The NASCAR Cup Series concluded part one of the west coast tour Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway. The last time the Cup Series ran at Phoenix Raceway was in the season finale when Chase Elliott won the championship. For the third consecutive race, the “Choose Cone Rule” returned. This rule allows the drivers to pick which lane they want before the race starts.
Brad Keselowski won the pole for this race and last week’s winner Kyle Larson qualified second. Several drivers had to start in the back that included Kyle Larson, William Byron, Cody Ware for inspection failures, Chase Elliott, Quin Houff for unapproved adjustments, and Garrett Smithley for a driver change.
Keselowski got the lead right away after using the dogleg. He led the first two laps before Denny Hamlin made a crossover move to get the lead. Some drivers were having trouble early in the race. Chase Briscoe locked up his brakes, heading into turn one, and made contact with Cole Custer, and Martin Truex Jr. Truex ended up brushing the wall at the exit of turn two. After brushing the wall, Truex found himself in eighth place. The competition caution came out on lap 31.
Teams came to pit road with Keselowski beating Christopher Bell for first place. Hamlin, who came in as the leader, was now in fifth. The race resumed on lap 37. Seven laps into the restart, Ryan Blaney passed Keselowski for the lead. The second caution came out on lap 46 when Alex Bowman checked up when Austin Dillon made contact with him. This sent Bowman spinning on turn one. Dillon’s car suffered damage, and he was now complaining he had a noise. Some teams headed to pit road during the caution while the leaders stayed out. Kyle Larson was one of those cars that went to pit road. However, he was caught speeding and had to restart in the back. The race resumed on lap 52.
By lap 66, Larson moved up to tenth place. On lap 75, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were battling for the lead in the closing laps of stage one. In the end, Blaney would win stage one. Drivers went to pit road during the caution, with Logano beating out Blaney for the lead. The race resumed on lap 84.
Five laps into stage two, Anthony Alfredo, was tagged by Cody Ware, and both went into the wall at turn two. Both cars suffered significant damage and would exit the race. Some drivers went to pit road during the caution except for the leaders. The race resumed on lap 99.
Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski made contact, battling for third place, with Hamlin getting third and Keselowski settling in at fourth. On lap 140, the first green flag pit stop cycles began with Keselowski and Harvick heading to pit road. The cycle lasted sixteen laps before Joey Logano passed Cory LaJoie to regain the lead. LaJoie was the last car to not pit.
Kyle Larson was caught speeding for the second time of the race and had to do a drive-through penalty. Kyle Busch also had to serve a penalty for an uncontrolled tire. Upfront, Logano was ahead of Truex by a comfortable margin and would win stage two.
All drivers came to pit road during the caution, with Logano beating out Hamlin to retain the lead. The third and final stage was underway on lap 199. On lap 224, Martin Truex Jr., who restarted third, used the bottom lane to pass Logano for the lead. With 64 laps to go, the next round of green-flag pit stops started with William Byron on pit road. Truex pitted on lap 254. Once the green flag cycles ended, Truex regained the lead with Kyle Larson behind him. The sixth caution would come out with 50 laps to go after Tyler Reddick cut a right-front tire and hit the wall at turn two.
All leaders except Bubba Wallace went to pit road with Logano beating Truex out of pit road. The race resumed on lap 269. Keselowski would take the lead from Wallace, and Logano took second place. For the next sixteen laps, both Team Penske drivers took turns sharing the lead. Ross Chastain hit Kyle Busch, sending Busch spinning at the front stretch to bring out the race’s seventh caution. Kyle Busch voiced his frustration to his crew chief about the debris on the track during the caution. “There is debris everywhere down the backstretch. What are we doing?”
All drivers went to pit road during the caution with Logano beating Truex out of pit road. The race resumed with 26 laps to go. Truex took the lead from Logano on lap 288. Late in the race, Cole Custer was clipped by Bubba Wallace and hit the wall, but no caution came out. Upfront Truex led the last 25 laps to win his first race of the season by 1.698 seconds over Joey Logano. Truex moved up to 28th place in all-time wins, tying Rex White and Carl Edwards.
The rest of the top ten finishers were Denny Hamlin third, Brad Keselowski fourth, Chase Elliott fifth, Kevin Harvick sixth, Kyle Larson seventh, William Byron eighth, Christopher Bell ninth, and Ryan Blaney tenth. There were 22 lead changes, seven cautions for 45 laps, and Joey Logano led the most laps at 143.
The Cup Series now heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick is the defending winner next Sunday, March 21st, at 3 pm on FOX.
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