The Cup Series gets the two race “west coast swing” started with a trip to the desert and Phoenix Raceway for the Shriner’s Children’s 500.

Goodyear has brought the option tire to Phoenix and the crews have a softer and harder tires.  The teams get one set of each for practice – the yellow sidewalls are the hard time and the red sidewalls are the softer option tire.

The drivers get a full 45 minute practice session.

During the inspection process on Friday, the Spire Motorsports number 71 car driven by Michael McDowell failed the inspection process twice.  As a result, his car chief has been ejected from the track for the weekend and will not be allowed to choose his own pit stall.

Today is International Women’s Day;  IMSA, ARCA, INDY,  Champ, and Xfinity Series racer Katherine Legge will be a part of the race this weekend.  This is her first time in a Cup car.

Thirty-seven teams brought cars to the track and all of them will make it in the race.

After making three practice laps, Chase Briscoe brings his car down pit road with reports of something wrong in the left front of the car.

While they have hard and soft tires, the drivers must use the harder tire for qualifying.  There is only one round of qualifying.  The teams will have two sets of the softer option tires for the race and may use them whenever they like including the start of the race.

Riley Herbst is reporting some power steering issues.  Power steering appears to be the big gremlin in the racing paddock this season with a number of teams having issues so far.

Carson Hocevar took the lead early in practice and held on to top the leaderboard with a time of 27.163 seconds.

NASCAR has altered the pit out line and extended it 80 feet to 102 from the end of pit box number one; previously it was only 27 feet.

The first driver on the track to make a qualifying run is Katherine Legge who posted a time of 28.060 seconds around the one mile track.

Making his Phoenix Cup debut, Riley Herbst has been very consistent over the first three races, finishing in 17th.

The only driver to break the 27 second mark, William Byron posted a time of 26.930 seconds to put his number 24 car on the pole.  Joey Logano will start on the front row alongside Byron.

The starting lineup for the Shriner’s Children’s 500:
William Byron
Joey Logano
Carson Hocevar
Josh Berry
Erik Jones
Chase Elliott
Michael McDowell
Justin Haley
Tyler Reddick
Denny Hamlin
Christopher Bell
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
Kyle Busch
AJ Allmendinger
Kyle Larson
Riley Herbst
Bubba Wallace
Brad Keselowski
Austin Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Cole Custer
Ross Chastain
Ty Dillon
Zane Smith
Todd Gilliland
Ryan Preece
Shane van Gisbergen
Chase Briscoe
Daniel Suarez
Alex Bowman
Noah Gragson
Ty Gibbs
Cody Ware
John Hunter Nemechek
Katherine Legge

AJ Allmendinger is making career start 450 today!

Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell will start the race from the back of the field.

Stage one is 60 laps, stage two is 125 laps, and stage three is 127 laps for a total of 312 laps around the one mile track.

Each team has six sets of hard compound tires and two sets of softer compound tires.

William Byron brings he field down for the green flag start of the race with Joey Logano alongside.  Drivers spread out three and four wide across the track with Josey Logano and William Byron in a battle for the lead.

Joey Logano leads laps one.

Lap two, William Bryon takes the lead.

Lap three the top five are William Byron, Joey Logano, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, and Erik Jones.

Lap four the first caution flag of the race comes out when Katherine Legge spins out in a single car incident.  She reported that she was very tight.

Already at the back of the field, Katherine Legge was charged with coming down pit road too soon.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 10 with Joey Logano alongside.  Byron and Logano go side by side.

The caution flag comes out on lap 10 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr spins out after a three wide battle between Cole Custer, Noah Gragson, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Custer also spins out after the contact.

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart from the inside lane on lap 14.  Logano edges out for the lead as the drivers get three and four wide across the track.

Ryan Preece is the first driver to change to the softer option tire.

NASCAR is reviewing the restart.

Joey Logano has been posted for going below the yellow line before crossing the start/finish line.  He will have to serve a pass through penalty.  Logano says on the radio “no way!”

Lap 20 the top five are Joey Logano, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Josh Berry, and Carson Hocevar.

Lap 21, Joey Logano serves his penalty.

Ryan Preece has advanced 13 spots since the restart on the option tires.

Lap 22, William Byron takes over the lead.

Larry McReynolds reports that on a restart NO part of the car may go below the yellow line until after the car passes the start/finish line.

Lap 24, William Byron leads the race with Tyler Reddick in second; Josh Berry, Carson Hocevar, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Joey Logano did not loose a lap when he served his pass through penalty.

Lap 31, halfway through stage one, William Byron has a lead of over a second on Tyler Reddick; Josh Berry, Carson Hoevar, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 37, William Byron holds on to the lead and has a lead of over a second on Tyler Reddick; Josh Berry, Ryan Preece (on the softer tire), and Chrisotpher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 44, William Byron has a near second and a half lead on Tyler Reddick; Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 48, William Byron’s lead is now over a second and a half and a half over Tyler Reddick.  Over four seconds back in third, Ryan Preece’s crew chief tells his to save his tires.

William Byron has led 48 of the 54 laps run so far.  Joey Logano has led five laps before having to serve a penalty.

Four laps remain in stage one; the top five are William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney.

William Byron wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
William Byron
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Preece
Christopher Bell
Ryan Blaney
Josh Berry
Carson Hocevar
Denny Hamlin
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson

Ty Dillon is the “lucky dog”.

Drivers come down pit road for service with William Byron winning the race off of pit road.

Ross Chastain was caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the longest line.

Katherine Legge has also been caught speeding on pit road.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 72 with Tyler Reddick alongside.  Byron gets out in front on the inside lane.  Drivers are three and four wide on the restart.

Lap 73, the top five are William Byron, Tyler Reddick Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, and Denny Hamlin.

Christopher Bell passes Tyler Reddick for second.

Lap 78, drivers are three and four wide back in the field.

Lap 81, on the option tire Austin Cindric passes Tyler Reddick for third.

Lap 85, Austin Cindric passes Christopher Bell for second and is on leader William Byron’s bumper looking for the lead.

Lap 88, Austin Cindric and William Byron battle for the lead.

New leader, Austin Cindric.

The top five are Austin Cindric, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, and Tyler Reddick.

The drivers who changed to the softer option tire are quickly moving through the field.

The caution flag comes out on lap 91 when Michael McDowell gets into the wall with a flat tire.

Drivers come down pit road for service with Christopher Bell edging out William Byron to win the race off of pit road.

Cody Ware is the “lucky dog”.

John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones were caught speeding off of pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the longest line.

Michael McDowell is still on pit road with the hood up.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart of the race with William Byron alongside on lap 99.  There are 35 cars on the lead lap.  Bell gets out in front for the lead as the drivers get four wide across the track.

The drivers can run 92 to 98 laps on a single load of fuel.

Lap 99, the caution flag comes out for a big crash at the back of the field.  Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley, and Riley Herbst are all stopped on the track.  Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Brad Keselowski, Todd Gilliland, Alex Bowman, and Shane van Gisbergen, and Cole Custer were also involved in the wreck.

Shane van Gisbergen takes his car to the garage for repairs.

This marks the first time since 2011 that there has been five caution flags in the first 100 laps of the race.

Katherine Legge is the “lucky dog”.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 113 with William Byron alongside.  Bell jumps out in front for the lead as drivers get three and four wide.

Lap 115, the top five are Christopher Bell, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Tyler Reddick.

Lap 116, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson battle for fifth.

All of the drivers out of the race after the crash have been checked and released from the infield care center.

On the softer tires, Joey Logano has plowed through the field and is just outside the top five in sixth.

Lap 120, Joey Logano passes Tyler Reddick for fifth.

Lap 123, Joey Logano passes Daniel Suarez for third.

Lap 124, Christopher Bell has a near second and a half lead on William Byron.

Lap 126, Joey Logano passes William Byron for second place; a second behind leader Christopher Bell.

There are 27 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 129, Joey Logano and Christopher Bell battle for the lead with Logano taking the spot.  Logano is on the softer option tires.  With just one 45 minutes practice session on Saturday the teams do not know how long the tires will last and what will happen when the “good” wears out.

NASCAR has posted Michael McDowell for not making minimum speed.  He will have to take the car to the garage and make repairs to reach minimum speed or retire from the race.

Lap 137, Joey Logano has pulled out to a second and half on Christopher Bell; William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Cindric round out the top five.

Lap 144, Joey Logano has increased his lead on Christopher Bell to two and a half seconds.

Michael McDowell has returned to the track 18 laps down.

Lap 153, the top five are Joey Logano, Christoopher Bell, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Cindric.

Lap 155, Ryan Blaney passes Austin Cindric for fifth.

Michael McDowell is slowed on the track with a flat tire.

Lap 164, Joey Logano has lapped several cars and there is now only 21 cars on the lead lap.  Logano is less than one second in front of Christopher Bell; William Byron, Ryan Blaney, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 166, Joey Logano passes Erik Jones for just 20 cars on the lead lap.  Christopher Bell has closed the gap on Logano to under half a second.

Lap 169, there are now just 19 cars on the lead lap; with a clear track in front, Joey Logano has extended the lead on Christopher Bell to over a second.

With just 15 laps remaining in stage two, Joey Logano has a lead of over a second on Christopher Bell; William Byron, Ryan Blaney, and Tyler Reddick round out the top.

There is a big battle for the “lucky dog” spot between Ty Gibbs, Erik Jones, Todd Gilliland, and John Hunter Nemechek.

Lap 177, just nine laps remain in stage two, Christopher Bell has caught leader Joey Logano and is in a battle for the lead.

Lap 178, Christopher Bell takes the lead.

It appears that the tires on Joey Logano’s car have “given up” after 70 laps.

Of the top 10 drivers only Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, and Daniel Suarez have just one set of the option tires remaining in the pits.

Christopher Bell has pulled out to a two second lead on Joey Logano.

Christopher Bell wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
William Byron
Ryan Blaney
Tyler Reddick
Denny Hamlin
Austin Cindric
Daniel Suare
Kyle Larson
Josh Berry

The drivers come down pit road with several of the teams expected to change to the softer option tires.  Joey Logano wins the race off of pit road.

Erik Jones is the “lucky dog”.

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Christopher Bell alongside with 120 to go.  Drivers spread out three and four wide quickly.

NASCAR has the restart under review.

Joey Logano leads the race with Chrisotpher Bell in second.

No restart violation.

Tyler Reddick passes Christopher Bell for second.

With 115 to go, the top five are Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Josh Berry.

Nearly all of the field are running the option tires.

Lap 207, Joey Logano increases his lead on Tyler Reddick to over half a second; Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Josh Berry round out the top five.

There are 100 laps remaining in the race with Joey Logano in the lead; but he is using his second set of softer option tires and will have to finish the race on the yellow harder tires.

The caution flag comes out on lap 215 when Katherine Legge spins out.  Josh Berry and Daniel Suarez got caught up in the spin with no place to go.

The drivers can make it to the end of the race on fuel if they make a pit stop now.  Some of the teams are switching back to the hard tires.

Ty Dillon is the “lucky dog”.

Christopher Bell wins the race off of pit road.

AJ Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr took the wave around.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with 90 laps remaining in the race with Tyler Reddick alongside.  Bell gets out in front for the lead.

The top five are Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Joey Logano.

Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick battle for second.

Tyler Reddick reports power steering issues.

William Byron, Ryan Preece, and Kyle Larson are in a battle for third with Preece taking the spot.

When the race restarted, Ty Dillon was the “lucky dog” in 20th place; he is now inside the top 10 in ninth on the option tires.

Ryan Preece passes Tyler Reddick for second; Christopher Bell has a lead of over half a second.

With 77 laps to go, Ryan Preece passes Christopher Bell for the lead.

With 70 laps to go, Ryan Preece has a second and a half lead on Christopher Bell; Tyler Reddick, Ty Dillon, and William Byron round out the top five.

Ryan Blaney reports that he has no power on the straightaways.

With 64 laps to go, Ryan Preece has pulled out to a two and a half second lead on Christopher Bell.

Sixty to go, Ryan Preece has increased his lead to over three seconds on Christopher Bell; Tyler Reddick, Ty Dillon, and William Byron round out the top five.

Denny Hamlin passes Joey Logano for seventh.

There are 23 cars on the lead lap.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr makes a green flag pit stop for a tire change that puts him two laps down.

Fifty to go, Ryan Preece has a three second lead on Christopher Bell.

Chase Elliott comes down for a green flag pit stop with 48 laps to go.

More drivers come down pit road for green flag pit stops.

The caution flag comes out with 45 laps to go for debris on the track after Bubba Wallace hit the wall with a flat tire.

Ty Gibbs is the “lucky dog”.

Most of the field comes down pit road for a tire change.  The drivers who have them are using the option tires.  Christopher Bell wins the race off of pit road.  Ryan Preece comes out on the track in 10th place.

Tyler Reddick and Ty Dillon were caught speeding on pit road and will restart the race at the back of the longest line.

Tyler Reddick is on pit road with the hood up.  In addition to the speeding penalty, he is charged with a crew member coming over the wall too soon.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with 36 laps remaining in the race with Denny Hamlin alongside.  Bell edges out for the lead with Denny Hamlin in second; Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.

Drivers are three and four wide.

Bubba Wallace is out of the race.

Bubba Wallace reports that the brakes blew out but had no warning.

Thirty to go, Christopher Bell has a half second lead on Denny Hamlin; Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, and Josh Berry round out the top five.  Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman battle for sixth.

The top 13 drivers are on the option tires.  Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Preece are on the harder primary tires.

The caution flag comes out with 23 laps to go for fluid on the track.  Ryan Blaney had said that he felt his car was blowing up…and it did.

Tyler Reddick is the only driver with a set of sticker option tires in the pits.  Some teams have used option tires.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with just 17 laps remaining in the race with Denny Hamlin alongside.  Bell and Hamlin go side by side but Chrisotpher Bell gets out in front for the lead.

The top five are Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, and Chris Buescher.

Kyle Larson comes up on the inside to battle with Denny Hamlin for second.

Alex Bowman passes Chris Buescher for fifth.

Ten to go! Christopher Bell leads the race with Denny Hamlin in second; Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.

The caution flag comes out with eight laps to go when Ty Gibbs gets into the wall with a flat tire.  This is the 10th caution of the day.

Todd Gilliland is the “lucky dog”.

If Christopher Bell goes on to win the race, he will be the first driver to win three races in a row in the new Next Gen car.

A few drivers come down pit road for fresh tires.  Austin Cindric’s team has trouble getting the tires off the car.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with Denny Hamlin alongside with just two laps remaining in the race.  Drivers spread out quickly with Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin going side by side.

Denny Hamlin takes the white flag.

Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin battle for the lead with Bell edging out Hamlin for the lead and the first driver to go back-to-back-to-back in the Next Gen car!

The unofficial results of the Shriner’s Children’s 500:
Christopher Bell
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Larson
Josh Berry/
Chris Buescher
William Byron
Alex Bowman
Kyle Busch
Zane Smith
Chase Elliott
Ross Chastain
Austin Dillon
Joey Logano
John Hunter Nemechek
Ryan Preece
Ty Dillon
Todd Gilliland
Erik Jones
Austin Cindric
Tyler Reddick
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
AJ Allmendinger
Daniel Suarez
Cody Ware
Ty Gibbs
Noah Gragson
Michael McDowell
Ryan Blaney
Bubba Wallace
Katherine Legge
Shane van Gisbergen
Cole Custer
Brad Keselowski
Justin Haley
Chase Briscoe
Carson Hocevar
Riley Herbst