AVONDALE, Ariz. – It is never easy to lose a Cup championship. Disappointment is inevitable but the three eliminated title contenders left Phoenix at peace after giving everything they had.
Ross Chastain, a non-playoff driver, won the season finale at Phoenix. Ryan Blaney finished second and celebrated his first Cup championship. Title contenders Christopher Bell, William Byron and Kyle Larson all fell short of winning the title.
None of these drivers made critical errors that took them out of contention over the course of 312 laps. Bell finished 36th but only after a brake rotor exploded and sent him into the outside wall. Larson and Byron finished third and fourth.
“I’m at peace knowing that’s all I had today,” Larson said. “I know it didn’t look like it that last run but that was all I have. The team did a really good job of putting us in that spot.
“…Even though I didn’t feel like I had the best car, I had an opportunity, so it’s a bummer when you don’t win. At the same point, I’m probably — coming up this close — I’m probably more eager for the following season already.”
Larson started fourth. He didn’t lead any laps but spent the afternoon inside of the top 10. Part of this was his car’s speed. Part of it was a pit crew that gained him spots on pit road.
“The only reason we were in the hunt, was pit road, pit crew obviously,” Larson said. “The way we executed our pit road lights, the engineers and everybody who maps that out and everything, I felt like, yeah, I just wanted to keep coming down pit road.”
Byron had the dominant car early. He led 95 laps and became the second driver this season to surpass 1,000 laps led in 2023. Larson was the first.
The situation completely changed for Byron in the middle of stage 2.
The track changed as more rubber was laid down. This took Byron out of contention for the win, to the point that he fell more than two seconds behind Blaney and Larson after the final restart. He became the first driver to lose the championship at Phoenix after winning the first pit stall.
“I mean, it’s a bit of a letdown based on how we started the race,” Byron said. “As soon as we got into stage 2, trying to figure out how do we manage what we have, maybe make it a little bit better if we can. But we just need more on the short tracks. We just struggled as a team on the short tracks.
“We had a great season, a lot to be proud of, a lot of really solid races, communicating well as a team. I feel like all that stuff can just go up a notch hopefully, just have a bit more speed at certain tracks that we know are important. Definitely down the stretch here it was tough. We didn’t have really what we needed, but that’s okay.”
Bell, who made his second consecutive appearance in the Championship 4, never had an opportunity to contend for the championship. He started 13th and reached ninth by the end of stage 1 but ultimately ended the day last.
Bell failed to win the championship for the second time in two seasons. He expressed disappointment about the outcome and being unable to contend with Blaney, Larson and Byron. The disappointment did not overshadow his excitement about future opportunities.
“I’m very proud of the effort put forth by our team to get to the Championship 4, but I do feel like we left a lot on the table at various races throughout the year,” Bell said. “I’m excited about the future. We haven’t reached our potential yet.”