AVONDALE, Ariz. — The results sheet alone makes it look like Trevor Bayne had a clean race Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.
Bayne started from the pole position, won Stage 1 on Lap 45, crossed fourth as Stage 2 concluded on Lap 90 and ultimately finished fourth when the checkered flag waved come Lap 200.
In reality, Bayne managed to overcome a pass-through penalty that put him at the back of the pack after getting caught speeding on pit road before the final stage even went live.
“I’m sick in my stomach that I didn’t win with that race car,” Bayne said. “That was by far the best race car I’ve ever been in. Drove from dead last to fourth in a 100-lap green-flag run. Never got a caution to really recover. We were hoping for it. I was screaming about debris, making it up as I went, trying to get a caution so we could restart. Because I felt like we have by far the best car.
“But man, it’s a weird thing to come back and be disappointed with fourth. I’m kind of like trying to remind myself to be thankful to be here. But when you have a car that good, you want to be where Noah is right now.”
That would be in Victory Lane. Noah Gragson won the United Rentals 200, his first victory of 2022.
Brandon Jones was runner-up, with Josh Berry in third. John Hunter Nemechek turned out fifth.
“We’re gonna clean up pit road,” Bayne said, “and our cars are definitely race-winning cars.”
Bayne is working in a part-time role with Joe Gibbs Racing. The deal began two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway, where he also placed fourth. It originally included seven races but now stands at eight, as Bayne confirmed Atlanta Motor Speedway has been added to the mix.
That’s next Saturday already — the Nalley Cars 250, 5 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM.
“In December, I didn’t know if I’d ever race again,” Bayne said. “To get these eight races is like extra innings. Man, I feel like I’m getting to do something I love again and I haven’t really thought past that because I want to make the best of these eight races.”
Noah Gragson started the year so close to winning but kept falling short.
He was third at Daytona before consecutive runner-up finishes at Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The No. 9 Chevrolet was finally able to burn it down in Phoenix — literally.
Gragson led a race-high 114 of 200 laps to clinch his first win of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday afternoon.
Gragson, now a six-time Xfinity Series winner, made the final pass for the lead with 14 laps to go after rallying past Brandon Jones after the final round of green-flag pit stops and remains the series points leader.
In typical Gragson fashion, the celebration was one for the ages. The 23-year-old ripped donuts around Phoenix’s front stretch, sending smoke and rubber flying through the Arizona air. One tire chunk caught fire while Gragson was celebrating. Always the entertainer, Gragson used the makeshift campfire to warm his hands before climbing the catch fence with his JR Motorsports crew members.
“Caught the track on fire, which was awesome,” Gragson told FOX Sports. “But the pit crew executed great. This team has been on a roll so far this year, all top-three finishes in the first four races. I can’t thank everybody enough for all their hard work and try and keep it going.”
The final 100 laps of Saturday’s race went green, forcing green-flag pit stops to begin with roughly 40 laps to go. Jones short-pitted, coming to the attention of his crew two laps prior to Gragson in an attempt to leap-frog the leader. The strategy worked to perfection and he jumped out to a 1.2-second lead after trailing Gragson by over two seconds.
Gragson, though, tracked down the No. 19 Toyota and made the winning pass at Lap 187.
Only two cautions were displayed for on-track incidents Saturday. The first flew at Lap 22 when Riley Herbst lost brakes entering Turn 3. His brake pedal went to the floor and the No. 98 Ford snapped around, backing hard into the outside wall and ending the team’s day.
The second came at Lap 56 when Ty Gibbs was the recipient of left-rear contact from Josh Berry, sending the No. 54 Toyota sideways and spinning in front of traffic to start Stage 2. The field avoided Gibbs, and he rallied to finish sixth.
Stage 1 ended with a rousing photo finish between Gragson and polesitter Trevor Bayne. Gragson maintained the lead exiting Turn 2, but Bayne got a strong run and dove to Gragson’s left entering Turn 3. Bayne’s No. 18 fired into the corner and got just the run he needed to beat Gragson to the line by 0.008 seconds for the stage win, his second of 2022.
The finish of Stage 2 was far less dramatic — at least for the stage victory. As Gragson stormed away with the advantage, Jones and Justin Allgaier battled side-by-side with Bayne hot on their heels for second place. In the outside lane, Allgaier found the right momentum through the resin and edged Jones by 0.03 seconds for the spot.
Allgaier, who qualified 24th, was one of three JR Motorsports cars that started from the rear after making unapproved adjustments following qualifying, joining teammates Berry and Sam Mayer. Allgaier rocketed through the field, finishing sixth in the first stage and second in Stage 2.
Heading into the final round of pit stops, Allgaier was well inside the top five. But a pit-road penalty at Lap 165 for removing equipment from his stall forced the No. 7 car back to the pits for a pass-through penalty. The infraction destroyed his opportunity to win the race, but Allgaier did manage to hold on for a 10th-place finish, his 16th consecutive finish inside the top 10.
Behind Gragson and Jones were Berry, Bayne and John Hunter Nemechek. Rounding out the top 10 — and lead-lap drivers — were Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill and Allgaier.
Note: Inspection is complete in the Xfinity Series garage, confirming Noah Gragson as the race winner. The Nos. 18 and 19 each had one lug nut not safe and secure. There were no other issues.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Austin Cindric has gotten a good feel for the Next Gen car, figuratively and literally.
The Cup Series rookie won the brand-new whip’s first race of the season at Daytona International Speedway. He then earned the pole award at Auto Club Speedway for the second race. And on Saturday, he topped the practice leaderboard at Phoenix Raceway in preparation for the fourth race.
As for the third race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, well, proof of this feeling isn’t stats-based.
“My right butt cheek was on fire after like two (practice) laps because I don’t have the muscle memory for this car,” Cindric said. “The reason I say that is because Xfinity (Series) cars or the previous generation car had more side force and more yaw in the corner, and your body is in a different position and you are bracing yourself in a different position. Things that are just easy muscle memory are now orientated much differently. It is like if you were to put your seat in a different spot.
“Those things are becoming more normal and that will continue to progress.”
Cindric has finished first, 12th and 19th in the three races so far. Sunday’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 is set for 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN and SiriusXM). It’ll be Cindric’s first Cup Series race at the 1-mile Arizona track.
But at the Xfinity Series level, where he’ll forever be known as champion, Cindric has two victories in eight career starts. He claimed his championship in overtime at Phoenix during the 2020 season finale, leading 72 of the 206 laps. He then returned in March the next year and won again, this time owning the front spot for a race-high 199 of 200 regulation laps. Cindric came 0.03 seconds short of defending his title in 2021, falling second to Daniel Hemric in the last showdown. Even then, Cindric held P1 for a race-best 113 of 204 laps.
“That is pretty important to me this weekend,” Cindric said. “I am a big believer that we are still just driving cars on a race track. There are a lot of differences with the car and on the aero side, but it is still the same race track. Track-prep wise, it has perhaps evolved in a different way from the last time we were here and will continue to do so, but it is still the same race track. So, I am trying to subjugate the things that I have learned about this car versus the things I already know about the track.”
Cindric will fire off eighth Sunday, his fourth straight start within the top 10. The No. 2 Team Penske Ford turned the second-fastest lap in Round 1 of qualifying — 27.359 seconds at 131.584 mph — and was a tick faster in Round 2 – 27.299 seconds at 131.873 mph. Teammate Ryan Blaney took the pole, 0.0582 seconds quicker than Cindric.
Qualifying came after practice, as the two sessions return in 2022 after a COVID-19 hiatus, and Cindric was the fastest in the tune-up laps. He circled in 27.462 seconds at 131.09 mph. That was 0.009 seconds quicker than Blaney, who was second.
“Every weekend I have been peaking in qualifying,” Cindric said, “so hopefully I didn’t peak in practice this week.”
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The importance of Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway isn’t misplaced. It has just been slightly redirected due to the Next Gen car.
Phoenix is still NASCAR’s championship site, and that’s still an important detail. It’s just, that’s also 32 race weekends away. Sunday’s race (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is only the fourth event on the schedule, and drivers are treating it as such.
“I obviously want to come back and have a purpose in November,” said Austin Cindric, who topped Saturday’s practice leaderboard. “But it is also the first short-track race we are going to.”
Cindric, from Team Penske, is one of three drivers already locked into the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs by virtue of a win (Daytona International Speedway). Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (Auto Club Speedway) and Alex Bowman (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) join him.
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media
And Cindric has a point: Phoenix is indeed the first short track, at exactly a mile in length. Daytona was 2.5 miles, Auto Club was 2 miles, and Las Vegas was 1.5 miles. That means superspeedway and intermediate have been checked off the Next Gen to-do list, as the brand-new car slowly but surely continues to make its debut at each venue.
“It is really early,” said teammate Ryan Blaney, who earned the Busch Light Pole Award on Saturday. “My bigger concern is just trying to figure out this new car. It is really the first short track we’ve been to. The (Clash at the) Coliseum was kind of its own thing. This is a place you will be using the brakes pretty hard and things like that.”
Said Cindric: “There will be a balance between what we learn this weekend and how much we are going to evolve as a sport and race teams by the time November comes around. All those things are in my head, and I think this is certainly a solid foundation for your notebook to start the year.”
The next short track on tap is Richmond Raceway (0.75 miles) immediately followed by another with Martinsville Speedway (0.526 miles) and Bristol Motor Speedway (0.533 miles), albeit the latter will be covered in dirt.
After Sunday, NASCAR won’t return to Phoenix until Nov. 6. It’s not the only repeat — Richmond and Martinsville are among the tracks that will be visited again — but it is the only place where a champion will be crowned.
The sport’s previous title location — Homestead-Miami Speedway for 18 years — didn’t have a regular-season show. Its sole race was the finale.
“We think about it, and I think about it for sure,” Joe Gibbs Racing pilot Denny Hamlin said. “I just make sure I do my part and give them the feedback they need to make the car better for when we come back.”
Hamlin placed third in both Phoenix visits in 2021.
In fact, eight of the top-10 finishers in this first Phoenix race also finished top 10 in the second. Three of the top five were also top five, too. Three drivers, including Hamlin, actually matched their two runs — Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott with fifth and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell with ninth.
Unless the Next Gen car really does shake things up, Sunday’s results may sound familiar come season’s end in November.
“This is an important race,” Hamlin said. “Even though it’s early in the season, it’s the first real short track that we are going to. It’s going to create a big data point for us when we go to set up our cars for other race tracks, so it’s very, very important.”
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.
Hamlin placed third in both Phoenix visits in 2021.
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.
