A.J. Allmendinger May Have A Challenge On Sunday

While A.J. Allmendinger looked pretty good in practice over the weekend, the Kaulig Racing driver dropped to 22nd in qualifying. Despite seeing the No. 16 Chevy as high as 12th in practice, the lap interval times dropped by 0.65 seconds. That represents a very significant amount of time. The prevailing thought is the Chevy could […]

Ryan Preece May Struggle At Phoenix

Ryan Preece begins Sunday's race on the mile-long track from the 25th position. Preece and his Stewart-Haas Racing car could not maintain enough speed coming out. He was not the only one as every SHR qualified 15th or worse. That included Kevin Harvick who has finished 19 straight occasions in the top ten. The short-track […]

Erik Jones Looking For Top-10 Finish At Phoenix

Erik Jones begins on Sunday from the 10th position at Phoenix. The Legacy Motor Club driver narrowly got in the final round of qualifying. His No. 43 Chevy enjoyed all four of its top-10 runs with the Joe Gibbs Racing team. However, this is Jones' best start for his second team. Also, last fall, Jones […]

Daniel Suarez Just Misses Out On Top 10 Saturday

Daniel Suarez nearly made the final round of qualifying but settled for 11th place. The Trackhouse Racing driver and his No. 99 Chevy carry some intriguing potential for Sunday. The Mexican racer did have two Spring top-ten results in 2017 and 2018. Last March, he rose up from 23rd to end up ninth (+14 place […]

Bubba Wallace Qualifies A Career-Best 19th At Phoenix

Bubba Wallace had never started in the top 20 at Phoenix. On Saturday, Wallace still finished the worst out of the Toyota cars. However, the 19th place start represents some solid progress for the 23XI Racing driver. Wallace has only finished on the lead lap three times in his career on the mile-long track. The […]

Ty Gibbs Begins 14th For Joe Gibbs Racing On Sunday

Ty Gibbs qualified a respectable 14th for Joe Gibbs Racing on Sunday afternoon. Gibbs did sweep the pole and victory for the Xfinity race at Phoenix last Fall. It would be nice to see the No. 54 Toyota slide upward on Sunday. There are two more Toyota's in front of him (Tyler Reddick and Martin […]

Austin Dillon Begins Way Back In 30th Sunday

Austin Dillon thought he might have a faster car at Phoenix for Sunday. That was not the case as Dillon's No. 3 Chevy begins in 30th place. The Richard Childress Racing driver could not the same speed out of corners as Kyle Busch (who ended up 8th in qualifying). Dillon has two top-ten results on […]

Alex Bowman Settles Into Middle Of Pack At Phoenix

Alex Bowman and his Hendrick Motorsports car will start in 18th on Sunday at Phoenix. He will be right next to Josh Berry. Bowman and his No. 48 Chevy could not go fast enough to get into the final round of qualifying on Saturday. Normally, Bowman is just OK on these type of shorter tracks. […]

Corey LaJoie Looks To Move Up Sunday At Phoenix

Corey LaJoie starts 28th at Phoenix on Sunday for Spire Motorsports. LaJoie has an average finish of 16.7 in three races this season in the No. 7 Chevy. Can the driver replicate what he pulled off last Fall? LaJoie placed nine spots higher at the season ending event at Phoenix (started 27th, finished 18th). Typically, […]

Zane Smith Begins 34th At Phoenix On Sunday

Zane Smith hopped into the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports car for this weekend's race at Phoenix. Predictably, he begins Sunday 34th for the United Rentals Work United 500 from Phoenix Raceway. Smith's only NASCAR Cup race was at Gateway last year. He began 32nd and survived his way up to 17th. Could Smith do […]

Cody Ware Begins Last On Sunday

Cody Ware had issues throughout practice and qualifying on Saturday. The Rick Ware Racing driver begins the United Rentals Work United 500 in 36th place. Ware and his No. 51 Ford was more than a full second off the pace of Kyle Larson. Worse, only B.J. McLeod ended up worse in practice on Friday. The […]

B.J. McLeod Begins Sunday From 33rd Position

B.J. McLeod starts from near the back again on Sunday for Live Fast Motorsports. McLeod qualified more than 0.55 seconds off from the pole of Kyle Larson. He could advance past the first round again and will start Sunday 33rd. McLeod's career best finish on the mile-long track was 27th in 2021. All four qualifying […]

Brad Keselowski Qualifies Fourth At Phoenix

Brad Keselowski held the Ford flag proudly in qualifying on Saturday. The RFK Racing driver starts the United Rentals Work United 500 fourth on Sunday. Keselowski's No. 6 Ford was a mere tenth of a second off from Kyle Larson's pole qualifying time (27.642 seconds). With the debut of this new short-track package, it will […]

Josh Berry Qualifies 17th For Phoenix On Sunday

Josh Berry got a little more used to the No. 9 Chase Elliott car from Hendrick Motorsports this week. As a result, Berry begins 17th on Sunday. He will be right next to Alex Bowman, also from Hendrick. Berry only tested at five and ten-lap intervals with a slow down of about a tenth of […]

Justin Thomas Consistent As The Players Championship Looms

Justin Thomas revisits his second greatest PGA triumph this weekend at TPC Sawgrass. The American golfer won the title two years ago by a stroke over Lee Westwood. Since then, Thomas went on to win the PGA Championship. 2023 has seen the golfer finish in the top 25 in all five events. He just needs […]

Tom Kim Tries To Find Putter At TPC Sawgrass

Tom Kim finished in the top six at The American Express. Since then, the South Korean golfer has shot 11 out of 12 rounds at 70 or worse. Things looked promising going into the weekend last week then a 76 happened. Kim never truly recovered until late in the final round. His putting has fallen […]

Cameron Young Feeling Ready For TPC Sawgrass

Cameron Young fired a 67 on Thursday last week at the Arnold Palmer. There were quite a few experts who believed he could win the tournament. The American golfer did not exactly deliver but still netted a top-ten result. Young has not missed the cut in seven appearances this season. While the final three rounds […]

Corey Connors Tries To Keep Rolling At TPC Sawgrass

Corey Connors shook off two bad tournaments in a row to nearly end up in the top-20 last weekend. The Canadian golfer finished tied for 21st despite shooting 75 and 72 over the final two rounds. Part of that is because of putting. Yes, Connors ranks 145th on tour losing 0.26 strokes compared to the […]

Russell Henley Desperate For A Boost At TPC Sawgrass

Russell Henley managed to make the cut at the Arnold Palmer last week. However, a slew of missed putts and errant shots dropped him to a tie for 53rd at +2. Seven of his previous eight rounds have ended in the 70's also. The American golfer heads to The Players Championship needing to gain some […]

Billy Horschel May Yo-Yo At The Players Championship

Billy Horschel headed into 2023 with three top-10 results in his final four events. Since then, Horschel has played up-and-down golf. In his last six tournaments, the American golfer has missed the cut three times. Off the tee, Horschel has lost 0.472 strokes, which ranks 185th on the tour. Even worse, his driving distance has […]

Christopher Bell Rounds Out Top Five At Las Vegas

Christopher Bell expected to contend at Las Vegas and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver did just that. The No. 20 Toyota rode near the front up with Bubba Wallace. That got him into the overtime scramble. However, Bell never could get to the Hendrick cars as he never got past Wallace. In the end, Bell's […]

Bubba Wallace Finishes Fourth At Las Vegas Sunday

Bubba Wallace figured he could have a good race car for Las Vegas. Kurt Busch mentioned this as such last year. The 23XI Racing driver rode that parlay to a fourth-place finish on Sunday. While Wallace and his No. 23 car never led a lap, he was near the front through most of the final […]

Alex Bowman Completes Hendrick Motorsports Podium Sunday

Alex Bowman was the forgotten Hendrick Motorsports driver on Sunday. Bowman started 11th, but moved his way up the field during the final stage of the Pennzoil 400. However, he could not get past his two teammates. Bowman finished third behind Kyle Larson and winner, William Byron, by 0.766 seconds. The No. 48 car did […]

Kyle Larson Settles For Second After Unexpected Caution

Kyle Larson appeared poised to win again at Las Vegas on Sunday. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver was up by more than two seconds on the field. Then, lap 267 saw the caution come out. From there, Larson got beat out of the pits by William Byron. The No. 5 never could catch up to […]

William Byron And His Pit Key To Win At Las Vegas

William Byron and his pit crew delivered when it mattered most. The Hendrick Motorsports driver got the perfect pit stop on Sunday. That came from a lap 267 incident involving Aric Almirola. Byron was able to inch out of the pits past teammate Kyle Larson. From there, Byron surged past Martin Truex Jr. in the […]

Michael McDowell May Slip A Few Spots At Vegas

Michael McDowell may continue his pattern of starting in the middle of the pack then sliding back on Sunday. The Front Row Motorsports driver lost about four or five spots in each race on the Las Vegas track in 2022. He would hold out to get closer to the front and then fade later in […]

Erik Jones Looking For Good Fortune At Las Vegas

Erik Jones has enjoyed hit-or-miss results at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the past two seasons. The Legacy Motor Club Chevy qualified 22nd on Saturday. Jones and his No. 43 car have an eighth- and 10th-place finish. The eighth-place showing in the fall was the third time Jones finished that high on the 1.5-mile intermediate track. […]

William Byron Likes Spring In Las Vegas

William Byron performs very well in Las Vegas, especially in the Spring. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver has consecutive top ten results (5th last year). He was second after Stage 1 and fourth after Stage 2. Byron did not fall off that much at any point. The No. 24 Chevy qualified second on Saturday just […]

Kevin Harvick May Lurk Around Top Ten Sunday

Kevin Harvick has a way of sticking around the top ten positions at Las Vegas. Over the past eight races, the Stewart-Haas driver has finished in the top twelve seven times. That includes seven instances where Harvick was eighth or better after Stage 2. The No. 4 Ford was seventh in practice but qualified 14th. […]

Ryan Blaney Again Looking For Win In Las Vegas

Ryan Blaney was strong like Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in practice and qualifying. Blaney will start third on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 12 Ford turned in 29.2 and 29.3 second laps in practice (second overall) then did about the same in qualifying. Blaney is getting closer as far as speed […]