AVONDALE, Ariz. — As he embarks on the fourth race of his farewell NASCAR Cup Series season, Kevin Harvick heads to Phoenix Raceway where he’s won more NASCAR races than any other driver.
Harvick has won nine times at the one-mile race track, which is four more times than his second best track — Michigan Int’l Speedway — where he’s collected five victories.
Harvick heads into this weekend’s event having scored 19 consecutive top-10 finishes at Phoenix.
Harvick also has more experience at Phoenix thanks to having raced in NASCAR Southwest Tour and ARCA West events at the track early in his career.
“We’ve probably dominated Phoenix because we spent so much time there learning and tearing stuff up and doing the things you’re not supposed to do at the race track,” Harvick said. “But flat tracks, in general, have always been pretty good for us, just because of the fact that I grew up on so many flat tracks. I’ve spent a lot of time at Phoenix. I know the configuration has changed over the years, but it’s a big part of why the flat-track results have been so good throughout the years because it’s a race track that I spent a lot of time on growing up in the early part of my career.
“It’s a race track that we put a lot of emphasis on throughout the years because of the fact that we felt like some of our best race tracks were the flat tracks, and Phoenix was one of those.”
• Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the sanctioning body will evaluate the waiver filed by Hendrick Motorsports that would allow injured driver Chase Elliott to participate in the playoffs should he qualify.
“I wouldn’t see any reason that he wouldn’t be granted a waiver, but we’ll go through that process and make sure we’re checking all the boxes,” Sawyer said.
Elliott broke his leg in a March 3 snowboarding accident in Colorado.
Daniel Suarez on track at Daytona. (HHP/Chris Owens)
•Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez are the only drivers to finish in the top 10 in all three Cup Series races this season. Bowman and Christopher Bell are the only drivers with a pair of top-five efforts through three events.
•NASCAR Hall of Famer Alan Kulwicki won the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6, 1988.
•Martin Truex Jr. is scheduled to make his 400th Cup Series start in a Toyota at Phoenix. It will be his 625th overall Cup Series start.
•Ross Chastain’s surprising last-lap thrash at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway will forever be part of the .526-mile track’s history.
Chastain returned to the track this week and climbed aboard a forklift to help remove part of the SAFER barrier in turns three and four that he rode into the playoffs with his “Hail Melon” romp through traffic.
The removed portion of the wall will be preserved to commemorate Chastain’s fan-thrilling ride into the championship four.
•Trackhouse Racing looks strong early, with Chastain and Suarez both in the top five in the standings after three races.
Heading to Phoenix, Chastain leads the Cup Series standings by a mere three points over second place Bowman and 21 points up on third place Harvick. Suarez ranks fourth, only 25 points back from Chastain in the series lead.
Chastain finished second and third in two races at Phoenix last season.
• Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs continues to lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings following the third race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 53 points, up 18 points over Legacy Motor Club’s Noah Gragson with 35.
Both rookies will be making their NASCAR Cup Series career track debuts this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. However, both have won Xfinity Series races at the track.
•Thirty-three drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Arizona. Of the 33 Arizona drivers, only Bowman and Michael McDowell have won a NASCAR national series race.
•This weekend, fans will find Front Row Motorsport’s driver Todd Gilliland piloting the No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing, while NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith takes the wheel of the FRM No. 38 Ford.
Gilliland is ranked 27th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings following Las Vegas. The 22-year-old driver has posted a best finish of 17th this season at Auto Club Speedway.
Byron does a celebratory burnout after winning in Las Vegas. (HHP/Tom Copeland)
Smith, who runs full time in the Truck Series, will be making his second series start of the season this weekend at Phoenix. He finished 13th in the Daytona 500.
•Chevrolets (Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch and William Byron) have won all three NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
During NASCAR’s modern era (1972-2023), a manufacturer has only swept a season’s first three races five times and Chevrolet drivers are responsible for four of them — Chevrolet (1995, 2001, 2010, 2023) and Ford (1992).
A manufacturer has only swept the first four races of a NASCAR Cup Series season in the modern era three times – Chevrolet (1995, 2001) and Ford (1992).
The record for the most consecutive wins by a manufacturer to start at NASCAR Cup Series season in the modern era is nine straight victories by Ford during the 1992 season.
•He may not be driving, but Kurt Busch continues to be in the spotlight. Busch was among a group of talented drivers selected for induction to the West Coast Motorsports Hall of Fame. Busch is also serving as grand marshal for this week’s American Flat Track season opener at Daytona.
Keyword: NASCAR Notes: Harvick’s Phoenix Record, Trackhouse’s Hot Start