Phoenix Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The first driver confirmed eliminated from competing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship was Clint Bowyer after crashing out in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, finishing 35th. Entering Turn 4, Bowyer was running in seventh before the left-rear of his No. 14 ITsavvy Ford Fusion went down, resulting in him going up the track and slamming the wall. The impact destroyed the back end of his car, but worse of all, any shot of a championship opportunity. “I guess we cutRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Joey Logano’s afternoon at ISM Raceway in Phoenix ended early Sunday after his left rear tire went down, spinning out and made contact with the Turn 2 wall, finishing 37th. The self-proclaimed championship favorite after locking himself into the Championship 4 with a win at Martinsville, struggled for pace in stage one after starting from the ninth position, crossing the line in 20th while his Penske teammates finished in the top-five. On Lap 97, Logano’s day took a turn for the worst when his No. 22Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer An after thought all season, Tyler Reddick stands alone among the JR Motorsports trio with a shot of capturing the Xfinity Series title. The rookie finished sixth in Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix to get the fourth and final spot in the Championship 4. Entering the NASCAR playoffs, no one would’ve expected him to make a legit run for the title as teammates Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler were in a different zip code. That all changed when it reallyRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Justin Allgaier’s bid of competing for that elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship has been swept up by the Phoenix haboobs, and was eliminated after a disastrous final stage plagued him down to a 24th place finish in Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway. ”Disappointment,” Allgiaer said after being eliminated. “At the end of the day we did everything right this year. We had a great season. Today we did everything right at the beginning part of the race. That was probably the mostRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer There were only two drivers that entered Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix locked into the Championship 4, both of whom drive for GMS Racing, and it was far from a positive for seventh-place finisher Johnny Sauter and 28th place Justin Haley. Despite having a consistent night in the top-10, it was anything but satisfying by Sauter, who struggled with the balance of his No. 21 ISM Connect Chevrolet Silverado all race long. Not only he had that to battle in the 150-lapRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Rookie phenom William Byron hasn’t had the results fans, critics and the team would’ve hoped for after three races, but that all changed after scoring a career-best 12th in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway. More importantly than a top-15 effort, Byron led his first-ever laps in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. The collegiate driver put his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on top of the scoring pylon for 15 laps. Byron’s road to the lead started on Lap 190, when theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After an early exit at Las Vegas last week, Kurt Busch had a competitive car in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, crossing the line in 10th for his second top-10 finish of the season after leading six of 312 laps. Busch consistently worked his way through the field in his No. 41 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion after starting 23rd, reaching up to 16th on Lap 23. His crew made no changes during early pit stops and ended stage one in eighth. Busch continued toRead More

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 Adam Tate, Associate Editor Chip Ganassi’s lead driver Scott Dixon has completed the first test of IndyCar’s new windscreen driver protection concept at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. This was the first time the windscreen has been used on track after two years in development which included lots of work in the wind tunnel, CFD and simulators. The main aim of the test was to be see how the screen worked in different lighting conditions and how that would effect the driver. To that end the four time series champRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Reigning Series Champion, Simon Pagenaud, finally has his first oval-track win in the Verizon IndyCar Series. During Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, the driver of the No. 1 Menard’s Team Penske Chevrolet was able to stretch his fuel longer than his competitors and pit later. A fortuitous yellow gave Pagenaud a one-lap advantage after much of the field had pitted under the green. From that point, he never looked back, leading the final 114 laps en route to victory 9.1028 secondsRead More