Getty Cup Series drivers race at Phoenix Raceway on March 13.
The NASCAR Cup Series drivers will return to Phoenix Raceway at the end of the year for the championship race. The hosts of the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast are not exactly overjoyed, according to comments from the March 14 episode.
The three veteran spotters in TJ Majors (Brad Keselowski), Freddie Kraft (Bubba Wallace), and Brett Griffin (Justin Haley) voiced some criticism while discussing the most recent trip to Phoenix Raceway, which Chase Briscoe won after holding off Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick. Griffin specifically noted that the race was “boring” except for the spins that created late-race restarts. The trio then discussed how Phoenix isn’t the ideal setting to determine the season champion.
“It’s literally my least favorite place to watch us race.”
Is the quality of racing at Phoenix worthy of the championship? Door Bumper Clear shares their thoughts.
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“I think we’ve said that for two or three years on here, like since they moved it there,” Kraft said during the March 14 episode. “No matter what package you go with, no matter whatever, it just doesn’t put on a good race for the Cup Series. I don’t remember leaving there going, ‘Holy s***, that was an amazing race in Phoenix.'”
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“If you look at the races, the race tracks that we use and utilize to end each round of the playoffs, it’s like holy exciting,” Griffin added. “But then the finale — as we’ve said on here before — Homestead is lights out. Ten times better than Phoenix. But honestly, there’s literally… I would take Loudon over Phoenix. I would take anything. I would take Pocono Raceway over Phoenix. It is literally my least favorite place to watch us race.”
Phoenix Has Been the Finale for Multiple Seasons
RETWEET TO CONGRATULATE 2021 NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPION KYLE LARSON! 10 wins. What a year!
There have been multiple locations for the championship race throughout NASCAR history. The Cup Series drivers have battled for the trophy at locations such as Atlanta Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Ontario Motor Speedway (California).
The past two seasons, for comparison, have featured Phoenix Raceway as the site of the championship race. Chase Elliott held off Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin during the first championship race at the one-mile track. One year later, Kyle Larson took home the title after holding off Martin Truex Jr. on the final restart.
The trend will continue during the 2022 season. The Cup Series drivers will return to Phoenix Raceway on November 6 for the Season Finale 500. The remaining four drivers will battle for the Bill France Cup, as well as bragging rights for the next few months.
Drivers Have Called for Moving the Championship Race
The championship race, which NASCAR held at Homestead-Miami Speedway from 2002-2019, delivered many exciting moments for the fans before it became a regular-season afterthought in 2020 and 2021. However, the constant return led to some comments from drivers about wanting to rotate locations.
Kevin Harvick, in particular, said in 2018 that it’s not fair to have the championship race in one market each year. He then went a step further and called for NASCAR to rotate the tracks that hosted playoff races, as well as the championship event.
“I’m just speaking as a guy who’s winging it. I’m not running two publicly traded companies that have investors and making the decisions, but I like change,” Harvick said in 2018, per ESPN.
“I like a rotation of the last 10 races. I like the rotation of the championship race. I like moving the All-Star Race around to different cities … to have these cities participate in what they’re doing for these big events.”
Harvick’s explanation at the time was that NASCAR needed to build enthusiasm for its races in different markets. He argued that you can’t build that intrigue and enthusiasm while holding the races in the same markets on the same dates.
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