Champions Set To Be Crowned In Phoenix

November 2, 2022|NASCAR

11/02/2022 By: Sheldon Wickwar The 2022 NASCAR season ends for all three series this weekend, as another exciting year of racing concludes at Phoenix Raceway. Twelve drivers, four from each series still have a chance to take home the coveted prize. The truck series final contenders feature a duo from powerhouse Thorsport Motorsports, in the form of Wisconsinite Ty Majeski and series defending champion Ben Rhodes. Also joining in the truck series championship four are Zane Smith from Front Row Motorsports and Chandler Smith from Kyle Busch Motorsports. The final four in the Xfinity series features three Junior Motorsports entries and a Joe Gibbs Racing entry. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, and Josh Berry represent JRM, and Ty Gibbs represents JGR. The NASCAR Cup Series final four consists of Joey Logano from Team Penske, Ross Chastain from Trackhouse Racing, Christopher Bell from JGR, and Chase Elliott from Hendrick Motorsports. Looking further into the truck series, Ty Majeski has been on fire lately, as he has won two out of the series last three races. Majeski a twenty eight year old from Wisconsin got his career started at local short tracks in the state. He has won numerous super late model shows, and still competes in the SLM car throughout the year when the truck series is off. Majeski has ran a consistent season all year and picked up his first career win at Bristol Motor Speedway to lock himself into this weekend's championship event. Zane Smith is a twenty three year old driver out of California, who has been racing in the truck series for three years, all with Front Row Motorsports, Smith has won three races so far this year with the latest win coming at Kansas Speedway back in May. Smith has ran a very consistent season with only three finishes outside of the top twenty all year long. Ben Rhodes is a twenty five year old out of Kentucky and the series defending champion. Rhodes is in his seventh year behind the wheel of a truck. Rhodes has had an up and down season, as he has struggled to bring consistent top ten runs together. He won one race so far this year at Bristol in the spring when there was dirt on the surface. Chandler Smith is a twenty year old out of Georgia, who is looking to end the Toyota era at KBM on a high note. Smith is in his second full time season in the truck series. Smith picked up three wins on the year coming at Las Vegas in the spring, Pocono and Richmond in the fall. Smith has been real consistent this year as he has finished every race in the top twenty-five, and has finished top ten in fifteen races. The unofficial "Shelly Dubs" pick would be...Ty Majeski. Who is going to slow down a Wisconsinite who has been winning left and right. The SLM momentum has carried into the truck and he has picked his level of performance up even higher in the playoffs. Majeski will look to make Thorsport back to back champions! Looking further into the Xfinity Series, Noah Gragson, a twenty four year old from Vegas, has flat out dominanted the series this year, under the old system Gragson would easily win the championship. But this ain't your granddaddy's series, if you want this trophy you got to go out and grab it at Phoenix! Gragson is in his fourth season with JRM in the Xfinity Series and has had a very successful season. He has won eight, yes count them eight races this year! Including a stretch where he won four races in a row at Darlington, Kansas, Bristol and Texas. YEEHAW! Justin Allgaier is a long time veteran of the Xfinity Series looking to capture an elusive championship. Allgaier a thirty six year old from Illinois, has been with JRM for seven years. Allgaier has won three races so far this year, and has placed in the top ten numerous times this season. Josh Berry is another short track boy that has made it to NASCAR, Berry a thirty two year old from Tennessee, is in his second season with JRM. Berry has won three races this year the latest coming at Vegas which locked him into the championship field. He also has twenty-two top ten finishes on the year. Ty Gibbs is in his first full time year in the Xfinity Series, he is a twenty year old out of North Carolina and the grandson of former NFL head coach and JGR owner Joe Gibbs. Ty Gibbs has six wins on the year as he has been putting on a show on Saturdays, as well as filling in for an injured Kurt Busch in the Cup Series. Gibbs has had a couple on track issues this year, with the latest coming last week at Martinsville as he wrecked fellow JGR teammate Brandon Jones en route to his sixth win on the year. The unofficial "Shelly Dubs" pick would be...Justin Allgaier! I think Allgaier can put a solid day together on Saturday, and will survive a chaotic night of action to finish highest of the four contenders, en route to his first career championship. Looking further into the Cup Series, Joey Logano represents the famed Team Penske, he is a thirty two year old out of Connecticut, who won the series title in 2018. Logano started the year off by winning the Clash an exhibition race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum which was the first ever race with the Next-Gen car. Logano has won three regular season races the latest coming at Las Vegas. Logano has won thirty races in his cup career that originally started with Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano won the 2015 Daytona 500 and was rookie of the year in 2009. Christopher Bell is in his third season with NASCAR's top series, and second with JGR. Bell has three wins on the year the latest coming at Martinsville, just a few days ago. The twenty seven year old Oklahoman is looking for his first career championship. He picked up his first career win last year at the Charlotte Roval, and his last two wins have came with his back against the wall, in need to win, to advance scenarios. Ross Chastain is a watermelon farmer out of Florida! The twenty nine year old has been the talk of the world this week as he RIPPED the boards on the final lap at Martinsville to slide into the championship four, knocking rival Denny Hamlin out. Chastain is in his sixth season competing in the Cup Series, and is in his first year with brand new team Trackhouse Racing. Ross Chastain has won two races this year, one at Circuit of The Americas in Texas, and one at Talladega Superspeedway. Chastain's win at COTA was his first career victory and team Trackhouse's first career win. Chase Elliott is in his seventh full time season behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports cup entry. The twenty seven year old from Georgia is the son of former NASCAR star Bill Elliott. Chase Elliott won his first career championship in 2020, and this year has picked up five wins. Elliott's team has been pretty consistent all year long, with just a handful of disappointing finishes. The unofficial "Shelly Dubs" pick would be...Joey Logano! I believe FORD will be strong at Phoenix again this year, as the first race at Phoenix this year fellow FORD driver Chase Briscoe picked up the win. Logano's team has been real strong and consistent this year, and they will nail the "money stop" Sunday afternoon to give Logano his second championship!