Winners: Christopher Bell (Cup); Aric Almirola (Xfinity); plus Brent Crews (ARCA West)
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| Graphic by Rolando Ramirez - RTR Graphics |
NASCAR Cup
Christopher Bell Gets Third Consecutive #Win
Christopher Bell prevailed in a dramatic side-by-side finish with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin – the second-closest finish in Phoenix Raceway history – to earn Bell his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory this season, a record in the sport’s Next Gen Car era.
Bell’s No. 20 JGR Toyota went high alongside Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota as the two cars dueled it out in the final two corners of a two-lap shootout on the one-mile speedway. The 30-year-old Oklahoman claimed the historic win by a mere 0.049 seconds, marking his second straight victory in this spring race at Phoenix.
“How about that one, race fans? Oh my gosh!” a jubilant Bell shouted to the Phoenix crowd after collecting the winner’s checkered flag at the start-finish line.
“Whenever you’re sitting there dreaming it up, that’s about as ugly as it gets. You put the red [option] tires on, and you’re like, all right, what I don’t want to happen is go 20, 30 laps, get a yellow. That happened. Then we went 10 more laps, had another yellow.
“It was all about who could get clear on the restart. Neither of us could. We were racing really hard coming to the line. JGR ran 1-2 — how about that?”
Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Cup Series garage, confirming Christopher Bell as the winner.
Bell now heads to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas high banks next week, hoping to match a milestone set by NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who is the only driver to win four of a season’s first five races, doing so in 1992.
No better way to celebrate back-to-back than this 🍾#ShrinersChildrens500 pic.twitter.com/vJNbgRbDFZ
— Phoenix Raceway (@phoenixraceway) March 10, 2025
Pole: William Byron
Click Here for Race Results
Next Race: The Cup Series will return on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 3:30 pm ET for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Xfinity
Aric Almirola Wins in Overtime Thriller
Aric Almirola made a dramatic last-lap pass in overtime to claim the win in Saturday’s GOVX 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway, making door-to-door contact with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in the final two turns. The 0.045-second margin of victory was the second-closest finish in the track’s history.
Almirola led 25 laps on the afternoon, but his last-lap move to the checkered flag was the only one he led in the final 50 laps of the 208-lap event. His No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota emerged from a four-wide battle for the lead on the final restart with two laps remaining, then finally overtook Bowman less than 200 feet from the finish line.
“I just knew I needed to get from there to here first,” Almirola said, standing by his car at the start-finish line. “I knew I was going to use him up a little bit, but was trying to win the race. I feel like it was warranted. I didn’t feel like I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up, and it was a drag race to the start-finish line.”
WHAT. A. FINISH!! pic.twitter.com/T9HrPc20Xn
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 9, 2025
Pole: Alex Bowman
Click Here for Race Results
Next Race: The Xfinity Series will return on Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 4:30 pm ET for the The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Trucks
NASCAR CRAFTMAN Truck Series – Off-Track this Weekend
Only one week until the #Ecosave200! Still need tickets? ⬇️
— Las Vegas Motor Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway) March 7, 2025
🎟️ : https://t.co/OfoRaLrxqF pic.twitter.com/Kv8hvlX968
Next Race: The Truck Series will return on Friday, March 14, 2025 at 9:00 pm ET for the Ecosave 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
ARCA
Last-Lap Heroics Propel Brent Crews to His First ARCA Menards Series Pavement Win
Coming to the white flag in Friday’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, it appeared Brent Crews would settle for a strong-but-disappointing second in his first outing with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Instead, Crews found himself celebrating his first pavement victory in the ARCA Menards Series. A second attempt at a one-lap shootout provided Crews an opportunity to chase down the dominant driver of the night in Brenden Queen, who he edged to the finish line after muscling his rival out of the way in Turn 3.
Long familiar with the efficiency Queen has displayed at short tracks in the southeast, Crews knew a perfect restart was imperative to overtake him on the final lap. Besting Queen on the ARCA Menards Series platform was something Crews took pride in as he celebrated his victory.
“I raced Brenden [Queen] the whole year last year,” Crews said. “We raced him for CARS Tour wins, and then coming here to the ARCA Menards Series at a track like Phoenix to race for the win was really special. A great job to [Pinnacle Racing Group]. They had a winning car today, so I’m grateful for the caution at the end.”
What a race! 😤
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) March 8, 2025
👀 Recap of last night's #GeneralTire150 at @phoenixraceway! pic.twitter.com/uhwnjmPNzF
Pole: Brent Crews (Practice and Qualifying Canceled Due to Weather)
Click Here for Race Results
Next Race: The ARCA Series West will return on Saturday, April 5, 2025 for the an event on the 0.375-mile paved oval at Tucson Speedway.
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