And then there were four.
The 2022 NASCAR playoffs have been whittled down to four contenders after nine races, leaving Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott to battle it out in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway this weekend.
Logano and Elliott are vying for their second Cup Series titles, while Bell and Chastain hope to hoist the Bill France Cup for the first time.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Here’s everything you need to know about the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix:
Phoenix entry list
There are 36 drivers on the entry list for Phoenix. Since up to 40 cars can qualify for a race, all 36 teams will race on Sunday.
Ty Gibbs will fill in for Kurt Busch (concussion) for the 16th straight race, while Alex Bowman (concussion) will return after missing the last five races.
Here's the full list of participants:
What is the Phoenix race schedule?
This race weekend features an extended practice and qualifying session.
Practice for all 36 drivers will take place on Friday at 8 p.m. ET, running for 50 minutes. For qualifying on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, the drivers will be split into two groups and each driver will make one single lap. The five fastest drivers in each group advance to the final round, where the remaining 10 drivers will run another lap to determine the pole winner.
The NASCAR Cup Series Championship begins at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 6.
What is the NASCAR TV schedule this weekend?
Friday, Nov. 4 (USA Network, streaming)
- Practice: 8 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports app and online
Saturday, Nov. 5 (USA Network, streaming)
- Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports app and online
Sunday, Nov. 6 (NBC, Peacock and streaming)
- NASCAR Countdown to Green: 1:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports app and online
- Cup Series Championship: 3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports app and online
Who is still in the NASCAR playoffs?
As aforementioned, the playoff field is down to just four: Logano, Bell, Chastain and Elliott.
Logano and Bell locked up their Championship 4 spots with wins in the Round of 8 at Las Vegas and Martinsville, respectively. Chastain and Elliott, meanwhile, advanced based on points.
While points mattered through the first 35 races of the season, that’s all out the window at Phoenix. The format for the Championship 4 is simple: Whichever one of these four drivers crosses the finish line first after 312 laps is the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion. The champion doesn’t have to win the race – he just has to beat the other three finalists.
Who was eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs?
Twelve drivers have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon were eliminated after the Round of 16.
Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman were eliminated after the Round of 12.
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Chase Briscoe were eliminated after the Round of 8.
Which drivers have won at Phoenix?
Eight of the 36 drivers racing Sunday have won at Phoenix: Harvick, Busch, Logano, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, Briscoe and Martin Truex Jr.
Harvick leads all active drivers with a record nine Phoenix victories. Busch has three wins, while Logano and Hamlin each have two. Elliott (2020), Larson (2021), Truex (2021) and Briscoe (2022) have one win apiece.
NASCAR odds for Phoenix race this weekend
Since the current playoff format began in 2014, the final race of each season has been won by the champion. The Championship 4 drivers have been even more dominant since the finale moved to Phoenix in 2020, with the competitors finishing 1-2-3-4 in 2020 and 1-2-3-5 in 2021.
But Logano, Bell, Chastain and Elliott haven’t always been the best drivers at Phoenix when you look at the track history. Harvick, along with his record nine wins, holds an 8.7 average finish in 39 Phoenix starts. Hamlin (10.6 average finish in 34 starts) and Busch (10.7 in 34 starts) are the other usual contenders in the desert.
Elliott holds the best average finish at Phoenix (10.7 in 13 starts) among the Championship 4 drivers, ahead of Logano (13.1 in 27 starts), Bell (17.0 in five starts) and Chastain (20.5 in eight starts). In the race at Phoenix in March 2022, Chastain finished second behind Briscoe.
Here are some of the odds to win this weekend before practice and qualifying, courtesy of our betting partner, PointsBet:
- Chase Elliott, +250
- Christopher Bell, +360
- Joey Logano, +420
- Ross Chastain, +420
- Kyle Larson, +1300
- Denny Hamlin, +1800
- Ryan Blaney, +2000
- Kevin Harvick, +2200
- William Byron, +3300
- Martin Truex Jr., +3300
- Chase Briscoe, +3500
- Kyle Busch, +4000
- Tyler Reddick, +5000
- Bubba Wallace, +6000
- Alex Bowman, +9000
Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.