MARTINSVILLE, Va. — For the first time in the Gen 7 era, a driver not affiliated with Team Penske will win the NASCAR Cup Series championship. This presents opportunity for both Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.
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"I think it is wide open," Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon said after William Byron's win at Martinsville Speedway.
"With our improvements that we've made on the shorter tracks, I feel like it gives us even more confidence next week."
The #Championship4 is set! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/3lcGaExuLt
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Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have both celebrated numerous wins across the various Cup Series tracks since the introduction of the Gen 7 car. JGR, in particular, has 13 Cup wins this season. Hendrick has eight while Penske has only five.
Yet, the other teams can not deny the dominance that the Ford-affiliated organization has shown when it mattered. Joey Logano has led a combined 294 laps while winning both championship races at Phoenix Raceway in which he competed for a title.
Ryan Blaney has led 266 laps at the 1-mile oval in the Gen 7 era. He hasn't won at Phoenix Raceway, but he still finished best among Championship 4 drivers in 2023 as he captured his first title.
The chatter throughout the playoffs has focused on Team Penske's reputation and how other organizations may not want to face off with Blaney or Logano in a one-race championship format.
"They don't want us in the playoffs, I'm sure," Paul Wolfe, Logano's crew chief, told select media members after the Roval elimination race on Oct. 5. "I mean, we proved we find a way, and now we're in the final round and we've got some good tracks in this round for us."
With Blaney and Logano eliminated from the playoffs, opportunity awaits for the remaining four playoff drivers. Although this fact does little to ease the nerves heading into the final race of the 2025 Cup Series season.
"It's not like we're thinking, 'Oh, we got off easy because they're not in it,'" Byron said about the Penske drivers. "It's not nothing like that.
"Denny (Hamlin), Chase (Briscoe), Kyle (Larson) are amazing competitors. We're going to have to do everything we can do next week to win that one, too."
Byron knows that he faces a tough task as he tries to win the championship. All four drivers are multi-time winners, and they are the series leaders in nearly every statistical category. This includes wins, top-10 finishes, and top-five finishes. All of these drivers have also led at least 800 laps.
The lack of a Team Penske driver and the evenly-matched members of this Championship 4 create an interesting scenario heading to Phoenix Raceway. This is especially true considering the storylines in play.
Will Larson win his second title with Hendrick Motorsports? Will Hamlin finally capture his first championship after finishing fourth or better in the championship standings six times?
Can Byron become the second driver to win a championship in the No. 24 Chevrolet? Can Briscoe win his first championship in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing?
"Denny (Hamlin) was good at Phoenix earlier this year," Larson said after punching his ticket back to the Championship 4. "The No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) has gotten better as they've gotten comfortable with each other, so I'm sure he'll be really strong. He's tough. He can figure out how to get to the front. William, after a performance like that tonight, he's going to carry a lot of confidence into next weekend.
"We have confidence in ourselves. I feel like the No. 5 team was decent there earlier this season, and I think our short-track package has gotten way better. I feel like at Gateway, we were really strong. And then at New Hampshire, we were probably a little bit better than the Gibb's cars and maybe my teammates for a lot of the race. We'll see."
