Posted on by Data Skrive

Justin Haley finished fifth in the LS Tractor 200 at Phoenix Raceway Saturday.

Haley’s top five finish added 35 points to his season total.

Haley qualified in 14th position at 131.815 mph. The third-year driver has accumulated six top-five and 23 top-10 finishes in his career.

The fifth-place result on Saturday was the first time Haley has cracked the top five at Phoenix Raceway. It also marks his second top-10 finish at Phoenix.

The Winamac, Indiana native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting one spot higher than his career mark of 15.1 and completing the race nine places ahead of his 14 career average finish.

Haley’s fifth-place finish came against a field of 36 drivers. The race endured seven cautions and 45 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 11 lead changes.

Brandon Jones earned the checkered flag in the race, and Harrison Burton finished second. Kyle Busch crossed the finish line third, with Brad Keselowski bringing home fourth place. Haley rounded out the top five.

After Justin Allgaier won the first stage, Noah Gragson drove the No. 9 car to victory in Stage 2.

Justin Haley Driver Page | Get Justin Haley Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Harrison Burton finished second in the LS Tractor 200 at Phoenix Raceway Saturday.

Burton’s top five finish added 40 points to his season total.

Burton qualified in third position at 133.496 mph. The second-year driver has one career victory, with five top-five finishes and nine results inside the top 10.

Saturday’s race was the first of Burton’s career at Phoenix Raceway.

The Huntersville, North Carolina native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting four spots higher than his career mark of 6.6 and completing the race eight places ahead of his 9.6 career average finish.

Burton’s second-place finish came against a field of 36 drivers. The race endured seven cautions and 45 caution laps. There were 11 lead changes.

Brandon Jones brought home the win in the race, followed by Burton’s second-place finish. Kyle Busch crossed the finish line third, Brad Keselowski brought home fourth place, and Justin Haley closed the top five.

After Justin Allgaier won the first stage, Noah Gragson drove the No. 9 car to victory in Stage 2.

Harrison Burton Driver Page | Get Harrison Burton Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Matt DiBenedetto finished 13th in the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway Sunday.

DiBenedetto’s result added 31 points to his season total.

DiBenedetto qualified in ninth position at 137.289 mph. The sixth-year driver has earned four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in his career.

Sunday was DiBenedetto’s 11th career start at Phoenix Raceway. Though he’s completed 11 of those races, he has never managed to crack the top 10 at the track.

The Grass Valley, California native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting 18 spots higher than his career mark of 26.6 and completing the race 11 places ahead of his 24.3 career average finish.

DiBenedetto’s 13th-place finish came against a field of 38 drivers. The race endured 12 cautions and 73 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 20 lead changes.

Joey Logano took the checkered flag in the race, and Kevin Harvick followed in second. Kyle Busch placed third, Kyle Larson brought home fourth, and Clint Bowyer grabbed the No. 5 spot.

After Harvick won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Matt DiBenedetto Driver Page | Get Matt DiBenedetto Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Brad Keselowski finished 11th in the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway Sunday after leading 82 laps in the race.

Keselowski’s result added 36 points to his season total.

Keselowski qualified in 14th position at 136.939 mph and led 82 laps in the race, holding the lead a total of four times. The 13th-year driver has piled up 30 career victories, with 116 top-five finishes and 188 results inside the top 10.

Over the course of his career at Phoenix Raceway, Keselowski has put together six top-five finishes and 10 top 10s.

The Rochester Hills, Michigan native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting one spot higher than his career mark of 14.6 and completing the race four places ahead of his 14.9 career average finish.

Keselowski took on a field of 38 drivers on the way to his 11th-place finish. The race endured 12 cautions and 73 caution laps. There were 20 lead changes.

Joey Logano earned the checkered flag in the race, and Kevin Harvick finished second. Kyle Busch placed third, Kyle Larson brought home fourth, and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.

After Harvick won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Brad Keselowski Driver Page | Get Brad Keselowski Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Cole Custer finished ninth in the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway Sunday to secure his first career top-10 finish.

The top 10 finish for Custer added 29 points to his season total.

Custer qualified in 16th position at 136.679 mph. The second-year driver has one top-10 finish in his career.

Sunday’s race was the first of Custer’s career at Phoenix Raceway.

The Ladera Ranch, California native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting three spots higher than his career mark of 19.2 and completing the race 14 places ahead of his 23.2 career average finish.

Custer’s ninth-place finish came against a field of 38 drivers. The race endured 12 cautions and 73 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 20 lead changes.

Joey Logano earned the win in the race, and Kevin Harvick took second. Kyle Busch crossed the finish line third, Kyle Larson took fourth, and Clint Bowyer grabbed the No. 5 spot.

After Harvick won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Cole Custer Driver Page | Get Cole Custer Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Kyle Larson finished fourth in the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway Sunday.

Larson’s top five finish added 35 points to his season total.

Larson qualified in fourth position at 137.604 mph and led two laps in the race. The eighth-year driver has tallied six career victories, with 56 top-five finishes and 101 results inside the top 10.

The fourth place result for Larson marks the fifth time he has finished in the top five at Phoenix Raceway and his seventh top 10.

The Elk Grove, California native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting 10 spots higher than his career mark of 14.3 and completing the race 12 places ahead of his 16.2 career average finish.

Larson battled against a field of 38 drivers on the way to his fourth-place finish. The race endured 12 cautions and 73 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 20 lead changes.

Joey Logano secured the win in the race, followed by Kevin Harvick in the No. 2 spot and Kyle Busch in third. Larson secured fourth ahead of Clint Bowyer’s No. 5 finish.

After Harvick won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Kyle Larson Driver Page | Get Kyle Larson Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Kevin Harvick finished second in the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway Sunday.

Harvick’s top five finish added 54 points to his season total.

Harvick qualified in second position at 137.878 mph and led 67 laps in the race, holding the lead a total of four times. The 20th-year driver has earned 49 career victories, with 208 top-five finishes and 366 results inside the top 10.

Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway is a familiar place for Harvick, who has nine career wins at the track. His second-place finish also marks the 18th time he has finished in the top five at Phoenix and his 24th top 10.

The Bakersfield, California native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting 13 spots higher than his career mark of 14.6 and completing the race 11 places ahead of his 12.7 career average finish.

Harvick battled against a field of 38 drivers on the way to his second-place finish. The race endured 12 cautions and 73 caution laps. There were 20 lead changes.

Joey Logano earned the win in the race, followed by Harvick’s second-place finish. Kyle Busch crossed in third, Kyle Larson secured fourth place, and Clint Bowyer took the No. 5 spot.

After Kevin Harvick won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Kevin Harvick Driver Page | Get Kevin Harvick Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Tyler Reddick’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet wasn’t running at the finish of Sunday’s FanShield 500, but the top finishers in the NASCAR Cup Series event certainly knew he had been there.

Reddick started 29th in a field of 38, but by the time the second stage ended on Lap 190, he had worked his way up to fourth, having passed Kyle Busch for the position. But after a two-tire call and a second-place restart on Lap 222, Reddick was shuffled back in the running order.

RELATED: Race results

A flat tire on Lap 265 sent Reddick rocketing into the Turn 2 wall and ended a promising race for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender.

“Well, we lost a tire there in (Turns) 1 and 2,” said Reddick, who was racing at Phoenix in the Cup Series for the first time. “I really don’t know what led to that. I don’t know if I just caught something on the race track or it just wasn’t meant to be. Our Chevrolet was really, really good today. I just made a couple of mistakes there that cost us track position.

“I don’t know if that’s what ultimately would have kept us from cutting a tire, but we were in really good shape there, and I just made a rookie mistake and fell back to the back half of the top 10, and from there, we had our flat tire, and that was the end of our day, unfortunately.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Spoiler alert: If Sunday’s race was any indication, fans are in for a treat of a title race at Phoenix Raceway come November.

This weekend’s FanShield 500 NASCAR Cup Series event was the first to feature the revamped 2020 short-track and road-course package, which heralds a shorter rear spoiler (from 8 to 2.75 inches), a front splitter overhang reduction from 2 inches to 0.25 inches and alterations to the radiator pan.

MORE: 2020 short track and road course package explained | See photos of spoilers

In short, it worked.

“I think you certainly want to see a lot of what we saw today: a lot of lead changes. And this comes from a lot of work from the entire industry, going back to Nashville (Tennessee), getting everybody together, talking about what could we collectively do for the good of the sport and specifically for this race track,” NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said on pit road after the race. “The race teams came together, the drivers, Goodyear and I think all that played a part today. Not only tire wear, PJ1 that was applied but the rules package as well. We saw a lot of different things happen during the race, some emotions run pretty high, which is what you want. A lot of comers and goers and ultimately a really good race.

“I think you saw some dominant cars for sure, but not only were drivers and teams able to catch the leader but even when someone was passed for the lead, they were able to go back and re-take the lead, which is always something you like to see and multiple cars were able to do that.”

The top five wound up with familiar Phoenix names – Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer – but the top 10 was in flux seemingly the whole race.

RELATED: Full Phoenix race results | Logano holds off Harvick in OT

Pole-winner Chase Elliott had the dominant car early, leading a race-high 93 laps before a loose wheel sidelined his car during green-flag runs … and he wound up seventh. Brad Keselowski had arguably the car to beat, but a decision to stay out on slightly used tires relegated him to 11th after 82 laps led.

The “Cactus King,” Harvick, then had his turn at the front of the pack, swapping the lead back and forth with Logano to the tune of 67 laps led, and NASCAR potentially could have seen a neck-and-neck finish had a string of late cautions not come and the race stayed green.

Heck, for a quick minute there, even rookie Tyler Reddick was outpacing Harvick and gunning for a legitimate top-five finish and putting on a show while doing it.

Drivers were pleased with the direction the package has short-track racing headed in, as well.

“You could definitely follow (other cars) a lot closer,” Busch said. “You could get up into a guy’s left rear and be close enough to their left rear and follow them close enough that you could try to make a move on them or make a run on them up off the corner. Get them a little loose to be able to make a move on them. I felt like there was certainly some positives.”

The only question that remains is where things go from here and how does NASCAR build off a successful first run with these rules. There’s a long way to go before the Cup Series field is back racing in the desert nearly nine months from now.

“We’ve got the best engineers in the world, so they’ll go back and study what worked and where they maybe could make a difference,” said O’Donnell. “Lot of racing to go, but certainly this is a good platform to start off our short-track package and what we wanted to see this weekend. So we’ll head off to Martinsville (Speedway) and Richmond (Raceway) and see what we can do there, but all in all, thought it was really good.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Joey Logano has passed post-race technical inspection after winning Sunday’s FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Logano’s race-winning No. 22 car was only found with one lug nut not safely secured in a post-race check, but otherwise it was compliant with the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book after the 316-lap event at the 1-mile track in Arizona. His second win of the season and the 25th of his NASCAR Cup Series career are now official after the post-race teardown.

RELATED: Official race results

This is the second year of a post-race process to bring a more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced before the 2019 season thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions.

NASCAR will still inspect cars at the R&D Center as needed to monitor trends and parts compliance. Officials indicated post-race the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Kyle Larson would be taken to the R&D Center for further evaluation this week.