After having a back-to-back winner early in the season, NASCAR heads to Phoenix for the Shriners Children’s 500. Christopher Bell and the 20 team have strung wins together and now look for the three-peat at a racetrack that Bell won at last season.
Where: Avondale, Arizona
Track: Phoenix Raceway
When: Sunday, Mar. 9, 3:30 PM EDT
Watch: Fox Sports One
Track Background
While the racetrack was built in 1964, the NASCAR Cup Series did not start racing at Phoenix until 1988. Over the years since, the track has been modified. This includes the flipping of the front and back stretches, and the addition of a dogleg that creates wild restarts. The track also hosts the Championship race, which many NASCAR fans are not so fond of.
The track is fairly flat with turns 1 and 2 being 9 degrees and turns 3 and 4 being 11 degrees. Banking on the straightaways are 9 degrees on the front-stretch and 3 degrees on the back.
While one could say this is a preview of the championship weekend, that is far from the truth.
Ones To Watch
The season has produced only two winners, and it may stay that way coming out of the weekend. Our ones to watch for the weekend are below.
Christopher Bell (20)
Well, it becomes a problem when the writer does not put the back-to-back race winner on his ones to watch list. Why not go with the trend, and break down why the JGR Toyota has a shot to win on Sunday. Last season, Bell took the Spring race, and led 143 laps during the Fall race. Also, the Oklahoma native has the most wins on intermediate mile tracks in the next-gen car with three victories. A three-peat could be likely.
Ryan Blaney (12)
If one were to pick a driver to win this weekend, Blaney is the one to do it. While the 12 camp has not found victory lane at Phoenix, they sure know how to be in contention late. For starters, the champion has the best average finish on one-mile intermediate tracks among active drivers. Secondly, since 2022, Blaney has not finished worse than fifth out in the desert. He clearly can put the run together, but will he finally get the victory?
Tyler Reddick (45)
The reigning regular season champion has put together a decent resume out in the desert since 2022. Reddick has four top-ten finishes out of the six races ran at Phoenix. While the 23XI driver has not crossed the start/finish line first on a one-mile intermediate, his runs show momentum coming into the weekend.
Kyle Larson (5)
Like others on the list, the 5 camp is still searching for a win on one-mile intermediates. Since 2022, Larson sits second in average finish on those types of tracks with a 10.3. While he only has a best finish of third in the next-gen, Hendrick Motorsports shared that they put a lot of work into intermediate style tracks over the offseason.
