Briscoe Breaks Out with First Career Win at Phoenix

Chase Briscoe won the Ruoff Mortgage 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first career victory.

Briscoe took the lead late in the race and had to defend against Chase Elliott over the final long run of the day. After a late caution bunched up the field, Briscoe held off Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick over the final two restarts.

Logan Reily/Getty Images

Briscoe, who at one point in his career slept on a friend’s couch and volunteered at his race shop, said his first career victory was an emotional one.

“I was crying the whole last lap,” Briscoe said.  “Seven years ago…I was literally driving home to give up. I just have to thank everyone who’s gotten me to this point.”

Briscoe said it was a dream come true to get to victory lane driving for his hero Tony Stewart.

“This is definitely a team win,” Briscoe said.  “Driving at the organization and team that was my hero growing up and to get this 14 back in victory lane…unbelievable.”

Chastain held off Reddick on the final restart, but he was unable to challenge Briscoe over the final two laps.

Chastain said he was happy to have the chance to race for the victory in just his fourth start with Trackhouse Racing.

“Trackhouse Racing…believed in me early in the season whenever stuff wasn’t going great,” Chastain said.  “That was so much fun to get to race like that at this level.”

“That’s so cool to be able to race with Tyler and Chase. That’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Briscoe

2. Ross Chastain

3. Tyler Reddick

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Kurt Busch

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Busch

8. Joey Logano

9. Daniel Suarez

10. Chris Buescher

11. Chase Elliott

12. Aric Almirola

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Alex Bowman

15. Ty Dillon

16. Cole Custer

17. Justin Haley

18. William Byron

19. Todd Gilliland

20. AJ Allmendinger

21. Austin Dillon

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Brad Keselowski

24. Austin Cindric

25. Erik Jones

26. Christopher Bell

27. Michael McDowell

28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

29. Harrison Burton

30. Landon Cassill

31. Cody Ware

32. Garrett Smithley

33. BJ McLeod

34. Kyle Larson

35. Martin Truex Jr.

36. Corey LaJoie

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Larson Wins at Phoenix, Caps Off Dominant Year with Championship

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his 10th victory of the season and win his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Larson was dominant all season and ran up front for most of the race at Phoenix.  Throughout the race, Larson and his teammate Chase Elliott seemed to have the strongest short-run cars, and the race came down to a late restart with just over 20 laps to go.

Larson pitted under the final caution as the fourth of the championship drivers, but his pit crew got him off pit road first and he was able to control the final restart from the lead.

On the final restart, Larson pulled out to the lead and held off a challenge from Martin Truex Jr.  Larson was able to hold off the other championship drivers and picked up his first NASCAR championship.

Larson said his team made the difference on the final pit stop.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

“Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing here,” Larson said.  “They’re the true winners of this race; they’re the true champions.  I’m blessed to be a part of this group.”

Larson missed most of the 2020 season after uttering a racial slur during an iRacing event, and teamed up with Hendrick Motorsports for the first time this year.

Larson said during his time away from the sport last year, he wasn’t sure if he would ever drive a Cup Series car again.

“I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and half ago, and to win a championship is crazy,” Larson said.  “Thank you so much to Rick Hendrick…and every single person at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us.”

“This event was crazy and this format’s wild.  I’m glad we were able to get it done.”

Truex challenged Larson on the restart for the win, but could not hang with Larson over the final 20 laps.

Regardless of how fast he was the run before, Truex said the clean air ultimately won out at the end of the race.

“Clean air seemed to be a good bit of an advantage there; whoever got out front was good for 20, 30, 40 laps, and then the long-run cars would start coming around,” Truex said.  “Ultimately we needed to beat him off pit road.”

“We win and lose as a team, and I’m really proud of our efforts this year.  [Larson] had a hell of a season and congratulations to them.  Second sucks; I hate it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Chase Elliott

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Christopher Bell

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Joey Logano

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Cole Custer

14. Ross Chastain

15. Austin Dillon

16. Kurt Busch

17. William Byron

18. Alex Bowman

19. Tyler Reddick

20. Ryan Preece

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Newman

24. Michael McDowell

25. Chris Buescher

26. Justin Haley

27. BJ McLeod

28. Cody Ware

29. Joey Gase

30. Josh Bilicki

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Corey LaJoie

33. David Starr

34. Anthony Alfredo

35. Chase Briscoe

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

37. Quin Houff

38. Timmy Hill

39. Bubba Wallace

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Truex Out-Duels Logano in Phoenix

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Instacart 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory of the season.

Truex passed Joey Logano on a late restart to take the lead, and he was able to hold off the field to pick up the win.

Following early contact with the wall, Truex’s team was able to get his car dialed-in.  After his team was able to get him track position up front, Truex had one of the fastest cars on the track.

After winning only once in 2020, Truex said he was excited to get back to victory lane early in the season.

“We had a tough year last year; we were a little bit rocky,” Truex said.  “That was a hell of an effort by everybody.  Just so thankful for everyone at JGR and everybody that makes this possible.”

Phoenix will host the season finale in November, and Truex said he hopes he will be fighting for a championship the next time the Cup Series takes to the track.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“Phoenix has been a tough one for us,” Truex said.  “I wish it was November, but hopefully we can come back here in November and have a shot at being in the final four.”

Logano led a race-high 143 laps, but he had to settle for second after Truex took the lead on the final restart.  Logano took the inside lane coming back to green, but Truex was able to hang on the outside to take control.

Logano said he thought the bottom was going to allow him to pull ahead of Truex on the final restart.

“I was surprised [Truex] was able to hang with me on that start,” Logano said.  “When you’re in the corner door-to-door, the outside car has control of you.”

“Overall a solid day.  It’s not a win; second hurts, but we’ll move on and go to Atlanta.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Joey Logano

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Chase Elliott

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Larson

8. William Byron

9. Christopher Bell

10. Ryan Blaney

11. Aric Almirola

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Alex Bowman

14. Matt DiBenedetto

15. Kurt Busch

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Austin Dillon

18. Chris Buescher

19. Ross Chastain

20. Erik Jones

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Michael McDowell

24. Justin Haley

25. Kyle Busch

26. Ryan Preece

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Ryan Newman

29. Tyler Reddick

30. BJ McLeod

31. Cole Custer

32. Quin Houff

33. James Davison

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Cody Ware

37. Anthony Alfredo

38. Timmy Hill

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Chase Elliott Wins at Phoenix, Crowned NASCAR Cup Series Champion

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Chase Elliott won the Season Finale 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Elliott was awarded the pole for Sunday’s race but had to start in the rear of the field following multiple inspection failures.  Elliott quickly drove up through the field, and took the lead at the beginning of Stage 2.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Elliott led a race-high 154 laps in the winner-take-all finale for the Championship.  He took the lead away from Joey Logano with 43 laps remaining, and he was able to pull away for his fifth win of the season.

Elliott said he could see Logano struggling following the final pit stop and knew he needed to make his move.

“I saw Joey was pretty loose there; felt like I needed to get to him when I could,” Elliott said.  “Just waiting on the caution as always.”

Elliott, who won last weekend at Martinsville to lock himself into the Championship finale, said the season has shown how his team has grown.

“I just never would have thought that this year went the way it has,” Elliott said.  “I can’t say enough about our group.  I feel like we took some really big strides this year, and last week was a huge one.”

Elliott and his father Bill have now joined the Petty and Jarrett families as the only father-son duos to win the Cup Series Championship.  Elliott also became the youngest Champion since Jeff Gordon won it all in 1995, and becomes the first driver to win the Championship and Most Popular Driver in the same year since his father did it in 1988.

Elliott said becoming champion was a dream come true.

“All you can dream for is the opportunity, and I’ve been very fortunate to have that over the years,” Elliott said.  “This is a moment that I’ve dreamed about.  This is all I ever wanted to do…this moment is something not a lot of people get to enjoy.”

Logano finished third after fading late in the race, and he said his car’s handling went away over the final run after giving up the lead to Elliott.

“Just didn’t have the speed at the right time,” Logano said.  “Early in the race our Mustang was really fast.  We were close.”

The race was also the final one for drivers Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson. 

Johnson, the greatest driver of his generation, ended his career with seven Cup Series titles and 83 victories.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

After his fifth-place finish, Johnson celebrated with his teammate Elliott in what many viewed as a passing of the torch.

Johnson said he was proud of the career he put together.

“It’s been a great run; I’ve had 19 years in the Cup Series, 2 years in the Xfinity Series,” Johnson said.  “This has been a great journey and I’m ready to spend my time a little differently.”

“My heart’s full, very thankful for today.  We had a great run on the track, and I can’t go without congratulating Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports on another championship.”

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Joey Logano

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Matt DiBenedetto

9. William Byron

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Kyle Busch

12. Kurt Busch

13. Aric Almirola

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Bubba Wallace

16. Alex Bowman

17. Christopher Bell

18. Austin Dillon

19. Tyler Reddick

20. Chris Buescher

21. Ty Dillon

22. Erik Jones

23. Michael McDowell

24. Ryan Newman

25. Matt Kenseth

26. John Hunter Nemechek

27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

28. Cole Custer

29. Brennan Poole

30. JJ Yeley

31. Daniel Suarez

32. Joey Gase

33. James Davison

34. Ryan Preece

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Timmy Hill

37. Garrett Smithley

38. Corey LaJoie

39. Quin Houff

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Logano Wins in Phoenix

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Joey Logano won the FanShield 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon after surviving multiple late restarts.

Logano had an eventful day that included a pit road penalty halfway through the race that forced him to work his way back through the field.  After getting to the lead, he was able to hold off challenges from Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch in the closing laps.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Logano said his car was strong enough to overcome the pit miscues early in the race.

“Boy, we had more things go wrong today,” Logano said.  “Unfortunate situation with the jack breaking...just had some good restarts to get ourselves back up there.  We had a really good car.”

Logano held off Harvick over two late-race restarts.  Harvick, who has been a consistent front-runner at Phoenix, was unable to get close enough to Logano in the closing laps to make a winning move.

Logano said he changed his driving style because he was expecting contact from Harvick.

“I knew racing Kevin was going to be hard there; figured I was going to get hit,” Logano said.  “I thought he was going to give me the bump-and-run, which I would expect and wouldn’t blame him for.”

Harvick said once he lost the lead he wasn’t able to control the race how he would have liked.

“[Logano] just had control of the race,” Harvick said.  “After we pitted there, we got stuck behind a couple cars and lost five or six spots.  He got by and got control of the race.”

“Our Jimmy John’s Ford was better…we just didn’t get the control of the race and he was able to get by us on that restart where I got hung up.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kyle Larson

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Kurt Busch

7. Chase Elliott

8. Aric Almirola

9. Cole Custer

10. William Byron

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Alex Bowman

15. Ty Dillon

16. Michael McDowell

17. Chris Buescher

18. Ryan Preece

19. Bubba Wallace

20. Denny Hamlin

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

23. Ross Chastain

24. Christopher Bell

25. John Hunter Nemechek

26. JJ Yeley

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Erik Jones

29. Joey Gase

30. Reed Sorenson

31. Brennan Poole

32. Martin Truex Jr.

33. Tyler Reddick

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Austin Dillon

37. Ryan Blaney

38. Timmy Hill

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Busch Closes in on History with Phoenix Win

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Ticket Guardian 500 from ISM Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Busch had one of the most dominant cars throughout the race on Sunday, and led a race-high 177 laps.  Busch chased down pole-sitter Ryan Blaney over the final green-flag run while the two drivers tried to save enough fuel to reach the end of the race.

Busch said he knew fuel might play a factor before drivers took the green flag for the final restart.

“I knew…before we went green with however many to go that we were going to be right on the verge,” Busch said.  “You’ve got to race hard first and worry about fuel afterwards.”

After giving up the lead, Blaney fell to third while he saved fuel.  Blaney said his car drove better over the final run than he expected after his team only changed two tires on the final pit stop.

“Honestly, we hung on better there on two tires than I thought we would,” Blaney said.  “When we got passed for the lead it was just full fuel-save mode.”

The victory was Busch’s 199th career victory across all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.  Busch, now on the verge of history, is just one win away from tying Richard Petty for the most wins in NASCAR history with 200.

Busch said it’s not for him to decide what the number means.

“It not for me to worry about; it’s for everybody else to talk about and discuss and argue over,” Busch said.  “To work with my guys and take them to victory lane is what it’s all about.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Aric Almirola

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kyle Larson

7. Kurt Busch

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Joey Logano

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Ryan Newman

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Chase Elliott

15. Ty Dillon

16. Chris Buescher

17. Paul Menard

18. Daniel Hemric

19. Brad Keselowski

20. Matt Tifft

21. Austin Dillon

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Daniel Suarez

24. William Byron

25. David Ragan

26. Corey LaJoie

27. Ross Chastain

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Erik Jones

30. Quin Houff

31. Bayley Currey

32. Cody Ware

33. Landon Cassill

34. Ryan Preece

35. Alex Bowman

36. Michael McDowell

Stacey Revere/Getty Images

Harvick Wins Third Straight with Phoenix Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the TicketGuardian 500 from ISM Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick won his third race in a row on Sunday, and the victory was his ninth at the Phoenix raceway.  The win also tied his with Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin with 40 Cup Series victories.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Harvick didn’t dominate the race like he had in the previous two races and he only led 38 laps on his way to victory lane.

Harvick said he and his team came into the weekend knowing they had a shot at the victory.

“Everyone was really determined this week,” Harvick said.  “We just wanted to go and stomp them; we didn’t stomp them, but we won.”

Following last weekend’s victory, Harvick’s car was found to be illegal.  The team was penalized and lost the seven playoff points the team had earned throughout the race.

Harvick said the penalty lit a fire in his team and motivated them to win on Sunday.

“I’ve been mad as all get out because this team does a great job,” Harvick said.  “And to take that away from those guys really [ticked] me off last week.”

Kyle Busch finished second to Harvick for the second week in a row.  Busch said he knew they wouldn’t have anything for Harvick’s team during the race.

“Before the race, I knew [Harvick] had the car to beat,” Busch said.  “We actually had a shot to race him and outrace him and try to beat him, but it just didn’t quite work out.”

“Proud to come home second, but now it’s starting to get frustrating.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Chase Elliott

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Aric Almirola

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Erik Jones

10. Kurt Busch

11. Ryan Newman

12. William Byron

13. Alex Bowman

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Ryan Blaney

17. Austin Dillon

18. Kyle Larson

19. Joey Logano

20. Trevor Bayne

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. David Ragan

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Kasey Kahne

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Jamie McMurray

27. Ross Chastain

28. Darrell Wallace Jr.

29. Chris Buescher

30. Ty Dillon

31. DJ Kennington

32. Michael McDowell

33. Timmy Hill

34. Gray Gaulding

35. Jeffrey Earnhardt

36. Paul Menard

37. Corey LaJoie

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Kenseth Wins at Phoenix, Keselowski Clinches Final Playoff Spot

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Matt Kenseth won the Can-Am 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Kenseth chased down Chase Elliott in the closing laps, and he was able to get around the young driver to pick up his 39th career victory.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Kenseth, who is stepping away from the sport following next weekend’s season finale, said he was glad he could go out with a victory.

“I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for this to move on…it’s been an incredible journey,” Kenseth said.  “There’s no way you could write it any better than this…what a storybook ending.”

Needing a victory, Elliott raced hard to get to the front of the field to get into the final round of the playoffs.  With Kenseth’s victory, Elliott was eliminated from playoff contention.

After finishing second on Sunday, Elliott said he was disappointed to miss the championship round of the playoffs by one spot.

“We fought really hard today, and gave ourselves a chance,” Elliott said.  “I was telling my guys that I’ll get it right sometime.  We’ve had so many good opportunities, we’ve just got to close.”

Elliott made contact with Denny Hamlin on his way to the front, and the contact caused Hamlin to cut a tire and hit the wall.  The wreck ended Hamlin’s championship hopes, and it was the second time in this round that the two drivers got together.

Hamlin wrecked Elliott while the two raced for the win at Martinsville two weeks ago, and Elliott said he raced Hamlin the same way Hamlin chose to race him at Martinsville.

“I’m going to race guys how they race me and keep a smile on my face regardless,” Elliott said.  “Happy to race guys how they choose to race me…that’s the way I see it.”

Elliott’s runner-up finish allowed Brad Keselowski to make the final round of the playoffs as the final driver to the round of four. 

Keselowski said he hopes to go to Homestead with a fast enough car to compete with the dominant Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

“I don’t know if we’re the favorite by any means, but we’re going to go there and give it our best,” Keselowski said.  “It’s a tough competition, but to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”

“Hopefully we can be as fast as we were at Texas, maybe a little bit more, and we’ll have a shot at it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Chase Elliott

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Erik Jones

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Jamie McMurray

7. Kyle Busch

8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

9. Aric Almirola

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

11. Ty Dillon

12. Joey Logano

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Austin Dillon

15. Paul Menard

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Ryan Blaney

18. Daniel Suarez

19. Kasey Kahne

20. Ryan Newman

21. Kurt Busch

22. Michael McDowell

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. Landon Cassill

25. Danica Patrick

26. DJ Kennington

27. Matt DiBenedetto

28. David Starr

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt

30. Joey Gase

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Derrike Cope

33. David Ragan

34. Kyle Weatherman

35. Denny Hamlin

36. Cole Whitt

37. Chris Buescher

38. Trevor Bayne

39. Jimmie Johnson

40. Kyle Larson

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images