![]() ![]() If Toyota hopes to climb back into top status at Phoenix Raceway, their hopes will primarily ride with Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin. Chastain's win gave Chevrolet the season-sweep at Phoenix and third victory for that manufacturer in the last five events at the Arizona oval. That race and its data will be very fresh and relevant to this week's Shriners Children's 500k. Considering that we're just four, short months removed from that race, we have to look very closely at what happened in the Season Finale 500. That finish would be good enough to crown Blaney last season's NASCAR Cup Series champion. Ryan Blaney would attempt to reel him in during the closing laps, but would finish runner-up instead. 1 Chevrolet would upstage the four championship contenders that day, and comfortably march into victory lane. Ross Chastain would put on a dominant performance and lead 157 of the 312 laps that November afternoon. This is the first race at the Phoenix oval since last November when NASCAR's top division rolled into the Arizona desert to crown last season's champion. The loop stats in the table below cover the last 19 years or 38 races at Phoenix Raceway. The historical trends at the Phoenix oval are as important as anywhere in the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. The recent loop statistics at Phoenix Raceway will be the most important data we will examine this week. At this point we're tracking trends, but the change of racing style this week demands that we visit the historical numbers with some emphasis. This style of racing is a big departure from the standard ovals that we've spent the first three weeks of the season competing on. Since we are making our first stop of the season in the Arizona desert this week, we can only really look back on past statistics for Phoenix Raceway. This is a trend that will likely continue this Sunday. The driver who has led the most laps at this oval has won seven of the last 10 Phoenix races. ![]() This race is typically marked by dominant performances, and very rarely by late momentum swings that catapult drivers into victory lane. As we have witnessed in the last several years, it's often the driver who brings the fastest car to the Arizona desert that walks away with the trophy. Phoenix boasts the high speeds that borders on intermediate ovals with the close confines of short track racing as well. This oval is vastly different than Daytona, Atlanta and Las Vegas. ![]() The straights are nearly flat at a lowly three degrees, and very fast as they carry off into the sweeping corners. The track at Avondale, Arizona is an irregular "D" shaped oval with very low, progressive banking in the corners of eight to 11 degrees. This week NASCAR's top racing series stops at one of the more unique tracks on the circuit, Phoenix Raceway. We stay out west this weekend and head from Nevada to Arizona to complete the west coast swing.
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