AVONDALE, Ariz. >> Tyler Reddick needs no pep talk or motivation when it comes to winning his first Cup Series title.

He drives for Michael Jordan, after all, and the NBA Hall of Famer collected six championships in his unwavering desire for excellence at all times. Now in his fourth year of team ownership, Jordan has a shot at winning a NASCAR championship Sunday with Reddick in the winner-take-all season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who started the team with Jordan in 2021 and then brought Reddick to the lineup in 2022, said Jordan has really only spoken up once in a team briefing last year to emphasize how champions operate.

“I think there has been one specific competition meeting that he said he wanted to participate in. He listened to it and listened to it, and at the end, he gave his opinion on what he heard, and he didn’t like what he heard and he gave some pointed remarks on what championship teams sound like and what winning teams sound like and how we need to change the way we are communicating and the way we are shifting blame all over the place,” Hamlin said. “That was kind of a pivotal moment for our team and our drivers to hear and taking responsibility for each person’s shortcomings and how you are going to get better, and that was a big moment in shifting our team’s mentality.”

But it’s only because Jordan cares so desperately about both winning and his new venture as a NASCAR team owner. He’s currently leading a two-team federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and chairman Jim France over the current revenue-sharing model.

“The racing side of it brings out more emotion and passion than I’ve seen outside of his own career in sport,” Hamlin said. “I’ve seen him on golf courses, I’ve seen him play cards, things like that — I’ve seen all of that. But nothing matches the emotion that winning a NASCAR race has shown in him.”

Reddick will race in his first championship four Sunday against reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney, two-time NASCAR champion Joey Logano and William Byron, who is making his second consecutive appearance in the title race. The crown will go to the driver who finishes the highest among the championship four.

Truex wins pole for final full-time NASCAR race>> Martin Truex Jr., who is retiring from full-time NASCAR competition after Sunday’s season finale, won the pole for the championship-deciding race at Phoenix Raceway.

Truex turned a lap at 134.741 mph Saturday to earn the top starting spot. He plans to run a handful of races in 2025.

“I don’t really know the significance of it — I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m excited for the weekend,” Truex said. “I’m not super emotional I guess, so we’ll see what happens after the race. I’m looking forward to having a fun weekend and hopefully a great day.”

Truex will start ahead of title contender Joey Logano, who is trying to become the only active three-time Cup champion in NASCAR in a Ford for Team Penske.

Bell says NASCAR robbed him of spot in championship>> Christopher Bell made it clear Saturday that he believes NASCAR cheated him out of a shot at the Cup Series title when he was punished for reacting to race manipulation in the final playoff qualifying race.

Bell moved out of fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace’s way last Sunday because Wallace had an allegedly flat tire. That caused him to hit the wall on the final lap at Martinsville Speedway and he rode it a bit for momentum — a move that had been banned after Ross Chastain did it in 2022 to claim the final spot in NASCAR’s winner-take-all championship finale.

“My intentions were never to ride the wall; I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall,” Bell said. “I don’t believe I broke a rule. I feel cheated. I feel cheated out of the chance to compete for a championship and it all started whenever the race got fixed and manipulated by Chevrolet.

“I feel like I should have never been in that situation had the race been ran fairly, (William Byron) would have lost enough spots to get me into the final race.”

It took NASCAR nearly 30 minutes after the race at Martinsville to decide if Bell had committed a safety violation and if he or Byron was going to receive the final spot in the finale.