NASCAR championship: Predicting the winner of the 2021 Cup Series title
It's Kyle Larson vs. Denny Hamlin vs. Chase Elliott vs. Martin Truex Jr. for NASCAR's 2021 championship.
When the black-and-white checkered flag flies Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, either Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. or Denny Hamlin will be crowned the NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Larson and Hamlin are racing for their first titles, while Truex is racing for his second and Elliott is looking to be NASCAR’s first back-to-back champ since Jimmie Johnson in the 2009 and 2010 seasons (and that was the back half of a five-title win streak).
Although the last seven champions have also won the race itself, that’s not a requirement to be crowned. The champion will be the highest finisher among the final Championship 4 drivers, but to beat the other three, it’s very likely he’ll will have to win the race.
Going into NASCAR’s season finale at Phoenix, For The Win asked each of the Championship 4 drivers why they think they’re going to win on Sunday, and the answers ranged from “I don’t know” to because “I’ve won a championship before.”
But here are our picks for NASCAR’s 2021 Cup Series champion.