Overview
- Sunday’s championship at Phoenix awards the title to the highest finisher among Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Chase Briscoe in a full-field race scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
- Hamlin leads the series with six wins and 60 career victories, enters as the betting favorite, and has said he will aggressively use the finale’s expanded post-practice rebuild freedoms to change setups if needed.
- The title fight splits between Joe Gibbs Racing (Hamlin, Briscoe) and Hendrick Motorsports (Larson, Byron), and all four drivers have previous Phoenix wins or strong records in the Next Gen era.
- NASCAR has convened a committee to review the playoff format and will move Championship Weekend back to Homestead-Miami in 2026 as part of a planned rotation of finale venues.
- Phoenix Raceway highlights a $178 million renovation and a reported $473 million state economic boost as it hosts what could be its last consecutive finale, while a lawsuit involving 23XI/Front Row and NASCAR heads to a Dec. 1 trial.