Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs value of ‘momentum’ in NASCAR, carrying a win into Phoenix

Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t sure if momentum will be a factor in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt shared his thoughts on the value of momentum for William Byron after winning at Martinsville.

“You go out and you haul ass and dominate Martinsville, but when you unload that car and the thing don’t cut through the center, what’s momentum doing for you at that point?” Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked. Byron’s got to unload a car at Phoenix, go into practice, and get out there. In the first five or 10 laps, it’s either going to be, ‘Man, this car’s amazing,’ or ‘Oh, boys, we got some work to do.’

“What’s momentum doing at that point? Is momentum going to help you fix the car? So I don’t know if I beleive in momentum. I think it helps your attitude, it helps your personality, but I think the weight of the situation is so heavy. The weight of the real opportunity of becoming a champion is so in your face that you don’t carry momentum. You might carry momentum from race 10 to race 11, but man, when they got done at Martinsville, they were all greeted with the reality that now they’re going to go race for a championship.”

Who will win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix?

Byron clinched a spot in the Championship 4 and will compete against Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Larson. Some people may think that Byron has the most momentum coming into Phoenix, but his three opponents have had great 2025 seasons and could easily win the title on Sunday.

After the Martinsville race, Byron discussed the challenges his team has faced this year to reach the championship race.

“We just worked so hard, all these guys work so hard. You put everything into Sundays,” Byron said. “Sometimes you don’t get anything in return. That’s been the last couple weeks. Honestly, throughout the year, had some close calls. But yeah, sometimes life is that way. You just got to keep being resilient. We were. Just feels damn good.”

Byron, Hamlin, Briscoe, and Larson will battle for a title at Phoenix on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The race will air on NBC and stream on Peacock.