Script-flipping has its benefits in Phoenix option-tire tango

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Early on in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway, Ryan Preece rocketed through the field with superhero-style strength. With his No. 60 RFK Racing Ford equipped with softer, high-grip “option” Goodyear tires, he charged from 33rd place to 10th in just 11 laps, reaching third and harvesting extra points at the end of the brief 60-lap first stage.

That’s when Preece, in his first season with RFK, almost had a pivotal early moment in the chemistry-building process with his new crew chief.

“Good driving, driver,” veteran Derrick Finley called out over the No. 60 radio.

“I know we passed cars,” Preece replied. “I don’t want a kiss, though.”

“Good,” Finley shot back. “I didn’t want to.”

The jokingly offered incentive was a callback to the previous week’s race at Circuit of The Americas, where Finley tried to coax his driver to make up ground on the front-runners. That was a one-week offer, Finley said with a laugh later, but a bigger reward than a smooch was on the No. 60 team’s mind.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Phoenix

Preece and Co. were the first to alter the script to Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500, making the first lunge for the option tire with the red-lettered sidewalls. The effect was a sudden jolt into the scoreboard’s upper reaches, and though the strategy later came undone, both the 15th-place finish and the 34 laps led were season bests.

“So a 15th, that wasn’t phenomenal, but certainly with the situation that was playing out with being off sequence, you know what, after the past three weeks, it’s been a real kick in the nuts,” said Preece, who opened the season with finishes of 32nd, 18th and 33rd. “So it felt good to actually have a good points day.”

Sunday’s 312-miler was the Cup Series’ third-ever race and first this year that provided teams with two Goodyear tire choices — a baseline “prime” tire with traditional yellow lettering on the sidewalls, and two sets of the soft-compound reds or “option” tires that produced far better grip and speed at the expense of higher wear at the end of a green-flag run.

Ten caution periods — the most at Phoenix in five years — threw a variable into how some strategies might develop. The No. 60 team pounced on the first one after a Lap 10 stack-up, fastening up reds and collecting stage points in the process.

A late-race tire gambit also nearly found pay dirt. Finley didn’t go for option tires when the rest of the top 15 did for the start of the final stage. A caution flag with 97 laps to go opened the door for another alternate route, and Preece zoomed from 13th place to the lead in 12 laps on the team’s last set of reds. That’s where the No. 60 group stood with a nearly three-second advantage when another yellow flag for debris on Lap 268 foiled their hopes for a green-flag run to the end.

“It was kind of a cat-and-mouse game,” Finley told NASCAR.com. “Depending on how the cautions fell was going to basically determine your race. We saw that, for us, we were going to go for something big and we did. So we kind of got on the opposite side of what people were doing, so I thought that was an easy thing to do, but it’s not because you’re trying to predict what the other guys are doing. I was trying to do the opposite of that. Had it played out differently, who knows? But as it was, we’ll take the stage points and the 15th and know that we were going for something big.”

A similar tack was employed by the No. 22 Team Penske Ford team and defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano, helping them try to preserve a solid finish after an early-race penalty for a restart violation. Logano began Stage 2 in 24th place after the punishment, but with option tires bolted on, the No. 22 team radio brimmed with optimism: “No reason why we can’t win this stage right here.”

Logano led big chunks of Stage 2, bypassing eventual winner Christopher Bell to complete his rally. Bell eventually slipped back by Logano for the stage victory, regaining the top spot once the No. 22 Ford’s tires gave out. Like Preece’s team, No. 22 crew chief Paul Wolfe had hoped for a long green-flag run to round out the day, but the remaining flurry of cautions left Logano to fight for a 13th-place result. Even then, Wolfe appreciated the challenge that the tire-choice format presented.

“The tire worked well. I mean, it did exactly what I think NASCAR was going for, so kudos to NASCAR and Goodyear for that,” Wolfe told NASCAR.com. “You know, we just obviously got behind the 8-ball when we had the penalty, and they gave us the option to get back up there. But then it was a question, when do you use that second set? You know, not understanding how the cautions would fall at the end of the race, we probably could have done something a little different at the end to maybe get a little better finish, but overall, I thought the tire part of it worked out well.”

Preece also shared in the commendations, not just from a competition standpoint but also in how it transformed a race where he started a deep 28th in the 37-car field.

“These races have just become so tough to get off sequence, and it creates options,” Preece said. “And if you look at it, the way this race played out, we used a set early. We were taking our lumps. Luckily had a caution. Then we used them off sequence, wished the caution didn’t come out. And then those last two, three runs, there were cautions and you were wondering, ‘when’s that red going to give up?’ And to be honest with you, it gave up on some of them. So that was a lot of fun, and I applaud Goodyear and everybody in NASCAR for doing this, because it’s taking a risk.”

MORE: Race Rewind | All-time wins at Phoenix

Risk-taking also suited Finley, who helped Preece to a six-spot jump in the early Cup Series standings.

“From a crew chief perspective, especially an old one like me whose nerves are about shot, it’s kind of crazy,” Finley said. “But I do like the fact that it mixes up. All the teams have gotten to the point where they play their statistical game, where everyone has their races mapped out, and everything’s pretty ho-hum, and what it does do is it adds that sense of, ‘hey, there’s something new you can do. There’s something different you can try.’ So from that aspect, I enjoy it. It brings back more of the old school that way.”

Goodyear officials indicated there are no immediate plans for another tire-choice race on the schedule, but haven’t ruled out the possibility. A tire test scheduled Monday at the 1-mile Arizona oval is framed around the objective of developing a single tire that keeps tire management and wear in the equation for Phoenix and similar tracks.

Should option tires make another appearance, the risk vs. reward factor will be along for the ride — just so long as the reward doesn’t involve puckering up.

“I’d rather just … you could just thank me,” Preece said. “So yeah, it’s fun.”

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Posted on March 10, 2025March 11, 2025 by Adam Fenwick

Merritt Speedway has been a staple of dirt-track racing in the state of Michigan for nearly 40 years.

Founded by Gene and Maryann Kregear and opened for the first time in 1968, the track has played host to some of the greatest dirt racers in the country through the years.

A decade ago, the track was acquired by Mike Blackmer, a veteran track owner and promoter who had previously operated another Michigan short track, Berlin Raceway.

“When I was a kid, I used to attend (races) at Merritt Speedway,” Blackmer recalled. “In 1985, I moved to Grand Rapids. I met a friend there, and he introduced me to Berlin Raceway. That would have been about 1987.

“In 2008, I ended up purchasing Berlin Raceway. I promoted Berlin Raceway from 2008-12. I sold it and then moved back to Northern Michigan and ended buying Merritt Speedway in 2015.

“I never thought I would be a dirt track owner, ever.”

In the years since, Blackmer has worked hard to make Merritt a premier dirt racing facility in the state of Michigan, but he felt like something was missing. That’s why this year the track will be part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.

“I have been thinking about changing to NASCAR’s sanction for maybe five years now,” Blackmer said. “The time wasn’t right. It was right around COVID time and all that. It just wasn’t right.

“Becoming NASCAR sanctioned, I think it’s great for everyone. It’s going to be good for my racers, it’s going to be good for the fans, and it’ll be good for the track to have something different. I’m really excited to be part of it.”

Late Models will be Merritt Speedway’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I class during the 2025 racing season. (Photo: Courtesy of Merritt Speedway)

Blackmer is the first to admit Merritt Speedway has struggled in recent years, but he’s not giving up on the three-eighths-mile clay oval.

He considers the addition of the NASCAR as the track’s sanctioning body a reset of sorts for the track, which will open its gates for the 2025 season on May 17.

“The last couple years have been rough as a promoter. It’s probably been two of my hardest years in racing,” said Blackmer, who recently sold another track he operated to focus all of his attention on Merritt. “I sold my other race track this past winter, and now I’m going to concentrate on one race track. If there was a time to make changes, this year was it.

“For a dirt race track, it’s probably one of the nicest dirt tracks you’ll attend. It’s clean, it has some of the best racing. It’s always had good racing. I call it the premier dirt track in Michigan. It’s just a great place to come watch dirt track racing.”

Located off East Houghton Lake Road in Lake City, Michigan, Merritt Speedway sits on the edge of a wooded area that is deeply engrained in the history of the facility.

Original Merritt owners Gene and Maryann Kregear also owned a logging truck company, which they eventually sold to their son-in-law Ed VanDuinen and daughter Carmen.

Ed and Carmen VanDuinen eventually took ownership of Merritt. It was during their time as owners of Merritt that the track’s most historic race, the Wood Tic, was born.

Even after Ed and Carmen VanDuinen sold the track, the Wood Tic has remained a staple of the annual schedule at Merritt. This year, the 37th running of the Wood Tic will be held on Aug. 1-2.

“Around our area is forest products, where they go and cut the trees down and bring it to (mills),” Blackmer explained. “The guy that owned Merritt at the time also owned a forest company too, so they named the race the Wood Tic. We call it the Ed VanDuinen Wood Tic.”

Another major event on the Merritt Speedway schedule this takes place July 3-5. The event, a special 4th of July Weekend race, will include fireworks on July 4 and a $5 ticket night on July 5.

“We probably put on one of the best fireworks shows in Northern Michigan,” Blackmer said.

Late Models will serve as Merritt Speedway’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I class. The track will also feature Modifieds, Factory Stocks, Pro Stocks and 4-Cylinders on a weekly basis. Click here to see the full Merritt Speedway schedule for 2025.

Blackmer is looking forward to a new season of racing at Merritt Speedway and is hopeful a fresh start under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner will bring fresh faces to the historic dirt track.

“I’ve been very honest with NASCAR and everybody,” Blackmer said. “I’ve been a promoter since 2008, and the last couple of years have been rough. We’ve got our work cut out for us to be the premier dirt track in Michigan. This is the start by having the NASCAR sanction.

“I’m looking forward to the future. I think the future is going to be very good for Merritt Speedway.”

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. — One day after the NASCAR Cup Series held its third event with two Goodyear tire choices, dialing in the right race-ready rubber will again be in focus in a tire test scheduled Monday at Phoenix Raceway. This time, the objective is to evaluate a one-tire solution that’s suitable for the Championship Weekend’s host track and elsewhere.

Three drivers and teams (one from each Cup Series manufacturer) are set to participate in the Goodyear test: Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Josh Berry and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota for Tyler Reddick. By putting the different compounds to the test, Goodyear and NASCAR competition officials aim to continue the progression toward a softer tire with better grip but with advanced wear, which would impact pit-stop strategies for teams and on-track tire management for drivers.

The test comes one day after Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500, where a “prime” tire served as the baseline rubber with two sets of softer “option” tires available for teams to form their race-day strategies at the 1-mile Phoenix track. Recent tests informed this weekend’s tire setups, and Monday’s test here will help determine what sorts of decisions Goodyear could reach for tracks with similar setups — 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway and 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway, for example — and when the Cup Series returns to Phoenix for the title-deciding finale on Nov. 2.

“The goal is to develop a single tire that will give us what we need and what the drivers are asking for as far as tire wear and fall-off,” said Mark Keto, Goodyear’s senior technical project manager. “This is really a project that started probably 18 months ago. We tested at Sonoma, Watkins Glen last year, and we tested Martinsville and kind of had a breakthrough at the Watkins Glen and Martinsville tests, and that’s what you saw that raced at Watkins Glen and Martinsville, then at Bowman Gray. So it’s just building on what we’re learning with some different style compounds to generate that wear.”

Keto said that as part of the collaborative effort among Goodyear officials working with NASCAR’s competition group, drivers and teams, the input that’s been gathered in that approximate 18-month span has been positive. It’s come with a note of encouragement from drivers, who have welcomed the direction that Goodyear has taken, ever since last year’s springtime race at Bristol Motor Speedway placed an unexpected premium on tire management.

“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback,” Keto says. “The drivers asked us last year, they were very clear: ‘We want you to take more risks,’ and we understand the nature of taking more risks that sometimes you might step over the line, but the drivers have collectively told us, we’ve got your back. We want you to be more aggressive, and we feel like we’re getting better at finding that edge and pushing right up to that edge with some of the new technology we’re using on the compound side.”

Reddick said his anticipation of Monday’s test was high, hedging in Saturday remarks that his primary focus remained on his race-weekend goals with his No. 45 team. The previous weekend at the Circuit of The Americas, Reddick started from the pole position and registered a third-place finish, saying that tire strategy factored into the outcome.

“I think the more that we’ve gone the direction of making the tire softer, laying more rubber, I think it has helped the racing for this car,” Reddick said before Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions at Phoenix. “COTA has had some good races over the years, certainly, but I feel like we were primed to have that good finish we did because the tires were important to have. They did matter, so hopefully, it allows us to more frequently pit for tires and allows more rubber to go down on the track. The more rubber gets on the track, the more that we’re going to have to search around for grip. So I’m excited about it.”

MORE: Phoenix Raceway through the years

Sunday’s race marked only the third time that the Cup Series has competed with a choice in tire compounds. Option tires were also available for last year’s non-points All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May and made their points-paying debut in August at Richmond.

No other races are currently scheduled for the prime-and-option format, and Keto says that while the introduction of tire choices has been a worthwhile endeavor, having those competition rules become an every-week routine isn’t the ultimate objective.

“I think in our discussions with NASCAR and with the drivers, I think the majority prefer to have one tire, but they also understand what the use of an option tire allows us, right?” Keto said. “It’s the best test bed you can possibly get because you’re putting a tire in the competition, but you also have the primary tire there that if you do overstep it or you do run into blistering or the wear’s a little too high, you have the primary tire to fall back on. So we’re using it kind of as a learning experience, but obviously we can revisit it down the road, that if we find something that we think, hey, maybe we should run an option here, maybe at the All-Star Race or what have you. I think it’s always on the table, but that’s not a goal, to make it a regular occurrence.”

Posted on March 9, 2025March 10, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

The fourth NASCAR Cup Series race of the season resulted in a stellar finish as Christopher Bell held off fierce charges from Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson to score his third consecutive win of 2025.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Some drivers had great runs in the desert and left Arizona on an upswing. Others took a turn for the worse and are ready to hit track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

THREE UP ⬆️

1. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Started: 4th

Finished: 4th

What happened: The start-and-finish box score won’t show it, but Berry fought hard for his first top-five finish of 2025. Berry and the No. 21 Wood Brothers team rebounded from a slow pit stop early at Phoenix to score their best finish of the season by a long shot. After the first three races of the year (and despite leading 56 laps at Atlanta), Berry hadn’t finished better than 25th. On Sunday, he netted the historic Wood Brothers team its first Phoenix top five ever — an impressive feat in the organization’s 75th year.

What’s next: A sophomore driver, Berry is still new to the Cup Series with limited experience at Las Vegas, finishing 20th or worse in his three starts. He does own two Xfinity Series wins there, however, and has a new team around him heading back to the 1.5-mile track in Nevada next week.

Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

2. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford

Started: 13th

Finished: 5th

What happened: Buescher pieced together yet another quiet, steady yet impressive run toward the front of the field Sunday for his first top five of the year and third top 10 in four races. Sure, he may have schmeared some cream cheese from his paint scheme onto Ryan Blaney’s car while battling hard for a top-10 position, but it was an otherwise productive and uneventful day for the No. 17 team.

What’s next: In 16 tries, Buescher has not quite found what he’s looking for at Las Vegas, where he owns just two top 10s. The good news: One of those top 10s came in his last visit to Vegas in October, where he finished 10th.

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

3. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Started: 32nd

Finished: 7th

What happened: Alex Bowman’s solid start to 2025 continued at Phoenix despite a dismal qualifying effort on Saturday. The Hendrick Motorsports driver now has three top 10s in four races to open the campaign after a hard-fought charge through the field at his home track.

What’s next: Bowman has had excellent results at Las Vegas since the Next Gen car debuted in 2022, winning the car’s inaugural race at Las Vegas in March 2022 with two other top fives in his last four starts.

Charlie Ramirez | For NASCAR Digital Media

THREE DOWN ⬇️

1. Spire Motorsports

Started: Carson Hocevar 3rd; Michael McDowell 7th; Justin Haley 8th

Finished: Michael McDowell 27th; Justin Haley 34th; Carson Hocevar 36th

What happened: A team-best qualifying effort Saturday went awry Sunday as the trio fell victim to some treacherous circumstances. At Lap 92, Michael McDowell suffered his first issue with a flat right-rear tire sending his No. 71 Chevrolet sliding into the wall in Turns 3 and 4 before driving back to the garage for repairs. On the ensuing restart, both of his teammates were eliminated in an 11-car pileup exiting Turn 2 when Chase Briscoe made contact with Justin Haley, rocketing them both into Carson Hocevar. Both Haley and Hocevar took on race-ending damage that wiped away a promising weekend.

What’s next: Historically, Spire Motorsports hasn’t found much success in the Nevada desert, holding a best finish of 15th scored twice — once by former driver Corey LaJoie and once by Hocevar. Hocevar qualified sixth there in October, however, and has two new teammates that could boost their odds in Sin City.

NASCAR Digital Media / Getty Images

2. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

Started: 12th

Finished: 28th

What happened: Blaney — who seemed to have a permanent residency inside Phoenix’s top-five results sheet — was relegated to the garage prematurely on Sunday after a blown engine derailed his seven-race streak of top fives at the 1-mile oval. Despite his mechanical troubles, Blaney was inside the top 10 most of the day, evidenced by a 9.52 average running position, per NASCAR Loop Data. The power plant beneath his hood, unfortunately, had different thoughts.

What’s next: Las Vegas has been a place of feast or famine for Blaney and the No. 12 team. In 17 career starts there, he has six top fives and 10 top 10s, including a third-place showing last spring. However, he has three finishes of 28th or worse in his last six Vegas starts, including a 32nd-place finish there in October.

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

3. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

Started: 9th

Finished: 20th

What happened: Tyler Reddick was a mainstay in the top five all day, as his third-best 5.96 average running position indicates. Gremlins in his steering compartment undid those efforts late in the going, though, as an apparent leak in the power steering system hindered the No. 45 driver in the late stages of Sunday’s race. To add insult to injury, Reddick was caught speeding on pit road at Lap 270, sending him to the rear. Through four races in 2025, Reddick has finishes of second (Daytona) and third (COTA) … to pair with finishes of 19th (Atlanta) and 20th (Phoenix).

What’s next: Reddick has been quite strong at Las Vegas throughout his career, finishing inside the top 10 in five of his last seven starts there. He did, however, land on his lid during last year’s playoff race. So next week is bound to be better than that, right?

Charlie Ramirez | For NASCAR Digital Media

Posted on March 9, 2025March 10, 2025 by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson mounted solid challenges in their bid to unseat Christopher Bell from his win-streak throne Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway. Neither ultimately did, but both drivers managed to find positives in a highly competitive back-and-forth finish — one of the track’s closest ever.

Hamlin placed second to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500, his No. 11 Toyota taking the checkered flag just 0.049 seconds behind Bell’s No. 20 for his best finish of the season. Another half car-length and 0.048 seconds behind Hamlin was Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in third place, equaling his best 2025 result.

Hamlin’s late-race possibilities may have been the most precarious, giving team owner Coach Joe Gibbs a queasy feeling as two team cars battled in close quarters for the victory. Hamlin held close to Bell during the deciding two-lap, green-flag sprint to the finish, and his outside-lane presence was aided by a pair of well-timed pushes from Larson. But both JGR cars drifted up the track in the final corner, and the inside groove’s advantage ultimately favored Bell at the stripe.

“It’s so hard, especially (racing) a teammate,” Hamlin said, “because I mean, we could come out of here looking like fools if we don’t win, one of the two of us, especially controlling the race on the last restart on the last lap. So it’s really, really hard. But, you know, it’s the first time I think I’ve raced Bell for a race win in that kind of scenario. So I just wish I was on the inside, not on the outside.”

Larson, who was also seeking his first victory of the season, benefited from a late-race pit stop that put him on more solid footing for the home stretch. His hopes for a bigger teammate tangle between Bell and Hamlin were never quite realized, and an avenue for him to pounce on the last lap closed.

“I’m happy with it, I guess,” said Larson, who was also a close third behind a victorious Bell at Atlanta two weeks earlier. “I think we got lucky for that final-ish caution before the final round of pit stops there because we were terrible, and then our pit crew did an amazing job there. I think I gained like five or six spots, but came out fourth and yeah, then our car was not bad there that last run. Then the final restart, I thought I did everything I could. I haven’t watched the replay back, but felt like being patient behind those guys gave ourselves the best shot to win.

“Was hoping that Bell would get into Denny some more and maybe get them choked up even more, and I could get to their inside somewhere off of (Turn) 2 or off of (Turn) 4 coming to the line. But it was a fun battle from my seat.”

WATCH: Hamlin: ‘He had to use me’ | Larson: ‘I made the correct decisions’

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

Though both drivers wound up on the short end, both Hamlin and Larson pulled a measure of encouragement from their performances. Hamlin was particularly pleased with the direction of Goodyear’s tire compounds for Sunday’s race, with a baseline “prime” tire and an even softer “option” tire introducing new degrees of strategy and tire management into the competition. He also savored his first top-five result of the season, topping his previous best of sixth place at Atlanta.

“It’s progress,” Hamlin said. “We never really got outside the top 10. If we did, it was because of a bad pit stop, but I’m really encouraged by this short-track tire that we’ve got, and certainly it is a game-changer as far as the races that it puts on. Hopefully we can just keep this thing on the car for the rest of the year, if we can. I mean, it’s just, it’s fantastic and it creates great racing.”

Larson’s takeaway was also tinged with optimism, in that he felt his Hendrick Motorsports team still has room for growth — especially at a track type that’s been a trouble spot at times for the four-car organization.

“I don’t want to come across harsh,” Larson said, “but I felt like we had a lot of hope in what we brought here this weekend, and there was definitely times of the race and the weekend where I thought I was better, but relative to the field, I feel like we were a little bit worse — which is good, it’s good to be that way. It’s good to not be exactly how you want to be, because it leaves a lot of room for improvement, and there’s a lot of smart people at Hendrick Motorsports that will dig down deep and try to figure some more things out.”

Posted on March 9, 2025March 10, 2025 by Holly Cain

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christopher Bell prevailed in a dramatic side-by-side finish with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin — the second-closest finish in Phoenix Raceway history — to earn Bell his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory this season, a record in the sport’s Next Gen Car era.

Bell’s No. 20 JGR Toyota went high alongside Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota as the two cars dueled it out in the final two corners of a two-lap shootout on the one-mile speedway. The 30-year-old Oklahoman claimed the historic win by a mere 0.049 seconds, marking his second straight victory in this spring race at Phoenix.

“How about that one, race fans? Oh my gosh!” a jubilant Bell shouted to the Phoenix crowd after collecting the winner’s checkered flag at the start-finish line.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“Whenever you’re sitting there dreaming it up, that’s about as ugly as it gets. You put the red [option] tires on, and you’re like, all right, what I don’t want to happen is go 20, 30 laps, get a yellow. That happened. Then we went 10 more laps, had another yellow.

“It was all about who could get clear on the restart. Neither of us could. We were racing really hard coming to the line. JGR ran 1-2 — how about that?”

Hamlin’s runner-up finish was disappointing in the moment but still his best of the early season in the No. 11 JGR Toyota, earning the team its first 1-2 finish of 2025. He led the white-flag lap but couldn’t fend off Bell, who drove the fastest car of the day, leading a race-high 103 of the 312 laps.

“Great job by the Sport Clips team, it got better as it went,” Hamlin said. “Pit crew did a phenomenal job keeping us in the game. We had a bad stop in the middle but made up for it in the end.

“[The end] was the first time we were able to get some clean air all day, and our car was really fast. I really wanted it to stay green because I thought that’s where we’d excel, especially on these tires. We got a good restart — the 5 [Kyle Larson] really gave me a good push on the frontstretch and down the backstretch. I had position on the 20, but I knew he was going to send it in there if he could. We just ran out of racetrack. But great finish.”

Team owner Joe Gibbs joked afterward that having his two drivers battle for the win and finish 1-2 was a huge positive, but it had him on pins and needles during the closing laps Sunday.

“It can be a tense Monday meeting if it doesn’t work out,” he said with a laugh.

MORE: Hamlin: ‘He had to use me’ | Larson: ‘I made the correct decisions’

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson claimed third place, with Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher rounding out the top five. It was the best finish of the year for Berry and came on a busy afternoon where teams had to strategize using two kinds of tires — option (red) or primary (yellow) — for only the second time in Next Gen points-racing competition.

Goodyear allotted each team two sets of the option tires and six of the primary, with the idea that the red option tires were quicker but presented a challenge due to their quicker wear. The initial response to the extra element in the race was positive.

“Everything went according to plan at Phoenix, and the option tire worked very well,” Goodyear’s NASCAR project manager Mark Keto said after the race. “It gave teams a chance to vary their strategies and maximize their effectiveness to gain track position over teams that were on the primary tires.

“Teams were also able to manage their options once they got track position and make them last longer into a run. Overall, we were very happy with the balance and strategy of the prime/option tire setup and how it added to the racing all day.”

The tire option played into the race, with RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece, for example, switching early to the red tires and ultimately advancing more than 25 positions on track to lead 34 laps. Winning crew chief Adam Stevens said after the race that a lot was learned about the tires and hoped the series would be open to using them again. NASCAR will hold a closed tire test Monday at Phoenix.

Hendrick teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman finished sixth and seventh, followed by Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith, and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, rounding out the top 10. It was the third consecutive top 10 for two-time series champion Busch and a season-best finish for Smith.

“It was just crazy there at the end,” Byron said of the race strategy. “We restarted 21st and got into the top 10 pretty quickly. I feel like we probably used up a lot of tire on the reds to get those last few spots, so it was hard to get much more.

“I’m happy with it. The No. 24 Chevrolet team put together a good weekend. We learned a lot and got a solid finish, so that’s something to be proud of.”

Katherine Legge, a sports car race winner and former Indianapolis 500 starter, finished 30th on the 37-car grid in her NASCAR Cup Series debut, driving the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet. The British driver became only the eighth woman in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present) to compete in the sport’s highest level, and the first since Danica Patrick raced in the 2018 Daytona 500.

SHOP: Winner’s gear

One-mile tracks like Phoenix are not typically known for big multi-car accidents, but the “big one” in the desert occurred early in Sunday’s race. Spire Motorsports’ teammates Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar, along with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe, made heavy contact racing four-wide out of Turn 2, ultimately collecting and eliminating five other cars from the race.

Despite the early end to his chances, Haley was impressed with the softer option tires.

“I wish I would have been on the option tires the whole time and everyone else on the primaries,” Haley said. “They just make you feel like Superman. I like the tire. I honestly feel like we should go to them everywhere. They make the cars drive a lot better. I don’t know if that’s what you want, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”

WATCH: Multiple cars collide at Phoenix

Bell now heads to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas high banks next week, hoping to match a milestone set by NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who is the only driver to win four of a season’s first five races, doing so in 1992.

Byron leads the championship standings by 13 points over Bell as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Cup Series garage, confirming Christopher Bell as the winner.

Posted on March 9, 2025March 10, 2025 by Staff Report

A multicar crash collected several contenders at Lap 99 of Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe collided with Justin Haley exiting Turn 2 while running four-wide on the heels of a Stage 2 restart. The contact briefly sent Brisoce’s No. 19 Toyota airborne and rocketed both his car and Haley’s up the track, collecting Carson Hocevar. Their cars then ricocheted further into traffic, clogging the back straightaway.

Others involved included 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, 2023 Xfinity Series champ Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Todd Gilliland, Shane van Gisbergen, Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon.

“That’s about the biggest you can crash at Phoenix,” Briscoe said upon exiting the infield care center. “Yeah, it was a big one. On that restart, we were three, four-wide and I just climbed over the No. 7 (Justin Haley)’s right front. Unfortunate. We were able to go from the tail (of the field) up to 12th or 13th and felt good about our No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota. Got myself in a bad spot. Was probably trying to fade a little more left with the No. 77 (Carson Hocevar) on my right rear and yeah, just went over the No. 7’s right front. Unfortunate but try to learn from it and not do it again and go onto (Las) Vegas.”

Keselowski, co-owner and driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, will be saddled with a 33rd-place finish, his second DNF and third finish of 26th or worse in the opening four races of 2025.

Tough start to the season no doubt, but I love the way my cars drive and the speed we are showing in race trim. I believe we will put it altogether and be stronger in weeks to come. https://t.co/1CPl4TfOka

— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) March 9, 2025

Gilliland, Gragson, Allmendinger and Dillon were able to continue without immediately going behind the wall for repairs. All other vehicles were taken to the garage. Those teams, which included van Gisbergen, Custer, Keselowski, Haley, Briscoe, Hocevar and Herbst, had an opportunity to repair their vehicles in a designated area under the 2025 Damaged Vehicle Policy but never returned to competition because their damages were too severe. Each of those seven drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Posted on March 9, 2025March 9, 2025 by Nick Giffen

Entering this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix, the talk of the town was about the option tire that Goodyear was bringing and how it would perform.

Drivers had a 45-minute practice session to try out the option tire, as well as the primary tire. With all the cars on track at once, it provided us a great way to analyze data to see which drivers have a feel for each kind of tire.

Importantly, we should expect most drivers to end the race on the option tire as it’s the faster tire and remained faster than the primary tire even after 30-plus laps.

That means I want a driver who looks good on both sets of tires but with a bit of an emphasis on the option tire, which leads me to my best bet for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR at Phoenix Best Bet

Before the weekend, I had Kyle Larson as one of three drivers with a double-digit percent chance of winning this race, behind only Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney, who were the clear Nos. 1 and 2 by my model.

After practice, Larson’s standing only solidified in my model as he posted the best 25- and 30-lap average on the option tire. Yes, Larson did go out early in the session, which was an advantage for posting a strong speed, but his gap to Ryan Blaney was more than five percentage points faster on a 0-100 scale by my FLAGS metric and six percentage points of the next driver to start on option tires — Chase Briscoe.

That also meant Larson was at a disadvantage on the primary tire since he put those on halfway through the practice session. However, of the six cars to run on the primary tire later in the session, it was Larson who again was fastest in FLAGS, this time by six percentage points over Carson Hocevar.

Overall, Larson ran 27th in FLAGS on the primary tire, but we have to remember that 31 of the 37 cars had an advantage on the primaries by starting the practice session on them when track conditions were faster.

The fact that Larson topped his practice strategy on both tires is far more important than a mediocre qualifying run. He’s still the third-highest driver in my model and is a shade over 12% to win by my model and he actually closed the gap to Bell, who now runs behind Blaney in my model after practice.

The Bet: Kyle Larson to Win (+1000, BetMGM) | Bet to: +850

Posted on March 8, 2025March 8, 2025 by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Justin Allgaier has a complex relationship with Phoenix Raceway. The 1-mile oval is the site of his coronation as NASCAR Xfinity Series champion last fall, plus home to two of his 25 career victories. But it’s also the track that’s hosted some of his biggest heartbreaks, including a dominant performance that went south in the closing laps last spring.

Saturday, Allgaier added another finish into the latter category, with what seemed like an assured win transforming into a fifth-place result in an overtime restart in the GOVX 200. The 38-year-old veteran had led 130 of the 208 laps in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, but his more than one-second edge down the stretch evaporated with a late caution flag that set up the fateful two-lap dash to the end, swinging his Phoenix love-hate meter into the red.

“I mean, I want to love this place,” said Allgaier, who has led 730 laps here — second only to Bristol Motor Speedway (1,174 led) on his career stat sheet. “I mean, I won a championship here. We’ve won races here. We’ve done all the right things here. I really want to love it, but it’s like golf. You’re one hole away from throwing your clubs in the water, and you hit a great approach shot to the green, and you’re like, ‘This is the greatest game in the world,’ right? Racing is the same way, and this race track is the same way. You come back here every time, thinking you’re going to do it differently or you’re going to do it better, or you’re going to do whatever, and stuff like that happens.

“So we have a running joke that, as the 7 team, we don’t make it easy. And Phoenix is the 7 car of the schedule right now for us.”

Allgaier had a willing loss-column sympathizer in Cup Series regular Alex Bowman, who led 50 laps but was on the receiving end of a squeeze play from eventual winner Aric Almirola’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota through the final set of corners. Bowman had sprung to the lead in the next-to-last lap when Allgaier washed up into Almirola on a dirty track, but his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was pressed into the outside retaining wall in sight of the checkered flag, and he wound up as the runner-up by 0.045 seconds in his first Xfinity Series start of the year.

WATCH: Last-lap contact sends Almirola to Victory Lane

Almirola called the move “warranted” in his post-race interview. Bowman’s reaction of disappointment was tempered by a level of understanding, given that a win was at stake.

“Yeah, he exited like we weren’t even there,” Bowman said of Almirola’s drift up the track. “So I get you gotta do what you gotta do to win the race. So that’s part of stock-car racing sometimes, and I think if I enter on the bottom (lane), I probably get shipped, and if I try to enter on the top (groove) just to have a chance at getting off the corner, and yeah, he just beat us. He was better than us, for sure, but just tried to sneak one away there.”

Allgaier appeared to be in cruise mode in the final stage, having put some distance on closest challengers Almirola and Bowman after the final pit cycle. When Nick Leitz’s crash on Lap 197 of a scheduled 200 slowed the field, his advantage fizzled as the field re-racked for the final restart.

Leitz walked over to Allgaier on pit road post-race to apologize for causing the yellow flag, a move that Allgaier appreciated.

“I mean, that’s a bad spot to be in, right?” Allgaier said. “Like, nobody wants to cause a caution. Nobody wants to be in that position, especially when the leader’s out front and got a two-second lead, or a second-and-a-half lead or whatever it is with three (laps) to go, but it’s just how this place is. We blew the left-rear tire in the spring last year with three laps to go or four laps to go. It’s just, the probability of a caution in that last five laps is really high, and you’ve got to know that. You hope it doesn’t happen when you’re leading. But you know, it’s how it goes.

“Like I said, I’m proud of our team. The team did everything I could ask for them to do. They brought a race car that was absolutely phenomenal. I think we showed that the middle part of the run. I don’t know that there was anybody that could hang with us.”

Posted on March 8, 2025March 8, 2025 by Holly Cain

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Aric Almirola made a dramatic last-lap pass in overtime to claim the win in Saturday’s GOVX 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway, making door-to-door contact with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in the final two turns. The 0.045-second margin of victory was the second-closest finish in the track’s history.

Almirola led 25 laps on the afternoon, but his last-lap move to the checkered flag was the only one he led in the final 50 laps of the 208-lap event. His No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota emerged from a four-wide battle for the lead on the final restart with two laps remaining, then finally overtook Bowman less than 200 feet from the finish line.

It was the eighth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for the 40-year-old Tampa, Florida native, who has been racing part-time for JGR after retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition two years ago.

“I just knew I needed to get from there to here first,” Almirola said, standing by his car at the start-finish line. “I knew I was going to use him up a little bit, but was trying to win the race. I feel like it was warranted. I didn’t feel like I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up, and it was a drag race to the start-finish line.”

Bowman, who drives the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, was making his first Xfinity start of the year for the team. He started on the pole, led the first 70 laps of the race, and won the opening stage. After the race, he expressed frustration over the contact between his Chevrolet and Almirola’s Toyota.

“I would have hoped he would have given me a lane on exit,” said Bowman, an Arizona native. “He just exited like I wasn’t there. He was better than us for sure, but I was just trying to capitalize on that restart and try to win the race. I got shoved into the fence, and the race car is destroyed. Bummer for that, but hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew.”

MORE: Almirola defends move | Bowman expresses frustration

Almirola’s teammate Brandon Jones finished third, followed by owner-driver Ryan Sieg and reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, whose No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 130 laps and was out front on that final overtime restart.

Allgaier, who won the second stage, was understandably disappointed in both the restart and race outcome.

He got a good jump to the green flag on the restart but was quickly swallowed up in the four-wide battle out front. The result was particularly gut-wrenching considering he was also leading late in the track’s spring race last year when he had a tire problem with only five laps remaining and instead suffered a DNF.

“I thought the 19 [Almirola] was pretty good at the end of the run, and we were pushing pace when the caution came out,” Allgaier said. “I kind of knew we were a sitting duck. They blew all the marbles off the top [of the track] right in front of us leaders, and we just picked up a ton of trash on our tires.

“Just got into [Turn] 1 and had no grip,” he said of the restart. “I’m just sad about the finish for our Brandt Chevrolet. I thought it was really, really good. I thought we had the car to beat there.

“This one is going to hurt. I feel like the last three laps of this place have hated me over the last couple years. Even though we won a championship [here] last fall, it seems like no matter what, the last few laps haven’t been our deal. We’ll go back to the drawing board. Nothing to hang our heads about.”

In last year’s Phoenix spring race, Allgaier had a comfortable lead with five laps to go before a flat left-rear tire caused the defending Xfinity Series champion to snap around quickly, spinning hard into the Turn 1 wall.

JGR rookie Taylor Gray, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer, Kaulig Racing rookie Christian Eckes, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, and Big Machine Racing rookie Nick Sanchez rounded out the top 10.

A trio of race frontrunners was taken out on Lap 63 when Daytona season opener winner Austin Hill said he misjudged the lower wall and careened back up the racetrack, collecting Haas driver Sheldon Creed and Sam Hunt Racing’s Dean Thompson.

“I just messed up and misjudged the inside wall, and that might be the dumbest move that ever happened to me in racing,” Hill, a Richard Childress Racing driver, said. “I feel bad for those guys. It was 100% my fault. Just a misjudgment on my part.”

The accident was not only a big impact on the wall for Hill but also had an impact on the championship standings, dropping him to fourth place heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.

Love holds a two-point edge over Allgaier atop the standings.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday in the LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). John Hunter Nemechek is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Xfinity Series garage, confirming Aric Almirola as the race winner. The Nos. 18 and 20 cars were found with one lugnut not secure, which will result in a monetary fine.

Contributing: Staff report