获胜——洛加诺错失卫冕去年冠军的机会，福特车队也无缘决赛。这意味着雪佛兰有望自2021年以来首次夺冠，而丰田则自2019年凯尔·布施为吉布斯车队夺冠后，再次迎来问鼎良机。
哈姆林、布里斯科和拜伦均通过赢得季后赛晋级至此，而拉尔森则是凭借积分晋级——自五月初堪萨斯站以来，他深陷连败泥潭，当时他正第二次尝试在同一天完成印第安纳波利斯500和可口可乐600两项赛事。
亨德里克表示："他在许多比赛中都处于领先位置，但往往因为突发黄旗或其他意外情况功亏一篑。"他特别提到，在塔拉迪加站比赛中，拉尔森（Larson）原本领先却因燃油耗尽，最终由布里斯科（Briscoe）夺得胜利并锁定锦标赛晋级席位。
“我认为他现在干劲十足，”亨德里克继续说道。“队员们在我们平道和短道项目上非常努力。凯尔已经准备好了，威廉也是。我期待这个周末能再夺一个冠军。”
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