Next Race: TicketGuardian 500 The Place: ISM Raceway The Date: Sunday, March 10 The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 312 miles (312 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 312) 2018 Winner: Kevin Harvick Team Penske Has Strong Start To 2019 Joey Logano’s victory last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, along with teammate Brad Keselowski’s win at Atlanta Motor Speedway the week before, officially makes Team Penske the class of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series field heading to Phoenix, Arizona for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Logano’s showing gives him a slim two-point edge atop the driver points standings over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick heading to Phoenix – a one-mile oval that Harvick has dominated in recent times with nine Cup trophies to show. Keselowski, in particular, has been good at ISM Raceway, scoring a pole position in 2014 and tallying nine top-10 finishes in 19 starts. Plus, he was runner-up in last season’s Playoff race. Logano has a win at ISM Raceway in the fall of 2016 but has crashed out of two of the last four races there – including last fall. With two of its three drivers already Playoff-qualified, Team Penske is eager to get its newest member Ryan Blaney on track after an uncharacteristically frustrating start to his season. While Logano and Keselowski are ranked first and fifth in the standings, Blaney is still looking for his first top-10 finish of the year. Blaney won the pole position at ISM Raceway in the fall of 2017 and has two top-10 finishes in six races on the one-mile track. He’s finished 16th or worse in the last four races, however. ISM Raceway might be coming at right time for Hendrick Motorsports The ISM Raceway 1-mile oval may be exactly the venue the championship Hendrick Motorsports team looks to regain form. Not only does team veteran Jimmie Johnson have four wins at the track – including three consecutively from 2007-2008 – Chase Elliott has quickly proven to be strong at the venue. Elliott boasts four top-10 finishes in six starts at ISM Raceway, including a third-place showing in this race last year and a runner-up finish in the fall of 2017. He led 117 laps in this spring race in 2017, finishing 12th. Nearby Tucson is home to teammate Alex Bowman, giving the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 particular motivation. He won the pole, led a race-best 194 laps and finished a career-best sixth at Phoenix in the fall of 2016, his first time at ISM Raceway in a Hendrick car. Chip Ganassi Racing duo hot early Chip Ganassi Racing has extended a team-high mark with both its drivers Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch being ranked among the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ top-10 for the third-straight week. The distinction marks the first time the team has had both of its drivers in the top 10 of the championship standings – Larson (sixth) and Busch (10th).. Larson is ranked sixth in the driver points standings, 31 points behind Joey Logano, and he leads the series in laps led with 142 (17.7%). The western swing of the Monster Energy Series schedule has proven to be a positive for the 25-year-old Californian. He has three top-three finishes at ISM Raceway, including a third-place last fall and a runner-up in the spring race in 2017. He’s led laps in three of the last four visits to ISM Raceway. The veteran and 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch has made his transition from Stewart-Haas Racing to the Chip Ganassi Racing group look easy. He’s coming off back-to-back top-five finishes at Atlanta (third) and his home track in Las Vegas (fifth). Busch has 18 top-10 finishes in 32 starts on the ISM Raceway, with a win in the spring of 2005 after leading a dominating 219 of 312 laps. Busch has certainly put himself in contention in recent years at Phoenix – leading laps in both races last year – but has only one top-10 finish in the last four races. He led 52 laps last fall but was involved in a crash only 40 laps from the checkered flag. Logano swipes points lead from Hamlin Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin slipped from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver points lead following his 10th-place showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend and now trails Joey Logano by six markers heading to ISM Raceway. It’s certainly a track in his wheelhouse. Hamlin has shown himself to be one of the better racers on the series’ shorter tracks. Hamlin won the pole position in his very first Monster Energy Series start at Phoenix in 2005 and earned another in the fall of 2014. His only win there came in the spring of 2012. He has five top-10 finishes in the last seven races – three in the last three spring races. Twice he’s led 190 laps or more and did not win (2010 and 2017). But there’s plenty to be encouraged by when his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota Camry team arrives in Phoenix. Hamlin has 11 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 27 starts at the one-miler. “We had a couple tough pit stops last weekend in Las Vegas that set us back, and we just needed a little more speed to get those spots back,’’ Hamlin said. “We will have to be at our best from start to finish in Phoenix, and the entire team is working hard and will be ready for the challenge that awaits us.” Truex quickly up to speed with Joe Gibbs Racing Martin Truex Jr. has certainly put himself in contention since moving to the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota Camry this year from the Furniture Row Racing team with whom he won the 2017 championship. He’s ranked seventh in the series driver points standings, tied with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones, 35-points behind the standings leader Joey Logano. And for all of Truex’ great reputation on the 1.5-mile intermediate tracks, he’s certainly proven himself skilled on the challenging Phoenix mile of late. He won the pole position there last spring and led three laps and finished fifth. He has two top fives in the last three races (including a third-place finish in the 2017 Playoff race). He also has nine top 10s in 26 total starts. “We are looking forward to getting to Phoenix this weekend,’’ said Truex, who concedes his team is still finding its groove in the early season which features four different styles of track in the opening five weeks. “Regardless of what aero package we run there, you’re always looking for the same things from the car. You’ve got to turn in the center and be able to have really good drive off. “We’ve had some good runs there the past few years – obviously winning the pole last year and being up front leading laps. It will be fun to get to our first sort of short track of the year and see where we’re at there after a couple of 1.5-mile tracks.” Next Race: NASCAR Xfinity Series Race at ISM Raceway The Place: ISM Raceway The Date: Saturday, March 9 The Time: 4 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 3:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 200 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) 2018 Winner: Brad Keselowski Xfinity Series’ fourth stop on the schedule is ISM Raceway After a spectacular event in Las Vegas last weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Phoenix, Arizona for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at ISM Raceway this Saturday, March 9 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio for the fourth race of the 2019 season. Through three races the series has seen three different winners – Michael Annett (Daytona), Christopher Bell (Atlanta) and Kyle Busch (Las Vegas). Which is appropriate because the NASCAR Xfinity Series is on a different winner streak at ISM Raceway as well, which has reached five different winners – Kyle Busch (Playoff race 2016), Justin Allgaier (Spring 2017), William Byron (Playoff race 2017), Brad Keselowski (Spring 2018) and Christopher Bell (Playoff race 2018). Allgaier, Bell and Busch are all entered this weekend and are the only former winners in the field. Kyle Busch currently leads the series in wins at ISM Raceway with 10 victories (Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, 2013 sweep, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, 2016 sweep). If Kyle Busch were to win this weekend at ISM Raceway, he would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin for the NASCAR Xfinity Series wins record at a single track. Martin currently holds the record for the most wins at single track with 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at Rockingham Speedway (Spring 1988, Fall 1992, 1993 sweep, Fall 1994, 1996 sweep, 1997 sweep, Fall 1999 and Spring 2000). ISM Raceway has hosted 34 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, dating back to inaugural event on November 6, 1999. The race was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon in his own No. 24 Chevrolet. Heading to ISM Raceway this weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has produced 18 different poles winners and 18 different race winners at the track. Lots of competitive action through three Xfinity races this season With three different winners in the first three races of the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the on-track competition looks to be in full force. Which has been the norm in this series as 27 of the 37 Xfinity seasons (since 1982) have started with three different winners in the first three races. Another stat advocating for this season’s action as standing out is the average Margin of Victory through the first three races has been 0.166 seconds – the closest average MOV through the first three races of the season since 1998. That’s two decades! All three races this season have had an MOV of less than a second – it’s just the sixth time that’s happened since the series started measuring the margin of victory electronically in 1996. Additionally, through the first three races of the 2019 season, the series has seen 13 different drivers lead laps with an average of 7 different leaders and 12 lead changes per race. Christopher Bell has currently led the most laps this season with 149 (30.04%). Milestone for Morgan NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Morgan Shepherd, will attempt to break the tie for sixth on the NASCAR national series combined starts lists with NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte this weekend at ISM Raceway. Both drivers currently have 1,117 national series starts. If Shepherd makes the race, he will move solely into sixth on the NASCAR national series combined starts list with 1,118 national series starts. NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty holds the record for the most NASCAR national series starts with 1,182. Shepherd already holds the record for the oldest driver to make a start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the age of 77. He has made two starts this season with an average finish of 34th. Double The Action, Double The Fun Make sure to catch all the action this weekend as several drivers will be pulling double duty at ISM Raceway participating in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, March 9 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and then again Sunday, March 10 in the TicketGuardian 500 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The drivers attempting to pull off such a feat are Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and BJ McLeod. Next Race: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series 250 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Saturday, March 23 TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 131.5 miles (250 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 70), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 140), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250) 2018 Winner: John Hunter Nemechek source – NASCAR communications
