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  • Ford Performance NASCAR: Phoenix 1 (Four Mustangs Qualify Top-10 at Phoenix)

    Ford Performance NASCAR: Phoenix 1 (Four Mustangs Qualify Top-10 at Phoenix)

    NASCAR CUP SERIES – PHOENIX RACEWAY – FANSHIELD 500 – FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST QUALIFYING QUOTES

    FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS:

    2nd – KEVIN HARVICK

    5th – RYAN BLANEY

    6th – ARIC ALMIROLA

    9th – MATT DIBENEDETTO

    13th – JOEY LOGANO

    14th – BRAD KESELOWSKI

    16th – COLE CUSTER

    18th – CLINT BOWYER

    22nd – MICHAEL MCDOWELL

    23rd – CHRIS BUESCHER

    24th – ROSS CHASTAIN

    26th – JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK

    28th – COREY LAJOIE

    KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang — Qualified 2nd 

    “It was close. I probably didn’t have quite enough confidence on the first lap that I should have had in it. The guys did a great job. Not doing a qualifying lap in practice, we just worked on our race stuff and we were kind of winging it right there as to what we thought was right and it worked out okay.”

    YOU WOULD OBVIOUSLY LOVE TO HAVE THE POLE, BUT IS THE RACE THE DEAL? “The race is always the deal. I think as you look at the pole, it obviously makes your day better if you can get that first pit stall but still starting up front is going to be important. Being able to not have to deal with as much traffic early until we get our arms wrapped around our car as far as what is right and wrong and what we need to do and where to run on the race track and those types of things. It has been an interesting weekend so far but I think as you look at the race the cars will be a handful to drive, you just have to make yours drive faster than the other handful.”

    RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Tarkett Ford Mustang — Qualified 5th

    “I wish I could have done it again. I don’t think we would be on the pole but I thought we could have been maybe third looking at the times. I didn’t hit one and two very good and lost a little bit of time. For not having a mock run and making a lot of changes overnight, I thought that was a pretty solid effort by our group. It is nice to start in the top-five and see the front. Hopefully, we can stay there and move up a little bit.”

    “We started off really tight yesterday, super tight. We came here a little bit on the tight side. With the lower downforce package, we didn’t want to be free unloading. Everything we did to try to help it turn just wasn’t working. It was just kind of making the car disconnected and just free the back up but not help the front turn. That seemed like a lot of our practice yesterday so we sat down and talked about it last night and made a good bit of changes to just approach it a different way and it seems like it worked. It is hard to tell in one lap. You hope it races good. It is nice to have decent speed. I didn’t think we had that great of speed yesterday, so hopefully, it pays off.”

    ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — Qualified 6th

    “I think that is by far the best I have ever qualified here at Phoenix. I am really proud of Bugga and all the guys on this team. Of all the tracks we go to, I feel like Phoenix is one of the utmost importance for track position, so having a good starting spot is really important. I am really happy with that lap. I felt like I got all out of it that I could and maybe even went a little bit overboard. It is still a good lap for us and I am just really proud of our whole Smithfield team. We have been working really hard to gel and come together as a team and things are going really good. I am having a lot of fun with this group of guys.”

    COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang — Qualified 16th

    “To me, it just felt a little bit too loose. I couldn’t get back to the gas how I wanted. Everything is so close, you have to be right on the edge. I think I just probably could have hit it a little bit better but I think we have a really good Mustang for the race, so we will see.”

    ROSS CHASTAIN, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang — Qualified 24th 

    “I am still learning a lot. Qualifying in the Cup Series is still probably one of my steepest learning curves. A lot left to be desired on my end.”

    WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE HAVING RYAN (NEWMAN) HERE AND AROUND AS OPPOSED TO JUST HAVING HIM CALLING AND TEXTING? “Just as guys and as people it is just good to see him and see him walking around. As a person, it is just good to see him. He has a lot of information in that noggin of his. He has degrees that I probably can’t even spell. He understands these race cars and has given me a lot of information.”

    ANY IDEA HOW MUCH LONGER YOU WILL BE NEEDED? “Oh Bob, you already asked him that. We are just happy he is alive. I want him in the car tomorrow. If he could get in it. He already told me he could drive it without the insert. If I wasn’t back in time for practice he said he would practice it. I don’t think they would allow that, I think we all know that. I want him back as soon as possible. It has been a great experience and a lot of learning on my side but I would love for him to be able to get back in the car right now.”

    CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 SunnyD Ford Mustang — Qualified 23rd 

    “We did not do a qualifying run yesterday in practice, so for us, we were just kind of hoping for the best. I think our team has made some really good changes through the night. The car felt pretty stable. Want a little more speed always, but our SunnyD Ford will be in a respectable place when qualifying is done. I will be the first to say Phoenix is not my best racetrack and I put a lot of pressure on myself here as well to try to do a little better every time we come.”

    JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford Mustang — Qualified 26th

    YOU WILL START AT THE BACK OF THE FIELD BECAUSE OF THE RADIATOR CHANGE. HOW WILL THAT AFFECT YOU?  “I hope the Xfinity guys get the PJ1 running today so that we can move up and go. That is just part of it, part of racing. You can’t be frustrated by it. You have to let it fuel you and hopefully, you can make passes and continue to grow on that and go forward.”

  • Brandon Jones takes the win at Phoenix Raceway

    Brandon Jones takes the win at Phoenix Raceway

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series raced at sunny Phoenix Raceway in the LS Tractor 200. NASCAR Cup regulars Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski joined the Xfinity drivers for the race. With Busch’s record many assumed that he would lead the race and it would be boring. It was anything but, especially for Brandon Jones who passed Busch in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with 20 laps to go for the lead and the win.

    This is Jones’s second career win and first for this season. It also is the 500th victory for Toyota in NASCAR’s top three national series.

    I can’t believe he (Busch) left the bottom open. We’re so strong on the top lane.” Jones said, “ Toyota is the manufacturer to be with, I love those guys so much, it’s like a family working with them.” He added, “Coach Gibbs is great, life is good. We’re going to work hard and we’re going to get big results because of it.”

    Stage 1 only saw one caution for a minor incident with Ray Black Jr. Busch and Cindric had a great battle for the lead swapping it back and forth but on the last lap Justin Allgaeir swept in and took the Stage 1 win.

    Stage 2 also only had one minor caution. Allgaier was strong and ran out front for several laps until Busch took the lead over on Lap 75. It looked like Busch was going to win this stage but on the last lap Noah Gragson snuck in there to take the stage win.

    Stage 3 is where all the action happened. There were three cautions, only one of which involved more than one car, none had serious damage. There was a lot of great side by side racing. On Lap 47 Busch was back on top again and looked like he would cruise to the finish, only Jones’ car was getting bigger in his mirror. On Lap 20 Busch left the bottom open and that was all Jones needed to take the lead and the checkered flags. Last weeks’ winner Harrison Burton was also able to get his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota past Busch for second place, while Busch finished third in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Driver Dillon Bassett was upset with Brandon Brown and met him on pit road but before he could get out of the car Bassett reached in and a small fight ensued. Needless to say, both of them and their crew chiefs got called to meet with NASCAR.

    Keselowski and Haley rounded out the top five. Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, and Riley Herbst finished sixth through 10, respectively.

    Burton is in the points lead with 176 points over Briscoe who has 173 points.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Atlanta Motor Speedway.

  • Chase Elliott wins pole for Sunday’s race at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott wins pole for Sunday’s race at Phoenix

    Continuing the Hendrick Motorsports momentum in 2020, Chase Elliott qualified on the pole at Phoenix Raceway for the NASCAR Cup Series FanShield 500 with a time of 26.06 seconds/138.116 mph, edging out nine-time Phoenix winner, Kevin Harvick by 0.045 seconds.

    “The line through Turns 1 and 2 was a lot different,” Elliott said. “Kevin (Harvick) kind of made the top line work and then I think after that, everyone saw that and moved up. So, it’s great to get a pole. We’re in a little bit different colors this week with Unifirst on our Camaro. So, I’m excited to grab them a pole. It’s always a good thing when you can put down a fast lap. Hopefully, I just hope tomorrow goes good. That’s always the challenge. We’ll see, and I’m looking forward to it.”

    Meanwhile, last week’s Auto Club 400 winner and Elliott’s teammate, Alex Bowman, qualified in the eighth position for Sunday’s race. Though, this weekend might prove a little bit of a challenge for the hometown native of Tuscon, Arizona.

    “I didn’t expect more,” Bowman said. “I really felt like we’ve been off since we unloaded. We really struggled here in the fall with just being really tight and when we unloaded, we were still really tight. In between practices, we made some changes and got it really loose. It didn’t really necessarily get much faster, but I feel like it’s going to be better that way than when it’s tight. The first lap, I probably over-did it a little bit in turn one there. The second lap, to be eighth, I don’t think that’s the end of the world. I would have liked to be a little better, but as bad as we’ve been here in the fast and as bad as were in practice, we’ll take it. If we could come out of here with a top-ten, I would be high-fiving people after the race. Our short track program, this is the area we need to work on. Our intermediate program is phenomenal and it ended that way last year. Our short track program is the area we need to work on the most.”

    Official Qualifying Results

    1. Chase Elliott
    2. Kevin Harvick
    3. Denny Hamlin
    4. Kyle Larson
    5. Ryan Blaney
    6. Aric Almirola
    7. Kurt Busch
    8. Alex Bowman
    9. Matt DiBenedetto
    10. Kyle Busch
    11. Erik Jones
    12. Martin Truex Jr. (Will start in the rear due to engine change prior to qualifying)
    13. Joey Logano
    14. Brad Keselowski
    15. Christopher Bell
    16. Cole Custer
    17. William Byron
    18. Clint Bowyer
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    20. Ryan Preece
    21. Jimmie Johnson
    22. Michael McDowell
    23. Chris Buescher
    24. Ross Chastain
    25. Ty Dillon
    26. John Hunter Nemechek (Will start in the rear for a radiator change)
    27. Bubba Wallace
    28. Corey LaJoie
    29. Tyler Reddick
    30. Austin Dillon
    31. Daniel Suarez
    32. Brennan Poole
    33. J.J. Yeley
    34. Quin Houff
    35. Reed Sorenson
    36. Garrett Smithley
    37. Joey Gase
    38. Timmy Hill

    The Fan Shield can be seen on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET live on regular FOX. The stages are 75-115-122 equaling 312 laps.

  • Chevy NCS at Phoenix 1 – Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes

    Chevy NCS at Phoenix 1 – Post Qualifying Notes and Quotes

    NASCAR Cup Series – Phoenix Raceway – FanShield 500 – Team Chevy Post-Qualifying Notes and Quotes

    TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:

    POS.   DRIVER

    1.        CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE

    4.        KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE

    7.        KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE

    8.        ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE

    17.      WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 1LE

    TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:

    POS.  DRIVER

    1.        Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)

    2.        Kevin Harvick (Ford)

    3.        Denny Hamlin (Toyota)

    4.        Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)

    5.        Ryan Blaney (Ford)

    FOX will telecast the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway live at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8. Live coverage can also be found on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

    TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

    CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Pole Winner

    THE POLE TODAY, DIFFERENT PACKAGES. WERE THE LINES SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT?

    “The line through Turns 1 and 2 was a lot different. Kevin (Harvick) kind of made the top work and then I think after that, everyone saw that and moved up. So, it’s great to get a pole. We’re in a little bit different colors this week with Unifirst on our Camaro. So, I’m excited to grab them a pole. It’s always a good thing when you can put down a fast lap. Hopefully, I just hope tomorrow goes good. That’s always the challenge. We’ll see, and I’m looking forward to it.”

    KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 4th

    THOUGHTS ON THE TRACTION COMPOUND SO FAR.

    “Harvick went up into the PJ-1, so I went up there too. I don’t know if it was better or not; maybe a touch better I felt like. If I had another attempt at it, I could have gone a lot faster. So far, it’s better than I thought it would be so that’s good.”

    WILL YOU BE UP THERE EARLY TOMORROW?

    “I don’t know. My car didn’t work very well in it last year. The little bit I ran it in practice yesterday, I didn’t think it was much better for me. But we’ll see. Maybe it’ll be a little bit different in the race tomorrow, especially with it being lower in turns three and four.”

    DO DRIVERS HAVE THE CHAMPIONSHIP ON THEIR MINDS THIS WEEKEND?

    “I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it too much. I always take each race week by week, so I haven’t thought too much about it. I don’t know if the crew chiefs and engineers have or not, but I always try to give it the best I can each week and give the best feedback I can each week so they can take that information and try to grow on it.”

    KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 7th

    THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND, SO FAR, AND GOING INTO SUNDAY’S RACE.

    “I feel like we had a top-ten car in everything; short run speed, long run speed, qualifying as well. We have to crossover to get to that top-five spot. I think we’ll learn more as the race goes on with the traction compound that they’ve sprayed down and with the short track package. Right now, everything is driving on the loose side. I think it’s fun, we’re sliding a little bit more. But how long can you slide on that right-rear tire.”

    ARE YOU PROS OR CONS TO GOING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND TRACK TWICE IN ONE SEASON?

    “There’s the notes that you gather from the race in March, but a lot of things change and technology advances by the time you get back to this place in November. I’m not too worried about it. I feel like whatever NASCAR throws at us for a championship venue, it brings that championship atmosphere no matter what. So, whether you’re at a ballpark or a stadium early in the season, when you roll in there for the championship, you know there is going to be a big trophy and a big check.”

    ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 8th

    THOUGHTS ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN. WERE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT?

    “I didn’t expect more. I really felt like we’ve been off since we unloaded. We really struggled here in the fall with just being really tight and when we unloaded, we were still really tight. In between practices, we made some changes and got it really loose. It didn’t really necessarily get much faster, but I feel like it’s going to be better that way than it is when it’s tight. The first lap, I probably over-did it a little bit in turn one there. The second lap, to be eighth, I don’t think is the end of the world. I would have liked to be a little better, but as bad as we’ve been here in the fast and as bad as we were in practice, we’ll take it. If we could come out of here with a top-ten, I would be high-fiving people after the race. Our short track program, this is the area we need to work on. Our intermediate program is phenomenal and it ended that way last year. Our short track program is the area we need to work on the most.”

    WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 17th

    “Honestly, if you use the brake a little bit more, a little bit differently, I feel like you just have to get all the braking done quicker and then set up for the corner. There’s just more brake usage, more similar to my rookie year I would say, in terms of brake usage and the way that you kind of drive the car. You just have to get everything done early and more finesse on throttle too.”

    WHAT WERE YOU ABLE TO DO IN PRACTICE WITH THE CAR THAT MAYBE YOU COULDN’T DO AS WELL LAST YEAR?

    “It’s hard to say. I wasn’t really around a lot of cars in practice. I thought our car felt pretty good in practice, so it’s hard to say how it’s going to handle in traffic, I would say. It’s kind of an unknown, so far.”

    TALK ABOUT THE INCIDENT WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR TEST?

    “Honestly, with that car with the side wall being so much smaller than what we have now, it’s kind of like your street tire. So, when you get loose, the combination of that plus no side force, it just makes it a lot different when you get loose. That’s what I noticed, so far. I’m sure it’s going to be a lot different once we actually race it.”

    “I haven’t really spun out like that before. It was different, for sure, but it’s a long ways from the finished product and they said they’ve learned some things from that. It wasn’t like I was driving super hard or anything like that, so you just learn from it and move on.”

    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 19th

    WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU STACK UP SO FAR THIS WEEKEND?

    “The cars are pretty loose with the downforce change for this package. It’s pretty fun to drive. If you can get it calmed down, I think it can be pretty fast. We’ve been pretty loose with our Kroger Camaro ZL1 1LE all weekend. But we’re just trying to not get it too tight because the last two weeks, going from practice to the race, I feel like we’ve gotten the car to tight when we’ve been loose in practice. So, we’re just trying to guard against that a little bit knowing the characteristics each week of what our race car is doing. We’re learning a little bit. It will be interesting. I think the top’s going to come in a lot quicker than it has for us in these races and I think it’ll be a good race.”

    JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 21st

    “We didn’t have enough pace yesterday. We ended up going down a little different road. So, having our debriefs, we were able to re-direct things and get back on a similar course of what are teams are, especially the 9 (Chase Elliott) and 24 (William Byron) were on. There were some differences there. So, we’ll find out here shortly if it works in the short run. The short run is so important here. I think, to a certain extent, everybody ends up at the same pace when the tires are really hot and mad. It’s what you can do on the short run to create passing opportunities and get track position.”

    IS THE TIRE FALL OFF ENOUGH WHERE THE LONGER RUNS ARE A LITTLE MORE IMPORTANT OR IS IT STILL NOT A BIG ENOUGH FALL OFF?

    “For me, the opportunity to get track position is always early in a run here, regardless of tire fall off. Especially since they re-paved it. I’m sure longer runs are important, but man it takes you ten laps to pass a guy on a long run. In a short run, you can get four or five if things are working right.”

    BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 27th

    THOUGHTS ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN.

    “We have a lot of work to do. The car was a little bit better, but not what we need.”

    TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 I AM SECOND CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 29th

    THOUGHTS ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN.

    “It was a lot more of the driver, than the car. It stinks, we didn’t want to qualify like that. It doesn’t reflect what our long run pace was considering the issues we fought in practice. It was polar opposites. We mocked up and we were really, really tight and really, really slow. We were substantially faster than that mock run we did, but what everyone is running, that’s not good.”

    DO YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR LONG RUN SPEED?

    “I thought so, but when I went back and looked, it’s hard to say. We’ll definitely work hard on it and try to make it better in the race. I knew that I had some work to do coming into a track like this, especially in qualifying and what I have to do to get the tires warmed up and be able to execute the lap that we need to in order to get a good starting position. It’s a process. I didn’t think we would sit on the pole, but I was really thinking we’d do better than that.”

    AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Qualified 30th

    ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:

    “Not very good. I went into Turn 3 coming to the green and locked-up the left front. I was trying to drive the same point I had yesterday and I don’t know if the brakes were just cold, or what. So, I drove all the way back around to try and get a lap but I don’t know if we flat-spotted a tire, or what. Had a vibration the rest of the last two laps. Unfortunate. The car’s not bad. It was just a little miscue coming to the green and it killed our qualifying effort.”

  • Chandler Smith holds off teammate Michael Self for General Tire 150 victory at Phoenix

    Chandler Smith holds off teammate Michael Self for General Tire 150 victory at Phoenix

    It wasn’t easy as Chandler Smith had to battle through adversity, a caution filled race, and hard-charging Ty Gibbs and teammate Michael Self to win the first-ever ARCA Menards Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

    “Give it to this man (Billy Venturini, Crew Chief) right here,” Smith said to Fox Sports 1. “This combination is one of a kind. If we wouldn’t have made that call, we wouldn’t have won the race. We made a gamble and this is why we’re in victory lane. Can’t thank JBL, Toyota enough for all they gave me. Billy (Venturini) gave me a handful tonight with this JBL Toyota, but look where we ended up, all came down for a reason!”

    Qualifying was held earlier in the day before the race and Ty Gibbs qualified on the pole with Michael Self on the outside pole.

    The cautions didn’t take long to start flying as the first one fell on Lap 10 of the General Tire 150. The No. 06 of Tim Richmond spun out of Turn 4 after hitting the wall. A second caution took place on Lap 31 for the No. 22 for Christian McGhee who spun in Turn 4 after contact with the No. 16 of Gio Seclzi.

    During a restart on Lap 36, Self had issues getting going as he either missed a shift or was having some sort of electrical problem. Self lost a ton of spots after restarting in the second position. But it didn’t take long for the caution to fly again, as this time the No. 16 of Seclzi once again spun around in Turn 2. And with that, it seemed as though there would only be a few laps of green flag racing until another caution occurred. A couple of more cautions flew, one for Self on Lap 52 and one for the No. 99 of Gracie Trotter.

    Howie DiSavino III in the No. 32 was involved in an incident on Lap 78 sending him into the wall after contact from the No. 15 of Drew Dollar. Just a few laps after a restart with 64 to go, GMS Racing driver Sam Mayer was on pit road due to radiator problems.

    Finally, after the cautions slowed down, the General Tire 150 saw a small green flag run with Ty Gibbs still dominating the race. Then, late in the race, a caution was seen with 23 to go as the No. 46 of Thad Moffitt hit the wall in Turn 3 when a right-front tire went down. The impact was hard enough that this relegated Moffitt to an 18th pace finish. Under the yellow, Gibbs and the rest of the top five came down to make their modified live pit stops.

    Due to the late-race pit stop, Gibbs lost the lead and it was assumed by former ARCA champion Zane Smith. However, before the restart with 11 to go, there was a lot of confusion between the top runners on who was starting where, as many drivers had differing opinions. One driver, Bret Holmes, was black flagged for violating the restart order. Shortly after the restart, the yellow slowed the pace with eight to go, as Dollar and Jesse Love made hard contact with each other in Turn 4.

    Since the incident occurred so late in the race, the race was put into a green-white-checker finish. Chandler Smith was the leader on the restart and despite hard charges by Gibbs and Self, the Talking Rock, Georgia native held on to score the eighth win of his ARCA Menards Series career.

    “I lied,” Smith continued to Fox Sports 1. “We weren’t the car to beat, we just happened to win the race. We weren’t the best car tonight. There was at least one maybe or two better. I knew if we had track position, he’s (Michael Self) is so tough to beat. He’s a racecar driver. We led with a couple to go and won the race.”

    After leading most of the race, Ty Gibbs came home to a frustrating third place.

    “I have no words to summarize it or I’ll get in trouble,” Gibbs said to Fox Sports 1. “I can’t thank Joe Gibbs Racing, Monster Energy, everybody that’s apart of this deal. That’s all I can really say. I’m just really frustrated with what happened (restart confusion). This is just really embarrassing to the sport. Otherwise, I just can’t thank everybody enough.”

    Smith led twice for 12 laps en route to victory. There were eight cautions for 56 laps and five leaders among six lead changes.

    Official Results

    1. Chandler Smith, led 12 laps
    2. Michael Self, led one lap
    3. Ty Gibbs, led 122 laps
    4. Tanner Gray, led eight laps
    5. Zane Smith, led seven laps
    6. Nick Sanchez
    7. Hailie Deegan
    8. Chase Cabre
    9. Lawless Alan
    10. Gio Scelzi
    11. Dawson Cram
    12. Christian McGhee
    13. Takuma Koga, one lap down
    14. Drew Dollar, one lap down
    15. Bret Holmes, four laps down
    16. Jesse Love, OUT
    17. Armani Williams, 20 laps down
    18. Thad Moffitt, OUT
    19. Tom Berte, 42 laps down
    20. Sam Mayer, OUT
    21. Howie DiSavino III, OUT
    22. Gracie Trotter, OUT
    23. Tim Richmond, OUT
    24. Ryan Huff, OUT

    Up Next: The next time the ARCA Menards Series will be on-track again is April 19 at Salem Speedway.

  • ARCA Menards Series Preview-Phoenix

    ARCA Menards Series Preview-Phoenix

    After well over a month off, the ARCA Menards Series makes its debut at Phoenix International Raceway this Friday night for the second race of the season. Even though the track will be new to ARCA, many drivers who are entered in this race have already competed on this circuit in some sort of fashion. Currently, just 25 cars are on the ARCA Menards preliminary entry list.

    Despite Phoenix being a new track to the ARCA Series, Venturini Motorsports has four starts here including a start in the NASCAR Southwest Tour and one start in what was then, the NASCAR SuperTruck Series 25-years ago. The most recent start for the team came in 2011 when Auto Club winner Alex Bowman had a seventh-place effort that year.

    However, this year, VMS drivers Chandler Smith, Drew Dollar and Michael Self will try to tackle the one-mile speedway located in Avondale, Arizona.

    VMS driver Drew Dollar has one start under the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Series that came last year. Dollar started fifth and finished 18th due to a crash on Lap 95. The result may not show it, but Dollar claims this track is to his liking.

    “I am ready to get out to Phoenix Raceway this weekend and get back into my No. 15 Toyota Camry,” Dollar said. “I was able to race there once last season in the ARCA West Series and learned a lot about the track. Phoenix (Raceway) is definitely one of my favorite tracks and one of the races that I have really been looking forward to.”

    One driver, however, is making his 2020 racing debut and that’s Talking Rock, Georgia native Chandler Smith. Smith has just one start at Phoenix that came in the Truck Series last year, where he finished third last November.

    “I am really looking forward to Phoenix this week and kick-starting my 2020 race season,” Smith said. “Running the truck race there last year helped prepare me for Friday night’s race and I am excited to get back in my No. 20 JBL Audio Toyota Camry and start back with my Venturini Motorsports team.”

    Rounding out the VMS stable is veteran Michael Self. It’s been since 2013 that Self made his last start there. That year, he finished ninth after starting third. Although he does have a win which came in 2012.

    “Phoenix is such a special track to me for so many reasons,” Self said. “It’s not just a track that I’ve won at, it’s the track where I learned how to big-track race. Early in my stock car career I really struggled there because I just didn’t know what to do on an oval that size. I specifically remember sitting down with my old West crew chief Steve Portenga after a bad run there during the 2012 spring race and talking through the technique of driving there.

    “After he explained how he used to drive the track it seemed like things started to click for me. My driving style changed everywhere, and I won my first K&N West Series race not long after that and followed it up with my win at Phoenix (Raceway) in the fall of that same year. After that, I loved it and couldn’t wait to get back. I really have been waiting seven years to race there again.”

    Ryan Huff is back in the No. 10 Fast Track Racing Team owned by Andy Hillenburg. Huff made his series debut at Daytona last month with a respectable 21st place finish. This weekend will be another new challenge for the Virginia native, but Huff is just lucky to be there.

    “I’m very thankful for this second opportunity to race with Fast Track Racing this weekend at Phoenix,” said Huff. “We were making good strides during the race at Daytona before mechanical issues sidelined us during the race. This weekend, I want to go to Phoenix, continue to learn these cars and finish what we started at Daytona.”

    With Friday being his first start at Phoenix, Huff will have practice time but he has noted that he’s watched footage to gain more knowledge about the track.

    “Of course, we’ll utilize practice on Friday to our ability to get us a good setup for qualifying and then the race,” Huff said. I think we’ll see a difference the way the car handles – practicing and qualifying during the race and running the race under the lights. We just have to do a good job on keeping up with the balance of our car and hope when it comes to the closing laps we’re contending for a strong finish.”

    Not new to Phoenix is upcoming star, Hailie Deegan. Deegan has one start at the track that came last year where she finished fourth after starting 17th. The Arizona native hopes to have another stellar performance this time around but says you have to keep your eye on restarts.

    “Phoenix is really fun,” Deegan said. “I’d say the restarts are the most fun. You can be four-wide going into turn two and it gets sketchy sometimes. It’s a place where a driver can make up for what the car is doing and kind of technique it a little bit, which I think with DGR-Crosley having a good run there last year they had a fast car. I know they didn’t get the finish they wanted, but I’m excited to go back there with a good Toter Ford Fusion, a good setup and a good team. Hopefully, all that leads to a good finish.”

    Deegan’s teammate Tanner Gray is also back in the field for his second ARCA start of the season. His only career start came last November, where Gray finished 17th, one lap down in the DGR camp.

    “I’m excited to be back in the ARCA car and working with Blake (Bainbridge) and the 17 team again this weekend,” Gray said. “We have a couple of weeks off on the truck side, so it’s always nice to be able to stay in the car and get some experience at tracks that we will be visiting later in the season. I raced at Phoenix last fall in the Truck Series, and we really struggled as a whole. I feel like I have a better handle and more success on the mile-and-a-half tracks right now. It’s definitely a good thing that I can pick up some extra track time and get some more experience on the shorter tracks, especially knowing that Phoenix is the season finale in the Truck Series this year.”

    Sam Mayer has been on a roll this season under the ARCA brand, winning on the West and East side. Even though this will be his first ARCA start this year, the GMS Racing driver made one start last year at Phoenix where he had a solid run by winning the pole and finishing second after leading 63 laps.

    “I feel really confident heading into Phoenix with GMS,” Mayer said. “Last time we were there we had the fastest car, and I feel like we’re going to be like that again. I’m excited to have the opportunity to go three-for-three in 2020.”

    Mayer also has one Truck start to his name as he finished 19th.

    On Friday night, there will be many new drivers making their first-ever start. This rings true for Chad Bryant Racing driver Christian McGhee who will pilot the No. 22 in his first ARCA start.

    “What an unbelievable opportunity for me to be apart of the Chad Bryant Racing team this weekend at Phoenix,” said McGhee. “This is a great chance for me to make some noise in the ARCA Menards Series with one of the strongest teams in the series. I’m hoping that we can have a strong performance together on Friday night in what is expected to be a very stacked field of race cars.”

    McGhee continued, saying that the team had some great performances at Phoenix last year.

    “The Chad Bryant Racing cars were fast last fall at Phoenix and most recently dominated the ARCA Menards Series East race at New Smyrna, so I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel and driving some of the best equipment out there,” he said. “I do realize that there is going to be a learning curve for me a little bit – at least at first getting used to the car but hopefully with guidance of Paul (Andrews) and Chad (Bryant team owner) we can get up to speed quickly and keep ourselves in the headlight throughout the race.”

    “Obviously, we’re going to Phoenix to win but I think if we leave there with a top-five finish – no one would complain about that either. I just can’t wait to get to the race track.”

    With all that said, other drivers trying to compete this Friday night include Armani Williams, Chase Cabre, Tim Richmond, Nick Sanchez, Tom Berte, Lawless Alan, Gio Scelzi, Zane Smith, Ty Gibbs, Jesse Love, Bret Holmes, Howie DiSavino III, Thad Moffitt, Takuma Koga and Gracie Trotter.

    Friday’s race is scheduled to be the first under the Sioux Chief Showdown championship. The rest of the schedule includes Iowa, Gateway, Bristol, Memphis, Salem, Elko, Lucas Oil Raceway, Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen.

    It will be a one day show as normal for the ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The one and only practice session takes place at 10 a.m. MT/Noon ET, with no live TV coverage. Qualifying is set for 2:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. ET. The General Tire 150 is scheduled to get underway shortly after 5 p.m. MT/6 pm. CT/7 p.m.ET, live on Fox Sports 1. More coverage throughout the day can also be found on arcaracing.com.

  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Phoenix

    Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Phoenix

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series raced in the mid-west this past Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway. It was an action-packed race that did not disappoint.

    Here are four takeaways from the Lucas Oil 150.

    1. Chase Briscoe Earns A Top Five Finish – With a strong F-150, Briscoe was able to earn a top-five finish at Phoenix International Raceway. He did not place in the top 10 at all in both stages, but, after all the melee was over and adjustments made to the truck by the pit crew, he wound up fourth on the pylon at the end of the night. It was his ninth top-five finish of the year.
    2. Todd Gilliland Has Another Strong Finish – In his rookie season in the truck series, Gilliland has been finishing inside the top 10 for the most part. Despite not finishing at Dover and Gateway, he seems to have found his groove. Before Phoenix, Gilliland placed 11th at Bowmanville, third at Loudon, fifth at Martinsville and recently finished seventh at Phoenix. He started fifth and placed eighth in both stages. When the night was all said and done, Gilliland finished seventh thus earning a spot in the truck series owner’s championship that will conclude Friday night at Homestead-Miami.
    3. Bayley Currey and Jason Hathaway Have Strong Runs – Expect the unexpected was used this past weekend at Phoenix. Currey and Hathaway only made one previous start, placing 25th and 15th, respectively. But after all the carnage was over with, these two rookies earned the best finish of their career thus far.
    4. Robby Lyons Gets 12th Place Finish In Debut – The Seminole, Florida driver made his first Truck Series debut at Phoenix International Raceway. Previously, Lyons only made starts in the CARS Super Late Model Tour making only four starts in two years. He collected a 12th place finish in his career debut. Not bad in your first career start.
  • Elliott Winds up out of Title Picture with Runner-up Finish

    Elliott Winds up out of Title Picture with Runner-up Finish

    Chase Elliott posted a solid afternoon in the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway and knocked Denny Hamlin out of contention for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship, but got passed in the closing laps and failed to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 title race next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Starting the afternoon from fourth, Elliott took the lead on Lap 13 when he passed pole-sitter Ryan Blaney in the dogleg.

    He got loose in Turn 3 on Lap 26, which allowed Hamlin to pass him exiting Turn 4 and take the lead. Entering Turn 1 moments later, Elliott put the chrome bumper to Hamlin and took back the lead, only to lose it again the following lap when Hamlin powered by him on the outside exiting Turn 2.

    Elliott ended the first stage with a third-place finish.

    The second stage for him was uneventful, as he finished ninth.

    With 44 laps to go, Elliott and Hamlin were making contact with each other. Elliott tapped Hamlin in Turn 3 to pass him. Then they made contact past the exit of Turn 4, with Hamlin scrapping the outside wall and slamming the Turn 3 wall six laps later.

    Since the skirmish came two weeks after their highly publicized run-in at Martinsville Speedway, Elliott was asked if the run-in in this race stemmed from that.

    “A wise man once told me that he’ll race guys how they race him with a smile on his face, so that’s what I did today,” he said. “I raced him how he raced me, and that’s the way I saw it. That’s about all I have to say.”

    With 28 to go, Elliott short-cut the dogleg and passed Matt Kenseth entering Turn 3 to retake the lead. Unfortunately for Elliott, Kenseth ran him down, powered around his outside through Turn 3 with nine to go and took the checkered flag.

    “Yeah, our car was really good on the short run after those cautions and the rubber got picked up. As I went, I just got tighter and tighter and couldn’t keep it turning and couldn’t roll the middle like I needed to. I felt like I might have had enough to keep him back there if I hit all my marks and got really tight off (Turn) 2 and made it one lap and basically gave away all my gap and once he got there it was obviously hard to hold him off.”

    Elliott finished runner-up for the seventh-time, losing out on the final Playoff spot to Brad Keselowski.

    “Man, it’s such a bummer to be so freaking close again. Had a shot to go race for a championship next week, so we fought as hard as we could today. I told my guys a minute ago, at some point we will figure out how to close or I will figure out how to close and we can have some great opportunities down the road, I hope.”

    Elliott leaves Phoenix fifth in points.

  • Kenseth Plays Playoff Spoiler at Phoenix

    Kenseth Plays Playoff Spoiler at Phoenix

    If Matt Kenseth doesn’t race in NASCAR again after next Sunday, he went out in a blaze of glory by denying Chase Elliott his golden ticket to the championship round and ending year and a half winless drought in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

    Following a clustered restart with 32 laps to go, Elliott passed Kenseth through the dog leg and entering Turn 3 to take the lead with 28 to go.

    Kenseth wouldn’t be denied, however, as he ran down, gave him a tap in Turn 4 with 12 to go, finally passed him entering Turn 3 to take the lead with nine to go and drove on to score his 39th career victory in 650 career starts.

    On the cool down lap, a number of drivers drove up alongside — and in the case of Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., tapped him from behind — to congratulate him.

    When he got out of his car at the start/finish line, the stoic Kenseth climbed onto the roof and started tearing up as the fans cheered him on.

    Elliott finished second and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the podium.

    Erik Jones and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

    Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Ryan Blaney led the field to the green flag at 2:39 p.m. Elliott short-cut the dog leg to pass Blaney entering Turn 3 and take the lead on Lap 13. He got loose in Turn 3, allowing Hamlin to pass him exiting Turn 4 and take the lead on Lap 26, only to lose it a lap later when Elliott put the chrome bumper to him going into Turn 1. Hamlin responded on Lap 28 when he powered by Elliott on the outside exiting Turn 2 to take it back. Kyle Larson took the lead from out of nowhere on Lap 68 and drove on to win the first stage.

    When Hamlin took it back under the first stage break, he held it past the second stage break, the points for which he won, and lost under the third caution — due to Trevor Bayne blowing a tire in Turn 4 — when his car stalled briefly on pit road, handing the lead to Matt Kenseth.

    Hamlin’s wreck in Turn 3 with 38 to go setup the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    The first caution flew on Lap 75 for the end of the first stage. Jimmie Johnson’s wreck in Turn 4, due to a tire blowout, brought out the second caution on Lap 149. Bayne brought out the third caution on Lap 229 when he suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the outside wall in Turn 4. A brake hose in Turn 1 brought out the fourth caution with 74 laps to go. Chris Buescher brought out the fifth caution with 59 to go, as well as a red flag for a fire in the SAFER barrier that his brake rotor caused. Cole Whitt’s wreck in Turn 4 brought out the sixth caution with 50 to go. Hamlin’s wreck in Turn 3 brought out the final caution with 38 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 57 minutes and 23 seconds, at an average speed of 105.534 mph.

    Truex, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Brad Keselowski advance to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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  • Hamlin’s Dominant Run Ends in the Wall

    Hamlin’s Dominant Run Ends in the Wall

    Denny Hamlin’s day was dominant, but contact with Chase Elliott late in the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway knocked him out of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

    Starting the afternoon in second, Hamlin first took the lead on Lap 26 when passed Elliott exiting Turn 4, after he got loose, only to lose it a lap later when Elliott put the chrome bumper to him in Turn 1. On Lap 28, Hamlin powered around his outside in Turn 2 to take the lead.

    He was challenged late in the stage by Kyle Larson, who took it from him on Lap 68 and Hamlin settled for second in the first stage.

    After beating Larson off pit road, Hamlin commanded the lead for the next 151 laps. During which, he took the green and checkered flag to win the second stage.

    When Trevor Bayne brought out the third caution, Hamlin lost the lead on pit road when his car stalled briefly and exited behind teammate Matt Kenseth.

    With 42 laps to go, Elliott again put the bumper to Hamlin through Turn 4. But past the exit, they made contact again and Hamlin brushed the wall. Over the next few laps, smoke started billowing from the right-front tire, the tell-tale sign of a tire rub. With 38 to go, the tire gave way as he entered Turn 3, he veered up the track and slammed the outside wall, ending his day and Playoff run.

    “Well we had a fast car all day. We did essentially our job all day long. We put ourselves in good position. Things just didn’t work out there, in the end.”

    All of this comes in the wake of the much-publicized incident two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway, in which Hamlin dumped Elliott in Turn 3 with three laps to go to try, but failed, to win the race himself.

    Hamlin was asked if he thought that his apology following the incident would prevent something along the lines of what took him out.

    “Each person has their own opinion of how they do things, and it just proves to the people that thought I was the bad guy that he would do the exact same thing under the same circumstances. It’s part of racing. I got into him, and he chose to retaliate and, so, I’m in the garage and that’s the way it is.

    “We did a great job all day. This is the best car I’ve had in a very long time. We just got behind on a pit stop, and that just gave those guys an opportunity to get close.”

    Hamlin ended the day in 37th and sixth in points, trailing Elliott by 17 for fifth.