NASCAR’s championship is different than every other major motorsport. The Playoff system means a champion will always be crowned at the final race of the season, no matter how dominant one driver may be. Every driver who hopes to lift the championship trophy knows the track to beat.
But unlike other motorsports, NASCAR drivers get a preview. The series will not only head to Phoenix Raceway at the end of the year but also on Sunday for the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway, airing at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, FOX Deportes, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Odds via BetMGM
+450 – Christopher Bell
+550 – Ryan Blaney
+800 – Kyle Larson
+800 – William Byron
+1000 – Joey Logano
+1000 – Chase Elliott
+1100 – Denny Hamlin
+1300 – Chase Briscoe
+1400 – Tyler Reddick
+1500 – Ross Chastain
The interesting thing about this preview, though, is it usually doesn’t go the same way as the final act. In the three years since the Next Gen era began, Team Penske has won the championship by bringing fast cars to Phoenix. However, Team Penske hasn’t won the spring race at Phoenix in five years.
Instead, last year it was Christopher Bell, who’s the favorite to repeat. He’s coming off a hot streak by winning the last two races of the year, and he’s finished in the top ten in six of his ten starts at the track.
“I’m ready to keep adding to it,” Bell said after winning last week at Circuit of The Americas. Phoenix is his chance to do just that and make it three on the trot. That has only happened 28 times in NASCAR’s history, and only 17 drivers have done it.
Nonetheless, the stats certainly still favor Penske’s Joey Logano, who has the most wins of any driver at the track with four. He just needs a good win; Logano has led more laps than any other driver this year but has yet to finish in the top ten.
It’s Kyle Busch just behind him, though, with three. Busch came so close to winning at COTA, leading in the final laps before getting overtaken through the esses, and he is more than a year out from his last win, having broken a nineteen-year streak of winning every year.
“COTA obviously felt really good to race up front and lead those laps and be there like that,” Busch said. “I think that’s all really good, right? So hats off to RCR, ECR Engines, everybody in Welcome, North Carolina for working as hard as they do and busting their butts as hard as they do and putting in the grit and you know, those men and women there certainly have more grit than anybody.
“They’re not going to outwork us. That’s for sure. But I think the next test is definitely going to be the next two weeks going to Phoenix, the short track, a place where we kind of struggled as of late to see how we can turn that program around.”
For Busch, it’s about setting realistic goals as he works to rebuild the Richard Childress Racing program to race-winning contention.
“I feel like a legit top-10 run and top-10 finish there would be a win for us right now,” Busch acknowledged. “And just trying to turn that table, get a good feeling racecar and a good car that we could drive and have speed with.”
The biggest question mark comes in the form of different tire compounds. Just like they did at Richmond last year, Goodyear is bringing a harder primary tire and a softer option tire, offering teams a strategy play and hoping to encourage passing through the field. It’s not a particular concern for Busch, though.
“Yeah, I don’t mind it. You know, I think throwing a little bit different stuff out there to kind of see how it works and what it works like in competition because testing it versus racing it is entirely different,” he said.
“I liked how the race went at Richmond. I thought it was kind of cool to kind of see, you know, green flag pit stops and guys coming out on different tires and how you ran those tires and how you were able to preserve the tire or get your positions when you wanted to get your positions to kind of get yourself further up in the running order.”
More than a preview and a tire test, though, the race at Phoenix is the first real test for the entire field of what their seasons will look like. Superspeedways and road courses are distinct styles of racing to the short and intermediate ovals that make up the bulk of NASCAR’s schedule. Success in the first few races of the season doesn’t necessarily indicate the speed that each team has brought for this year.
It’s a special test for new team-and-driver pairings. Noah Gragson has seemed to adapt well to his new surroundings at Front Row Motorsports with a strong top-ten at COTA, with road course ace Shane van Gisbergen getting a perhaps more expected sixth in the third race of his first full-time Cup season. For them, Phoenix is a chance to see whether that speed correlates to the track that will host most of the racing all year long.
Speaking of new pairings, one driver to watch for in the field is Katherine Legge. The Brit has competed in everything from the Indy 500 to the Rolex 24, with multiple IMSA wins to her credit with the Meyer-Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 program. It’s not her first NASCAR start either, having made some Xfinity appearances on the road courses. She’ll drive the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports entry normally piloted by BJ McLeod. That makes her the first female driver to race at Phoenix in the series since 2015.
Practice is Saturday at 2:05 p.m. ET followed by qualifying at 3:10 p.m., all of which will air on Amazon Prime.
Phenom Connor Zilisch Is Looking for Another Xfinity Win, Now on an Oval
In just seven starts in total, 18-year-old driver Connor Zilisch is already a two-time winner in the Xfinity Series. He won in his debut at Watkins Glen last year and won last week at Circuit of The Americas.
But the exclusive Rolex Daytona on his wrist, the reward for a class win in the 24 Hours of Daytona, tells everyone that he’s a great road course talent. But don’t count the driver on the No. 88 out on the ovals. He’s won in late models and ARCA on the ovals, and he finished fourth twice in the Xfinity Series last season on oval tracks.
One of those fourth-place finishes? Phoenix Raceway itself. So Zilisch certainly knows how to wheel a racecar around this track, and each race he’s getting more comfortable with an Xfinity Series racecar. Expect a challenge from the No. 88 in Saturday’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway, airing at 5 p.m. ET on the CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Neither of last year’s winners will be able to challenge him. Chandler Smith, who won the spring race, is now competing in Trucks. Riley Herbst, who won the fall race, has moved up to the Cup Series with 23XI Racing.
There’s a wide-open table for any driver to go for the win. Just don’t be surprised if Connor Zilisch is up there at the end; he’s not just a road course racer.
Practice is Saturday at 11:35 a.m. ET followed by qualifying at 12:40 p.m., all of which will air on the CW App.
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