Memorable moments at Phoenix

By Staff Report | Thursday, March 11, 2021

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1988

In the first NASCAR Cup Series race at the track, Alan Kulwicki earns his first series win and drives clockwise around the track, coining the move a "Polish Victory Lap."

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1991

Davey Allison hoists his first of two consecutive trophies at the track.

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1996

Bobby Hamilton earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory and put the No. 43 car back in Victory Lane for the first time in 12 years.

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2004

Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates back-to-back wins at Phoenix Raceway.

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2006

Kevin Harvick completes the first-ever season sweep at Phoenix Raceway, which has hosted two races per year beginning in 2005.

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2007

Jeff Gordon ties Dale Earnhardt with his 76th career premier series win.

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2008

Jimmie Johnson becomes the winningest NASCAR Cup Series driver at Phoenix Raceway (at the time) with a third consecutive victory at the track.

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2012

Perhaps the most visually memorable moment at Phoenix Raceway came in late 2012, with Clint Bowyer -- deep in the hunt for his first title -- sprinting through the garage area to confront Jeff Gordon. The pair had a run-in on track that effectively took Bowyer out of title contention, and a fracas ensued as the two drivers and their crews tussled.

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2014

Kevin Harvick had a walk-off win, but a second last-lap story line emerged. Needing to advance one position to advance to the Homestead-Miami Speedway championship race, Ryan Newman knocked non-playoff driver Kyle Larson up the track and out of the way to get the necessary spot, securing his berth in the championship race ... and ruffling a few feathers in the process.

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2015

Kevin Harvick wins for the fourth straight time at Phoenix Raceway, exhibiting the dominance he has had in the Valley of the Sun this decade.

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2015

Rain came at a fortuitous time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the November 2015 race at Phoenix Raceway. Earnhardt came to pit road for fuel and tires one lap before a wreck on Lap 196. While on pit road, Earnhardt crossed the scoring line at the flag stand before Kevin Harvick, who had dominated with 143 laps led. Earnhardt inherited the top spot, and before track workers could clean up from the wreck, rain began to pour and the race was called. The win turned out to be Earnhardt's last Cup win to date.

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2016

Photo finish! Kevin Harvick beat Carl Edwards to the start-finish line by 0.010 seconds in the spring 2016 race.

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2017

In his second-to-last start with Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt Kenseth piloted his No. 20 Toyota to Victory Lane for the 39th win of his career.

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2018

Kevin Harvick further cemented his hold as the best driver at Phoenix Raceway with his ninth NASCAR Cup Series win at the 1-mile track.

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2018

The fall race at Phoenix Raceway saw the opening of a new garage area that brought fans closer to the action. This also marked the first race of the track's reconfiguration that saw the track's start-finish moved to what was previously Turn 2. The dogleg portion of the track also became a bigger factor on restarts.

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2019

Denny Hamlin came into the Round of 8 finale on the outside looking in of advancing to the Championship 4. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver turned in a clutch performance to secure his ticket to Homestead-Miami Speedway by leading 143 laps en route to his sixth victory of the season.

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2020

Sheldon Creed kicked off the first championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway by surging on a late-race restart to grab the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.

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2020

Austin Cindric scored his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in a NASCAR Overtime finish when he got by fellow Championship 4 driver Justin Allgaier and then took the lead from Noah Gragson just prior to the white flag.

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2020

The NASCAR Cup Series title race marked a change of the guard at Hendrick Motorsports, as Chase Elliott scored his first Cup championship and Jimmie Johnson made his final full-time start in the sport's top series.

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