The Cup Series continues on today with the 2024 Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Originally opened in 1964, Phoenix Raceway is a 1 mile, asphalt, intermediate length track that has hosted NASCAR annually since 1988, twice annually since 2005 and has hosted the Championship for the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series since 2020. With an extremely wide racing surface as you cross the start/finish line, restarts are absolutely wild and the racing is always solid throughout the entire field. Success here in the spring often can lead to success here in the Championship Race in November, so today may possibly give us a preview of who we can expect to see in the Championship 4 once the dust settles following the Round of 8.
Phoenix has hosted NASCAR since 1988, but this specific race has only been held since 2005. Nonetheless, the past winners of this race is an exquisite list of the best of the best, including Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe and William Byron, just to name a few. Kevin Harvick has the most wins in this race, finding Victory Lane 5 times, while Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman each have a pair of wins.
Last year’s edition was won by William Byron, who led 64 laps on the day and won the race on a late race restart. Ryan Blaney finished second, with Tyler Reddick finishing third. Kyle Larson finished fourth after leading 201 laps on the day and Kevin Harvick finished fifth after leading 36 laps and ultimately losing the lead during the final pit stop.
Coverage of the Shriners Children’s 500 can be seen on Fox Sports 1 and FOX, with NASCAR RaceDay beginning at 2 PM EST on FS1 before continuing on Fox at 2:30 PM EST, with green flag coverage beginning at 3:30 PM EST.
2024 got off to a quick start for Corey LaJoie, with a 4th place finish at Daytona and a 13th place finish at Atlanta. That solid start came to an end last week with a 32nd place finish at Las Vegas and I expect more struggles this week. Don’t get me wrong, I really like LaJoie, but he sucks at Phoenix. The results aren’t pretty. 13 starts and just 1 top 25 finish. Not exactly lighting the world on fire in Phoenix. Spire Motorsports has been improving as a whole, but I just don’t see LaJoie solving the enigma that is Phoenix Raceway today. Another finish outside the top 25 for LaJoie at Phoenix is a lock.
Michael McDowell has been a qualifying machine in 2024. Over the first 3 races, he’s qualified 2, 1 and 12, which is pretty solid for the Front Row Motorsports driver. The results, however, have not quite been there, with his 8th place finish at Atlanta being his only top 20 finish on the season. At first glance, Phoenix Raceway does not look like a particularly great track for McDowell. In 26 starts, he has had just 1 top 10 finish and 4 top 20’s, not to mention a mere 5 laps led. In spite of that, McDowell’s fortunes have been changing, as he finished in the top 15 in both races here last season, including a 9th place finish last November. McDowell showed solid pace in practice and qualified 9th for today’s race. He may not have race winning speed, but I predict that McDowell will bring home a 3rd straight top 15 finish at Phoenix and his 2nd top 15 of 2024.
The 2023 Cup Series Champion, Ryan Blaney has been as good as you can at a track without actually winning there. In his last 10 starts at Phoenix, he has had 7 top 5 finishes and 9 top 10’s, including 5 straight top 5’s, which also includes 3 straight runner up finishes. Leading 417 laps over those 10 races, Blaney has unofficially inherited the Desert Fox torch from Kevin Harvick, who not only won here 9 times in his career, but closed his career with 21 consecutive top 10’s at Phoenix, a NASCAR record. Blaney showed solid long run pace during practice and qualified in 16th as a result. Blaney has certainly had the hot hand of late, finishing 2nd at Atlanta in the third closest finish in NASCAR history and 3rd last Sunday at Las Vegas, and is seemingly always a threat anytime NASCAR comes to the desert and I predict that he will keep that streak going with another top 10 finish at Phoenix Raceway.
Winner of the race here last November, Ross Chastain has found his groove in the desert. Since moving to Trackhouse Racing in 2022, Chastain has 3 top 3 finishes and 158 laps led over his last 4 starts in Phoenix, including the win last November. Incredibly enough, despite his speed, Chastain has rarely qualified well in Phoenix. Chastain qualified 6th here last spring, but has 2 races where he started outside the top 15 over his last 4 Phoenix starts. Nevertheless, he always seems to bring a car that has great long run speed, which is key to finding success at Phoenix. Chastain is seemingly following the same strategy again this weekend, as he laid down only the 16th fastest lap of practice, but was in the top 6 on 10, 15, 20 and 25 lap runs. Chastain qualified 12th for today’s race and will look to make his way to the front early. With 2 top 10 finishes already this season, Chastain is laying the bricks early for what could be a career-defining season. I predict that Chastain will keep up the momentum and smash his first watermelon of 2024 with a victory in the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway!
Discover more from Birdies and Burnouts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.