NASCAR Cup Series

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET SS, and RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING, met with members of the media Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. The pairing discussed the use of E15 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the focus of this weekend’s Can-Am 500 and what the team’s performance and future may look like in 2017.

Kyle Larson topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 25.802 and a speed of 139.524 mph.

Coming to Phoenix, a track that's been Kevin Harvick's playground as of late, Joey Logano acknowledged that Harvick is very fast at Phoenix, "but he is also beatable" at Phoenix.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How are you preparing for the quest to make the ‘Championship 4’? “It all starts today, trying to get a good qualifying spot so we can get a good pit selection. That’s all we really concentrated on today was trying to run fast for two laps and we’ll see how it works out tonight.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What is your mindset going into this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway to get into the Championship 4? “You know, really not any different than any other weekend really. Our mindset when we show up is to always try to qualify the best we can on Friday and race the best we can on Sunday, so really no different this weekend. Just try to get a car that will run a fast lap today, hopefully get qualified good and work on our race setup that hopefully is fast and drives good.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 MONSTER ENERGY/HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. He discussed his chances of advancing to the Championship Four, racing against teammate Kevin Harvick, team owner Gene Haas’ participation as of late, and aero and tire changes for the series.

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, heads into the penultimate NASCAR Sprint Cup series race of the season firmly on the edge of making the Championship Four next weekend in Homestead. Logano spoke about what it will take and his mindset heading into the weekend.

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. He discussed his role driving the No. 88 Chevrolet SS, his future plans in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and other topics.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series all head to Phoenix International Raceway for a full weekend of competition. Please check below for the full schedule of events.

I like being nice. Sure, I can bitch with the best of them, but it is nice when one can say nice things about someone. For instance, I think NASCAR did the right thing by calling the race at Texas last week. Let me see, the race was already delayed by five hours and the skies really opened up with 40 to go. Damn right they should have wrapped things up when they did.