Roger Diez
And then there were four. The Team Penske Fords of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick’s 23XI Toyota, and the Hendrick Chevy of William Byron will race for the 2024 NASCAR Cup championship tomorrow at Phoenix.
Blaney, in a must-win situation at Martinsville, took the win to advance. But the final championship playoff spot was in doubt until almost 30 minutes after the race. Christopher Bell and William Byron were tied when the checker fell, with Bell taking the tie breaker. After reviewing in-car footage showing Bell putting power on and riding the wall NASCAR officials gave Byron the nod. They deemed Bell to be in violation of the “Hail Melon” rule instituted after Ross Chastain pioneered the move to make the playoffs two seasons ago. And there were other last-lap shenanigans. Bubba Wallace slowed with a purported flat tire, letting Bell pass to gain an extra point, while Chastain and Austin Dillon went side by side blocking for Byron. NASCAR took a dim view of this and levied penalties on the No.1, No. 3, and No. 23 drivers and owners to the tune of 50 points and $100,000 each.
In addition, all three car chiefs, spotters, and a team executive were suspended for Phoenix. All three teams have appealed. Unfortunately for our sport Kyle Larson, with six wins, the most stage wins (12), most laps led (1687), and tied for top five finishes (14), is on the outside looking in. After leading in the late going at Martinsville on a different tire strategy, Larson faded to third at the checker, short of the points needed to advance. So, he’s highly motivated to win Sunday, as are Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch, both having rare winless seasons. Last year NASCAR Cup champion Blaney did not win at Phoenix, as Chastain won the race. But Blaney only needed to finish in front of his three rivals to take the championship. Today the USA channel will broadcast Xfinity qualifying at 1 p.m. and Cup qualifying at 2 p.m., with the Xfinity Championship race at 4 p.m. Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Championship race will air on NBC and Peacock at noon.
•••
Rain was the big story of the Formula 1 Sao Paolo Grand Prix, with qualifying delayed until Sunday morning and the race run later that day in near zero visibility at times. Red flags and the safety car were deployed on multiple occasions. Max Verstappen broke his 10-race losing streak, taking his Red Bull to win with a 19.477-second margin of victory. The biggest surprise was the other two podium positions, both occupied by the Alpine teammates of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in second and third, respectively. The win enabled Verstappen to regain a bit of breathing room in the drivers’ championship point standings, increasing his lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris from 47 to 62. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is third, another 24 points in arrears. In the constructors’ championship race, McLaren has a 36-point advantage over Ferrari, which leads Red Bull by 13. The constructor’s title is where the big season-end payouts are based on, and Alpine’s amazing performance has moved the team into sixth place in points, which is worth a reported $50 million. They have a slim three-point lead over the Haas team, which scored no points in Brazil. The McLaren’s of Norris and Oscar Piastri finished 1-2 in Saturday’s sprint race with Leclerc third and Verstappen fourth. Formula 1 fans will have to wait another two weeks for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a Saturday night race on the fabled Strip. Tickets are still available but be prepared to take out a bank loan to get good seats.