“I think there was a specific competition meeting that he said he wanted to attend. He listened and listened to him and finally gave his opinion about what he heard, but he didn’t like it. “We heard it, and he made some important statements about what the voice of champion teams is and what the voice of winning teams is and how we need to change the way we communicate and the way we throw blame all over the place,” Hamlin said. “This was a very important moment for our team and our drivers to hear and take responsibility for each person’s shortcomings and how you can get better, and it was a big moment in changing the mentality of our team.”

But that’s only because Jordan cares so desperately about both winning and his new venture as a NASCAR team owner. currently leading Two-team federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and chairman Jim France Through the current revenue sharing model.

“The racing side brings out more emotion and passion than I’ve ever seen outside of his own sports career,” Hamlin said. “I’ve seen him on golf courses, I’ve seen him playing cards, things like that — I’ve seen all of that. But nothing matches the emotion that winning a NASCAR race showed in him.

“I think he talks a lot about how this fills his cup, this fills the cup of competition that he’s been missing for so long. It’s good for everyone and it’s definitely great for our team to have Michael support them in this way.”

Reddick to compete in first quad title On Sunday, reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney takes on two-time NASCAR champion Joey Logano and William Byron, who is making his second straight appearance in the title race. The crown will be awarded to the driver who finishes the championship in the highest position among the four.

At this week’s media day, Reddick appeared to be the most nervous of the four contestants. It didn’t help that he was the slowest of the championship four in practice on Friday and then qualified 10th on Saturday; He was only further behind the 17th-place finisher, Blaney.

“I know it’s championship weekend, I don’t know what the right word is, I would say I’m calm and focused. There’s definitely a lot at stake,” said Reddick, who had yet to receive a pep talk from Jordan. “I know we’ll make it between now and when we get in the car. Frankly, we’re here now. A lot of preparation has been completed. We still have some time, so plenty of time to think about the little things. But for the most part I think most of the preparation has been done, the car is loaded. “I feel good about what we did as we prepare for this weekend.”

His voice was the polar opposite of Team Penske teammates Blaney and Logano, who were lucky enough to take a chance on team owner Roger Penske. Third cup championship in a row. Penske enters Phoenix coming off the back of last weekend’s sportscar World Endurance Championship and another sportscar championship in IMSA.

Blaney is trying to become the first driver to win back-to-back championships since Jimmie Johnson won five straight championships from 2006 to 2010, and Logano is trying to become the only three-time active Cup champion in NASCAR. Logano only made it to the final when he returned to the play-offs after being eliminated in the second round. Alex Bowman regained his place after failing inspection.

“I always thought to myself, sitting around and saying, ‘How do you make Roger proud?'” Blaney said. “I thought,” he said. “That’s been my only goal in racing for the last 12 years; how to make Roger proud for giving me his life. Frankly, at the end of the day, to win races, to win championships, to make him do things he hasn’t done before. That’s a very small list of things he hasn’t done in motorsport.”

“We have a chance to do that for him. It’s great to be in a position to do that, to have two cars that can do that. There’s always pressure because it’s a big moment,” Blaney continued. “But pressure is good. This means that you care when you feel pressured and anxious about things. It means you care about what you do. What matters is how you react to it and how you use it to guide you. It would be great if one more was added. “This year-end would be great for RP.”

Byron returned to the championship final for the second consecutive year but his participation was somewhat controversial. NASCAR penalized fellow Chevrolet drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon this week for manipulating last week’s qualifying race at Martinsville Speedway to ensure Byron took the final spot in the championship against Christopher Bell.

Bell complained Saturday about missing out on a title shot, but insisted the four drivers in the NASCAR championship race deserved it.

Rudy Fugle, Byron’s crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports, defended his driver’s position in the finale, noting that he has won three races this year: Including Daytona 500.

“We have three wins this year, which is as many drivers have won. Only a few have more than that,” Fugle said. “We collected more points than anyone else in the play-offs. I think our team peaked at the right time. I think we are competitive and deserve to compete for the championship on Sunday.”