AVONDALE, Ariz. — Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida had been the sight of championship weekend for NASCAR’s three national series for nearly two decades. In 2020, Phoenix Raceway became the new venue to host the season finale, and after a year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 race weekend did not disappoint.
The Arizona track sold out its grandstands for Sunday. Last year, only 8,000 spectators were able to attend the Cup Series finale due to the COVID protocols implemented by the state. There was a buzz in the West Valley — reminiscent of the ones you’d find at Homestead between 2002 and 2019 or even during the years when Phoenix was the penultimate race on the schedule.
There were practice and qualifying sessions for the races during the weekend. For most of the 2021 season, the top three series showed up only to race, and the lineups were set by a convoluted formula based on standings, fastest laps, and finishes from the previous event.
Phoenix had what felt like a “normal” weekend. The fans showed up in loads, and cars were on track throughout the three days. NASCAR felt like an “event” again, which has rarely been the case due to the pandemic.
Friday night gave fans and media members a night to remember. ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes won the Camping World Truck Series championship and showed up to his post-race press conference with his friend “Bud.”
If you haven’t seen the videos by now or can’t figure out who Bud is, he was referring to Bud Light, the beer he consumed several of before entering the Media Center.
Rhodes and his No. 99 team celebrated after the race. His crew chief even did a “Shooey,” the famous champagne-out-of-the-boot drinking celebration Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo does after a successful Grand Prix.
Rhodes admitted his intoxication, and much to the dismay of his P.R. representative and his embarrassed wife, he gave an animated press discussion that no one in the room will ever forget … except maybe Rhodes the next morning.
The ARCA Menards Series West concluded its season on Saturday, and its championship was decided in dramatic fashion. When the checkered flag waved, Ty Gibbs won the race, and Jake Drew appeared to have won the title. But defending champion Jesse Love passed a car on the final lap to create a tiebreaker in the standings and wound up the victor because of his two wins over Drew’s zero.
But who was the driver that Love passed to put him in championship position? It was none other than Drew’s teammate, Trevor Huddleston.
“I gave it my all,” Drew said. “I kept my foot in it the whole time, just driving as hard as I could to get at least one more spot and give myself a cushion.
“When we came across, they said we had it, so obviously, I was super stoked. Feel a little defeated … which, that’s OK. Drives for more.”
Later that night, the Xfinity Series ran its finale, and it was another doozy that didn’t disappoint.
Daniel Hemric had been trying to win a NASCAR race for more than seven years, and it became seemingly impossible for him to break the winless narrative. But he put the bumper to 2020 series champion Austin Cindric going into Turn 3 on the final lap and edged the No. 22 driver by no more than a meter when they crossed the finish line.
Hemric finally got his first win, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. For years, the talk was about how he was capable of doing a backflip off his car after he wins a race — exactly as Carl Edwards used to do. Hemric won his first race on the five-year anniversary of Edwards’ last Cup win, which came at Texas Motor Speedway in 2016. Thus, the backflip returned.
Who was Edwards’ crew chief for that race? It was none other than Dave Rogers — the same man who led the No. 18 Xfinity team to a title.
“I always tell my guys, you just never know, you never know when your last one’s going to be,” Rogers said. “2016, we won Texas, sitting on top of the world. I thought Carl and I are going to make a run at it for the next 10 years, win five championships along the way. Things just turned a different way at the end of the season.
“I thought about it a lot. That might be my last race win as a crew chief.
“So to come in here in a must-win type situation, get it done with Daniel, not make that my last win as a crew chief, is really special, means a lot to me.”
NASCAR has had a playoff format in some shape or form since 2004 when it introduced the Chase For The Cup. Since 2014, the championship has been an elimination-style battle, and the nature of beast with literally any type of playoff in any sport is that the best team doesn’t always win it all.
That can’t be said for the 2021 Cup Series, though. Kyle Larson, who wasn’t even sure he’d ever sit in a Cup car again 18 months ago after using a racial slur during an iRacing event on Easter 2020, dominated the season with 10 wins and capped it off with his first championship at Hendrick Motorsports.
It was his first season with the team, and he found instant success with Cliff Daniels as the crew chief on what was Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 team.
Larson has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Chili Bowl, the Knoxville Nationals, King’s Royal, and a Cup championship. He’s got a knack for winning big races, and he is a lot like his hero Tony Stewart — open to racing anything with an engine.
“This year, I’ve won so many big races, and it seems like each one I win, OK, that was my biggest win. Then you win another one, that was my biggest win. I don’t know if there’s another race that could ever top this win here today, winning the Cup Series race at Phoenix for a championship. It doesn’t get any bigger,” Larson said Sunday night.
He’s often asked about running the Indianapolis 500, and he presumably would like to run it at some point in his life. He hasn’t discussed it with Mr. Hendrick yet and acknowledges it would be a logistical challenge to race in it while focusing on his full-time job as the driver of the No. 5 Cup car.
“I would love to entertain anything, no matter what type of vehicle it may be. I like being known as a versatile race car driver. … I’m open to anything,” the champion said.
It was the last race of the Gen 6 vehicle in NASCAR. Starting with The Clash at the L.A. Coliseum in February, the series will use the Next Gen car, which will feature single lug nuts and 680 horsepower on the short tracks and road courses.
The days of traditional wheels with five lug nuts and 11-12 second pit stops are over. The days of H-style shifters are over. The days of 800 or so horsepower are over. NASCAR will use detuned engines with the most technologically advanced cars it has ever produced. The effort to make closer racing at the cost of more passing is officially underway.
Fans should cherish this weekend at Phoenix. NASCAR will look different in three months and all four races entertained. The one-mile desert oval has a reputation for producing snoozers over the years, especially in the mid-2010s when Kevin Harvick used it as his playground for every race.
But the track and its $178 million worth of renovations have produced a memorable weekend and the start of the offseason … well, for almost everyone at least.
Larson races year-round, and that word doesn’t exist in his vocabulary. At the conclusion of his championship press conference, the last thing he uttered into the microphone was, “no offseason.”
