Date: 3-12-2023.

Name of the race: United Rentals Work United 500.

Track: Phoenix Raceway.

Laps: 312.

Pole Winner: Kyle Larson.

Outside Pole: Denny Hamlin.

Stage 1 winner: William Byron.

Stage 2 winner: Kyle Larson.

Stage 3 winner (won the race): William Byron.

Top 5: William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, and Kevin Harvick.

FYI: The first duel in the desert! NASCAR’s last race as a part of their early season “west coast swing” was held at Phoenix Raceway, where last time we visited, the racing world got to witness the crowning of the 2022 Champion, Joey Logano. Coming off of last week’s victory, William Byron was looking to win back to back, and yet again he would have to outduel teammate Kyle Larson for the win. Before the cars even hit the track however, all four of the Hendrick Motorsports teams were halted at the tech inspection station, as illegally designed hood louvers were found on all four cars, as well as Justin Hailey’s #31 Chevy Camaro. There wouldn’t be any immediate repercussions however, as the teams would have to wait until the following week for the law to be laid down (all 5 Chevrolet teams would be docked a whopping 100 drivers point, except for Chase Elliott still out of the car with a leg injury, crew chiefs suspended and team owners docked ownership points as well. Rick Hendrick is set to attempt and appeal the penalty sometime soon). Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, and Christopher Bell would fill out the top 5 starting spots and the green flag would drop. Byron immediately surged ahead and it became apparent early on that this Phoenix race would pick up right where last week’s race ended. After a rather uneventful first stage of the race, on lap 60, Byron would win stage 1. All the leaders would come down through the pits during the stage break, however, unluckily for Tyler Reddick, he would have a slow stop and would drop from 5th to 12th for the restart. Stage two would only see a smack to the wall for Aric Almirola to bring out another yellow, but by lap 185, Kyle Larson had managed to take the lead away from the 24 team and would win stage 2. However, if  Larson wanted to win this race, then he would have to do battle with the all time win leader at Phoenix Raceway, the Cactus King himself, The Closer, Kevin  “Happy” Harvick. Kevin Harvick has won at Phoenix Raceway nine times. NINE! To put that into perspective, only some of NASCAR’s all time greats have won at one particular racetrack nine times or more. Dale Earnhardt 10 times at Talladega superspeedway, Jimmie Johnson 11 times at Dover Motor Speedway, and of course Richard Petty at a total of 5 different tracks including Daytona International Speedway among others. To be compared to either of those three is a huge feat, and Kevin Harvick wanted to join elite company and win a historic 10th victory in the desert. The two would duke it out and Larson would lead over Harvick who was slowly but surely starting to reel the 5 car in closer and closer, until on lap 269, Harvick’s number 4 Ford Mustang would dive low through turn 4, and he would complete the pass going through turn two the next lap. Harvick would start to pull away, as Kyle Larson would begin to lose ground to the #4 car. It was looking like Harvick was about to pull it off, until on lap 302, Harrison Burton would blow a right front tire and spin, bringing out the caution flag for a late race restart. The leaders would all come down the pits, with Kyle Larson, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin all taking two tires. Harvick would take four, and would drop to seventh at the restart. Kyle Larson would lead on the outside on the restart, with WIlliam Byron right next to him. Using the faster inside line, Byron would go low and Larson would follow suit, with Kevin Harvick charging hard to the bottom as well all the way from seventh looking to take advantage of his four fresh tires and steal the win away from the Chevy teammates. Byron ,however, would hang onto it and hold off all the hard chargers to win his second race in a row, making it the 1st time since 2007 that the 24 car has won two races in a row! Harvick would have to settle for 5th, with Kyle Larson finishing ahead of him in 4th. The cup series now heads back east to Atlanta Motor Speedway for its next stop on the racing circuit. Can Byron go three in a row this upcoming weekend? Or will somebody else take his place in victory lane? Only time will tell.

Fun fact about the driver who won: The year William Byron was born (1997) was known as the Year of the Ox. Which means people with that Chinese zodiac signs shows the characteristics of persistent, simple, honest, and straightforward.

Fun fact about Phoenix Raceway: The track was supposed to be a open wheel track and not a NASCAR driver, and open wheel driver Davey MacDonald was the first ever winner at the track on February 16, 1964.

Fun fact about Arizona: There are more than 100 wineries in the state and more than twenty-two varieties of wine was produced in Arizona. 

Next race: Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon (3-19-2023).