NASCAR Category

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor  AVONDALE, Ariz. — Corey Heim knew he would need to drive a near-perfect race to snag the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship Friday night at Phoenix Raceway.  In the end, even that wasn’t enough to beat Ty Majeski, who dominated from the start to win the race and capture his first series championship. Majeski led 132 of the 150 laps and controlled the final 26 laps after a late caution flag.  Heim, clearly the best of the rest and the only real challenger to Majeski,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Chalk one up for the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. In Friday’s lone practice session of the Cup championship race, Ryan Blaney and his No. 12 Team Penske ended the 50-minute warm-up at the top of the board with a lap of 27.174 seconds, 132.480 mph. In addition to posting the fastest single lap speed, Blaney was also the fastest in the five and 10 lap average speed, giving his team some good mojo as they start their title defense. “I felt prettyRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor  AVONDALE, Ariz. — A.J. Allmendinger and his Kaulig Racing team haven’t left anything untouched in their preparation for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway.  The team tweaked the No. 16 Chevrolet to the point it couldn’t be tweaked any more.  As for the driver, Allmendinger drove so many laps around the one-mile track on a simulator that he was ready for the real thing by early in the week.  “It got to the point I think on Tuesday I was probably on ourRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – As is custom at the season finale, NASCAR President Steve Phelps and Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell took to the stage in front of assembled media to discuss a range of topics currently concerning the sport in 2024. This year, the focus was on the recent race manipulation penalties at Martinsville, officiating challenges that have occurred in multiple series this year, charter negotiations, the Playoff format and whether the drivers vying for the championship are the most deserving, among others. After nearly anRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christian Eckes has been here before, victory lane in a championship race at Phoenix Raceway. But then, he hasn’t.  The 23-year-old won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series final race last year on the one-mile oval, but he wasn’t among the four drivers running for the championship. Sweet as it was to win and finish fifth in the standings, he has one focus Friday night when he straps into his McAnally Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado.  Claim the championship.  “We’ve turned it into aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be the first title fight of the weekend to be settled, as the four remaining drivers in the Playoffs will duke it out Friday night at Phoenix Raceway for the right to hoist the championship trophy when the checkered flag falls. Eight drivers started the Playoffs with a berth in the championship race in mind, but half of them fell by the wayside, leaving Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski as the four driversRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – No driver in the NASCAR Cup Series has won back-to-back championships since Jimmie Johnson in 2009-2010 at the end of his run of five straight championships. Ryan Blaney will be looking to buck that trend when the green flag flies on Sunday’s Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway where he enters as the defending series champion. In a title run eerily similar to his run a year ago, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford comes into the season finale havingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Cole Custer enters the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway with a shot of going back-to-back. A bit lost in the shuffle is not only doing so to close out his Xfinity Series career, but to end an opportune chapter at Stewart-Haas Racing at the absolute top before the team closes up shop at weekend’s end. Custer will be moving back to Cup with the Haas Factory Team in 2025 and having the chance to close out his tenure at SHRRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Back here again. For the seventh time in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports team head into the season finale with a shot at the championship. They’re hoping it’s lucky No. 7 for them to finally capture the title that has eluded them for all these years. “Just a different mindset this year,” Allgaier said of what sets this championship run apart from the others. “I think in some ways I’m a little bit angry atRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – Is Ty Majeski the early favorite heading into Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway? His record on short tracks throughout his career would certainly point that way. The 30-year-old Wisconsin native counts those types of tracks as his bread and butter and with the title race being held on the 1.0-mile oval in the Arizona desert, that short track prowess could be the advantage he and his No. 98 ThorSport Racing team to be able to hoist theRead More