MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The cars of the drivers that vie for the title Sunday at Phoenix Raceway will sport yellow windshield banners and yellow spoilers.
But only Kyle Larson’s uniform among the four drivers will carry this distinction: Champion.
Larson is the only former Cup champion vying for the Cup title, but whether that makes a difference is debatable, as he faces three drivers who can point to their seasons and say they should be the favorite.
Can Kyle Larson get into victory lane for another Cup title at Phoenix?
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin (most wins this year with six), JGR’s Chase Briscoe (most top fives with 15) and Hendrick’s William Byron (most laps led and regular-season champion) can argue their years have been more consistent than Larson’s.
But Larson, who carries a 23-race winless streak into the title race (the best finisher Sunday among the four at Phoenix wins the title), isn’t just the only driver who has won a Cup title. His Hendrick crew chief, Cliff Daniels, is the only crew chief among the four who has won a Cup title in that role.
Larson won his title in 2021 in his first season with Hendrick. He also made the Champ 4 in 2023 and finished second among the four finalists.
Larson eyes adding another piece of hardware to his trophy case.
“Having a championship under your belt and doing it at Phoenix the way the [No.] 5 car [of Larson] has done in the past, all that experience and knowledge is good to have in your back pocket,” Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon said.
“It’s going to be an epic battle. You got four cars, two organizations, that are going to give it everything. It’s going to be a fascinating week of preparation, seeing how it unfolds at the racetrack in Phoenix.”
Larson has brought the speed lately with seven races in the nine playoff events where he has started in the first three rows.
“I really don’t think [my title matters],” Larson said. “It’s been so long and we all have [experience]. Chase doesn’t have any Championship 4 experience but I don’t even think that matters either,” Larson said.
“We’ll see. I would like to win a championship and not have a new champion next week, but it’s going to be tough, for sure. It always is.”
If Ryan Blaney had prevailed Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, many would have pointed to him as the favorite because of Team Penske’s dominance at Phoenix in the championship races the last few years.
Larson teammate William Byron won to earn his championship spot. Larson is the only driver among the Champ 4 who didn’t win in the semifinal round.
“The door is wide open,” Larson said. “I really couldn’t tell you who would be the favorite now. Where I think if Blaney would have won, we all would say he’s the favorite.
“We’ll see. It’s going to be a fun week of prep.”
When it comes to prep, few would argue with the ability of Daniels, who hopes that having a championship on the resume can help Larson and the team get through the weekend.
“It’s good to have that experience, and that can sort of numb out some of the highs and lows of what the emotion can be,” Larson said. “And this is certainly not a time for emotion. This is time to put our nose down and get to work.”
But Daniels said the preparation is different than when Larson won in 2021 — the last race with the previous generation of Cup car where the teams made most of the parts and pieces.
With the current Next Gen car, teams buy the majority of their parts and pieces from a single-source supplier, meaning there is less tailoring of the car to a driver’s specific needs.
“I would hope that that experience would go with us, but I will say that from the Gen 6 era to the Next Gen era, there’s just a difference in the race weekend,” Daniels said. “It’s hard to explain. It’s just different from what it was in 2021.
“We’ve learned quite a bit every year in the Next Gen era, certainly what mostly we’ve done wrong and what we need to do better.”
Daniels indicated that while having won a title four years ago could mean something, it won’t mean much against the other three drivers, considering the season those drivers have had.
“To be honest, the tokens in whatever that category would be probably is just going to be a slim margin compared to how strong the field of the four really is,” Daniels said. “If you really turn up the microscope on each one of these four teams, they’re really good teams, great drivers, great crew chiefs.”
So is Larson the favorite?
“It’s hard for me, even in our position, to give anyone the upper hand,” Daniels said. “I would never bet against myself. So in this case, I know how battle tested [our No.] 5 team is.
“I know how tough we are. I know how tough Kyle is and how good he is. So I would consider us the favorite, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a really tight field. It’s going to be a great race. I’m looking forward to it.”
Larson feels the same. He isn’t someone who is going to boast that he is the favorite, but it is also pretty easy for him to analyze the field.
“You can make a case for any of us and why they deserve being in the championship,” Larson said. “We’re all four deserving, and all four teams are as well.
“So, you know, may the best man win.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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