FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: PHOENIX NOTES
This weekend will see Ford teams in the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series head to Phoenix Raceway, where Joey Logano and Austin Cindric posted victories last season. Logano is the defending Cup winner for Sunday’s scheduled Instacart 500 while Cindric’s last visit to the track saw him lift the championship trophy after winning the NXS season finale.
This Week’s Schedule:
Saturday, March 13 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 5:30 p.m. (FS1)
Sunday, March 14 – NASCAR Cup Series, 3:30 p.m. (FOX)
FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT PHOENIX
· Ford has 17 series wins at Phoenix Raceway.
· Alan Kulwicki won the first series race at Phoenix Raceway in 1988.
· Current Ford drivers Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman have series wins.
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT PHOENIX
· Ford leads all manufacturers with 14 series wins at Phoenix Raceway.
· Jack Roush is second for most owner wins in the series with eight.
· Austin Cindric won the race and series championship at the track in November.
HARVICK HOLDS PHOENIX RECORD
Kevin Harvick holds the record with nine career NASCAR Cup Series wins at Phoenix Raceway with his latest coming in 2018. That’s the most victories for Harvick on any track currently on the NASCAR schedule. Michigan International Speedway ranks second on his personal list for career wins with five while New Hampshire Motor Speedway is third with four. In addition, Harvick goes into Sunday’s scheduled race having posted 15 consecutive top-10 finishes. The streak started in 2013 when he won the next-to-last race of the season, igniting a six-race stretch that saw him win five times, including four straight, and finish second once.
LOGANO HOPING TO DEFEND 2020 PHOENIX WIN
Joey Logano will be looking for his second straight win at Phoenix Raceway in the spring race after he outlasted fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick in overtime last season. Taking the inside lane, Logano was able to get a good jump on the restart to get in front of Harvick coming off turn two and was able to maintain a car length distance the rest of the way. Logano led 60 laps, including the final 24, as he registered his second career Cup win at the one-mile track. Ford dominated the race, leading 210 of the 316 laps, which also featured 12 cautions.
TEAM PENSKE TOP TENS TOGETHER
Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw the Team Penske trio of Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano all post top 10 finishes. Keselowski led the way with a second place run while Blaney was fifth and Logano ninth. That marked the first time this season all three drivers have finished in the top 10 and the 27th time since the organization became a three-team unit in 2018 (112 combined starts). That means all three Team Penske Mustangs have finished in the top 10 of the same race 24.1 percent of the time.
EDWARDS ENDS DROUGHT
When Ford went to victory lane at Phoenix in the second race of 2013, it snapped a 70-race winless drought for Carl Edwards, whose previous victory came in Las Vegas in 2011. Edwards led 122 of 312 laps, including the final 78, to win the, but there were anxious moments, particularly at the end when a green-white-checker finish had most of the leaders wondering if they had enough gas in the tank to reach the end. Edwards did and managed to beat Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the finish line.
BUSCH WINS DEBUT NIGHT RACE
Kurt Busch made Phoenix Raceway history when he drove his No. 97 Irwin/Sharpie Ford Taurus to victory in the first NCS night race held at the track on Apr. 23, 2005. Busch dominated from the start as he led 132 of the first 133 laps, and while others like Brian Vickers and Michael Waltrip led multiple laps at different stages of the event, it was Busch who proved to be too strong down the stretch. He passed Waltrip with 44 laps to go and was never threatened again as he won by 2.315 seconds. Busch led 219 of the 312 laps as Phoenix hosted the first of two annual Cup dates each season for the first time.
KULWICKI WINS FIRST CUP RACE IN PHOENIX OPENER
Alan Kulwicki, driving the No. 7 Zerex Ford, won his first NASCAR Cup Series race in the debut event at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6, 1988. Kulwicki, who celebrated by taking a Polish Victory Lap for which he is still remembered for today, passed leader Ricky Rudd with 16 laps to go and ended up taking the checkered flag in his 85th start by 18 seconds over runner-up Terry Labonte. Fellow Ford drivers Davey Allison and Bill Elliott finished third and fourth, respectively. Kulwicki, who ended up leading four times for 41 laps in taking the next-to-last event of the season, went on to win four more Cup races during his career.
WALLACE RAINS IN 1998
Rusty Wallace had only three more chances to keep his streak of winning at least one race a season alive when he rolled into Phoenix Raceway in 1998. He had gone to victory lane in each of the previous 12 seasons and didn’t want to see it come to an end, so that’s why what he did on Oct. 25 was so impressive. Wallace, who started sixth, made a beeline to the front and pretty much stayed there all afternoon until rain came and halted the race after 257 laps. The event was eventually called, marking the first rain-shortened race in the track’s NASCAR history, but there was no doubt Wallace deserved the win. He led 196 of the 257 laps, including the final 73. Wallace’s streak eventually reached 16 seasons before it was snapped in 2002.
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT PHOENIX RACEWAY
1988 – Alan Kulwicki
1989 – Bill Elliott
1991 – Davey Allison
1992 – Davey Allison
1993 – Mark Martin
1995 – Ricky Rudd
1997 – Dale Jarrett
1998 – Rusty Wallace
2000 – Jeff Burton
2001 – Jeff Burton
2002 – Matt Kenseth
2005 – Kurt Busch (1)
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2013 – Carl Edwards (1)
2016 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1)
2020 – Joey Logano (1)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT PHOENIX RACEWAY
2000 – Jeff Burton
2001 – Greg Biffle
2003 – Bobby Hamilton Jr.
2005 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2009 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)
2018 – Brad Keselowski (1)
2020 – Austin Cindric (2)
