Kyle Larson will drop to the rear of the field ahead of the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Hendrick Motorsports tweeted following Saturday’s qualifying session.
Larson, the most recent winner at Phoenix and defending Cup Series champion, was battling a steering issue despite qualifying seventh.
The team’s decision to fix the problem sends the No. 5 Chevrolet to the rear of the field. Larson won two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway after having to drop to the rear of the field for an unapproved adjustment.
In addition to Larson, Harrison Burton (unapproved adjustments) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (engine change) will also drop to the rear. Burton, a rookie driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, was slated to start 24th. Stenhouse did not make a qualifying run as the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet team was starting the process to change engines and so he was slated to start last in the 36-car field.
Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.
The Next Gen car made its debut on a short track at the beginning of the year at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum but now it’s set to see its first points race on a shorter track and at higher speeds, so we’re going to see the cars put through their paces in close-quarters racing. Teams tested the Next Gen car at Phoenix back in January and practice today showed that data from the test is helping the drivers get a better handle on how to control the cars here compared to the spins we saw at that test.
One of the first items that looks different on the cars at Phoenix that we haven’t seen at the longer tracks is that the brake ducts on the front will be opened to allow for better brake cooling since the brakes will see a lot more use here than they do at the longer tracks. Each OEM has approved brake ducts zones where they are allowed to place up to two four-inch holes for the brake ducts on each side of the front bumper cover. Unlike the radiator grille, the brake duct inlets can be taped so teams can control the flow.
These ducts lead to the new larger brake package which should allow the drivers to brake with less effort compared to the previous generation car but will be a new experience because of the pedal now being moved to the floor. Drivers will likely make use of their dash-mounted brake bias dials as a handling tool in the race as these dials change the percentage of braking that is sent to the front versus the rear of the car. RING AND PINION SETS
CONFIGURATION
AA
AB
AC
Gear Set
11:35
11:39
9:39
Ratio
3.182
3.545
4.333
Outside of the brake bias, we’re also likely to see drivers making use of the shifter for that sequential gearbox as we saw quite a few of them going back and forth between fourth and fifth gear during practice. Phoenix uses the 11:39 “AB” gear set for the transaxle configuration which employs a 19:24 ratio drop gear and has a 3.545 ratio. This combination of ratios allows for both fourth and fifth gear to be usable on track here and allows the transaxle to be a tool especially as the tires wear.
The season has been exciting with a lot of different cars ending up out front at the races that we’ve seen so far and all of the new factors being introduced at a track like this will likely see that trend continuing which should make for an exciting race tomorrow (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Really good MAYTAG Menards Ford Mustang all day, really,” Blaney told FOX Sports. “Good in race trim, was happy, obviously, with the speed in qualifying. I thought you were going to have to run a little quicker (in the second round) and I saw everyone not going as fast.
“I was like, ‘well, let me just try to hit the same lap I did (in the first round).’ I gave a little bit back off (Turn) 4 and that had me nervous, but (I) had enough cushion.”
Rounding out the top five behind Blaney and Hamlin were William Byron, last week’s pole sitter Christopher Bell and Aric Almirola.
Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman and Joey Logano completed the top 10.
Logano was first out in the second round of qualifying after clocking fifth-fastest in Group A but went for a slide off of Turn 4, contacting the outside wall and relegating him to the back of the top 10.
Nine-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick will line up 16th, while defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. will start 20th.
Cindric, Blaney top practice sessions
Team Penske led the way in both Group A and Group B during practice Saturday afternoon, with Austin Cindric (131.090 mph) and Ryan Blaney (131.047 mph) fastest in their respective groups.
Chase Briscoe was third-fastest in Group A and sixth-fastest overall, but his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team discovered a cracked brake rotor after experiencing significant brake shake after their first run.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posted the 18th-fastest lap overall in Saturday’s practice sessions but suffered an engine failure, citing a faulty valve spring as the culprit. The No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet will start from the rear on Sunday.
“She (motor) let go there, valve spring,” said @StenhouseJr. “Hendrick is putting another motor in and giving us a bullet. I feel confident going into tomorrow. We’ll pass a lot of cars with our No. 47 @FrysFoodStores@NosEnergyDrink Camaro @phoenixraceway.”
Chase Elliott was fifth-quickest in Group A but only managed the seventh-fastest lap in the group’s qualifying session.
Teams were allotted 20 minutes of practice in their respective groups, the same format used two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway. The difference this week was an additional five minutes in their group session. At Las Vegas, all teams participated in one shared 35-minute session.
Nine NASCAR Cup Series teams lost a crew member and pit selection for Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after failing pre-qualifying inspection twice on Saturday morning.
The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Tyler Reddick, the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford of Garrett Smithley, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Christopher Bell, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Todd Gilliland, the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Cole Custer, the No. 42 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet of Ty Dillon, the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet of Erik Jones and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet of Landon Cassill were the teams with the inspection infractions.
Car chief David Alexander (No. 8 RCR Chevrolet), car chief Robert Valentinsen (No. 15 RWR Ford), car chief Nate Bellows (No. 18 JGR Toyota), car chief Chris Sherwood (No. 20 JGR Toyota), engineer Tony Raker (No. 38 Front Row Ford), car chief Tony Cardamone (No. 41 SHR Ford), car chief Cam Strader (No. 42 Petty GMS Chevrolet), engineer Danny Efland (No. 43 Petty GMS Chevrolet) and car chief JR Norris (No. 77 Spire Chevrolet) were the crew members ejected.
2022 Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway
(⏰ 3:30 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s first Next Gen race in Phoenix, the fourth regular-season NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2022 campaign.
Race-day info
Where: Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile oval located in Avondale, Arizona Approximate start time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV/Radio: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Forecast: Sunny, with a high near 81 degrees, according to NOAA.gov Race Distance: 312 laps | 312 miles Stages: 60 | 185 | 312 Pit-road speed: 45 mph Caution car speed: 50 mph Competition caution: Lap 25 The Purse: $7,039,168 Phoenix 101: Get the full lowdown
Starting lineup: Full lineup | Team: Larson to start from rear Pit stalls: See Sunday’s assignments | Brake dust, slippery boxes at Phoenix
Key things to watch
Practice and qualifying:On a sunny day at Phoenix, it was Ryan Blaney who turned up the heat on the field, earning his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season. Denny Hamlin joins Blaney on the front row, looking for redemption after an unfortunate result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week. Austin Cindric set the pace in Saturday’s lone practice session but fell to eighth in qualifying. Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson are the only previous Phoenix winners starting inside the top 10. | Full lineup for Sunday | Nine drivers had pre-qualifying inspection failures
Big story line: Kyle Busch’s early-season frustration boiled over after a valiant, and nearly race-winning, effort last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch battled through a backup car and started at the rear to lead 49 laps before a late caution flag flew. After a fourth-place finish, the No. 18 camp aims to quickly regroup at a solid track for the team in the West Coast swing finale. Until the 2020 season, Phoenix Raceway had been in the running as Busch’s best track. The two-time Cup Series champion strung together a blazing hot stretch of 10 races from 2015-20 with a pair of wins and only one finish outside of the top six. However, his last three Arizona races have cooled him off a bit, leading to a 14.3 average finish. What should we expect at Phoenix? Anticipate Busch to bounce back and produce a more solid weekend front-to-back — and don’t count him out for the win.
Who’s hot? Who’s not?: After a decent start to the season, Kevin Harvick should be all smiles heading into Phoenix. The veteran Stewart-Haas Racing driver hasn’t finished outside the top 10 here since 2013 and has a series-high six wins during that span — bringing his career total at the track to nine. Though he hasn’t won here since spring 2018, Harvick’s consistency here is incredible, with 17 consecutive top-10 finishes at the track. And more impressively, if you look at the numbers, he usually starts toward the front and stays there. The No. 4 wheelman has scored stage points in 16 of the 20 stages he’s raced here.
On the other hand, Las Vegas winner Alex Bowman has been stone cold. Bowman has just one top 10 in 13 starts, eight-straight finishes of 13th or worse and a 23.8 average finish at the track. Will Kevin Harvick make his first statement of the Next Gen era? Will Bowman’s Vegas momentum carry over to Phoenix?
Driving under the radar: A model of consistency to start the season, Aric Almirola has been quietly fantastic. The No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing driver is on a five-race top-10 streak dating back to last season and is the only driver in the Cup Series this season with a top 10 in every regular-season race. Two sixth-place finishes and a fifth-place result in the opening race at Daytona International Speedway have Almirola in a prime contender position so far.
(L-R) Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace have a conversation at Phoenix Raceway. | Getty Images
Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• Shifting gears: Can Denny Hamlin turn it around at Phoenix? | Full analysis
• Analysis: Next Gen at Phoenix sees emphasis on brakes, sequential gearbox | Learn more
• Clash in Sin City: Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch talk after Las Vegas tension | Is it settled?
• ‘No underdog’: Ross Chastain speaks on Trackhouse’s early showing | See what he said
• Industry update: NASCAR’s O‘Donnell, Kennedy earn new roles | More info
• Tech corner: Teams adjusting to find Next Gen comfort level early on | Read new insight
• Doubling down in the desert: Next Gen vs. championship notes | Detailed notes
• Parity party: Twenty-five different drivers have top 10s so far through three races this season | Read more
• Welcome to the show: Team Stange forms for eight-race schedule | More on No. 77
• Show goes on: Back-door wins? Alex Bowman has shown he can hack it | Full breakdown
Get in on the action
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
• Bet on it: Betting odds for Phoenix spring race | Full BetMGM odds
• Phoenix props: Must-see matchup for Sunday’s race | Make your picks
• The Action Network: Early bets for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 | Picks and predictions
• Locked in: Why Chase Elliott is a sure bet for Phoenix | Watch the breakdown
• Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
• Featured matchups: Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin headline Phoenix | More insight
• The Action Network: Christopher Bell over Alex Bowman at Phoenix? | Who should you pick?
• Going all the way: NASCAR betting: 2022 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
Fired up in Phoenix
A lot of history has been made in this Arizona desert — take a look back at some highlights and key moments at Phoenix Raceway.
• Clean air: Top 10 lap leaders at Phoenix | Who’s first?
• One for the ages: Memorable moments at Phoenix | Relive the moments
• Winner, winner: All-time wins at Phoenix | See them all
• Last spring: Martin Truex Jr. takes the win | Race recap
Fast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Toyota is winless in the last eight races, tying their longest drought since the 2014-15 season. • 25 drivers have finished in the top 10 through three races, tying the most through three races since 1973. • If Kevin Harvick finishes in the top 10 Sunday at Phoenix, he will tie the record for most at a single track with 18. • Tyler Reddick and Ross Chastain rank first and second in laps led in 2022, both leading more laps this season than their entire career prior.
• No driver has led over 100 laps yet in a single race this season.
Say what?
Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
• “He’s done a great job. He’s a tremendous asset. He’s done really well. It’s really unfortunate that we don’t have the results to show because last week at Vegas I felt like we had a top 10 car and we were able to drive into the top 10 in those first 30 laps. The same at California. We were running eighth or ninth with 10 laps to go and then had an electrical issue, so we don’t have the results to kind of show what we’ve been able to do, but we’ve had really good speed and really good potential on our cars, so we’re optimistic. That’s why we want to get this fixed and get everything cleaned up as quick as we can because we feel like we’ve left a couple top 10s on the table. We feel good with this Next Gen car. It seems to fit my driving style well.” — Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, on his connection with crew chief Blake Harris.
• “Everyone on the team is very confident. We know what we’re capable of and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota are doing a great job giving us cars capable of running up front. It’s just a matter of getting to the finish without anything crazy happening and unfortunately, that has been easier said than done so far. At the end of the day, we just have to go out and execute and we’ll be fine.” — Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, on the team’s confidence after early exit at Las Vegas.
• “You just have a little more knowledge of what to expect. I still think there is plenty to learn. A race situation is a lot different than a testing or practice situation, but we’re starting off in a different place than we were the last two weeks at Fontana and Las Vegas. There’s a little bit of a notebook, but we’re still so early in the schedule we’re going to keep adding to it every race.” — Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, on the comfort of heading back to a track he tested at.
Kyle Busch reached out to Alex Bowman regarding his comments toward Bowman’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway victory after the checkered flag dropped last Sunday.
Busch’s post-race frustration boiled over onto team radio communications. Said Busch: “Same (expletive) guy who backs into every (expletive) win that he ever (expletive) gets, backs into another (expletive) win.”
But following the Monday night chat with Busch, Bowman felt it was nothing personal and had everything to do with Busch’s tight grasp on victory being ripped away following a late-race caution.
“Everything’s good, everything’s fine,” Bowman told NASCAR.com “He was just mad to lose the race. I totally understand that. I didn’t do anything to him besides take the race away. I don’t think there’s an issue between him and I.”
Both drivers were able to turn the heat-of-the-moment reaction into light-hearted fun on social media. Bowman’s group designed a T-shirt to raise proceeds — 18% for local animal shelters, which is Busch’s car number. On the flip side, Busch offered a small selection of his merchandise for 48% off, an ode to Bowman’s car number.
Bowman produced another T-shirt after he was called a “hack” by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin after his victory last fall at Martinsville Speedway. The revenue from those shirts allowed Bowman to purchase Martinsville grandfather clocks for his entire team, with the rest of the proceeds benefitting Best Friends Animal Society.
“The T-shirt thing has been really funny,” Bowman said. “We’re selling a lot of them, which is really cool to see all the fan support on that and then to be able to give back to a good cause by doing that is also really cool. … I never thought we would sell thousands and thousands of T-shirts that say dumb stuff on it, but it’s been pretty fun.”
While the comments toward his racing ability are unwarranted, Bowman uses it as fuel to achieve his first NASCAR Cup Series championship, a feat that certainly cannot be backed into.
“There’s just kind of a common thread that I’m not going to get credit for anything, ever,” Bowman said. “It is what it is. We’ve won five Cup races in the last calendar year, so I’m not really too worried about it. It’s frustrating at times.
“That’s just kind of the way things have been no matter what the situation is. Just gives me a lot of motivation to try to go chase a championship this year and then let everybody try to figure out how they’re going to take credit away from that, too.”
Alex Bowman is ready to hit his peak in the Valley of the Sun. But, he’ll need to tighten things up — literally — in order to do so.
Last Sunday’s Las Vegas race winner is aiming to achieve back-to-back victories for the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, this time at a track that has left him snake-bitten recently — Phoenix Raceway, site of Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
In 2016, Bowman put the then-No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole in his ninth of 10 starts substituting for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was well-positioned to win the race until contact with Matt Kenseth resulted in lost positions, drifting back to a sixth-place result. Since then, the Tucson, Arizona native has failed to crack the top 10, finishing 13th or worse in his last eight starts at his home track.
“We’ve tried to recreate that, and it never works,” Bowman told NASCAR.com of his 2016 Phoenix finish. “Obviously, going there with a new race car I’m pretty excited about. I just feel like I need to approach it a little bit differently than I have in the past.”
Bowman is taking action to fix it this time around.
“Drive more like my teammates, which isn’t something I enjoy doing or am good at doing,” Bowman said. “But, I think with this race car, I kind of have to go more their direction. I can’t be as loose as I want to be. Trying to make the right decisions to get us where we need to be when we unload there because, obviously, we don’t have much time after we unload and practice to get it right.”
While Bowman has struggled, his Hendrick teammates have thrived in pressure situations. In 2020, Chase Elliott won at Phoenix to earn his first Cup championship. Kyle Larson accomplished the same feat in 2021 to cap off a 10-win season. William Byron has also experienced glimpses of speed with four top-10 finishes in eight career starts at the 1-mile oval.
But, replicating another racer’s driving style isn’t easy. Actually, it’s nearly impossible. Analyzing their data will help Bowman’s cause, though.
“We’re definitely all different,” Bowman said. “Every race car driver is different. You can try to drive like somebody else all you want, but you’re always going to be different and look for different things and feel different things. The four teams work together really closely. Some weeks we go to the race track and the four cars are similar, some weeks they’re not. I just try to use their information to learn as much as I can.”
Bowman is focusing on going in his teammates’ direction when it comes to setting up the car and the way each driver attacks the track. In fact, he’s so focused on improving at Phoenix, he didn’t even bother to celebrate his Vegas triumph.
“As soon as the checkered flag fell at Vegas, I was all-in on Phoenix,” Bowman said. “There wasn’t a go home and party all night, there wasn’t any of that. I’ve just been training all week, trying to have my mind in the right place and make the right decisions to go there the right way. Hopefully, it works out. Definitely going there differently than I ever would have in the past.”
GAFFNEY, S.C. – JD Motorsports proudly announces their new partnership with Grammy Award-winning metal band Ghost.
The Loma Vista Recordings artists will be the primary sponsor for Bayley Currey’s No. 4 Ghost Chevrolet at the United Rentals 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 12. The Swedish band recently completed their tour across the United States in support of their upcoming album, “Impera.”
This unique partnership marks the band’s first foray into American motorsports.
“I’m a musician myself,” says JD Motorsports VP of Sales & Marketing Tony Priscaro, “so it’s rocked working with Ghost and Loma Vista Recordings on this car. We can’t wait to put the pedal to the metal.”
The design of the No. 4 Ghost Chevrolet tells the story of how this unprecedented partnership came together. The paint scheme features the band’s logo, along with their partners Loma Vista Recordings, Global Merchandising Services, Revolver Magazine and Rick Sales Entertainment (RSE).
The partnership is managed by marketing and content creation agency A.E. Engine with promotional support provided by Out of the Groove, and its host, Eric Estepp. The Out of the Groove logo will also be featured on the No. 4 Ghost Chevrolet.
“Me and Craig at A.E. Engine are both huge fans of Ghost,” says Eric Estepp. “Fans know I love the band and wear Ghost shirts on my show regularly. I’m constantly getting comments on my channel or people coming up to me at the races talking about how much they love the band, too. So we knew this would be really exciting for the fans.”
“Eric actually introduced me to Ghost,” says Craig Baroncelli, CEO of A.E. Engine. “We were texting back and forth about the new song ‘Call Me Little Sunshine’ when it came out, and we realized the new album will be released one day prior to the race at Phoenix. At that point it was a no-brainer – we had to pursue this opportunity. I am just thankful Loma Vista Recordings took our call! They are the ones that brought this car to life.”
RFK Racing got a head-start on Darlington Raceway’s annual NASCAR Throwback Weekend this week, unveiling two retro-styled racers that pay homage to one of the organization’s best years — 2004.
Team owner/driver Brad Keselowski is set to drive a No. 6 Ford that owes its styling to Mark Martin’s No. 6 from that season. Teammate Chris Buescher will have a No. 17 Ford that takes its design cues from Matt Kenseth’s car in the 2004 campaign. Both cars will carry sponsorship from Socios in the May 8 event.
The organization was still known as Roush Racing in 2004, when Kurt Busch brought the Cup Series championship home to team owner Jack Roush. Martin finished fourth in the standings that season, and Kenseth — who won his lone Cup title the year before — was eighth.
Over the years the No. 6 has had many great drivers, including @markmartin. I’m excited to honor Mark this year by running his 2004 paint scheme at Darlington.
These ducts lead to the new larger brake package which should allow the drivers to brake with less effort compared to the previous generation car but will be a new experience because of the pedal now being moved to the floor. Drivers will likely make use of their dash-mounted brake bias dials as a handling tool in the race as these dials change the percentage of braking that is sent to the front versus the rear of the car.
