This Weekend in NASCAR – Phoenix Int’l Raceway

NASCAR’s top series are in action this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway with the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday. Following are storylines to watch as the weekend unfolds…

Bloomin’ Onions May Become Scarce After NASCAR Visits Phoenix

Every time Kevin Harvick finishes in the top 10, customers at Outback Steakhouse can get a Bloomin’ Onion the following day. If there is not a Bloomin’ Onion shortage already – since Harvick is riding a streak of six straight top-two finishes dating back to Texas last year – there will likely be one following Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX). The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver has won the last three events at PIR and holds the all-time track record with six victories.

How historic is Harvick’s run of top twos?

The last driver to finish second or better in six consecutive races was Jeff Gordon. He accomplished the feat in 1996.

Dale Jr. Looks To Continue Hot Start With First Win

Kevin Harvick has gotten off to a blazing hot start, but despite not winning a race yet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not far behind. The 12-time NMPA Sprint NASCAR Most Popular Driver, currently second in the standings, trails Harvick by just nine points after stringing together three top-four finishes to begin the season. Junior will go for his first points-paying win with new crew chief Greg Ives in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. He finished runner-up in last season’s first event at the one-mile track and claims two wins there.

Truex speeds into Sun Devil State

14 races.

That’s how deep into the season Martin Truex Jr. delved last year before claiming his third top-10 finish.

Three races.

That’s how long it’s taken him this year.

The New Jersey native enters Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway coming off a runner-up showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – his best finish with Furniture Row Racing since signing with the organization in 2013. Truex has led his No. 78 FRR solo-car team to the fourth spot in the driver points standings – the highest ranking in its 10-year history. He will attempt to continue his run in the Sun Devil State, where he claims six top 10s in 18 starts.

Turning point for Gordon?

After winning the Coors Light Pole Award for the Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon has been unable to catch a break. The No. 24 Chevrolet driver wrecked in the first two races and after winning the pole again at Las Vegas, had to race in a backup car and start from the tail end of the field following a collision with Danica Patrick during practice. Sitting 30th in points, Gordon can turn his season around quickly with a win and the subsequent Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth that would come with it.

Phoenix International Raceway might be the spot where Gordon finds Victory Lane in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500. The 43-year-old driver has posted two wins, 12 top fives and three Coors Light Pole Awards at the one-mile track and finished runner-up in last season’s fall race there.

Win and You’re In!

“Win and you’re in” remains the big ticket to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this season.

And as of now, three drivers have fulfilled that criterion – points leader Kevin Harvick, Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano and six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

With the new format, each race weekend can change the course of a team’s season by propelling even the most-struggling one into the Chase.

Keep in mind even the winners will have to start the remaining regular season races and maintain a points position inside the top 30 to officially clinch their spots.

The incentive for winners to keep winning?

For every victory a driver accumulates, he/she accrues three bonus points that carry into the Challenger Round of NASCAR’s playoffs.

Flu race: Allmendinger pulls his best Jordan impersonation at Las Vegas

In Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan overcame the flu to score 38 points and lead his Chicago Bulls team to victory. The achievement is now etched in history as the “flu game.”

Well, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday, AJ Allemendinger had a “flu race.” Coming off flu-like conditions on Saturday and visiting the care-center Sunday morning, Allmendinger raced from the 22nd starting position to a sixth-place finish in Sin City. His gritty performance has moved him to fifth in the series point standings.

“Dinger” strolls to Phoenix International Raceway for Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500. He has posted two top 10s in 11 starts at the Arizona track.

History Lesson: PIR Site of First ‘Polish Victory Lap’

You never forget your first win.

In the case of NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Alan Kulwicki, fans have not forgotten how he celebrated his first win.

The driver / owner earned his first career victory in the 1988 Checker 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, in his 85th start.  Ricky Rudd had the dominant car of the race, but was passed by Kulwicki with 16 laps remaining after experiencing engine trouble.

Kulwicki’s celebration was simple, yet notable.

He turned his car around and did a clockwise lap to salute the fans at PIR. The move was dubbed the “Polish Victory Lap” and made Kulwicki an instant fan favorite.

Approaching Milestones

Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series mainstays are currently approaching or will soon reach milestones. Kasey Kahne will make his 400th consecutive career NSCS start this weekend at Phoenix. He ranks 21st on the consecutive starts list. In his 399 previous starts, he has posted 17 wins (including a 2011 victory at Phoenix), 83 top fives, 147 top 10s, 26 poles and an average finish of 17.3.

Furthermore, Kahne’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson will make his 475th NSCS start (41st all time) and Richard Childress Racing driver Ryan Newman will attempt to post the 100th top-five finish of his career.

Ty Dillon Grabs XFINITY Series Standings Lead Early

Richard Childress Racing’s Ty Dillon has powered to the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings lead after posting three top-10 finishes in the first three races of the 2015 season.

Dillon has been adamant since the season opener that 2015 is a championship or bust season for himself and the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet team. Now he sits at the standings point, six markers ahead of Roush Fenway Racing driver Chris Buescher in second and 15 points ahead of third-place Ryan Reed.

His NASCAR Loop Data supports his impressive performance; his season-to-date average running position is 7.698 (second-best) and his driver rating is 103.8 (second-best).

Dillon heads to Phoenix this weekend having made two starts at the one-mile raceway posting one top five and two top 10s. His average finish at Phoenix is 7.0. Last fall Dillon started seventh and finished fourth at PIR.

Young Top Five In Points Turns The Spotlight To The Youth

The youth movement in NASCAR continues, this week’s average age of the top five in the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings (21.2) supports just that.  The next generation of great drivers are being groomed now in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the series where names are made.

The elder statesman of the youth contingent is points leader Ty Dillon who just turned 23 years old on Feb. 27. The second, third and fourth-place positions in the standings belong to Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher (22 years old), Ryan Reed (21 years old), and Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Darrell Wallace Jr. (21 years old) respectively. The youngest of the group is fifth in points; the 2014 series champion Chase Elliott at the age of 19.

Four of the top five in points have made starts at Phoenix and two have average finishes inside the top 10: Ty Dillon (7.0), Chase Elliott (7.0), Chris Buescher (13.5) and Ryan Reed (18.7). This will be Darrell Wallace Jr.’s series debut at Phoenix this weekend. Wallace is familiar with Phoenix International Raceway; he made two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the one-mile track, posting one top 10 and an average finish of 13.0.

Strong Sprint Cup Cavalcade Rides Into Phoenix

A stout double duty lineup awaits fans in Phoenix. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon will compete at Phoenix’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 on March 14 (4 p.m. ET on FOX).

Among the four entered, Harvick (Atlanta) and Dillon (Las Vegas) have already scored wins this season, but Matt Kenseth has the best Phoenix pre-race statistics heading into this weekend. Kenseth’s driver rating is 118.4 (second only to Kyle Busch’s 122.8), and his average running position of 4.747 is the series’ best.

Harvick posted a victory at Phoenix in 2006 and has an average finish of 8.0 after 22 starts.

Logano sat on the pole and won the race at Phoenix last fall. In his eight series starts at Phoenix he hasn’t finished outside the top 10.

Dillon has made five series starts at Phoenix posting two top fives and four top 10s.

Richard Childress Racing A Force In ’15

Car owner Richard Childress has put the pedal to the floor this season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Not only does his grandson, Ty Dillon, and the No. 3 team currently lead the series driver standings, his other grandson, 2013 series champion Austin Dillon, just won last weekend at Las Vegas to catapult the No. 33 team into the series owner standings lead.

Currently, Richard Childress’ No. 33 team has a one point lead over Roger Penske’s No. 22 team in the owner standings. The No. 33 team of Richard Childress Racing has tapped drivers Austin Dillon and Paul Menard to get behind the wheel thus far this season. Team Penske has strapped in Brad Keselowski Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney in the No. 22 in 2015. Logano will race the No. 22 in Phoenix; Dillon will once again race the No. 33.

Sunoco Rookie Update: Daniel Suarez Continues To Improve

Darrell Wallace Jr. continues to lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings following the third race of the season by five points over second-place Ross Chastain and eight points ahead of third-place Daniel Suarez.

Rookie Spotlight: Daniel Suarez

The 23-year-old, Monterey, Mexico native, Daniel Suarez, continues to improve with each start in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Ever since the season opener at Daytona where he was caught in a late race accident relegating him to a 39th-place finish, Suarez has bounced back, finishing 14th at Atlanta and then posting his first series career top 10 last weekend at Las Vegas. It was also the first top 10 by a Mexico-born driver since 2007 (Jorge Goeters and Adrian Fernandez at Autodromo Hemranos Rodriguez in Mexico City).

“I definitely feel like we’re improving,” said Suarez. “We are learning about everything. We are getting more confident each race and that’s good. I really think that we are going to be even stronger in Phoenix.”

Suarez’s success on the track is translating to the point standings as well. He jumped seven spots in the overall series driver standings from 20th to 13th this past weekend.

Suarez returns to Phoenix International Raceway, where he won the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series race in 2014.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Etc.:

HScott Motorsports didn’t miss a beat last weekend when they started Brennan Poole in the No. 42 Chevrolet in Kyle Larson’s stead. Though it was Poole’s series debut, he performed like a veteran. Poole started 16th and raced his way to a ninth-place finish. Poole will look to continue his momentum this weekend as he will be back in the No. 42 at Phoenix.