This season just one driver has secured their spot in the Championship 4 Round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (Kyle Larson) but let’s take a look at who has previously earned a spot throughout the years in the prestigious and exclusive round that grants the postseason contenders that one shot at the title.

The inception of the elimination-style format of the Playoffs in the NASCAR Cup Series took place in 2014, and since then, just 14 different drivers have earned a spot in the Championship 4 Round, with seven of the 14 securing multiple appearances in the final round.

Championship 4 Round Appearances
Rank	Appearances	Drivers (14)	Years
1	5	Joey Logano	2022, ’20, ’18, ’16, ’14
		Martin Truex Jr.	2021, ’19, ’18, ’17, ’15
		Kyle Busch	2019, ’18, ’17, ’16, ’15
		Kevin Harvick	2019, ’18, ’17, ’15, ’14
5	4	Denny Hamlin	2021, ’20, ’19, ’14
6	3	Chase Elliott	2022, ’21 ’20
7	2	Brad Keselowski	2020, ’17
8	1	Christopher Bell	2022
		Ross Chastain	2022
		Kyle Larson	2021
		Jimmie Johnson	2016
		Carl Edwards	2016
		Jeff Gordon	2015
14		Ryan Newman	2014

Four drivers are currently tied for the NASCAR Cup Series most Championship 4 Round appearances at five each – Joey Logano (2022, ’20, ’18, ’16, ’14), Martin Truex Jr. (2021, ’19, ’18, ’17, ’15), Kyle Busch (2019, ’18, ’17, ’16, ’15) and Kevin Harvick (2019, ’18, ’17, ’15, ’14). Truex is the only one of the four this season that has an opportunity to break the tie and solely take the lead in Championship 4 appearances. Denny Hamlin with four Championship 4 appearances (2021, ’20, ’19, ’14) has the opportunity to earn his fifth appearance and possibly tie for the lead as well.

The record for the youngest driver to earn a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 Round is held by Joey Logano, who earned his first appearance in the Championship 4 in 2014 at the age of 24 years, 5 months and 23 days. The second youngest was Chase Elliott in 2020 at the age of 24 years, 11 months and 11 days. The record for the oldest driver to earn a spot in the Championship 4 Round is held by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon, who earned his spot at the age of 44 years, 3 months and 18 days. The average age of a driver making their first appearance in the Championship 4 Round is 32-years old.

This season, four of the eight drivers vying for a spot in the Championship 4 Round are looking to make their first appearance in the final round – William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher.

Also, in total, seven organizations have qualified for the Championship 4 Round in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2014-2022. Joe Gibbs Racing leads the series in number of drivers they have placed in the final round (five) and number of appearances they have earned in the Championship 4 Round (14). Each season four spots are available and since 2014 Joe Gibbs Racing has secured 14 of the possible 36 total Championship 4 Round spots (38.8%).

Organizations	Champ 4 Drivers	Champ 4 Appearances
Joe Gibbs Racing	5	14
Team Penske	2	7
Hendrick Motorsports	3	6
Stewart-Haas Racing	1	5
Furniture Row Racing	1	2
Trackhouse Racing	1	1
Richard Childress Racing	1	1