NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
MARCH 9, 2025
Larson Leads Chevrolet with Podium Finish at Phoenix Raceway
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd – Kyle Larson
6th – William Byron
7th – Alex Bowman
8th – Kyle Busch
10th – Chase Elliott
- With tire strategy being the name of the game for the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway this weekend, five drivers earned top-10 finishes in the Shriners Children’s 500. Leading the charge for the Bowtie brigade to the checkered-flag was Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, piloting his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet to a third-place finish – the team’s second top-five finish of the 2025 season.
- The polesitter, William Byron, proved to be a contender for much of the race. The 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native drove his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the win in Stage One, going on to take the green-white checkered flag in the third position in Stage Two. This marked Byron’s 19th consecutive top-10 stage finish at Phoenix Raceway – a feat that ties Martin Truex Jr.’s record for the longest streak of top-10 stage finishes at a single track in NASCAR’s top division. Running in the top-five with potentially the last pit stop of the day on the horizon, crew chief Rudy Fugle made the call to pit under green when an untimely caution fell while the No. 24 Chevrolet was on pit road, with Byron having to take the wave around after going a lap down. Despite the bad luck, Byron made a powerhouse drive through the field during the closing laps – taking the checkered flag in the sixth position.
- It was an unfortunate ending to the Phoenix race weekend for the trio of Spire Motorsports Chevrolet’s. The organization put on a stellar performance on Saturday, with all three drivers earning a top-10 qualifying effort for today’s 312-lap event. Running in the top-10 during the beginning laps of Stage Two, Michael McDowell endured a flat right-side tire on his No. 71 Workforce Chevrolet. Running several laps down following damage repairs, the back luck continued with yet another right-rear tire going down on his Chevrolet with 28 laps to go in Stage Two. Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar’s days both ended in Stage Two after four-wide racing on the backstretch led to a multi-car accident.
Chevrolet’s all-time NASCAR Cup Series statistics at Phoenix Raceway:
Wins: 27
Poles: 22
Top-Fives: 126
Top-10s: 249
Chevrolet’s season statistics with four NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 1
Poles: 1
Top-Fives: 8
Top-10s: 18
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, March 16, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
You had brake shake going on throughout that last run. Describe that green-white-checkered restart and maybe what you could have done differently to get up in there and fight for the win.
“Yeah, I don’t know… I felt like I did an OK job to give myself the best opportunity. I was hoping to help Denny (Hamlin) down the back and then they would get racing, like they did, and then maybe they would make a bigger mistake in front of us and we could sneak by. It almost happened, but we just came up a little bit short. We still have a lot of work to do. William (Byron) seemed decent, but the rest of us (Hendrick Motorsports drivers) weren’t very good. We just have to keep working and try to make things a little bit easier.”
Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
Finished: 34th
What did you see from your perspective?
“Not much, really. I knew the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) was coming across my nose and I just tried to lift. It honestly just looked like a racing deal. I’m not sure that anyone did anything wrong. We were just racing four-wide and we all just ran out of room there on exit. I hate that it tore up two Spire Motorsports Chevy’s, but there’s a lot we can take from today and we’ll move onto Las Vegas (Motor Speedway).”
Haley on the option tires:
“I wish I would have been on the option tires the whole time and everyone else would have been on the primaries. They just make you feel like superman. I like the tire. I honestly feel like we should go to it everywhere. They make the cars drive a lot better. I don’t know if that’s what you want, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 8th
“We had an OK day with the No. 8 Zone/QuikTrip Chevy team. We were probably a 15th-place car on yellow’s and probably an eighth-place car on red’s. We never really got to see our reds play out; get a long run on them. So it’s hard to say with that, but we were able to make up some really good spots on restarts with them. That saved our day.”
What do you walk away with now four races in the books?
“I would say that the step that we made from last year to this year was a really good step. Another major step like that, we can be a contender for racing for the win. There was a big change in how our car drove and felt and the grip that it gave, but not enough of what I needed.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 6th
You really looked like you had a car that could contend. Rudy (Fugle) rolled the dice and it was probably all you could do against the No. 20 car, but it just didn’t turn out in your favor..
“Yeah, unfortunately that caution just came out right when we were on pit road. Here at Phoenix (Raceway), you can’t get away with losing a lap. It was just an unfortunate situation there. It was an aggressive call, and I thought that it was going to set us up for a shot. It was just crazy there at the end. We restarted 21st and got up into the top-10 pretty quickly. I feel like we probably used up a lot of tire on the reds to get the last few spots, so it was hard to get much more.
I’m happy with it. I feel like the No. 24 Z by HP Chevy team put together a good weekend. We learned a ton, and we got a solid finish, so that’s something to be proud of.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 27th
“Really unfortunate day for everybody at Spire Motorsports. We had three really fast cars and not a whole lot to show for it. Not the day we wanted, but really proud of the weekend and the effort. Really proud of the speed we brought. We had a flat tire on the No. 71 Workforce Chevy there; got in the wall, bent the toe link and had to work on it. It made for a long day, but we will rebound and get ready for Las Vegas (Motor Speedway).”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
Finished: 36th
Hocevar on the accident in Stage Two that ultimately ended his day early:
“They just kind of squeezed four-wide. They wrecked underneath me and that was the end of it. I was in a bad spot. It was tight racing, obviously. Our No. 77 Minor Docks Doors and More Chevy was really fast. We just got behind on a pit stop and then behind on the tire strategy. It would have been nice to see that cycle out because I think a lot of those guys burned up a set of reds that we were going to have in our back pocket.
It’s unfortunate, but our Spire Motorsports Chevy’s are fast and I’m sure they’ll be fast again.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
Finished: 31st
Van Gisbergen on the accident that ultimately ended his day in Stage Two:
“They were racing four-wide. I hoped over a wheel and there wasn’t much I could do. I tried to pull it up and got a bit loose. We were getting better and better as the race went on. I felt like the No. 88 WeatherTech Chevy was getting better, too. It’s a shame we’re still not out there learning.”
Van Gisbergen on the option tire:
“I really like the soft tire. They just give you so much more feel. It feels like they should probably be the primary tire, and they should make a softer one. The cars move around and you have so much pull going on, but yeah, it is what it is. On the yellow, we kind of struggled a little bit.”
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