NASCAR championship live updates, results, highlights from 2023 Cup Series title race at Phoenix

By | November 5, 2023
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The Valley of the Sun takes no prisoners. Particularly when the Cup Series rolls through its sun-bleached course.

There’s a good reason for that. NASCAR’s premier competition takes place under the baking sun, offering a quartet of the sport’s most gifted drivers with the opportunity to scrawl their names across the surface of the sport’s greatest trophy.

It’s been a grueling campaign for some drivers. But for Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Kyle Larson, the opposite very well could be true. The foursome have combined for 15 wins so far this campaign, asserting themselves as the true cream of the crop, even amid the fervent speeds present on tracks across the country.

They’ll look to put their chariots of fire to the test on Sunday. The objective is simple: finish better than your fellow Championship drivers. If you do that, your name will ring along the hallowed walls of Phoenix Motor Speedway for millennia.

MORE: Watch the Cup Series Championship live with Fubo (free trial)

Just two drivers — Bell and Larson — have been in this situation before. Blaney and Byron’s excellency is much more of a recent phenomenon. But as two of the sport’s highest-profile youngsters, they certainly have a level of exuberance that could take them a long way.

So, just who wins out? Only time will tell. But Phoenix doesn’t suffer fools. And you best believe when the dirty air starts to swirl across the one-mile apparatus, those hoping to hoist that sterling silver Cup Series hardware will put it all on the line.

The Sporting News is tracking live updates from this year’s Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Motor Speedway. Follow below for highlights, results and analysis as the Cup Series season comes to a close under the beaming Phoenix sun.

NASCAR championship live updates, results, highlights from 2023 race

(All times Eastern)

4:43 p.m.: Poor pit stop from Blaney brings him back from P3 to P7. Byron returns to the front (among championship contenders). Meanwhile, Chastain takes over as the race’s pacesetter atop the totem pole. A non-championship driver hasn’t won the title race since 2014. Could it happen today?

4:36 p.m.: CAUTION! Bell’s championship ride is over! He rams into the wall after seeing his router explode when he tried to get on his brakes. Unfortunate end to a great season for the Joe Gibbs Racing star.

4:33 p.m.: It looks like it’s only a matter of time before Blaney steals the march on Byron for P3. He makes his move on the inside, then charges his way to the top of the racetrack. He sits atop the ladder now! What a display thus far from the No. 12 car, which started the day furthest back among championship drivers in 15th!

4:31 p.m.: Chastain rolls into P2, surpassing Byron. Byron, Blaney and Bell are in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. We’ve still got a little more than 200 laps remaining. But things are getting hectic.

4:29 p.m.: Blaney is flying. Just passed Larson and Bell with relative ease. Now, he’s up to P4, just two spots behind Byron. He’s back in this one!

4:26 p.m.: Harvick is on the cusp of passing Byron on Lap 92. Looks like the No. 4 is about to supplant Happy, who is Phoenix’s greatest-ever racer. He knows how to handle things at The Desert Oddball. After all, he has nabbed the checkered flag on nine separate occasions beforehand.

As for Byron, it looks like he’s communicating with his team to get a feel for how to maneuver his whip in such a way to get back in front.

4:15 p.m.: We’re back to green at Phoenix. And it’s Byron, Harvick, Chastain and Larson all pushing hard in the top four. Blaney and Bell are climbing up the ladder as well; they are just a couple tenths of a second behind Larson in fourth.

4:10 p.m.: Blaney the fastest among championship drivers out of pit road. But only slightly; Larson was but a tenth of a second behind the Team Penske star.

4:05 p.m.: Harvick and Chastain are pushing hard to get themselves in the conversation for the race at the end of Stage 1. They’re both within a half a second of Byron. Looks like the No. 24 might just hold off to capture the opening stage. But it was close as could be.

3:57 p.m.: Bell and Blaney are up four spots each. Blaney seems to believe that he’s not running as well as he should be. But the stats aren’t backing that up; he just clocked in with the second-fastest lap among all drivers. His tires certainly are feeling the burn as we approach the end Lap 50. But he’s faring pretty well, all things considered. Especially as Larson falls a bit on the track — he sits in fifth.

3:50 p.m.: Steamy conditions here at Phoenix. Looks like it’s having an impact on driver’s tires through 31 laps.

3:42 p.m.: Through the opening 13 laps, it’s Byron in control of the track. He leads Harvick by a little over a second. Blaney is up one spot to P14, while Bell remains in P13. Larson still holding firm with Byron in P3.

3:35 p.m.: And we’re off from Phoenix! The Cup Series Championship awaits! William Byron leading the line through the opening paces.

3:00 p.m.: The Championship 4 drivers just were introduced. We’re about 30 minutes from the start of today’s race.

2:35 p.m.: Precious moment alert: all drivers posing for a picture with Happy. Look at how delighted everyone (except Ryan Newman) appears to be.

2:30 p.m.: This is the youngest collection of championship contenders in Cup Series history. NASCAR’s future is bright as can be.

2:00 p.m.: Everyone loves Chase Elliott. No surprises there.

1:25 p.m.: Stewart-Haas Racing will have craters to fill in their No. 4 and No. 10 cars next year. Harvick and Aric Almirola are stepping away from the track, giving the opportunity to the next collection of racers to sport the iconic strips. 

1:10 p.m.: There’s obviously some major implications to today’s race in Phoenix. But one thing that must be noted. This is the No. 826 (and final) start in the Cup Series for Kevin Harvick. What a career for Happy.

What channel is NASCAR on today?

  • TV channel: NBC (U.S.) | TSN1/5 (Canada)
  • Live stream: Peacock, Fubo
  • Radio: MRN

Sunday’s race will be broadcast on NBC in the United States. Canadian viewers can find the action on TSN1 and TSN5.

Veteran announcer Rick Allen will lead the race’s lap-by-lap commentator. He’ll be joined by former Cup Series stars Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr., as well as former Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte.

Cord-cutters can follow the action on Peacock, as well as with Fubo, which offers a free trial.

MORE: Meet the final four racing for 2023 NASCAR Cup Series title

NASCAR start time today

  • Date: Sunday, November 5
  • Time: 3 p.m. ET

The Cup Series Championship has a listed start time of 3 p.m. ET., but pre-race festivities are expected to push the waving of the green flag closer to 3:32 p.m. ET.

NASCAR at Phoenix starting lineup 2023

Leading the field for Sunday night’s race are William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. Below is the rest of the starting lineup for the race:

Starting pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 William Byron (P) 24 Hendrick Motorsports
2 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
4 Kyle Larson (P) 5 Hendrick Motorsports
5 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
6 Denny Hamlin 11 23XI Racing
7 Erik Jones 43 Legacy Motor Club
8 Ross Chastain 1 Trackhouse Racing
9 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
10 Tyler Reddick 45 23XI Racing
11 Ty Gibbs 54 Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Ryan Preece 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
13 Christopher Bell (P) 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
14 Todd Gilliland 38 Front Row Motorsports
15 Ryan Blaney (P) 12 Team Penske
16 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing
17 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
18 Kyle Busch 8 Richard Childress Racing
19 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
20 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
21 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
22 Carson Hocevar 42 Legacy Motor Club
23 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
24 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
25 Harrison Burton 21 Wood Brothers Racing
26 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
27 Austin Cindric 2 Team Penske
28 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
29 Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
30 Ryan Newman 51 Rick Ware Racing
31 A.J. Allmendinger 16 Kaulig Racing
32 Ty Dillon 77 Spire Motorsports
33 J.J. Yeley 15 Rick Ware Racing
34 Justin Haley 31 Kaulig Racing
35 B.J. McLeod 78 Live Fast Motorsports
36 Brad Keselowski 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing

(P) = Playoff driver 

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