NASCAR Championship Weekend

Since 2002, NASCAR's top three racing series have closed their season with a weekend designed to crown each series' champion, officially known as NASCAR Championship Weekend. ^[1]

From 2002 until 2019, the final race weekend of the season was run at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Ford Motor Company was the title sponsor for all three races during this period, and the weekend itself was also known as Ford Championship Weekend. Since 2020, the championship races have been held at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. ^[2]

With the removal of Homestead from the final race weekend, some drivers have stated that the championship races should rotate between tracks every year instead of being held at one particular facility, similar to the Super Bowl. ^[3]

History

The Ford Championship Weekend logo

NASCAR decided after the 2001 season to move the final Truck and Cup Series races of the season to the same track so all three series could conclude in the same place in the same weekend. Prior to this, each series ended its season at a different track. The Cup Series had run its final scheduled race at Atlanta Motor Speedway since 1987 (save for a 9/11 related postponement of the fall race at New Hampshire). The Truck Series had always ended its season in the western United States, with Phoenix hosting that event in 2001. The then-Busch Series' finale helped open what was then referred to as the Homestead Motorsports Complex in Florida in 1995, and NASCAR had run its final race there ever since.

After each race, an official ceremony is conducted in victory lane where the final points leader in each series is given his championship trophy.

In 2016, NASCAR adopted a championship format that is similar in function to one used by the National Hot Rod Association. Over the course of the final races of the season, qualifying drivers are eliminated from championship contention if they are not above a certain threshold following a specific event. Once the field for each series is reduced to four contenders, the Championship Weekend races are then run with the highest finishing driver among the four in each series being crowned champion.

Pre-playoff history

Prior to 2004, when the first Chase for the Nextel Cup was conducted, all three series' championships were decided over the course of the entire season. The driver that was able to accumulate the most points over the course of the season was declared champion. However, the old system had the chance that one driver would be so dominant over the course of the season that he would clinch the championship before the final race; this was especially the case during the era of Cup Series drivers running the full season in the second tier series in addition to the entire Cup schedule, as the championship was clinched six times prior to the finale before the now-Xfinity Series adopted its own playoff format.

In the pre-playoff era, there were a total of four occasions where a series points leader entering the race did not end it as champion. The first two occurrences happened during the Ford 200 Truck Series race. In 2003, Brendan Gaughan crashed out of the event late, finished 29th, and fell from first to fourth in the standings while Travis Kvapil won the championship. In 2007, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner were separated by 29 points going into the race, but points leader Skinner had a problem with one of his truck's tires and axles and finished 35th. Hornaday finished seventh and won the title by 54 points. In 2010, 46 points separated first place Denny Hamlin, second place Jimmie Johnson, and third place Kevin Harvick in the Sprint Cup standings. At various times in the Ford 400 each driver held the points lead, but in the end Johnson clinched his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship by finishing second in the race. ^[4] Hamlin fell to second place, 39 points behind Johnson, with his 14th-place finish. ^[4] Harvick finished 3rd in both the race and the points, 41 points behind Johnson. ^[4] In 2011, Tony Stewart entered the race three points behind Carl Edwards for the Sprint Cup lead. Stewart won the Ford 400 with Edwards finishing second and the points race ended in a tie. However, due to Stewart holding more victories than Edwards over the course of the season (Stewart's win gave him five while Edwards only won once), Stewart won the tiebreaker and became series champion for a third time.

Television and radio coverage

Current

The Truck Series race is carried by Fox Sports, which has the exclusive rights to air Truck Series events. The race is aired on Fox Sports 1, which has aired the event since 2013; under its previous branding, Speed Channel, it aired the race from 2003 until 2012.

NBC Sports, under the terms of the current broadcasting contract, has rights to both the Xfinity and Cup Series races. The Cup Series race always has aired on NBC, while the Xfinity Series race has alternated between NBC, its now-defunct cable channel NBCSN, and USA Network.

Previous

When Championship Weekend began, the Truck Series race was carried by ESPN2 as ESPN retained the rights to the series after losing its NASCAR broadcast rights following the 2000 season. Speed Channel took over all rights beginning in 2003; the network became Fox Sports 1 in August 2013.

Since NBC was already contracted to air the Busch and Cup races at Homestead once it acquired rights to the latter race, they continued to carry the races in conjunction with TNT, their broadcast partner. The networks shared coverage of the Busch race (NBC from 2002 to 2004, TNT in 2005 and 2006) while NBC aired the Cup race. ^[5]

In 2007, ESPN returned to covering NASCAR and began carrying their championship weekend events over ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2. The ESPN family of networks actually had two separate contracts with NASCAR at the time; the Busch/Nationwide race aired on ESPN2 as ESPN was the exclusive television rights holder for the series under their contract. The Cup series race was carried by ABC until 2009 and ESPN until the contract ended in 2014 as part of ESPN's rights to the second half of the Cup season.

Race results

As noted above, final races were run at Homestead-Miami Speedway from 2002 until 2019 and at Phoenix Raceway from 2020.

Truck Series

Year	Race winner	Team	Series champion	Team	Notes
2002	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Xpress Motorsports	Mike Bliss	Xpress Motorsports
2003	Bobby Hamilton	Bobby Hamilton Racing	Travis Kvapil		Kvapil won the championship after NASCAR reviewed and upheld a black flag given to Ted Musgrave for attempting to pass Kvapil under caution. Had the penalty been reversed, Musgrave would have been granted a sixth-place finish and won the championship over seventh-place Kvapil. [6] He is also the second Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the Championship.
2004	Kasey Kahne	Ultra Motorsports	Bobby Hamilton	Bobby Hamilton Racing	Hamilton became the first owner/driver to win a Truck Series Championship.
2005	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Ted Musgrave	Ultra Motorsports	Musgrave's championship was Dodge's last in the Truck Series; the company pulled out of most NASCAR competition following the 2012 season, by which time the Ram Trucks brand had replaced Dodge's on its line of trucks.
2006	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Bodine won Toyota's first NASCAR championship.
2007	Johnny Benson Jr.	Bill Davis Racing	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Kevin Harvick, Inc.	This was Hornaday's third Truck title and his first since 1998.
2008	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Johnny Benson Jr.	Bill Davis Racing	Last Craftsman Truck Series champion.
2009	Kevin Harvick	Kevin Harvick, Inc.	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Kevin Harvick, Inc.	Hornaday had clinched the series points title following the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix. Hornaday's fourth and final championship. First Camping World Truck Series champion.
2010	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Bodine had clinched the series points title following the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix; this was his second and final championship. Busch won the series owner's championship for his team with his victory.
2011	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Dillon became the youngest NASCAR top series champion ever. First season under current NASCAR points system. He is also the third Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the championship.
2012	Cale Gale	Eddie Sharp Racing	James Buescher	Turner Motorsports
2013	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Crafton won the Championship by simply starting the race.
2014	Darrell Wallace Jr.				Crafton became the first driver in NCWTS history to win consecutive championships.
2015	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Erik Jones	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Jones became the youngest champion in NCWTS history. Last season under normal points format, as the NCWTS adopted a Chase format in 2016. He is also the first Rookie champion in the history of the series therefore also winning the Rookie of the Year that season as well.

Playoff era

Highest finishing driver among four eligible for championship wins series championship.

Year	Race winner	Team	Series champion	Team	Championship Runners-Up	Notes
2016	William Byron	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Johnny Sauter	GMS Racing	Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch Motorsports Timothy Peters, Red Horse Racing	Sauter becomes the fourth Truck Series former Rookie of the Year to win the championship.
2017	Chase Briscoe	Brad Keselowski Racing	Christopher Bell	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing
2018	Brett Moffitt	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Brett Moffitt	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Johnny Sauter, GMS Racing Justin Haley, GMS Racing Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch Motorsports
2019	Austin Hill		Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Stewart Friesen, Halmar Friesen Racing Ross Chastain, Niece Motorsports Brett Moffitt, GMS Racing	Crafton was the first Truck Series Champion to win the Championship without winning a race in the season he won the Championship in. Championship is Crafton's third as a driver. ThorSport Racing ties Hendrick Motorsports for most championships as a Truck Series team with three.
2020	Sheldon Creed	GMS Racing	Sheldon Creed	GMS Racing	Brett Moffitt, GMS Racing Zane Smith, GMS Racing Grant Enfinger, ThorSport Racing
2021	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch Motorsports Zane Smith, GMS Racing	ThorSport Racing wins its fourth Truck Series championship, setting a new team record.
2022	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ty Majeski, ThorSport Racing Ben Rhodes, ThorSport Racing Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch Motorsports	Front Row Motorsports' first championship in NASCAR.
2023	Christian Eckes	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Corey Heim, Tricon Garage Carson Hocevar, Niece Motorsports Grant Enfinger, GMS Racing	Eckes' fourth win of the season. Rhodes' second championship, and fifth overall for ThorSport Racing.
2024	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Grant Enfinger, CR7 Motorsports Christian Eckes, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Corey Heim, Tricon Garage	Majeski wins first championship; ThorSport wins sixth Truck Series championship.

Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series

Year	Race winner	Team	Series champion	Team	Notes
2002	Scott Wimmer	Bill Davis Racing	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing	Biffle had clinched the series points championship following the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix.
2003	Kasey Kahne	Akins Motorsports	Brian Vickers	Hendrick Motorsports	Vickers, at the time, was the youngest driver to win the series championship at 20 years old.
2004	Kevin Harvick	Kevin Harvick, Inc.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chance 2 Motorsports	Truex clinched the 2004 series championship following the BI-LO 200 at Darlington. In 2005, he became the first driver to win consecutive series championships since his car owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. accomplished the feat in 1998 and 1999.
2005	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing
2006	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing	Kevin Harvick	Kevin Harvick, Inc./Richard Childress Racing	Harvick had clinched the series championship following the Dollar General 300 at Charlotte. He had previously won the series championship in 2001.
2007	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Edwards had clinched the series championship following the O'Reilly Challenge at Texas. Last Busch Series champion.
2008	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	First Nationwide Series Champion.
2009	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Busch's championship was the first for Toyota in Nationwide Series.
2010			Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Keselowski had clinched the championship after the O'Reilly Challenge at Texas. Dodge's first and only Nationwide Series championship. Last season that Cup Series drivers were allowed to compete full time in multiple series and earn points.
2011	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	First season under current NASCAR points system.
2012	Regan Smith	JR Motorsports			Smith's first win in the Nationwide Series.
2013	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Dillon made history by becoming the first driver to win the championship without winning a race. [7]
2014	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chase Elliott	JR Motorsports	Elliott had clinched the championship following the DAV 200 at Phoenix, making him the first driver to do so under the current points format. He broke Brian Vickers' record for youngest series champion and Austin Dillon's record for youngest ever NASCAR champion by winning title at age 18. [8] Last Nationwide Series champion.
2015	Kyle Larson	HScott Motorsports	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	First Xfinity Series champion. Last season under normal points system; the Xfinity Series adopted a Chase system in 2016.

Playoff era

Highest finishing driver among eligible drivers for championship wins series championship.

Year	Race winner	Team	Series champion	Team	Championship Runners-Up	Notes
2016	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Daniel Suárez	Joe Gibbs Racing	Elliott Sadler, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing	Suárez becomes the first driver of Mexican descent to win a NASCAR top three series championship.
2017	Cole Custer	Stewart Haas Racing	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Elliott Sadler, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing
2018	Tyler Reddick	JR Motorsports	Tyler Reddick	JR Motorsports	Cole Custer, Stewart Haas Racing Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Daniel Hemric, Richard Childress Racing	Reddick becomes first driver in Xfinity Series history to win championships in back to back years with two different teams.
2019		Richard Childress Racing		Richard Childress Racing	Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Cole Custer, Stewart Haas Racing
2020	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing
2021	Daniel Hemric	Joe Gibbs Racing	Daniel Hemric	Joe Gibbs Racing	Austin Cindric, Team Penske Noah Gragson, JR Motorsports A. J. Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing	Hemric's championship race win was also his first career race victory in NASCAR's top three series.
2022	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Noah Gragson, JR Motorsports Josh Berry, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports	The morning following Gibbs’ championship victory, his father Coy passed away.
2023	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Sam Mayer, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, JR Motorsports John Hunter Nemechek, Joe Gibbs Racing	Stewart-Haas Racing's first Xfinity Series championship.
2024	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Austin Hill, Richard Childress Racing A.J. Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Cole Custer, Stewart-Haas Racing	Allgaier's first championship comes on his eighth attempt in playoff era. Stewart-Haas Racing does not win the championship in its final season, as the team announced its dissolution earlier in the season.

Cup Series

Year	Race winner	Team	Series champion	Team	Notes	Report
2002	Kurt Busch	Roush Racing	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Stewart's first championship and the final Winston Cup title for Pontiac as they pulled out of NASCAR following the 2003 season.	Report
2003	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing	Kenseth clinched the Winston Cup championship at the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at Rockingham. Last season under previous points format, last Winston Cup champion. Labonte's last win as a full-time Cup Series driver.	Report
2004	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing	Kurt Busch		Busch won the first Chase for the Nextel Cup. Biffle was the second of two drivers outside the Chase to win a Chase race in 2004.	Report
2005			Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Stewart is the only driver in NASCAR history to win a Cup Series championship under the original points format and the Chase format.	Report
2006			Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Biffle's second win in this race as a non-Chase driver.	Report
2007	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing			Johnson was the last Nextel Cup champion in 2007 and the first Sprint Cup champion in 2008. In 2009, he surpassed Cale Yarborough's record for most consecutive championships and tied his teammate, Jeff Gordon, for third-most championships with four. In 2010, his championship made him the third driver to win at least five championships, joining Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt who each recorded seven.	Report
2008	Carl Edwards					Report
2009	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing				Report
2010	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing				Report
2011	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to win a Cup championship. Stewart’s third championship. Race concluded with Stewart and Carl Edwards tied in the final standings; Stewart won the championship by virtue of a tiebreaker, as he won five races while Edwards only won once. [9]	Report
2012	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Penske's first ever NASCAR Cup championship. Dodge's first championship since Richard Petty in 1975; this was also their only one in their return to NASCAR competition as well as their last, as Chrysler decided to pull out after twelve seasons. [10]	Report
2013	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Third win at Homestead by a non-Chase driver. Johnson's sixth championship.	Report

Championship Round era

Highest finishing driver among four eligible for championship wins series championship.

Year	Race winner	Team	Series champion	Team	Championship Runners-Up	Notes	Report
2014	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Joey Logano, Team Penske	Team owner Tony Stewart becomes the second owner-driver after Lee Petty to win championships as both a driver and an owner with Harvick's championship.	Report
2015	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports	Kyle Busch wins Toyota's first Cup Series championship. Busch only ran 25 races in 2015 after suffering a broken leg in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February; NASCAR issued him a waiver to allow him to compete in the Playoffs as long as he was in the top 30 in series points after the fall Richmond race and had won enough events to secure a wild card berth. Jeff Gordon retired from full-time competition following the race after twenty-three seasons.	Report
2016	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports (7)	Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing Joey Logano, Team Penske	Johnson's record-tying seventh and final championship. Edwards retired following the race.	Report
2017	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Brad Keselowski, Team Penske	Martin Truex Jr.'s first Cup Series championship. Furniture Row's only Cup Series championship.	Report
2018	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing	All three races saw one of the Championship 4 drivers win both the race and championship. Brett Moffitt in the Truck Series, Tyler Reddick in the Xfinity Series, and Joey Logano in the Cup Series.	Report
2019	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing (2)	Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Kevin Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing Martin Truex, Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing	Kyle Busch becomes the only other active Cup Series driver with more than one Championship.	Report
2020	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Joey Logano, Team Penske	Elliott and his father Bill become the third father-son pairing to win the Cup, joining Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson retires from full-time racing after the event.	Report
2021	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Martin Truex, Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports	Larson tied Tony Stewart's record of five victories during the Chase/Playoffs. The victory was his tenth of the season, making him the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to record double-digit victories in a single season.	Report
2022	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Joey Logano	Team Penske (2)	Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports	Logano recorded his fourth win of the season to win the championship. He joined Kyle Busch as only the second active driver with multiple Cup Series championships. Elliott's No. 9 car did not contend for the owner's championship; Hendrick's No. 5 car, driven by Larson, was instead part of the owner's Championship 4.	Report
2023	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports	First time since introduction of Championship Round format that the Cup Series champion was not also the race winner. Team Penske wins third Cup Series championship with third different driver (Keselowski, Logano). 2014 champion Kevin Harvick retires following the race.	Report
2024	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Joey Logano	Team Penske (3)	Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Joey Logano, Team Penske Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports	Team Penske joins Hendrick Motorsports and Junior Johnson & Associates as the only teams to win three consecutive Cup Series championships. First time in Playoff Era that Joe Gibbs Racing does not qualify for Championship Round. 2017 champion Martin Truex, Jr. retires following the race. Two-time champion team Stewart-Haas Racing ceases operations after the event.

References

1. Bruce, Kenny (June 15, 2014). "FORD CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND SPONSORSHIP EXTENDED". NASCAR . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
2. none, NASCAR Official Release. "NASCAR, Dixie Vodka announce multi-year partnership". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
3. "After Homestead, NASCAR's championship weekend shifts to Phoenix in 2020. Where to next?". USA Today .
4. "2010 Ford 400". Racing-Reference.info. November 22, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
5. "Homestead Brian Williams in the Booth". Motorsport.com. August 4, 1999. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
6. Associated Press (November 15, 2003). "Black flag costs Musgrave, helps Kvapil win truck title". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
7. Estrada, Chris (November 16, 2013). "Austin Dillon claims NASCAR Nationwide Series title with 12th place finish". NBC Sports . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
8. Ryan, Nate (November 8, 2014). "Chase Elliott clinches Nationwide championship, makes history". USA Today . Retrieved November 8, 2014.
9. Sporting News (November 21, 2011). "HOMESTEAD COMEBACK COMPLETE CHASE COMEBACK FOR CHAMPION STEWART". NASCAR . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
10. Newton, David (January 18, 2013). "Dodge not expected back soon". ESPN . Retrieved October 20, 2015.