This is notable because the vast majority of the year-end championship purse is distributed based on owner ranking and not driver ranking. In other words, Blaney could win the Cup Series championship in Phoenix, but his team can’t finish higher than 17th in the standings.
In this hypothetical scenario, Blaney would receive contract bonuses for winning the championship, not to mention emergency sponsorship money awarded to the champion, but the champion owner would receive the champion’s share of the purse.
This could be the Hendrick Motorsports #5 as that car advanced to the Roval while Larson did not as there was no Team Penske #12 ahead of them in the standings. Once again, the No. 12 Penske did not advance to the owner’s round of 16 as the No. 45 23XI Racing qualified in its place.
This is why 23XI Racing moved the entire No. 23 team to the No. 45 at the start of the playoffs. Their calculation was that Bubba Wallace and Bootie Barker were a stronger bet to finish higher in the most profitable rankings against rookie Ty Gibbs.
That decision paid off when Wallace won at Kansas to advance to the owner’s round of 16. Even when Wallace was suspended for an on-track retaliatory action against Larson, the previously eliminated number 45 continued to battle for fifth place in the owners’ standings with John. Hunter Nemechek in Homestead.
It’s the same for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48, which continued to place fifth in the owners’ standings even after Alex Bowman was sidelined due to his own concussion symptoms, as this These are the rankings that count when it comes to end-of-year points. funds.
This presents a unique scenario for Phoenix as Larson could win the race and the owners’ championship, ahead of a drivers’ champion in second or further behind. Theoretically, Blaney could make the final four drivers and win at Phoenix to win the championship, but Larson could finish second and still win the owners’ championship.
Or, one of the other contenders who are both eligible for driver and owner points could win at Phoenix and render the whole point moot from a championship standpoint.
