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While two of Chip Ganassi’s race cars will spend the weekend making tight left turns at Phoenix Raceway as part of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, his sports car team will field entries winding around the historic Sebring International Raceway road course looking for a second overall victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida sports car classic.


There are plenty of other story lines, too. Here’s what to watch for today.


Race schedule

The green flag for the 65th annual Sebring race — event number two of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship — is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. ET on Saturday featuring the world’s best road-course racers in one of the country’s oldest major sports car races. Former NASCAR driver and current television analyst Kyle Petty will serve as honorary starter.


Race details

Sebring is a 3.74-mile road course with 17 turns. The race is 12 hours and will end at 10:40 p.m. ET.


How to watch

FOX Sports Go will begin television coverage of the race at 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday with FS1 providing coverage of the remainder from 12:30-11 p.m. ET.


Go to IMSA.tv for live-streaming coverage, including in-car cameras throughout the 12-hour event.


The field

There are 11 entries in the prototype class, including the recent Rolex 24 race-winning No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac driven by brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Alexander Lynn.


Ganassi is fielding three Fords in the GT LeMans class featuring drivers such as last week’s season-opening IndyCar winner Sebastien Bourdais as well as IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. Ganassi’s car won overall at Sebring in 2014. This car won in class at the 24 Hours of LeMans last year.


NASCAR team owner Roger Penske has fielded a winning Sebring entry as well, in 2008. And this is the 50th anniversary since last month’s Daytona 500 grand marshal Mario Andretti won Sebring in 1967.


There are 46 cars among four classes set for Saturday morning’s green flag and also include former NASCAR competitors such as Scott Pruett and Christian Fittipaldi.

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RELATED: Starting lineup for Sunday’s race 

At a Glance 

What: Camping World 500

Where: Phoenix Raceway, 1-mile tri-oval in Avondale, Arizona

Green flag: 3:44 p.m. ET 

TV/Radio: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 

Forecast: Sunny with a high near 95. East wind 5-to-10 mph becoming west-southwest in the afternoon

National anthem: Phoenix resident Dr. Jesse McGuire

Grand Marshal: Tamara Ward, Camping World CMO

Race distance: 312 laps, 312 miles 

Pit road speed: 45 mph 

Caution car speed: 50 mph

Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 75. Stage 2 ends on Lap 150. Final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 312.

More: Race-day schedule | Hamlin to the rear | Logano on pole

 

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BUY TICKETS: See the races in Phoenix
RELATED: Final practice results | Best 10-lap averages

Coors Light Pole winner Joey Logano continued to show speed at Phoenix International Raceway as he led Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, turning a lap at the 1-mile track at 134.736 mph in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.


Matt Kenseth was second in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 134.519 mph. Rounding out the top five were Kyle Busch in the No. 18 JGR Toyota at 134.399 mph, Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford at 134.384 and Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 134.368 mph, respectively.


Daniel Suarez’s car spun early in the final practice session, and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota skidded toward the inside wall before stopping short of it. He returned to practice with about nine minutes remaining in the session.

RELATED: Suarez spins in final practice

SECOND PRACTICE | Results

Earlier in the day, Chase Elliott led the opening practice Saturday, traveling around the 1-mile track in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet at 135.977 mph. This came on the heels of Elliott topping Friday’s only practice in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at 137.101 mph.

Logano was second at 135.446 mph in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Kyle Larson (Chevrolet), Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota) and Keselowski (Ford) rounded out the top five. 

RELATED: Stenhouse hits the wall in practice


Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall early in practice, bringing out the red flag and doing minimal damage to the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Stenhouse indicated it was a brake problem that caused him to lose control of the car. He came back out on track with the same vehicle (i.e. not a backup car).

Three teams served 15-minute penalties at the start of practice for issues during pre-qualifying inspection: The No. 3 of Austin Dillon, the No. 13 of Ty Dillon and the No. 38 of David Ragan.

Monster Energy Cup Series returns to the track Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET for the Camping World 500 (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 

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BUY TICKETS: See the races in Phoenix

PRACTICE 1: Full results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 1 Jamie McMurray 4 13 132.623
2 42 Kyle Larson 7 16 132.466
3 23 Gray Gaulding # 1 10 127.326

PRACTICE 2: Full results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 78 Martin Truex Jr 3 12 134.525
2 24 Chase Elliott 2 11 134.431
3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4 13 134.398
4 42 Kyle Larson 3 12 134.329
5 11 Denny Hamlin 3 12 134.124
6 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 133.924
7 18 Kyle Busch 3 12 133.740
8 77 Erik Jones # 2 11 133.657
9 14 Clint Bowyer 2 11 133.498
10 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 10 133.347
11 27 Paul Menard 4 13 133.209
12 47 AJ Allmendinger 5 14 132.745
13 13 Ty Dillon # 1 10 132.656
14 31 Ryan Newman 26 35 132.604
15 19 Daniel Suarez # 5 14 132.549
16 10 Danica Patrick 3 12 132.446
17 95 Michael McDowell 5 14 132.361
18 20 Matt Kenseth 19 28 132.357
19 32 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 132.243
20 34 Landon Cassill 3 12 132.066
21 3 Austin Dillon 6 15 132.043
22 38 David Ragan 1 10 131.704
23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 19 28 131.613
24 23 Gray Gaulding # 6 15 130.693
25 15 Reed Sorenson 2 11 130.628
26 6 Trevor Bayne 17 26 130.266
27 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt 1 10 128.147

FINAL PRACTICE: Full results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch 2 11 134.094
2 48 Jimmie Johnson 3 12 133.687
3 20 Matt Kenseth 2 11 133.663
4 2 Brad Keselowski 1 10 133.562
5 78 Martin Truex Jr 3 12 133.196
6 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 133.100
7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 10 132.985
8 5 Kasey Kahne 2 11 132.963
9 24 Chase Elliott 1 10 132.913
10 1 Jamie McMurray 3 12 132.848
11 21 Ryan Blaney 5 14 132.843
12 77 Erik Jones # 3 12 132.806
13 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2 11 132.696
14 11 Denny Hamlin 3 12 132.580
15 4 Kevin Harvick 1 10 132.578
16 19 Daniel Suarez # 3 12 132.576
17 31 Ryan Newman 7 16 132.525
18 6 Trevor Bayne 2 11 132.480
19 42 Kyle Larson 7 16 132.439
20 22 Joey Logano 20 29 132.410
21 41 Kurt Busch 22 31 132.126
22 10 Danica Patrick 2 11 132.069
23 47 AJ Allmendinger 9 18 131.752
24 34 Landon Cassill 2 11 131.632
25 13 Ty Dillon # 1 10 131.600
26 27 Paul Menard 2 11 131.586
27 3 Austin Dillon 19 28 131.253
28 38 David Ragan 5 14 131.145
29 32 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 130.988
30 43 Aric Almirola 19 28 130.961
31 95 Michael McDowell 1 10 130.730
32 23 Gray Gaulding # 19 28 129.243

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
# Indicates driver is a rookie in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series.

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BUY TICKETS: See the races in Phoenix | See full field, team info

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin got "screwed" during the first round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying.

No, another competitor didn’t impede Hamlin’s progress on his run. Crew chief Mike Wheeler described what happened in a tweet on Friday night.

"Ran over a screw in Q1, came in 15 psi lower," Wheeler posted about the cut tire that resulted. "NASCAR no longer allows changes. Tried to pump up for Q2, but didn’t work. Bummer. #startinglast"


RELATED: Race lineup


During the offseason, NASCAR instituted a rule requiring drivers to start the race on their qualifying tires, and tires may be changed only in the case of a factory defect.

With the pumped-up tire, Hamlin nevertheless qualified 19th. Though he’ll have to start from the back of the field in Sunday’s Camping World 500 because of the tire change, he will retain the pit stall he earned with the 19th pick.

Hamlin tweeted that the rule "bit us big time. Run over something, get a flat, can’t continue (although we tried) and have to start in the back for it."

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RELATED: Full race results | Series standings

Austin Dillon and Cole Custer were racing hard in Saturday’s DC Solar 200 at Phoenix Raceway when Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford clipped Dillon’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on Lap 191 — and sparked some chippy driving.

 

As a result of the contact, Dillon’s No. 2 Chevy went spinning, while Custer was able to save his car and continue the race. 


But during the resulting caution, Dillon drove up and made contact with Custer under yellow, forcing the No. 00 Ford into the outside wall. As a result, Dillon, his crew chief Justin Alexander and his spotter were called to the NASCAR hauler after the race.

"It was 100 percent my fault," Custer said after the race. "I got in there too deep, got really loose going in and couldn’t put any wheel into it. That was pretty much it. Just all my fault. Something that won’t happen again. We had a great race leading up to that. … It is unfortunate I cost us and the 2 car there.

"It definitely sucks for us points-wise but I guess you can kind of expect that when he gets taken out," Custer continued on Dillon’s response. "I can understand how frustrated he is about it. It is what it is. I will try not to have that happen again."

Dillon was scored 33rd, while Custer finished 21st. The red flag eventually was displayed for clean-up.

 

"The No. 00 car just overdrove the corner, missed the corner and took me out with him," Dillon said. "It sucks. It was a hard hit. … I was asked to the NASCAR trailer after the race because they believe I retaliated against the 00 car. I don’t think it will be that bad, though. We’ll probably just enjoy an ice cold Coca-Cola together and discuss things."

 

Custer again took blame for the incident on Twitter post-race, and Dillon responded.

 

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RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Detailed breakdown

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Justin Allgaier popped a tire during his celebratory burnout after Saturday’s DC Solar 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.

But you can forgive the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet if he was a trifle rusty with his donuts — Allgaier hadn’t been to Victory Lane in the NASCAR XFINITY Series since August in 2012 at the road course in Montreal.

On a blistering afternoon that brought emotions to a boil at the 1-mile race track in the Sonoran Desert, Allgaier sailed away with a magnificent restart with four laps left and finished .741 seconds ahead of runner-up Ryan Blaney, who started 33rd after inspection issues kept him off the grid during qualifying earlier in the day.

“You have no idea how proud I am of you,” Allgaier radioed to his team after he crossed the finish line and broke an 80-race drought.

After climbing from the car, Allgaier began to digest what he had just accomplished, not the least of which was claiming the $100,000 bonus in the first Dash 4 Cash race of the season. The victory was Allgaier’s fourth in the series.

“Last year was tough,” Allgaier said of a winless 2016, his first year with JRM. “We had really good runs all year but we weren’t able to get to Victory Lane. This was the same group of guys we had last year, and to be able to do it here in Phoenix and win the first XFINITY Dash 4 Cash race. …

“This is a team effort. We had four really good JR Motorsports hot rods out there.”

In fact, with polesitter William Byron running fourth and series leader Elliott Sadler coming home fifth, JRM put three cars in the top five and four in the top nine (with Michael Annett finishing ninth).

With 10 laps left, contact from Cole Custer’s Ford sent Austin Dillon’s No. 2 Chevrolet hard into the outside wall, collecting Ryan Sieg’s Chevrolet in the process. After caution flew on Lap 191, Dillon rode Custer’s car into the outside wall, earning a summons to the NASCAR hauler for Dillon and crew chief Justin Alexander.

“He over-drove the corner and took us out with it,” Dillon said after exiting the infield care center.

Dillon wasn’t particularly apprehensive about the meeting with NASCAR.

“We’ll probably just have a Coke and discuss things,” he said optimistically.

Custer took full responsibility for the incident.

“It was 100 percent my fault,” said the Sunoco rookie driver. “I got in there too deep, got really loose going in and couldn’t put any wheel into it. That was pretty much it. Just all my fault. Something that won’t happen again. We had a great race leading up to that.

“We didn’t start out at all how we wanted to, but by the end we were probably a fifth- to eighth-place car. I thought that was a really good sign for us. I thought we had a really good Haas Automation Ford.

It’s unfortunate I cost us and the 2 car there.”

Under the circumstances, Custer wasn’t surprised at Dillon’s retaliation.

“It definitely sucks for us points-wise, but I guess you can kind of expect that when he gets taken out,” Custer said. “I can understand how frustrated he is about it. It is what it is. I will try not to have that happen again.”

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Editor’s note: Every Friday during the season, "Tweets You Might Have Missed" presents eight of the best NASCAR-related tweets from the week. 



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