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The 2025 Shriners Children's 500 was the fourth race of the current NASCAR Cup Series season, and just like Atlanta and Austin, Christopher Bell emerged as the winner. He took the victory ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, and Hendrick Motorsports driver, Kyle Larson.
Bell became the first driver to take three back-to-back victories in the Next Gen car era. While Bell and JGR won big at the Phoenix Raceway, a few drivers had an unexpected and underwhelming outing at the recently concluded race on Sunday, March 9. In this article, we amassed five such drivers who lost big at Phoenix:
#5 Erik Jones
Erik Jones started his race in fifth place after a decent qualifying session on Saturday, March 8. However, his start was far from ideal, as he dropped down the order and finished Stage 1 in 13th position.
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Jones fell further down in Stage 2, finishing in 20th position. The Legacy Motor Club driver could only improve two places (18th) when he crossed the finish line and wrapped up his underwhelming outing at Phoenix.
#4 Michael McDowell
Erik Jones' former teammate, Michael McDowell, also had a day to forget. The Legacy Motor Club driver started his race in seventh position and immediately fell down the order. He finished Stage 1 in 26th position, and Stage 2 wasn't any better (30th)
In the end, McDowell's Phoenix Raceway journey ended after he blew his right rear tire and hit the wall at Turn 3 on Lap 290.
#3 Justin Haley
Following a decent qualifying on Saturday, Justin Haley started his race in eighth, only to fall behind the order. He finished Stage 1 in 21st place, but that was the end of his race, as a wreck on Lap 99 jeopardized his outing.
Ty Gibbs triggered the wreck involving seven drivers, including Haley, his teammate Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, and Shane van Gisbergen.
#2 Carson Hocevar
Carson Hocevar pulled off a brilliant qualifying on Saturday, starting Sunday's race from third place. He was the first driver on this list to keep his place within the top 10 in Stage 1 (seventh).
However, he was done for the day after he suffered a wreck triggered by Ty Gibbs on Lap 99. What could have been a promising drive for the Spire Motorsports man, he went home with nothing.
#1 Joey Logano
Joey Logano started the 2025 season as a defending champion, but his races have been far from champion-like. The Team Penske driver had three back-to-back underwhelming performances at Daytona, Atlanta, and Austin. Phoenix was no better.
The #22 driver started his race from second place behind pole-sitter William Byron. However, he dropped down the order soon after and finished Stage 1 in a disappointing 29th place. Despite this, Logano made a brilliant recovery and finished Stage 2 in second place behind eventual winner Christopher Bell, only to come home in 13th place.
