NASCAR insiders make championship pick heading into Phoenix

The NASCAR Cup Series will crown their champion for 2024 this weekend, returning to Phoenix Raceway once again for their season finale.

Predictions for Sunday’s race are rolling in, as Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and William Byron will fight for the title as part of the Championship 4. On the latest episode of The Teardown, NASCAR insiders Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck locked in their picks.

“I’m going to say Blaney,” Bianchi predicted. “Blaney (goes back-to-back), the first time in this format. Blaney becomes the first driver in this format to go back to back. Finished fifth in the spring race here. Very good here. Been in — you look at Gateway, you look at Iowa. They’ve had speed on these kind of tracks.

“I’m going to go Blaney. And last year, he said the momentum from this win carried him through and they rode that. I think he rides it again. I honestly, I know you’re going to yell at me again because you like to do that, but I will say would not be at all shocked if Joey Logano wins this championship.”

As Bianchi mentioned, Blaney won his way into the Championship 4 at Martinsville for the second-straight season. He didn’t dominate the race, but he was the car to beat on the long-run, and he capped off the final stage by chasing down Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Now, he’ll race in Arizona to defend his title. 

It’s easy to see why Blaney is the odds-on favorite to win the title, and why many are picking him to go back-to-back. While he didn’t win the race in 2023, he came in P2 to Ross Chastain, and that was the best of all his fellow Championship 4 wheelmen. If he wins back-to-back championships, he’ll continue authoring an incredible story in the Cup Series.

On the other hand, Blaney is facing some stiff competition, and Gluck believes it’ll be Reddick who pulls the upset this weekend, capturing the title for Toyota in the process.

“I think I’m going to go with Reddick,” Gluck stated. “Reddick actually led, I think, the second most laps in the Phoenix Spring Race. I believe he also led a chunk of laps at Loudoun. I just think that Toyota, in general, we’ve seen a lot of speed from them at those types of tracks.”

Reddick was thanking his lucky stars he won at Homestead-Miami Speedway during this past weekend’s race, as he didn’t have a car to compete at Martinsville. How much of that was Reddick’s team looking ahead to Phoenix remains to be seen, and whether it pays off or not will be the question answered in Arizona. 

Regardless, Reddick is the newbie in the Championship 4, as all three other drivers racing for the title at Phoenix Raceway have dealt with the pomp and circumstance before. The regular season champion is a bit of an unknown coming into the weekend in that sense. He’s performed well at Phoenix in the past, but he’s never won in Arizona, finishing third twice in nine races at the track.

Sunday’s trip to Phoenix Raceway for the championship-deciding race should be an awesome close to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Time will tell if the crew from The Teardown is right with their predictions, but Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and William Byron will race their hearts out.