Briscoe has momentum, but Larson holds commanding lead in NASCAR playoffs entering Phoenix race

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Back-to-back wins have vaulted Chase Briscoe into contention for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are still lurking, too.

But it remains to be seen if anyone can catch up to the steady excellence of Kyle Larson as the “Chase” heads to Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.

Larson, who is looking for his third championship overall, leads regular-season champion Hamlin by 49 points with four races remaining. His average finish of 2.83 is the best pace over the first six postseason races since the “Chase” was introduced in 2004 and he already has two postseason victories and two second-place finishes.

Now Larson heads to a track where he's had consistent success — even though he views Phoenix Raceway with more trepidation than one might expect. He won in Phoenix back in 2021 , has 12 top-five finishes over 24 starts and finished third in the spring race.

“It's just not been a historically good track for us from start to finish,” Larson said. “We're able to finish well, but I think that has a lot to do with team execution. We've done that time and time again here. I feel like our average (speed) ranking, we're probably an eighth-to 13th-place car most times. We've had a couple decent ones, but we never come here and we're like the fastest.”

It's been a dominant run for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, reminiscent of Jimmie Johnson's peak in the 2000s. He finished sixth last week in Charlotte, which was his worst finish of the postseason.

Bell is currently in third place in the standings, 51 points behind Larson. Briscoe's two straight wins have pushed him into fourth place, 65 points back. Ryan Blaney (85 points back), Joey Logano (92) and Tyler Reddick (114) are in spots five through seven.

Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing are still trying to regain the form that allowed him to dominate during the regular season. The No. 11 Toyota finished fifth last week in Charlotte, which was his second-best performance of the postseason.

“No desperation, but the gap needs to close, starting now,” Hamlin said. "I think that's probably pretty accurate with our position. Just to get back on our front foot. You've got to start with winning the day and then go from there.

“But ultimately, with the races winding down, we've got to start chopping into this.”

Logano and Blaney are among the drivers hoping that past success in the desert can help spark a rally.

Logano is a four-time winner at Phoenix Raceway while Blaney has won the past two races at the 1-mile, tri-oval track. He can become the third driver to win three consecutive races in Phoenix, joining Kevin Harvick, who won four straight from 2013 to 2015 and Johnson, who won three in a row in 2007 and 2008.

Blaney said that past success doesn't predict the future and he's always trying to grow, even at a track where he's been so good.

“You're always having to get better — from a car side and a driver side,” Blaney said. “There's things you do poorly even if you win the race. At least I look at it like — ‘I could have done better here. I could have done a better job with my approach or my mindset.’”

Briscoe's on a roll after wins in Las Vegas and Charlotte, but Phoenix hasn't been his best track in recent years.

He did get his first career win in Phoenix back in 2022, but has struggled lately at the track, with four straight finishes of 18th or worse, with an average of 30th place. Most of the problems have been related to blown tires, but Briscoe believes his Joe Gibbs Racing team has figured out some answers.

“I know that we've brought a different approach — at least that's the plan,” Briscoe said. “So we'll find out here in a little bit if that plan worked out.”

Phoenix Raceway is known for its dogleg section that features a widely-used shortcut option, particularly during restarts and late-race situations.

That's produced several memorable finishes: Both of last year's races had a last-lap pass for the win and 11 races have ended in overtime, which is third most among all tracks behind Daytona and Talladega.

After Phoenix, the Cup series heads to Talladega and Martinsville before the season finale Nov. 8 at Homestead-Miami.

See AP’s full auto racing coverage here