The finale of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season wound up being a nearly perfect summation of the imperfect campaign that it had just wrapped up. A most apropos period stamped at the end of a story that had been written since the first green flag was waved over NASCAR's 74th season, 274 days earlier in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
There was plenty of drama at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. There was controversy. There was good racing. At one point, the Championship 4 were: 1. Leading. 2. Running third. 3. Running in the top 10 despite believing that his engine was blowing up.