Championships can be won certain tracks and times of the season. The same can be said for losing them. In F1, Max Verstappen is on the verge of joining Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, and Ayrton Senna as 3-time champions of the world. In the NASCAR world of Xfinity and Cup, they each will see the playoff contenders be cut from 12 to 8. Embracing the moment will be key this weekend. Who will do that?

Xfinity predicted winner: Parker Kligerman

Big Machine Racing is the underdog out of these playoffs for sure. But they are showing that they can take it up against some of the giants of NASCAR. It is normal now to see Parker Kligerman racing in the top 10 and even top 5. He. has also shown some flashes of possible winning speed. Confidence continues to grow, which means so much for the team and driver. The roval is a place Kligerman is excited about while most of his rivals are nervous about going there. This could be the day Parker gets his 1st Xfinity Series win.

Cup predicted winner: Martin Truex Jr

My my how the tables can turn, at the start of the playoffs, Truex was the regular season champion and was a favorite to go to Phoenix and become a 2-time champion. These playoffs have not gone well for the #19 crew. At Darlington, he scraped the wall in practice, which possibly damaged his car in the race and finished 18th. Kansas came with a flat tire on lap 3 and instantly ended his race and put him below the cutline to get out of the first round. At Bristol, he finished 19th just advancing onwards to this round. MTJ has had a 17th and 18th place finishes in the first 2 races of this round, but with how good his regular season was this year, he has a 17-point cushion to the cutline. Truex came close to winning the inaugural Roval race in 2018 until he got spun in the last turn by Jimmie Johnson, Truex also has 2 top 10s there. One situation that we haven't seen Truex in was a must win. While he is not in that situation now, he has a lot of competition like Christopher Bell, who won this race last year, Chris Buescher who is strong on road courses, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson who are also Cup champions like Truex. And that's drivers who are above the cutline, Tyler Reddick is a proven road course racer. Kyle Busch is in a definite must-win, and we've seen drivers below the cutline dig themselves out of that hole, so who knows what Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain can do? MTJ could get back on track for Phoenix if he gets out of this round.

F1 predicted podium:

1st Max Verstappen

He won't even need the race to win the championship this year. He can clinch it during the sprint weekend by only getting 3 points. Seems like a virtual lock, and with the Dutchman back on form, he'll dominate once again.

2nd Lewis Hamilton

The last time we were at Qatar Hamilton came in and was dominant, this time will not be the case. Lewis, for the first time all season is the best driver not from Red Bull. To think last year his talent was somewhat in question. Recently, he signed a contract extension with Mercedes that lasts until the end of 2025. He'll definitely be on form to help Mercedes keep 2nd in the constructors championship.

3rd Charles Leclerc

Well, what do you know, Ferrari ended Red Bull's winning streak at Singapore. Nobody saw that coming. Now they can focus on catching Mercedes in the constructors championship. Leclerc still wants to play his part for the team and get a podium to begin the last part of 2023.