ISM Raceway Tag

By NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A champion crowned in the desert. The Last Great Colosseum becomes a postseason factor. A tricky doubleheader. The birthplace of NASCAR bookends the regular season. NASCAR today announced significant, dynamic changes to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, with intriguing shifts during both the regular season and the Playoffs. Most notably next season, NASCAR’s championship will transition from the beaches of Miami to the desert near Phoenix, Arizona, following the renovation and reconfiguration of ISM Raceway. These recent changes delivered a new and excitingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Age has its limits and rookie Tyler Ankrum was no different after sitting out the first three NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races because according to the NASCAR rulebook, he wasn’t eligible to compete at ovals bigger than a mile as he wasn’t 18-years-old until March 6th. A few weeks removed from finally turning magic age No. 18, last year’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion is set to make his first start of the season at Martinsville Speedway, driving the No. 17 Toyota Tundra forRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer In a span of 12 races, only four times Kevin Harvick has failed to lead a single lap at ISM Raceway, a track that’s been his playground for over half a decade. Sunday’s Ticket Guardian 500 was one of those four instances after a ninth-place result marked his worst result since March 2013 where he ended up 13th, his last non-top-10 finish. After a relatively uncharacteristic 10th place run in Stage 1, Harvick’s best stint took place in Stage 2, when he ran inside the top-fiveRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Kyle Busch seemed to be unstoppable en route to the win Sunday at ISM Raceway, but Ryan Blaney sure put up a hell of a fight in an effort to give Team Penske a victory sweep on the day. “We’ve been poised to have days like this, contend for wins and run top 5 it just hasn’t happened this year,” said Blaney.  “We haven’t gotten the finishes we deserved and this is more like it, so that was good.  This is a good place to startRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – There was an air of inevitability to Kyle Busch’s closing run in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway. Busch was tracking down race leader Ryan Blaney after restarting fourth on Lap 239 of the fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Running in Blaney’s wake for 37 laps, Busch finally made the winning pass on Lap 296 of 312 and nursed his car to the finish line. Busch’s third victory at the one-mile track and his 52nd in theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – How did Kyle Busch win Saturday’s IK9 Service Dog 200 at ISM Raceway? Poof! His closest pursuers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Busch was out front on Lap 130 when the engine in the No. 01 Chevrolet of Stephen Leicht exploded in front of Justin Allgaier and pole winner Christopher Bell, who were running second and third at the time. Enveloped in a Days-of-Thunder-style cloud of smoke, Allgaier spun in the fluid from Leicht’s car, hittingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Austin Cindric came into Saturday’s iK9 Service Dog 200 at ISM Raceway with a game plan of executing a strong performance that could pay dividends in November, and strong they were. Cindric brought his No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang home in fifth and racked up that essential playoff point he’s been fighting for throughout his NASCAR career. The first caution of the afternoon came out on Lap 32 after Bayley Currey’s No. 17 Port of Tucson Chevrolet Camaro blew an oil line and slammed the TurnRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A driver’s fear is unable to see the racetrack, hoping to avoid chaos. Both Justin Allgaier and pole sitter Christopher Bell faced that epiphany and were involved in a crash after Stephen Leicht hand grenaded his engine the exit of Turn 3 during Saturday’s iK9 Service Dog 200 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, ending Leicht and Bell’s afternoons. With 71 laps to go, Leicht’s No. 01 JD Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro had just lost a lap to race leader Kyle Busch, and was running in 20thRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ryan Blaney ended the day the way he started it—with the fastest car at ISM Raceway. After leading opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice with the quickest lap of the day (141.716 mph), Blaney put his No. 12 Team Penske Ford on the pole for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at the one-mile track. Blaney covered the distance in 25.480 seconds (141.287 mph) in the final round of knockout qualifying to outpace Chase Elliott (140.045 mph) by a comfortable .203 seconds. The BuschRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The West Coast swing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolls on this weekend with a trip to Arizona and ISM Raceway in Phoenix for Sunday’s running of the TicketGuardian 500. With two races with the new aero package under their belts in two different low horsepower configurations, drivers and teams get their first crack at the high horsepower configuration that will feature 750 horsepower and the standard larger spoiler, but not the aero ducts. In addition, the Cup Series will see the new trackRead More