CONCORD, N.C. – Hendrick Motorsports will have one car in each of the driver's and owner's championship battles.
Chase Elliott claimed a spot in the driver’s Championship 4 while the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team and driver Kyle Larson are locked into the owner’s Championship 4 following its win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 23.
Elliott earned a top-10 finish at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday for a series-best 20th top-10 of the season. William Byron’s seventh-place finish was not enough to advance him on to the next round.
RELATED: Larson leads quartet at Martinsville
Christopher Bell’s win punched his ticket to the Championship 4, where he, Elliott, Joey Logano and Ross Chastain will vie for the driver’s title at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6.
Phoenix has been the site of 12 wins for Hendrick Motorsports. The last two – by Elliott in 2020 and Larson in 2021 – came in the playoff race and earned the organization two of its 14 championships at the sport’s top level. The top finisher among the championship-eligible teams when the cars take the checkered flag will win each title.
Get the lowdown on how each of the four Hendrick Motorsports’ playoff teams stack up at Phoenix for Sunday’s championship race. Tune in to watch the final event of the season at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Joey Logano: 5,000 points
Christopher Bell: 5,000 points
Ross Chastain: 5,000 points
Chase Elliott: 5,000 points
Chase Elliott, No. 9
DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS POSITION: Fourth
MARTINSVILLE RESULT: 10th
SPRING PHOENIX RESULT: 11th
PHOENIX OUTLOOK: The regular-season champion found his way through to his third straight Championship 4. His lone win at Phoenix came in the 2020 title race, where he led 153 laps for the victory. Over 13 starts at the 1-mile track, the 26-year-old driver has five top-five finishes, eight top-10s and has led 546 laps. Despite snapping a three-race top-five streak at the Arizona venue in the spring, Elliott led 50 laps on the day and placed in the top three in stages one and two. His Phoenix history - his 10.7 average finish is best among the Championship 4 - suggests he’ll be the favorite for Sunday’s race.
OWNER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
No. 5 team: 5,000 points
No. 22 team: 5,000 points
No. 20 team: 5,000 points
No. 1 team: 5,000 points
Kyle Larson, No. 5
OWNER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS POSITION: First
MARTINSVILLE RESULT: Second
SPRING PHOENIX RESULT: 34th
PHOENIX OUTLOOK: The owner’s championship will see the No. 5 team and Larson in pursuit of a second straight title for the squad. Larson followed up his third win of the season at Homestead-Miami with a runner-up finisher at Martinsville – his best-ever finish at the Virginia short track. Phoenix has been one of the best tracks for the 30-year-old in his Cup Series career. His lone win here won him the 2021 championship to cap off a storybook 10-win campaign in his first year at Hendrick Motorsports. The Elk Grove, California, native has six top-five finishes, nine top-10s and a 12.4 average finish in 16 starts in the Arizona desert. After finishing the opening two stages of the spring race in the top seven, a mechanical issue led to a 34th-place finish.