Championship Race: Ryan Blaney Wins 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Title

Blaney led just twice for two laps but he finished ahead of Kyle Larson (third), William Byron (fourth) and Christopher Bell (36th), which allowed him to claim the highest honor in the premier series.

“Just super proud of the effort by everybody at Team Penske who put tons and tons of hours into hard work,” Blaney said. “No one really got down. They just put their heads down and they decided to really put in a lot of work, and it showed up, especially these playoffs, especially the last five weeks. So cool to have all their hard work pay off, so they should be proud.”

Blaney’s championship not only allowed Ford to sweep NASCAR Championship Weekend with Ben Rhodes (Truck Series champion) and Cole Custer (Xfinity Series champion), but it marked the first time Team Penske won back-to-back titles (Joey Logano, 2022 Cup Series champion).

“To win back-to-back Cup titles for team owner (Roger) Penske, that’s so special,” Blaney said. “Having my family here, winning my first Cup title, I got emotional in the car. I’m not a very emotional guy.”

OTHER CHAMPIONSHIP 4 DRIVERS

“My team did a really good job all season,” Larson said. “I’m extremely proud of them. We had an up-and-down year, and we finally put together two solid weeks in a row. I don’t know if we’ve done that all year.

“A huge thank you to HendrickCars.com, Team Chevy, Valvoline, Jinya Ramen Bar, everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, everyone. We’ll come back next year and try to be stronger.”

William Byron, who led the Cup Series with six wins in 2023, finished fourth in the race and third in the final standings.

“Just really proud of this No. 24 Axalta Chevy team,” Byron said. “It’s been a great season. It stinks to come up short, but I’d like to think we’re going to be back in this position and we’re going to have more shots at it. We just have to keep working.”

Christopher Bell had a brake rotor failure early into the race and wrecked his car. He finished 36th in the race and fourth in the championship.

“I’m very proud of the effort put forth by our team to get to the Championship 4, but I do feel like we left a lot on the table at various races throughout the year,” Bell said. “I’m excited about the future. We haven’t reached our potential yet.”

OTHER RACE FACTS

“For me, for everybody with Worldwide Express, to end the season like this,” Chastain. “We lost Rob Rose (of Worldwide Express) last year, but it’s his vision that started this program. Really for Advent Health, Moose, Jockey, Kubota, all of our partners, there were some questionable times this year, and as we went, we continued to fight and prepare the same. There were some tough days and nights, and sleepless nights, but it made us even hungrier and we brought the thunder this weekend.”

NASCAR legend and future Hall of Famer Kevin Harvick wrapped up his 23-year Cup Series career with his 21st straight top-10 finish at Phoenix. Harvick finished seventh and will retire as the last full-time driver who competed in the Winston Cup era.

The final driver standings from the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season are listed below.

GRID Ranking

Drivers in the seven racing series participating in the ranking (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, World Rally Championship, Repco Supercars, MotoGP) have earned GRID Ratings, which helped determine their seeding during Week 31 of the 2023 GRID Ranking.

Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen officially clinched the 2023 GRID Ranking World Championship. Verstappen is the seventh different winner and the first to lead the GRID Ranking for the entire season.

Week 32 of the #GRIDRanking.

William Byron moved up to 11th, but Ryan Blaney did not enter the GRID Ranking. Blaney was 3 points behind Kyle Busch to get into the GRID Ranking. #F1 | #ABBFormulaE | #INDYCAR | #MotoGP | #NASCAR | #RepcoSC | #WRC pic.twitter.com/nRJpfqK2Ib

— GRID Ranking (@GridRanking) November 6, 2023

William Byron already clinched NASCAR’s GRID Rating at Homestead. Despite not winning the Cup Series title, Byron is still the 2023 NASCAR GRID Rating Champion.

The Cup Series heads into the offseason and will return to action with an exhibition race on Feb. 4, 2024, the Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

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