2 months agoIt has already been a long weekend for Kyle Busch and the race hasn't even started yet. Busch struggled to find speed during practice at Phoenix Raceway on Friday afternoon, winding up 31st-fastest out of 36 cars and just 26th-best when it came to ten-lap average. Then, during qualifying on Saturday, the No. 8 Chevrolet was still slow, and Busch will roll off the starting grid from 31st-place when the Shriners Children's 500 goes green. Busch used to be a constant race-winning contender at Phoenix Raceway, as he led 100+ laps in four of the five races here from 2017 through 2019. Over the last seven races here, though, Rowdy has led zero laps total and hasn't had a driver rating above 99.5 in any race. Don't expect Busch to contend for the win at Phoenix this weekend, and he may struggle to even crack the top 15.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoChris Buescher won't be the most popular pick on DraftKings this weekend, but he deserves your consideration when building your lineup for Phoenix. In the three NextGen races at this track, Buescher has posted two top-10 finishes, including a fifth-place finish here last fall. Buescher's No. 17 Ford was arguably the second-fastest car in that race and he led 16 laps while winning Stage 2 as well. This weekend, Buescher qualified 14th for the Shriners Children's 500, so there is some place differential upside there--but is he worth the $8,300 price tag on DraftKings? He will likely need a similar result as last fall to end up in the optimal lineup this weekend, and the No. 17 Ford didn't show as much speed in practice, and Buescher was just 10th-fastest in 15-lap average during practice. Still, there is definitely potential there, as Buescher won at Richmond last season--another short, flat track.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Win The Race
2 months agoHendrick Motorsports has found plenty of success at Phoenix Raceway, but that hasn't come through Alex Bowman. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet did post a top-10 result here last spring, but that is his only result better than 13th in his last 12 attempts at this race track. Bowman wound up finishing 17th in the fall finale here last November. This weekend, the No. 48 has looked to have decent speed, but not front-runner speed. Bowman was 12th-fastest in 10- and 15-lap average during practice, and then he qualified 25th for Sunday's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix. There is some place differential upside there as a DFS pick, but a mid-teens finish is the most likely outcome for Bowman on Sunday, so temper your expectations.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoIt's no secret that Zane Smith has struggled to start out the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The 2022 Truck Series Champion did finish 13th in the Daytona 500 a few weeks ago, but since then he has posted finishes of 35th and 36th. This weekend at Phoenix, it's not looking a lot better. Smith's No. 71 Chevrolet was just 35th-fastest out of 36 cars, and he ended up qualifying 28th for this weekend's Shriners Children's 500. In the Truck Series at Phoenix, Smith has a win and three top-five finishes over four career starts, but those results aren't boosting his confidence this weekend. "The Cup Series is so different than the Truck Series," Zane said during media availability earlier this week. A top-20 finish would be a very good day out of Smith and his No. 71 Chevrolet this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Digest
2 months agoAfter having the best average running position of his career at Las Vegas, Corey LaJoie surprisingly qualified last amongst the qualifying first group at Phoenix after breaking loose in two corners, giving him a 35th-place starting position while his teammate, Carson Hocevar, advanced to the final round of qualifying and will be starting 10th. LaJoie is getting significant backlash on social media currently because he has a large media profile due to his podcast and Hocevar has been outperforming him, but just because Hocevar is proving to be very good does not mean LaJoie is bad. Now that Spire Motorsports is giving LaJoie the fastest cars he's ever had and the team has a lot more investment from Chevrolet, LaJoie should run better in the race than in qualifying, although Hocevar will likely still outrun him.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoAlthough Daniel Hemric has not been a very good NASCAR Cup Series driver to date, Phoenix is definitely one of his better tracks. His career highlight is winning the 2021 Xfinity Series Championship and he did so by getting thew win in the season finale right here at Phoenix. In the Cup Series, Hemric has his fourth-best average finish at Phoenix, but that average finish is still only 18.7, indicating he has been consistently mid-pack. His qualifying run of 21st this weekend is consistent with that. Hemric did outqualify his rookie teammate Derek Kraus (who was 26th), but he probably won't do better than his usual mid-pack run.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoBoth the Richard Childress Racing drivers qualified poorly for this weekend's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix with Austin Dillon qualifying 30th, one spot ahead of his teammate Kyle Busch (although Busch posted a slightly faster lap time). Dillon has badly struggled since losing his crew chief, Justin Alexander, who he had for all his wins and all but one of his Playoff appearances. However, even in the years when he was an above-average performer, Phoenix was not a good track for Dillon, as he has never led a lap here or finished better than eighth in 20 career starts. Couple that with his poor qualifying performance and his general downturn after losing Alexander and he will very likely have a subpar performance and race result this weekend as well.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoThe Penske drivers all surprisingly disappointed in qualifying for this weekend's race at Phoenix despite Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney winning the NASCAR Cup Series championships in the last two fall Phoenix races, but none disappointed more than Austin Cindric, whose 34th qualifying position matches his worst starting position in his full-time career. Phoenix has not been a particularly good track for him either, as he has never led a lap or finished better than 11th there. The 2022 season finale, where Cindric got that finish, was the only Phoenix race where he had above-average speed as well. Although Cindric has generally been running better this year than he did in his two previous seasons, it seems unlikely that he will have a great run on Sunday, especially when considering that the Fords have tended to be faster in qualifying than the race. Still, with his $6,200 price tag on DraftKings, Cindric makes a great DFS option in the desert.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoDaniel Suarez has enjoyed a memorable start to the 2024 season. After the crash at Daytona, he won at Las Vegas by 0.003 seconds. After that, the Trackhouse Racing driver flirted with the Top 10 early and often at Las Vegas. He ended up 11th after starting 16th. The Phoenix short track sees the No. 99 Chevy begin 15th on Sunday afternoon. Suarez has had some mixed results but came from 22nd in March last year to 11th. He has never finished inside the Top 10 after any stage at Phoenix Raceway. Suarez will try to change that Sunday and try to win like Ross Chastain did here last Fall.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoMartin Truex Jr. will start P11 in Sunday's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. In his 36 Cup starts at "The Jewel of the Desert," Truex has just one win, an average finish of 15.3, and five DNFs, which is the second most in the series. While these
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2 months agoRyan Preece has been starting more towards the back often in 2024. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver begins the race in Phoenix 27th on Sunday. With qualifying efforts of 25th, 20th, and 36th, Preece has had to play catchup often. The No. 41 Ford must do that again on the 1-mile short track. While few expect him to improve 13 spots like in Las Vegas, Preece did find a way to finish on the lead lap. It may be baby steps with this Ford early in the season which will make Preece a cheap DFS option to improve position-wise.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoJohn Hunter Nemechek has not qualified the greatest but keeps improving as races wind down. Nemechek has one Top 10 result already in 2024 for Legacy Motor Club. He will have a bit of work to do this week after qualifying 19th for Sunday's race at Phoenix Raceway. It will be intriguing to see if the Toyota can show some late speed. Even last year, the Toyota car was fast early but had problems late. Nemechek had a +5 place differential last week at Las Vegas. The driver in the No. 42 will be one to watch on Sunday as the driver seems to be making the most of this chance at the top level of NASCAR.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoWhile Erik Jones has a slim chance of winning on Sunday at Phoenix, the Legacy Motor Club driver did have four Top 10 results in six races right before the pandemic. That was back when Jones drove the Toyota on the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Now, this may not be the exact same setup but the No. 43 has been better as races have gone on this year. His place differential is +7.6 on the season. Yes, it is early. However, Jones flirted with getting close to tenth or better last week at Las Vegas. He settled for 14th but that bodes well for the shorter track at Phoenix.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoBrad Keselowski will start 18th in Sunday's Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Despite still being in the early portion of the NASCAR schedule, this is an important race for the RFK driver-owner as the team has struggled this season. Given that Keselowski is 28th in the playoff
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2 months agoHarrison Burton begins outside the Top 20 for the second consecutive time this season at Phoenix Raceway. The Wood Brothers Racing driver begins 21st on Sunday afternoon. Burton has one Top 20 finish in four appearances on the 1-mile track. Worse, his average finish of 27.3 comes too close to his 26.7 average finish in the early going this year. It is that latter number going in the wrong direction which has Burton on the hot seat. Burton has started 21st or worse at Phoenix in four of five attempts now.. He has negative place differential every single time.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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