Parity produces 1st-time win
Briscoe pulls away at Phoenix as Next Gen delivers on promise
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Chase Briscoe raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory, executing two great restarts over the final 20 laps to pull away from Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
It was an intense late battle between three drivers who had never won in the Cup Series. It’s more evidence of the parity across the series in the Next Gen cars, with four drivers winning the first four races this season.
Chastain and Reddick — both driving Chevrolets — made things interesting but Briscoe’s Ford was simply too strong. On the final restart with four laps left, the 27-yearold Briscoe started on the inside, dipped low on the dogleg apron, and was able to hold off the rest of the field.
Ryan Blaney started on the pole and dominated the first half of the race, winning the second stage after leading 138 of the first 185 laps. He settled for fourth.
Kyle Larson won the series championship last year after a fall victory at Phoenix, but engine trouble ended his day early. He finished 34th. It was the end of a frustrating day for Larson, who qualified seventh but had to move to the rear of the starting grid because of unapproved steering wheel changes.
Harrison Burton (unapproved adjustments) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (engine) also started from the back.
Busch takes plunge
One of the hot topics before the race was how much drivers would use the 110-foot wide apron on Phoenix Raceway’s dogleg turn.
Most said they would wait to see how others fared with the Next Gen car.
The waiting didn’t take long: Kyle Busch plunged down onto the apron on the opening few laps, picking up some spots in the process.
From that point forward, it was business as usual with several cars on the apron, particularly on restarts.
Harvick top 10, again
Veteran Kevin Harvick — who has won nine times in Phoenix — couldn’t find victory lane Sunday. But he did finish in sixth place, which was his 18th straight top 10 at the track.
That tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most top 10s in a row at one track.
Odds, ends
There was a planned competition caution
at Lap 25, which was about halfway through the first stage. Hamlin, Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell were all penalized for speeding on pit road during the caution . ... William Byron won stage one, which was 60 laps. It was his ninth career stage win . ... Martin Truex Jr., who won last season’s Phoenix spring race, finished 35th after a flat tire caused him to smack the wall in Turn 2 . ... The final restart in each of the four Cup races this season has come with four or fewer laps remaining . ... Briscoe is the Cup Series’ 200th winner.
Up next
Now that the annual three-week West Coast swing is over, the series moves back across the country to Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend.
Xfinity Series
Noah Gragson shook off some frustrating finishes over the past few weeks to race to his first victory of the season Saturday in a dominant performance in the Xfinity Series.
Gragson passed Brandon Jones with 14 laps left and pulled away for his sixth career Xfinity victory. The 23-year-old has had a fast car all year, finishing third at Daytona and second at both Fontana and Las Vegas before breaking through for the victory.
“This team’s been on a roll so far this year,” Gragson said. “All top-three finishes in the first four races. I can’t thank everyone enough for their hard work and we’ll try to keep it going.”
There wasn’t much drama in this race with Gragson running far up front for the clean win. He led 114 of the 200 laps and his JR Motorsports Chevrolet was obviously
the fastest car in the field. The only time he trailed during the last half of the race was when he had to make a green-flag pit stop with 32 laps to go.
Jones had easily his best race of the season by finishing second. Josh Berry was third, Trevor Bayne was fourth and John Hunter Nemechek finished fifth.
“This is exactly what the 19 team needed to turn the season around,” Jones said.
Gragson celebrated his victory with a burnout in front of pit road, shredding his back tires in the process. He and his team continued the celebration by warming their hands over a hunk of burning tire on the track.
Ty Gibbs — who won last week in Las Vegas — started in Row 2 but was shuffled to the back of the field after spinning out. He rallied to finish sixth.