United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway
(⏰ 3:30 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX, FOX Sports App | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Phoenix, the fourth race of the 2023 Cup Series campaign.
Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | Phoenix 101
📍 Location: Avondale, Arizona
📐 Track length: 1 mile
🎟️ Buy tickets: Two races this weekend
💰 Race purse: $7,453,660
📏 Race distance: 312 laps | 312 miles
🔢 Stages: 60 | 185 | 312
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🚗 Pit stall assignments: Where drivers will pit on Sunday
📋 Starting lineup: Where drivers will start on Sunday
📦 Rules package: New rules for short tracks, road courses
🏆 Most recent winner: Joey Logano, 2022 championship race
📸 At-track photos: Weekend shots from Phoenix
Key things to watch 🔑
Top story line
New winners. Three races down, three unique drivers with a trip to Victory Lane. The historic parity displayed during the 2022 season seems to have carried over so far, but a lot of time still remains for the cream to rise to the top. Will Sunday’s race in Phoenix produce the fourth new winner in a four-race span? Perhaps we will also see the first victory of 2023 for Ford or Toyota after Chevrolet is off to a dominant start to open the new campaign. Of the 2023 winners so far, Kyle Busch is the only one with a victory at Phoenix – three, to be exact – and is among the experts’ early favorites to pick up another this weekend. But three versus the rest of the field, racing with a new rules package? Chances are that this historic pace will continue for at least one more week.
🤔 💭 : How will the new rules package come into play? | Breaking down the Next Gen changes
History tells us…
Sunday could be Kevin Harvick’s race to lose. Harvick has an astounding nine victories at the Arizona track and is currently on a streak of 19 consecutive Phoenix races with a top-10 finish – yes, you read that correctly. It’s unquestionably the best track for the Cup Series veteran, and that’s saying a lot considering his tremendous success elsewhere over the last two decades. Still, Harvick hasn’t won here since 2018, and in pursuit of his first win of the 2023 season in his final campaign, it just means that much more. When it comes down to the final stage, Harvick is almost always in the mix for the checkered. If he makes it to Victory Lane on Sunday, he will join an elite list of drivers with 10 wins at a single track – and that’s no feat to forget.
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
Chase Briscoe. Briscoe has had a pretty slow start to the year, without any top-10 results through the first three races. But Sunday’s race at Phoenix could easily be where he kicks it into gear and makes a run as the defending spring race winner. Last season, his first full year after his 2021 rookie campaign, Briscoe showed that this 1-miler is one of his better tracks with the victory and a fourth-place finish in the annual finale. In total, he led 112 laps between the two races and could very well add to that number this weekend. At 20-1 odds (DraftKings), it’s worth taking the early jump in case he improves his standing with a strong showing in practice and qualifying. | Who is the betting favorite?
Practice and qualifying
Kyle Larson clearly has the car to beat. Larson showed up in a dominant way during both practice and qualifying, topping the early charts and earning his first Busch Light Pole Award of the 2023 season. Denny Hamlin earned the second front-row starting position, followed by last week’s winner William Byron. Perhaps the biggest story of the sessions may have been the confiscation of Hendrick Motorsports’ hood louvers by NASCAR officials on Friday after the practice session and Justin Haley’s on Saturday before qualifying. | For more info, read the full qualifying recap.
🃏 Fantasy Update: Last-minute roster advice for Phoenix
Familiar favorites ⭐️
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
– Paint Scheme Preview: Delightful designs for the desert races | Pick a favorite
– Power Rankings: Will the Kevin Harvick of old dominate on Sunday? | Latest driver rankings
– Fantasy Fastlane: Will Stewart-Haas set the standard at Phoenix? | Best plays, lineup advice
– Betting odds: See which driver is favored to win Sunday’s race | Top bets, underdog picks
– Stacking Pennies: Crew dives into the Chase Elliott situation, more | Listen to the podcast
💎 NASCAR 75: Check out exclusive NASCAR content throughout the anniversary season | Learn more, explore
Hot off the press 📰
Key stories and breaking news from the week leading up to the race.
– Package deal: New rules configuration for short tracks and road courses | Learn more
– Joey Logano: Record on new configurations, races is ‘unparalleled’ | Read more
– Christopher Bell: JGR driver optimistic about new rules package | Read more
– Ross Chastain: Battling confidence and high expectations | Read more
– Chase Elliott: Expected to miss six weeks; fill-in drivers announced | Read more
– Jensen Button: Set for Cup Series debut at COTA | Read more
– Ross Chastain: Rebuilding for confidence after career year | Read more
– Roblox: NASCAR launches brand new gaming experience | Read more
– Hail Melon: Ross Chastain helps remove historic wall portion at Martinsville | Read more
– William Byron: Cup Series driver to drive for KBM in three races | Read more
– Analysis: Is Hendrick Motorsports the team to beat in 2023? | Read more
– Photo Memories: Lesa France Kennedy recalls early days of NASCAR | Watch video
– Jordan Taylor: Road-course ace gets call to drive No. 9 at COTA | Read more
– Kimi’s back: Räikkönen will return for Project 91 entry at COTA | Read more
– Loose wheels: New rules mean new questions on pit road | Watch video
– IMSA: No. 60 GTP team penalized for Daytona infraction | Read more
Get in on the action 💰
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy and Fan Rewards.
– Fan Rewards: New in 2023, get rewarded for your participation | Learn more
– Fantasy Live: Still time to get on the leaderboard and win big this season | Tips for 2023
– NASCAR BetCenter: Don’t miss your chance to make picks each week | Visit the BetCenter
– Going the distance: 2023 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
Flashback to Phoenix 📸
Currently the site of the championship race, there’s a lot of history at this Arizona desert short track.
– Winner, winner: All-time wins at Phoenix Raceway | See who has the most
– Setting the stage for Phoenix: Track has long been a focal point of motorsports | Read more
– Do you remember?: Most memorable moments at Phoenix | Relive them here
– GIFs are great: Key moments from most recent Phoenix race in GIFs | See them here
– Sights and Sounds: Chase Briscoe tames Phoenix Raceway | Highlights from 2022
Take some notes 📝
Five hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
– The last time Kevin Harvick finished outside the top 10 at Phoenix was 3,661 days ago (10 years and nine days).
– Alex Bowman is the first Hendrick Motorsports driver to start the season with three top 10s since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015.
– The winner of the last four races on March 12 went on to win the Cup Series championship.
– Ford won both poles at Phoenix in 2022, won both races and led 89% of the laps run.
– Five drivers finished top 10 at both Phoenix races in 2022: Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain.
🔮 Predicting the winner: Using data to set a projected finishing order