Well, the Martinsville mayhem is complete. Now we know who the four contenders for the NASCAR Cup series Championship will be. Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin. After Briscoe won the opening race of the playoffs, I wrote an article where I declared Chase Briscoe the Championship favorite. Today, I stand by that article 100%. Chase Briscoe is STILL the championship favorite.

While Briscoe may not be as overlooked as he has been all season, he continues to be overlooked. Many people, experts and fans alike, will talk about William Byron being the overlooked championship contender. In a sense, this makes Chase Briscoe overlooked in being overlooked. Others will talk about it finally being Denny Hamlin’s year to win it all. Still others expect Kyle Larson to win another championship.

I don’t care what any of them are saying. As I drove to work this morning in the dark, foggy, and rainy conditions, I could see it happening as clearly as ever. This is Chase Briscoe’s year to win it all. Maybe I’m biased, being a Stewart-Haas Racing fan. Sure, that’s a possibility. Still, something about Chase Briscoe just says “next Tony Stewart” to me. It’s not a purely qualitative guess either. Briscoe has the numbers to back it up as well. That’s why I’m sticking with my prediction from several weeks ago. I’ll even take it a step further. After Phoenix, Chase Briscoe will have won his first of multiple Cup series championships.

The Competition

Chase Briscoe Championship

Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

HMS: Kyle Larson & William Byron

While Larson’s teammate, William Byron, seems to have all the momentum, Larson has actually won a championship before. Furthermore, his playoff performance after a tough first round has just been better. I think Kyle Larson will be the toughest competition for Chase Briscoe. He has only finished outside the top 7 once since the round of 12 began. That finish was at Talladega.

William Byron on the other hand has had a rather mediocre playoff run. He only has two top 5s in the entire playoffs. Byron finished 3rd at New Hampshire and he won at Martinsville. That doesn’t mean he should be written off. Momentum does come into play. I just don’t think a 36th place and a 25th place finish followed by a win is real momentum.

Both of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers have been great in the final race of the year. In the past two championship races at Phoenix, each has a 3rd and 4th place finish. It would be a serious mistake to write either of these drivers off. I just expect Larson to outrun his teammate at Phoenix.

Chase Briscoe Championship

Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

JGR Teammate: Denny Hamlin

While I consider Kyle Larson to be Briscoe’s toughest competition for the championship, I consider Denny Hamlin to be his most dangerous competition. We have seen that it doesn’t matter if Hamlin is racing a teammate or even one of the cars he owns, he will do whatever it takes. At Hamlin’s age, you never know when it might be that your performance all of a sudden just drops off of a cliff. For all we know, this could be Hamlin’s last real chance to win a championship. You know that Denny Hamlin understands this, as well.

I sincerely hope that Chase Briscoe understands this as well. When it comes to Denny Hamlin at Phoenix, Briscoe needs to race him the way he knows Denny is going to race him. Yes, it would be a shame if Hamlin never wins a championship. It would be a bigger shame if Briscoe didn’t race him just as dirty as Hamlin is going to race him for the title. I sincerely hope he talks with his former team owner Tony Stewart and his former teammate, Kevin Harvick prior to this Championship race at Phoenix.

Chase Briscoe’s Time to Shine

I say this because it is Briscoe’s time to shine. Given everything that went down with Stewart-Haas Racing, what a story it would be for Briscoe to win the championship. He’s not just racing for himself and his slice of current Joe Gibbs Racing or Toyota fans. Chase Briscoe is racing for all the Stewart-Haas Racing fans that have been left in the dark by their team’s departure. He won for them in their final year to get them to the playoffs. Now it’s time for him to win the championship for them in his first season with a brand new team.

He’s been more consistent than Hamlin and has been flying under the radar for most of the season. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s more than the numbers. I see Chase Briscoe as a driver who could be the next Tony Stewart. He may not win as many races as Kevin Harvick over his career, but he could definitely win a few championships and a lot of races. Tony Stewart began his career at Joe Gibbs Racing and finished it at Stewart-Haas Racing. Chase Briscoe could very well do the exact reverse.

This is his first year with a brand new team. The 19 team had some struggles in the final years of Martin Truex, Jr.’s career. Chase Briscoe had plenty of struggles in the final years of Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s just too good of a story to not happen. Everything seems to have aligned, and that’s why I believe that Chase Briscoe wins his first of multiple Cup series Championships at Phoenix this upcoming weekend.