ISM Raceway Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Quiet, but solid performances is what the two NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars from the Richard Childress Racing camp brought to the table in the weather-plagued DC Solar 200 at ISM Raceway Saturday, won by Brad Keselowski. After finishing fifth last November, Daniel Hemric continued his success at Phoenix with a sixth-place finish. Hemric’s No. 21 South Point Chevrolet kept its nose inside the top-10, reaching as high as second when he took the green-checkered flag to wrap-up stage two, only trailing Kyle Busch. Before theRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Wrecking in qualifying is possibly one of the worst things that can happen to a driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as Tyler Reddick found out. Reddick had to climb from starting last in the field for the first time in his Xfinity Series career to finish inside the top-10 at ISM Raceway. Some strategy by Reddick’s crew chief, Dave Elenz, put Reddick’s No. 9 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Chevrolet Camaro SS in lead in the final stage of the race. The caution that Elenz wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. finally found the extra speed he needed at ISM Raceway. Saving his best lap for the final round of knockout qualifying on Friday at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, Truex sped around the circuit in 26.288 seconds (136.945 mph) to win the pole position for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 (3:30 ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Truex beat Kyle Larson (136.643 mph) by .058 seconds to earn his firstRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer ISM Raceway isn’t just Alex Bowman’s home track, but the site where his racing career positively changed after capturing his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole at Phoenix in November 2016. Bowman returned to the site of his career-defining weekend on Friday and looks to improve from his career-best sixth-place finish in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500. In his last Cup trip to the “Valley of the Sun,” Bowman was a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who sat out the final 18 races of theRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Only one driver has been near perfect in the NASCAR Xfinity Series so far this season, Elliott Sadler. Sadler is the only driver to finish on the lead lap in all three races and score top-five finishes in each as well. With the series heading to ISM Raceway, Sadler, who will be driving a Cessna sponsored Chevrolet Camaro this weekend, seems poised to be able to keep that momentum. His JR Motorsports teammates swept both races there in 2017. At ISM Raceway, Sadler has one victoryRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor New name, still the same old Phoenix. For now. After the kickoff to the West Coast swing last weekend in Las Vegas culminated in a second straight domination by Kevin Harvick, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Phoenix this weekend to take on the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway. Phoenix has resided on the Cup Series schedule since 1988, but the track looks completely different than it did 30 years ago, having undergone a reconfiguration back in 2011. The reconfiguration added progressive bankingRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer In three races, only one NASCAR Xfinity Series regular has scored a victory. The Xfinity Series returns to the rebranded ISM Raceway (formerly Phoenix International Raceway) for the DC Solar 200. Cup drivers, series regulars looking to rebound, and stage racing are just some of the storylines heading into the fourth race of the season. Coverage for the DC Solar 200 is scheduled to start Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET. ISM Raceway has hosted the fourth race of the season since the 2015 season,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor This weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads into Phoenix for the second race of the West Coast swing. In this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”, we take a look back to the race that started it all in the Valley of the Sun, the 1988 Checker 500. As the series headed into Phoenix in November of 1988, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace were locked in a championship battle that had seen Wallace gaining on Elliott’s lead over the last quarter of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Go Fas Racing and Matt DiBenedetto have found themselves in sponsorship trouble heading into Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway, but the NASCAR community has banded together to make sure they will make it to the grid for the TicketGuardian 500. Starting with a tweet from DiBenedetto on Tuesday morning, alerting the world of their predicament, the effort started picking up steam, with fellow drivers and others in the sport pitching in to help out the small team make it to the track. Though Go FasRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After finishing 24th in the Daytona 500, D.J. Kennington and Gaunt Brothers Racing will return to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at ISM Raceway. Kennington will drive the No. 96 Northern Provincial Pipelines Toyota Camry in the Ticket Guardian 500. The race marks the first non-restrictor plate entry for Gaunt Brothers Racing. The team has made the Daytona 500 in both 2017 and 2018. The race on Sunday, March 11, will mark the team’s third start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. “It’sRead More