The NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series were featured at Arizona’s 1-mile Phoenix Raceway this past weekend. Martin Truex Jr. scored the victory in Sunday’s Instacart 500, breaking his 29-race winless streak. The Camping World Truck Series will return to action next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for XFINITY and NASCAR feeder series are also included below as well as details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, Mar 14, Instacart 500 – Phoenix Raceway – 312 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Sunday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Brad Keselowski (#2 Ford Mustang) P1 on the starting grid. Kyle Larson (#5 Chevrolet Camaro) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #11 Denny Hamlin, #20 Christopher Bess, #19 Martin Truex Jr., #9 Chase Elliott, #18 Kyle Busch, #12 Ryan Blaney, #22 Joey Logano and #24 William Byron, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 38 entries.
– Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Toyota Camry) scored his 28th victory in 554 NCS races. This is his 1st victory and 3rd top-10 finish in 2021, breaking a 29-race winless streak. This is his 1st victory and 13th top-10 finish in 31 races at Phoenix. Joey Logano (2nd) led a race-high 143 laps, posted his 14th top-10 finish in 25 Phoenix races and his 3rd top-10 finish in 2021. Denny Hamlin (3rd) earned his 19th top-10 finish in 32 races at Phoenix. Chase Briscoe (22nd) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Polesitter Brad Keselowski led 19 laps and finished in 4th place.
– NCS points leader: Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 39 points over Brad Keselowski.
TOP 16 – NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Denny Hamlin 0
2. Brad Keselowski 0
3. Joey Logano +3
4. Martin Truex Jr. +4
5. Kyle Larson -2
6. Chase Elliott -2
7. Kevin Harvick 0
8. Christopher Bell -3
9. William Byron +2
10. Kurt Busch 0
11. Michael McDowell -2
12. Austin Dillon 0
13. Ryan Blaney +2
14. Ryan Preece -1
15. Kyle Busch -1
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +1
– Next: Sun, Mar 21, Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 293 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, Mar 13, Call 811 Before You Dig 200 – Phoenix Raceway – 200 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Daniel Hemric (#18 Toyota Camry) P1 on the starting grid. Brandon Jones (#19 Toyota Camry) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #22 Austin Cindric, #16 AJ Allmendinger, #11 Justin Haley, #10 Jeb Burton, #20 Harrison Burton, #1 Michael Annett, #8 Josh Berry and #9 Noah Gragson, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: #77 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #31 Jordan Anderson and #03 Andy Lally.
– Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) scored his 10th victory in 105 NXS races. This is his 2nd victory and 5th top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 2nd victory and 6th top-10 finish in seven races at Phoenix. Ty Gibbs (2nd), who was making his 1st start at Phoenix, was the highest finishing ROTY contender. Brandon Brown (3rd) earned his 1st top-10 finish in five Phoenix races. Polesitter Daniel Hemric led 44 laps. completed all 200 laps and finished in 23rd place.
– NXS points leader: Austin Cindric by 47 points over Daniel Hemric.
TOP 12 – NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Austin Cindric 0
2. Daniel Hemric 0
3. Jeb Burton +1
4. AJ Allmendinger +2
5. Harrison Burton +3
6. Brandon Jones -3
7. Myatt Snider 0
8. Justin Haley -3
9. Brandon Brown +1
10. Jeremy Clements -1
11. Justin Allgaier +4
12. Riley Herbst +7
– Next: NXS Sat, Mar 20, EchoPark 250 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 200 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
– NTS points leader: John Hunter Nemechek by 14 points over Ben Rhodes.
TOP 10 – NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. John Hunter Nemechek +1
2. Ben Rhodes -1
3. Sheldon Creed 0
4. Matt Crafton +1
5. Chandler Smith -1
6. Stewart Friesen +10
7. Grant Enfinger +7
8. Todd Gilliland +3
9. Johnny Sauter 0
10. Carson Hocevar -4
Next: Sat, Mar 20, Vet Tix/Camping World 200 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 130 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs ** – Points Leader: Corey Heim
Next: Sat, Apr 24, General Tire 200 – Talladega Superspeedway – 76 laps.
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Feb 27, Pensacola 200 – Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps.
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Sat, May 8, Music City 200 – Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 200 laps.
ARCA Menards West:
Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs ** – Points Leader: Ty Gibbs
Next: Sat, Jun 5, General Tire 125 – Sonoma Raceway – 50 laps.
Whelen Modified Tour:
Season opener: Thu. Apr 8, Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 – Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 23, TBA – Sunset Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 22, TBA – Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas
* Combo race between ARCA Menards and ARCA Menards West
** Qualifying rained out, pole set by fasted in lone practice
Track Details
Atlanta Motor Speedway – 1.54-mile oval – Hampton, Georgia
Daytona Int’l Speedway – 2.5-mile tri-oval – Daytona Beach, Florida
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 0.596-mile oval – Nashville, Tennessee
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Sonoma Raceway – 2.520-mile, 12-turn road course – Sonoma, California
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario
Super Ovalo Chiapas – 0.75-mile tri-oval – Tuxtla Gutierrez
Talladega Superspeedway – 2.66-mile tri-oval – Talladega, Alabama