All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. — 35 races down, one to go. Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track at Phoenix Raceway for the 2022 season finale, bringing this season to a close and crowning a champion. Heading into this year’s championship race, it will be a battle between two former champions and two drivers making their first appearance in the Championship 4 to see who will be hoisting the Bill France Cup when the checkered flag falls. Whittled down from the 16 original title contendersRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Since sustaining a concussion at Texas in late September, Alex Bowman has been on the sidelines, but make his return for his home race Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. The Tuscon, Arizona native detailed the struggles he went through from the week following the crash to the announcement of his return a week ago. Bowman explained that while he felt fine up until mid-week following the Texas crash, his condition quickly went downhill, leading him to seek concussion treatment. “Wednesday night, I realized thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – JR Motorsports came into Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway with three chances at coming away with the title, but when all was said and done, they would fall short of that goal. Of the three JRM Chevrolets, Noah Gragson came the closest to bringing another championship to the team before moving up to the Cup Series in 2023, but would have to settle for second place, finishing 0.397-seconds behind Ty Gibbs. Gragson, who won eight times in 2022, including atRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – As the grizzled veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, Joey Logano showed his fellow title contenders how it was done Saturday at Phoenix, scoring the pole for Sunday’s championship deciding race. The 2018 series champion posted a lap of 26.788 seconds, 134.389 mph to jump to the top of the board ahead of his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to put himself in the best position possible when the green flag drops. “It keeps the pressure on them,” Logano said. “That’sRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Day two at Phoenix Raceway will be highlighted by NASCAR’s second highest division, as the NASCAR Xfinity Series wraps up its 2022 campaign by crowning its newest champion. Twelve championship hopefuls started the six-week march to the Valley of the Sun, with only four drivers left standing to duel it out in the Arizona desert on Saturday night. It all comes down to a battle between three JR Motorsports drivers in Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, and Josh Berry against the lone Toyota driverRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ben Rhodes and Thorsport Racing rolled the dice Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, but ultimately came up one spot short in their bid for a second straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Of the four championship contenders, Rhodes’ No. 99 Toyota Tundra just didn’t quite have the speed to compete with others, but when the caution flag flew on lap 135, the team saw an opportunity to shake things up and went for it. Electing to take two tires instead of fourRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The momentum is firmly on Ross Chastain’s side on NASCAR Cup Series championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Coming off his headline grabbing move at Martinsville to punch his ticket into the season finale with a shot at the title, Chastain topped the board in the lone Cup Series practice of the weekend, besting the field and the other title contenders with a lap of 27.019 seconds, 133.240 mph. “Obviously being fastest is encouraging,” Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen said. “Certainly, some opportunity toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Since announcing his move to Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet in the Cup Series in 2023, the future of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Truck Series effort has been up in the air. On Friday at Phoenix Raceway, Busch revealed what the future of the team that bears his name would be heading into next season. The team will field two trucks, with drivers Chase Purdy and Jack Wood coming on board to pilot the No. 4 and No. 51 trucks, respectively. Purdy’s No. 4Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ahead of the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR president Steve Phelps and Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell took to the stage to for the annual State of the Sport address, which recapped the sport’s 74th year of existence and looked ahead to the future. First and foremost was the safety of the Next Gen car, which Phelps discussed was designed to be a stronger car to protect against the massive hits, like the ones sustained by Ryan Newman at Daytona and JoeyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jimmie Johnson may have stepped away from full-time racing two years ago, but on Friday at Phoenix Raceway, he made his return in a big way. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will join forces with Petty GMS in an ownership role, which will also include some driving opportunities on a part-time basis starting in 2023. Among the races that Johnson will compete in is the 65th running of the Daytona 500. Since he ended his full-time Cup career, Johnson has run inRead More