NASCAR Cup Series

Three races into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team roll into Phoenix International Raceway in sixth place overall, seemingly on the cusp of victory.

PACING THE FIELD: This weekend the field will be looking at a gold Bowtie as they head toward taking the green flag at Phoenix International Raceway. A silver Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will bring the field to the start of the 312-lap/312-mile event around the 1-mile oval in the desert. This will mark the third time in 2017 the silver Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will serve as the pace car in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Vegas Recap: Denny Hamlin solidified a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, battling a loose #11 FedEx Office Toyota throughout the duration of the 400-mile event to earn his sixth top-10 finish at the 1.5-mile track.

Martin Truex Jr. has scored four of his eight career NASCAR Cup Series wins in the last 15 races (Darlington, Chicago, Dover, Las Vegas). The other four victories came in his previous 393 races.

Erik Jones and Furniture Row Racing’s No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Toyota team look to add to his already impressive track record at Phoenix International Raceway in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500.

The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, the Checker 400, was run at Phoenix Raceway in November 1988. Alan Kulwicki, in his third full-time season, captured his first career Cup win after Ricky Rudd suffered an engine failure, giving the lead to Kulwicki. However, there was one more “first” to come.

Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex dominated at Las Vegas, capturing the first two stages and passing Brad Keselowski’s slowing Ford with two laps to go. Truex scored the maximum 60 points, and is fourth in the points standings, five out of first.

Phoenix is a flat track, but the corners are different," Allmendinger said. "Turns 1 and 2 are definitely different than when you go through 3 and 4. It’s a tough racetrack that's for sure. "We don’t go to any other place like it."

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series History at Phoenix Raceway ... Team owner Richard Childress has five victories at Phoenix Raceway, ranking him third on the all-time car owner victories list at the Avondale, Ariz. facility.

Bayne will make his sixth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend.