NASCAR ends unique Championship 4 streak in 2020

Following Matt Crafton’s elimination from the NASCAR Truck Series playoffs, there is no chance for any back-to-back champions this year.

Phoenix Raceway will be the site where NASCAR will crown the champions for all three national series this year, and all three series will have different champions than last year.

While we have only seen three back-to-back champions in any of these three series since 2010, never before in Championship 4 history have we seen no reigning champions in any of the three series.

Kevin Harvick, who won the Cup Series title in the Championship 4’s first year in 2014, made it back in 2015, and 2015 champion Kyle Busch made it back in 2016.

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2016 Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter returned in 2017, and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. returned in 2018. 2018 Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt and Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick both returned in 2019.

In the Cup Series this year, reigning champion Kyle Busch finally earned his first win this season in the round of 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway. However, he was eliminated after the round of 12.

The Xfinity Series saw two-time reigning champion Tyler Reddick move up to the Cup Series this year with Richard Childress Racing, and none of the 12 playoff drivers have won a championship in any of the top three NASCAR series.

Finally, after Matt Crafton won the Truck Series championship last year despite being winless, he won at the second race at Kansas Speedway in July. But he saw his hopes for a fourth career title dashed when he was eliminated from the round of 8 following the penultimate race of the year at Martinsville Speedway.

Half of the Cup Series Championship 4 drivers have won a Cup Series championship, with Brad Keselowski winning in 2012 and Joey Logano winning in 2018. Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin are seeking their first titles. Elliott did win the 2014 Xfinity Series championship, and while Hamlin has never hoisted a NASCAR championship trophy, he has won 44 Cup Series races.

In the Xfinity Series, none of the Championship 4 drivers have ever won a NASCAR championship before on any level. 34-year-old Justin Allgaier is the veteran of the group. Now in his 10th season as a full-time driver, he has finished always inside the top seven in the championship standings, finishing in a career-best third place in 2011, 2016 and 2017. This is his fourth Championship 4 appearance in the last five seasons.

Chase Briscoe finished in fifth place in the Xfinity Series championships standings last year in his first season as a full-time driver. He leads the series with most victories this year and has finished no lower than eighth in three starts at Phoenix Raceway. He will graduate to the Cup Series next year, replacing Clint Bowyer behind the wheel of the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Austin Cindric has won a career-high five races this year and notched career-highs in top five finishes, top 10 finishes and laps led. His success resulted in Team Penske announcing that he will return to the Xfinity Series next year before becoming the driver of the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in the 2022 Cup Series season.

As for his career success, this is Cindric’s first Championship 4 appearance in the Xfinity Series in three seasons as a full-time driver. Cindric has Championship 4 experience in the Truck Series from 2017 when he finished in third place in the standings.

In his first two seasons as a full-time Xfinity Series driver, he finished in eighth and sixth place in the standings, respectively. He has dramatically improved this year. However, he only has one top four finish in five career starts at Phoenix Raceway. While the champion is not required to win the race, the champion has, in fact, won the last two championship races.

Finally, Justin Haley has secured three Xfinity Series victories this season, thereby joining the exclusive club of drivers who have won in all three NASCAR national series. Haley has steadily improved in his three Xfinity Series starts at Phoenix Raceway. He has finished 12th, seventh, and fifth.

Haley re-signed with Kaulig Racing for 2021. They are rumored to field a full-time Cup Series entry in 2022. If Haley wins the championship this year, he immediately etches his name as the favorite for that ride.

Of the Truck Series quartet, Brett Moffitt is the only former champion. He won the 2018 championship and has now qualified for the Championship 4 for three straight seasons. His GMS Racing teammates Zane Smith and Sheldon Creed are making their first Championship 4 appearances. Interestingly, Creed bested Smith to win the 2018 ARCA Menards Series championship.

The lone outlier of that Championship 4 is ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger. Enfinger won his way into the Championship 4 and will look to make it back-to-back championships for his organization. He also won the 2015 ARCA championship, so he already has some championship hardware.

When the checkered flag flies for each of the three NASCAR series at Phoenix Raceway, each will welcome a different champion than last year. But who will it be?

Next. NASCAR Playoffs: Pros and Cons. dark

The four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona is scheduled to host the three NASCAR series for their respective Championship 4 races this upcoming weekend, with the Truck Series race on Friday, November 6, the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, November 7 and the Cup Series race Sunday, November 8. Who is your pick to win the championships?

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