NASCAR PHOENIX Sunday, October 31, 2021
PHOENIX NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
| Phoenix Wins | Hamlin | Elliott | Truex Jr. | Larson |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Phoenix March
Winner pit stops: Martin Truex Jr. (7 Stops) 33, 79, 141 (Green), 194, 254 (Green), 264, 284
Longest green flag run: 93 Laps (99-191)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Joey Logano (2nd & 1st), Denny Hamlin (4th & 3rd), Brad Keselowski (3rd & 4th), Ryan Blaney (1st & 5th)
Speeding: Elliott 5th, Larson 7th, Almirola 11th, Dillon 17th, Chastain 19th,
Suarez 21st, Briscoe 22nd, McDowell 23rd, Reddick 29th, Bilicki 35th
Rear of field: Elliott 5th, Larson 7th, Byron 8th, Houff 32nd, Smithley 34th, Ware 36th
Best HMS: Chase Elliott 5th
Best JGR: Martin Truex Jr. 1st
Best SHR: Kevin Harvick 6th
Best TPR: Joey Logano 2nd
Fuel window: 86-90 Laps
Martin Truex Jr.
Phoenix March winner – Started 5th, finished 17th in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, first lead on lap 224, 64 laps led
Ended 29-race winless streak – Last previous win: Martinsville 6/20
First win in 31st race at Phoenix – Most races before first Phoenix win
Most previous tries before first Phoenix win: Jeff Gordon won in 17th try (4/07)
2-Brad Keselowski: Finished 4th at Phoenix March – Started 1st, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & 4th in Stage 2, 19 laps led
2-Brad Keselowski: 2012 Champion – Winless in 24 Phoenix races
2-Brad Keselowski: 8 Top 5 & 12 Top 10 finishes at Phoenix – Most without a win
4-Kevin Harvick: 1 Win last 10 Phoenix races – 6 Wins previous 8 Phoenix races
4-Kevin Harvick: 16 Straight Phoenix top 10 finishes (37-Years-old last time finishing outside top 10) – All-time longest streak
4-Kevin Harvick: Last win with Childress – Phoenix 11/10/13 / First win with Stewart-Haas – Phoenix 3/2/14
5-Kyle Larson: Finished 7th at Phoenix March – Started rear of field, 2 pit road speeding penalties, 195 laps run in top 10
5-Kyle Larson: Finished 7th or better last 5 Phoenix races – 3 Top 5 finishes
6-Ryan Newman ended winless streaks of 77-races & 127-races at Phoenix
9-Chase Elliott:
Finished 5th at Phoenix March – Started rear of field, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, lap 193 pit road speeding, best Hendrick finisher
Phoenix 11/20 winner – Finished top 3 in Stage 1 & 2, 153 laps led, champion
1 Phoenix win (11/20) – 3 Top 3 finishes last 8 Phoenix races
4 Phoenix top 5 finishes – 2 Straight top 5 finishes
Finished 7th or better last 3 Phoenix races – 2 Straight top 5 finishes
Alan Gustafson: 4 Phoenix wins with 4 different drivers – Kyle Busch 11/05, Martin 4/09, Gordon 2/11 & Elliott 11/20
11-Denny Hamlin: Finished 3rd at Phoenix March – Started 3rd, finished top 5 in Stage 1 & 2, 33 laps led
11-Denny Hamlin: 4 Top 5 finishes last 5 Phoenix races – 2 Straight Phoenix top 5 finishes
12-Ryan Blaney: Finished 10th at Phoenix March – Started 8th, Stage 1 winner & finished 5th in Stage 2, 35 laps led
12-Ryan Blaney: 6 Phoenix top 10 finishes – 4 Top 10 finishes last 5 races
18-Kyle Busch: Finished 25th at Phoenix March – Only Joe Gibbs Racing driver finishing outside top 10
18-Kyle Busch: Finished outside top 10 last 2 Phoenix races – Finished 7th or better previous 10 Phoenix races
18-Kyle Busch only repeat winner last 9 Phoenix races (2 Wins) – 7 Others 1 win each
19-Martin Truex Jr. won first Phoenix race in 31st try (3/21) – Most of all drivers
20-Christopher Bell: 1 Top 20 finish in 3 Phoenix races – Finished 9th in March
22-Joey Logano:
Finished 2nd at Phoenix March – Finished 2nd in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 6 times led for 143 laps (most), 54 points scored (most)
22-Joey Logano: 5 Straight Phoenix top 10 finishes – 3 Straight Phoenix top 3 finishes
22-Joey Logano: 2 Phoenix wins with 2 different crew chiefs – Todd Gordon 11/16 & Paul Wolfe 3/20
22-Joey Logano passed for final lead change last 2 Phoenix races
24-William Byron: Finished 8th at Phoenix March – Started rear of field, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2
24-William Byron: 4 Phoenix top 10 finishes – 3 Straight Phoenix top 10 finishes
26 Different winners in 50 NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix races
14 Won season finale & championship in same season including last 7
7 Won final 2 races to finish season – 2 Won first race the following season
5 Different winners last 5 Phoenix races – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott & Martin Truex Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing won 4 of 6 Phoenix races since start/finish line moved –
Kyle Busch 2, Denny Hamlin 1 & Martin Truex Jr. 1
Champion raced Chevrolet to championship 11 of 17 seasons in Playoff era
Champion raced Toyota to championship 3 of last 6 seasons
Champion raced Ford to championship only 2 seasons in Playoff era – 2004 Kurt Busch & 2018 Joey Logano
11 Speeding penalties by 10 drivers at Phoenix March –
Tied for most pit road speeding penalties in a race this season (Martinsville Oct.)
Last defending champion to win Phoenix: Kevin Harvick (2014 Champion & 3/15 winner)
9 Phoenix races finished in Overtime – Leader at scheduled distance won 7 times
2 Won first career race at Phoenix – Alan Kulwicki 1988 & Bobby Hamilton 1996
Hendrick Motorsports: 1 Win last 11 Phoenix races – Chase Elliott 11/20
Hendrick Motorsports won 11 Phoenix races with 7 different drivers
Chevrolet leads with 24 Phoenix wins
Ford: 17 Phoenix wins / Toyota: 7 Phoenix wins
22 Lead changes in March most in last 15 Phoenix races
Closest Phoenix finish: .010 Seconds (3/16) Kevin Harvick over Carl Edwards
Stage 1 winner went on to win only 1 of 9 Phoenix races
Stage 2 winner failed to win last 4 Phoenix races
Bobby Allison leads all with 5 season finale wins
1988 Phoenix Alan Kulwicki won for the first time in his career in the first race at Phoenix
Jeff Gordon tied Dale Earnhardt with 76 wins 4/07 & Cale Yarborough with 83 wins 2/11
Phoenix 3/18 Kevin Harvick passed Tony Stewart all-time Stewart-Haas Racing wins
Phoenix 4/09 Mark Martin won at 50-years-old driving for Hendrick Motorsports
PHOENIX NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Phoenix March
3 Finished top 5 in Stage 1 & 2: Austin Cindric (1st & 4th), Harrison Burton (3rd & 2nd), Daniel Hemric (4th & 1st)
11 Cautions – Most in last 27 Phoenix races (65 Cautions laps – 2 Laps short of record)
JR Motorsports: 1 Top 35 finisher (Justin Allgaier 8th) – Berry, Annett & Gragson failed to finish
7-Justin Allgaier:
Finished 8th at Phoenix March – Started 12th, finished 6th in Stage 1 & 3rd in Stage 2, 32 laps led, in wall after final restart
9-Noah Gragson: Finished 39th at Phoenix March – Lap 68 crash
10-Jeb Burton: Finished 6th at Phoenix March – Started 6th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, lap 125 pit road speeding
11-Justin Haley: Finished 26th at Phoenix March – Started 5th, finished 7th in Stage 1 & 5th in Stage 2, in wall after final restart
16-AJ Allmendinger: Finished 5th at Phoenix March – Lap 166 crashed Brandon Jones
18-Daniel Hemric:
Finished 23rd at Phoenix March – Started 1st, finished 4th in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 44 laps led, in wall with 2 to go
19-Brandon Jones: Finished 33rd at Phoenix March – Lap 133 crashed by AJ Allmendinger
20-Harrison Burton: Finished 13th at Phoenix March – Started 7th, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, lap 132 spin
22-Austin Cindric: Phoenix March winner – Started 3rd, Stage 1 winner & finished 4th in Stage 2, 4 times led for 119 laps (most)
22-Austin Cindric: 2 Straight Phoenix wins – Finished 8th or better last 6 Phoenix races
68-Brandon Brown:
Finished 3rd at Phoenix March – Started 11th, finished outside top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, running 11th with 3 to go
98-Riley Herbst:
Finished 4th at Phoenix March – Started 30th, finished outside top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, running 10th with 3 to go
20 Different Winners in 39 NASCAR Xfinity Series Phoenix Races
6 Times drivers won season finale & championship in same year –
1983 Sam Ard, 2009 Kyle Busch, 2016 Daniel Suarez, 2018 Tyler Reddick, 2019 Tyler Reddick & 2020 Austin Cindric
Justin Allgaier: 2 Phoenix wins (3/17 & 11/19) – First win with JR Motorsports 3/17
Justin Allgaier: Leader at mid-race last 2 Phoenix races – Finished 5th & 8th
Austin Cindric won last 2 Phoenix races – Kyle Busch only driver to win 3 straight (Twice)
Austin Cindric only repeat winner last 8 Phoenix races (2 Wins) – 6 Others 1 win each
Leader of most laps failed to win 3 of last 4 Phoenix races
3 Different leaders last 3 laps at Phoenix 11/20 – Allgaier, Gragson & Cindric
Crew chief Brian Wilson won 3 of last 7 Phoenix races – Brad Keselowski 3/18, Austin Cindric 11/20 & 3/21
1 Won first career race at Phoenix – Sam Hornish Jr. 11/11
Driver starting first failed to win last 9 Phoenix races
Only 4 of 39 Phoenix races won by drivers starting outside top 10
Only 3 drivers won a Phoenix race & championship in same season –
Kevin Harvick (2006), William Byron (2017) & Austin Cindric (2020)
4 Rookie of the Year candidates won Phoenix –
Greg Biffle 2001, Carl Edwards 11/05, William Byron 11/17 & Christopher Bell 11/18
Ford leads with 15 Phoenix wins
Most lead changes: 16 (11/20)
Joe Nemechek leads all with 3 season finale wins