AVONDALE, Ariz. — NASCAR heads into championship weekend for its three national series locked into a federal antitrust lawsuit with Michael Jordan, the NBA legend who four years ago became the co-owner of a new team in the top-tier Cup Series.
NASCAR’s officiating has been under scrutiny for months, and this week it issued a wave of hefty fines for alleged race manipulation in the final Cup Series playoff race before the field of contenders — which started with 16 drivers in September — was cut to its final four going into Sunday’s title showdown at Phoenix Raceway.
Even in the third-tier Truck Series, there was nonracing news as championship contender Ty Majeski was fined $12,500 for skipping media obligations in North Carolina on Tuesday so he could vote in person in his home state of Wisconsin.
Other than that? Three champions will be crowned this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, with Friday’s Truck Series race followed by Saturday’s second-tier Xfinity Series finale before Sunday’s Cup Series competition.
Those national series showdowns, though, have become a sideshow to the off-track drama that has engulfed NASCAR the past several months. The quartet of drivers who will be eligible for the Cup Series title Sunday seem to have tuned out the distractions, starting with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, the 2024 regular-season champion who made the final four for the first time in his career and is trying to give Jordan his first championship as a team owner.