As the Cup Series begins its west coast swing at the start of the season, it started at the first short track of the schedule, Phoenix Raceway. 

What was once the championship finale racetrack gave us its best race in recent memory, with pretty much everything you could ask for in a NASCAR race from strategy calls to crashes. Time to dig into four things that stood out from a scorching Phoenix.6

Desert Heat

With the track temperatures reaching the high 80s, it was an absolute heater in the southeast corner of Phoenix, and the cars felt every single bit of it. 

Every team’s various sets of tires seemed to face the brunt of the problem, with multiple teams facing blown tire issues as the race went from stage two to stage three. Kyle Busch found himself to be the first victim. 

The chaos was a welcome addition to a race that already saw plenty of passing and longer green flag runs that allowed strategy, in the first stage at least. Drivers clearly had a hard time dealing with the tire fall off as a whole. 

When the drivers have their hands full with a hard to tame car, it results in days like today. I’ll have a hard to handle battle like we saw any Sunday. 

Points, points, points

While Tyler Reddick couldn’t secure his fourth win in a row, he came darn close and still capitalized on a solid points day. He currently holds a 60 point lead over Ryan Blaney and can suffer a few mulligans, although at this rate who knows when the 45 team will get hit with them. 

Point being, the format change has kept fans interested in the sport and keeps us talking about the season standings. Now, the points aren’t THAT much different than how it was before, however the prospect of “win and you’re in” is gone and that alone is exciting. 

It’ll be fascinating to see how the points layout operates as we get into the summer swing when making the cutline for the chase gets to be more and more of a priority. Now, drivers are hunting for stage points even more and it’s resulting in harder driving and less give and take, which is always a plus for the sport. 

That leads us to our next takeaway down under that shows us just how important points are…

Shane Van Gisbergen is ELITE

As the header says, SVG is absolutely in the upper tier of racecar drivers on Earth, and this is a fact that will resonate with more of the masses once he secures his first oval win. Because to put it plainly; It’s happening sooner rather than later. His 11th place finish at Phoenix after spinning mid race yet again keeps the Kiwi 5th in points after four races.

Three road course races remain on the schedule after this, and SVG is still the favorite for all of them. I especially have him winning the San Diego street course, due to it being a brand new layout for everyone involved. Many IndyCar drivers have mentioned that due to the lack of prospective error, street courses provide drivers with easier laps around traditional road courses, and SVG has the most street course experience of them all. Besides, who can forget his inaugural race win in Chicago that lines up with that logic. 

At this rate, it may not be a shock to find SVG in the Chase, but let’s allow the veteran driver to secure that first win before we go down that avenue. Things are looking up at ‘The House’ regardless. 

Phoenix, where drivers are reborn

Bubba Wallace qualified 28th on the grid for Sunday. It was a rough outing that seemingly made Wallace’s chances at a great finish impossible, this was pointed out by Kevin Harvick as the cars made their way onto the track. 

Wallace not only made his way to the front by the end of stage one, he also suffered a speeding penalty on pit exit that forced him to fight his way back up again. The result? A fantastic 6th place finish, and he wasn’t the only example. 

The race’s eventual winner, Ryan Blaney, suffered two loose wheels in the race and went on to win. Maybe it was the aforementioned hot track mixed with the horsepower increase, but almost the entire top 10 faced an issue in the race and contributed to the track record 12 cautions on the day. 

If this is what we can expect from Phoenix moving forward, this could easily be a “reborn” track on the schedule that drivers and fans look forward to. I’m excited to see how this horsepower change creates new dynamics on the rest of the schedule, and if it was as big of a culprit as I assume.

Well after four races, I can say that I have never been as invested and interested as I am now, and that seems to be a common sentiment across the fan base. I think many were expecting this weekend to be the first “dud’ of the season, but it proved to be the exact opposite. With known bangers of tracks like Vegas and Darlington on the horizon, the future is looking bright for NASCAR.