Phoenix, Arizona The NASCAR championship seasons have formally ended. After what felt like to many in the industry to be the longest season ever as in ran in conjunction with the Covid-19 epidemic, NASCAR managed to return to competition this summer before any major sport. Three winner-takes-all events were held last weekend at Phoenix and three historic champions were crowned. Sheldon Creed won the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Championship after rushing from 8th to 1st in NASCAR Overtime on Friday night. Our team covered the final laps of the event during our live Racing Refresh weekly production. This is his first championship in NASCAR, and second truck-based championship as he also is a past champion in Robby Gordon's truck circuit. In the Xfinity Series, the winningest driver on the circuit was not the winner, as would be the case in the Cup Series. Chase Briscoe was not able to pull off the feel-good story by winning at Phoenix, instead his rival and fellow Ford driver Austin Cindric won the title under the Team Penske banner. Cindric managed to pass Justin Allgaier with under 2 laps remaining to win. NASCAR's most popular driver won big on Sunday. Chase Elliott was not always the fastest car, but managed to lead many laps throughout the event. Despite failing pre-race inspection and starting from the rear, his crew is just as deserving for the win. They made no mistakes through the event during pit stops managed to come out first on nearly every pitting cycle. Brad Keselowski appeared to be the fastest car on the track for much of the second half of the event, but several mistakes on pit road resulted in the #2 Ford team not being in contention at the end of the event. This is the first national touring championship for Creed and Cindric, and the second title for Elliott. Elliott also won the NASCAR Xfinity title in 2014. NASCAR will resume to on-track competition after the new year rings. The first points-paying event is the 2021 Daytona 500 on February 14th.

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Championship weekend continued on Saturday in Phoenix with the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, and Justin Haley all went into the race with the shot at a championship. For Chase Briscoe, it was his final race before moving up to the Cup Series full time in 2021. The weekend had already started out with an outstanding Truck race the night before. Could the Xfinity Series top that in the late afternoon? Justin Allgaier led the field and his three other championship competitors to the green flag. However, Chase Briscoe was looking to chase down Allgaier quickly. The outside line proved to be the dominant lane, which was contradictory to the Truck race the night before. The caution came out early for Jeffery Earnhardt who got spun on the back stretch. Allgaier led the field back to green, but he didn't have the lead coming out of Turn 2 as Briscoe and Cindric took Allgaier 3 wide and grabbed the top 2 positions. Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric continued to battle amongst each other for the lead until the competition caution came out at Lap 20. Briscoe controlled the race for the remainder of the stage but Cindric and Allgaier were close behind. Briscoe went on to win Stage 1, but, as per Championship rules, the Championship 4 did not earn stage points during the race. Cindric, Allgaier, Gragson, Chastain, Annett, Haley, Burton, Herbst, and Jones all finished Top 10 in stage 1. In Stage 2, it became very apparent that Austin Cindric had the best car of the championship 4 drivers. Justin Allgaier seemed to be strong early on, but faded quickly on the long run. Cindric grabbed the lead from Allgaier on lap 83 and went on to win Stage 2. The stage didn't see much action besides a caution thrown for a smoking Tommy Joe Martins, a car that had started the stage on the front row. Chase Briscoe didn't seem to have the car that he had in Stage 1. Allgaier, Briscoe, Jones, Gragson, Annett, Haley, Burton, Clements, and Snider all netted a Top 10 in Stage 2. Going into the pits, the conversation for the championship competitors was all about how to beat Cindric. Haley hadn't been much of a factor all day, Briscoe had fallen off from where he was before, and Allgaier couldn't hang with Cindric on the long run. It all came down to the last 110 laps at Phoenix. The season was on the line for the championship 4. Brandon Jones led the field to green, but was quickly overtaken by Justin Allgaier. Allgaier looked to have a much stronger car in the opening laps of Stage 3. He pulled out to a solid lead over Austin Cindric for awhile. However, as time went on, Cindric got closer and got back to the lead. Quickly falling backwards, Allgaier decided on lap 160 to pit, hoping to short pit the leaders. Not long after, the rest of the championship contenders found their way down pit road. Ross Chastain decided to stay out for a few extra laps, a strategy which proved to be a good call as the caution came out for Joe Graf Jr. who got into the wall. Allgaier took this opportunity to pit again, using his last set of fresh tires. Allgaier was hoping that fresh tires might be able to catch Cindric, but Cindric still pulled away. Cindric appeared to be driving away with the win until Chase Briscoe spun in turn 4 with only a few laps to go. This forced NASCAR overtime. Allgaier, having no fresh tires, was forced to stay out. Ross Chastain also stayed out, but the remainder of the lead lap cars all pitted. Allgaier restarted in the lead, but he was no match for Cindric on fresh tires. Austin Cindric grabbed the lead and won his 6th race of the year and his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. Gragson, Jones, Annett, Allgaier, Burton, Chastain, Haley, Briscoe, and Clements all finished the season with a Top 10. The regular season champion held on to win the Xfinity Series title. A disappointing race for three of the championship contenders, but all of the drivers have their plans for next season lined up. Chase Briscoe will drive the #14 Cup car for Stewart Haas Racing. Justin Haley will return to Kaulig Racing. Justin Allgaier will be back and JR Motorsports. Austin Cindric will look to defend his title next season. It was a crazy year for NASCAR, but these drivers proved that even through adversity, they can still put on a show.

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What a cutoff race!! NASCAR scheduling Martinsville as the cutoff race for the Round of 8 was genius. The race had drama, comers and goers, an incredible points battle, and exactly why NASCAR created this playoff format. NASCAR truly had a once in a season type of race. Stage One was won by Denny Hamlin, but it was clear that early on the race seemed to be between Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Chase Elliott. Early on there was some strategy, and it was apparent a few guys were points racing based on late stage strategy. It would prove its value later on, but Denny Hamlin winning this stage would be all the difference between advancing to Phoenix, and not. Stage Two showed that Elliott, and Truex were a little bit ahead of Hamlin, but concern started to set in for championship favorite Kevin Harvick. He had been running outside the top 10 all day, and looked largely irrelevant. If Chase Elliott, or Martin Truex were to win the race it would be a battle to advance between Harvick, Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski. Stage Three was the Chase Elliott show. Chase seemingly dominated the stage, and even overcame multiple bad pit stops, and once it was established Chase was likely going to win our focus turned to the battle to advance between Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick. It got as tight as one point between the three drivers. On the last lap of the race Harvick was one point out, and attempted to wreck Kyle Busch to get the point to advance, but he wrecked himself in the process. Chase Elliott's win advanced him to the Championship Four. The final four are Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano, and they will be racing this Sunday for the Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway.

Logan - Chase Elliott Zach - Denny Hamlin: Eventually Denny Hamlin has got to win one right? Denny Hamlin is my pick because he has the best stats at Phoenix amongst this year's Championship Four. He has the best average finish, most Top 10s, and Top 5s, as well as 2 Wins tying with Joey Logano. I wouldn't be surprised if a non Championship Four driver (Harvick) wins this race, and if that's the case I will take Denny Hamlin and his stats at Phoenix in a one off championship race. Peyton - Denny Hamlin : It's no secret that Denny Hamlin has the best stats of the championship four at phoenix - BUT I want to talk about just pure luck. After an unfortunate end to last year's season, this man go his third Daytona 500 win this year and (along with Kevin Harvick) went on an absolute tear! All year long everyone said Kevin Harvick would win the championship because he's amazing at Phoenix, but luckily for Hamlin, Harvick didn't make the cut...leaving Hamlin to take the trophy home. Adam - Denny Hamlin : Of the four playoff drivers, Denny has had the best season - and has the best career record at Phoenix. He also has the second-best record at short tracks, behind only Kyle Busch. Last year when Phoenix was the cutoff race, Hamlin showed he performs well under pressure. Denny finishes 2nd , with HArv AJ - BRAD KESELOWSKI :Team Penske has shown all season that they have the most consistent averages through the season. All of their drivers won multiple races. While Harvick and Hamlin won MOST events this year, a Team Penske Ford was always in the picture. Keselowski's experience as a young champion in 2012 and consistent on-track success make him the best in my opinion. It helps that he will likely have the least amount of media following him this week. Look for #2 to get championship 2 this weekend in sunny Arizona.

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A race that truly took days to get through was surprisingly underrated in my opinion. After several misty days in Texas Kyle Busch finally won his first Cup race of the season, and it greatly impacted the playoff battle. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick struggling plus a playoff driver not winning at Texas really makes Martinsville a must win situation for the bottom four playoff drivers. Stage One started on Sunday afternoon, and it created the story lines for Wednesday including Denny Hamlin getting out of the groove losing valuable track position, and Kevin Harvick getting loose hitting the wall creating a consistent issue with damage. It was clear early on drivers recognized the value of track position, and Clint Bowyer held on to win stage one. Stage Two lead to the rise of Martin Truex Jr., and after starting in the back from a penalty involving his spoiler he quickly made his way through the field, and looked to be the dominant car. Stage two featured a long green flag run where various fuel strategies were used and Kyle Busch won the stage. Chase Elliott's race became a mess after having to pit a second time for a possible tire going down. Stage Three became a three man race Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Christopher Bell. Kyle Busch was dominant at the end of the race and used incredible fuel saving strategy to barely make it to the end. Truex rallied from over seven seconds back at one point to finish by less than one second. For large parts of stage three Christopher Bell was the best car on the track lap in and lap out, and in final home race for Leavine Family Racing. In the end this is arguably the most excited the fan base has ever been to see Kyle Busch win.

Las Vegas, Nevada played home to the final elimination event in the 2020 Mello Yello NHRA Drag Racing Championship. The drivers pressed their luck for the final time and 4 champions were crowned. After an unusual, but eventful covid-themed season, the champions on the season were Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, Matt Hagan in Funny Car, Erika Enders in Pro-Stock, and Matt Smith in Pro-Stock Motorcycle. Final Season Standings : FINAL PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE STANDINGS Matt Smith, 703 Eddie Krawiec, 593 Scotty Pollacheck, 587 Andrew Hines, 576 Angie Smith, 514 Angelle Sampey, 495 Ryan Oehler, 448 Steve Johnson, 445 Hector Arana Jr, 434 Jerry Savoie, 323 FINAL PRO STOCK STANDINGS Erica Enders, 922 Jason Line, 755 Jeg Coughlin, 747 Greg Anderson, 693 Matt Hartford, 628 Alex Laughlin, 582 Aaron Stanfield, 563 Chris McGaha, 487 Bo Butner, 477 Deric Kramer, 458 FINAL FUNNY CAR STANDINGS Matt Hagan, 1,020 Tommy Johnson Jr., 915 Jack Beckman, 848 Ron Capps, 828 Bob Tasca III, 679 J.R. Todd, 663 Tim Wilkerson, 615 Alexis DeJoria, 605 Paul Lee, 464 Cruz Pedregon, 436 FINAL TOP FUEL STANDINGS Steve Torrence, 1,015 Doug Kalitta, 822 Billy Torrence, 793 Leah Pruett, 754 Antron Brown, 709 Shawn Langdon, 595 Justin Ashley, 594 Clay Millican, 493 Tony Schumacher, 464 Terry McMillen, 436

Several months ago Corey LaJoie announced his decision to leave Go FAS Racing at the end of this season, and on last weeks episode of the Racing Refresh podcast I announced I was all in on LaJoie's future, and here is my case. He is the son of two time Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie, and Randy supported Corey's ARCA Series racing. . Corey has a combined 126 Cup Series starts over five season. Two of these seasons are full time efforts in 2019 and 2020 with his current team Go Fas Racing. LaJoie has always ran for backmarker teams including Randy Humphrey Racing in 2014, BK Racing in 2017, and Tri Star Racing in 2018. LaJoie has never been competitive, but he has gotten consistently better. LaJoie's best season so far is this season, he is 29th in points, and only has 1 Top 10, but his average finish is 25.2. His 2019 season was fairly similar including a 29th place points finish, 2 Top 10s, and an average finish of 25.9. Although LaJoie's improvements from 2019 to 2020 his season has been plagued by mechanical failures including an astonishing nine fuel related issues. Although LaJoie has brought some funding to the team they are still vastly underfunded. LaJoie has had some bright spots including the Las Vegas spring race, Martinsville spring race, and the first race at Texas. LaJoie's biggest success is his influx of sponsors notably Built Bar, Drydene, and Schluter Systems. LaJoie is growing his brand through his MRN podcast Sunday Money, and his saying "Stacking Pennies," and has developed a loyal, loud fan base. In my opinion Corey is a good fit for a developing team like JTG Daughtery Racing, and possibly going part time in some top tier Xfinity Series rides possibly for JRM, or Kaulig. LaJoie is a driver we have never seen in a competitive ride, and its time he gets that chance. LaJoie constantly talks about the struggles with his equipment on his podcast, and if nothing else Corey should have the opportunity to prove he can do it.