Good and bad news for NASCAR teams entering Phoenix weekend

The NASCAR Cup Series takes on the Phoenix Raceway this Sunday for the running of the Shriners Children's 500. For some teams, this weekend's 312-lap event at the 1.0-mile track is one of those good news, bad news situations.

Take Joe Gibbs Racing for instance. Their driver, Christopher Bell, is on a hot streak as he's won the last two Cup Series races at Atlanta and CoTA, respectively. The driver of the #20 enters the fourth race of the 2025 campaign with momentum, which is good news. The bad news is that a driver hasn't won three straight NASCAR Cup races since Kyle Larson in 2021, and such a feat hasn't been done in the NextGen era. Therefore, the odds are stacked against Bell.

The other good news for JGR is that Bell won the Phoenix spring race last year. The bad news is that in last fall's Phoenix race, Bell was the only JGR driver to finish in the top 10. Other bad news is that Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54, has three finishes outside the top 20 in four starts at Phoenix. The good news? Gibbs' other finish was third, which came last year.

For Team Penske, the good news this weekend is they've won two of the six Phoenix races in the NextGen era. However, the bad news is none of them were in the spring race. Joey Logano won the fall event in 2022 and 2024, which won him the championship in both seasons. The good news is that Ryan Blaney has finished in the top two in four of the six NextGen Phoenix races. The bad news? All of them were second-place efforts, including the race he won the championship in 2023.

For Hendrick Motorsports, the good news is they had three of their four cars finish in the top 10 in the last Phoenix race. The bad news, however, is they only have one win at Phoenix in the NextGen era, with William Byron's victory in 2023. More bad news for HMS is that driver Chase Elliott only has one top-10 finish at Phoenix in the NextGen era. The good news, however, is that the driver of the #9 made an incredible comeback to finish fourth last Sunday at CoTA, so he's carrying momentum into the next NASCAR Cup Series race.

When does the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix start?

NASCAR Cup Series action from the Phoenix Raceway takes place this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The race can be watched on FOX or listened to on the Motor Racing Network.

The race is called the Shriners Children's 500. It is 312 laps around the 1.0-mile track. Christopher Bell is the defending winner of the race and has won the last two Cup races this season. Joey Logano, the defending Cup champion, won the latest Cup race at Phoenix last November.