The final stretch of the NASCAR Goes West part of the schedule is here as the Cup drivers make a stop in Phoenix for the FanShield 500 this Sunday. The track is perhaps the most unique track that’s not a road course and that might be surprising since it’s just a 1-mile layout. That being said, it’s a flat track with the most banking being 12 degrees in Turn 3 and the start-finish line sits on a curve which leads to crazy restarts here.
There is a part of the track known as the “dogleg” which is a wide curving section after Turn 1 that leads down the “backstretch” and into Turn 2. This “dogleg” sits right after the start-finish line and with no rules on diving below the yellow line, it means that restarts can be as much as six-wide-free-for-alls that result in a ton of jockeying for position. Last year the races here were fairly tame though because the of the downforce on the cars and how glued they were to the track, so in light of that NASCAR changed the package this year for these tracks to reduce the downforce and hopefully increase the passing and competition. Because of that change, however, I won’t be putting a momentum table in this week since we don’t know how this package will compare and it’s unfair to suggest that driver performance on similar tracks last year set up for similar results this year.
As a side note, in case you are wondering about the number in the race name being 500, it equals the number of kilometers in the race. There are 312 laps around the 1-mile track and 312 miles equals 500 kilometers. This will come up at the road courses as well as a couple of other smaller tracks too.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Mar. 6
Cup Practice: 3:30-4:25 pm ET
Cup Practice: 5:30-6:25 pm ET
Saturday, Mar. 7
Cup Qualifying 2:30 pm ET
*Tech should happen before qualifying followed by impound after qualifying
Sunday, March 1
FanShield 500 (312 laps 75-115-122) 3:30 pm ET
There will be a bit of a new look this year to the Track Breakdowns as the Last Four race tables have been broken down by tiers based on salary as well as the Momentum tables. There will also be some new stats presented in the Last Four tables as well as the Last Eight Races as well and for a breakdown of what those stats show, check out the updated Track Data Legend for a full description of every stat in all of the tables.
With that in mind, let’s breakdown how the drivers have done for this week’s race.
Drivers To Watch
Last Four FanShield 500s
Tier 1
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Kyle Busch
4
5.3
3
2.5
2.8
1
4
4
4
4
Martin Truex Jr
4
8.5
8.9
8
0.5
0
2
2
4
4
Kevin Harvick
4
14.8
5.9
4.3
10.5
2
2
4
4
4
Joey Logano
4
6.8
9.6
19.5
-12.7
0
0
0
1
3
Brad Keselowski
4
13.8
13.7
17
-3.2
0
1
1
1
3
Denny Hamlin
4
7.8
9.9
5.5
2.3
0
3
3
4
4
Ryan Blaney
4
6.8
11.4
13
-6.2
0
1
1
2
3
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
QP
Avg.
Laps.
LC
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
/Race
Rating
Comp
/Race
Kyle Busch
4
494
123.5
257
64.3
99.7%
22.0
134.4
1251
312.8
Martin Truex Jr
4
3
0.8
42
10.5
88.6%
23.8
101.0
1251
312.8
Kevin Harvick
4
177
44.3
147
36.8
93.9%
25.0
118.8
1251
312.8
Joey Logano
4
82
20.5
26
6.5
82.5%
21.5
89.0
1242
310.5
Brad Keselowski
4
12
3.0
61
15.3
62.4%
14.0
86.7
1244
311.0
Denny Hamlin
4
40
10.0
37
9.3
81.9%
30.0
100.2
1251
312.8
Ryan Blaney
4
94
23.5
29
7.3
70.7%
20.3
88.9
1250
312.5
Tier 2
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Chase Elliott
4
7.3
8.6
9.3
-2
0
1
2
4
4
Alex Bowman
2
5
19.1
24
-19
0
0
0
1
1
Jimmie Johnson
4
12.8
9.8
10.5
2.3
0
0
2
4
4
Kyle Larson
4
11
10.6
9.5
1.5
0
1
2
3
4
Erik Jones
3
9
17.1
15.3
-6.3
0
0
2
2
2
William Byron
2
9
14.4
18
-9
0
0
0
1
1
Kurt Busch
4
13.5
13.2
12
1.5
0
0
2
3
3
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
QP
Avg.
Laps.
LC
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
/Race
Rating
Comp
/Race
Chase Elliott
4
106
26.5
110
27.5
87.1%
25.8
102.3
1251
312.8
Alex Bowman
2
0
0.0
3
1.5
20.3%
18.5
69.2
503
251.5
Jimmie Johnson
4
4
1.0
33
8.3
82.9%
21.3
94.7
1251
312.8
Kyle Larson
4
57
14.3
39
9.8
66.0%
15.5
94.0
1250
312.5
Erik Jones
3
0
0.0
13
4.3
48.0%
23.0
79.0
930
310.0
William Byron
2
15
7.5
13
6.5
27.2%
16.0
75.5
622
311.0
Kurt Busch
4
7
1.8
12
3.0
69.8%
21.0
87.2
1251
312.8
Tier 3
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Clint Bowyer
4
23.3
16.9
15.3
8
0
0
1
3
3
Aric Almirola
4
19.5
14.4
10.3
9.2
0
1
2
3
4
Austin Dillon
4
15.8
14
16.3
-0.5
0
0
1
1
3
Matt DiBenedetto
4
27
25
25.5
1.5
0
0
0
0
0
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
4
19.8
20.8
19.3
0.5
0
1
1
2
2
Ross Chastain
2
34.5
28.7
27
7.5
0
0
0
0
0
Tyler Reddick
Chris Buescher
4
27.8
27.5
25.5
2.3
0
0
0
0
1
Christopher Bell
Cole Custer
0
Ty Dillon
4
22.8
20.7
19
3.8
0
0
0
0
3
Bubba Wallace
2
25
24.8
25
0
0
0
0
0
0
Ryan Preece
1
21
27.5
34
-13
0
0
0
0
0
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
QP
Avg.
Laps.
LC
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
/Race
Rating
Comp
/Race
Clint Bowyer
4
0
0.0
39
9.8
59.0%
25.5
78.3
1245
311.3
Aric Almirola
4
26
6.5
7
1.8
62.0%
19.3
82.4
1251
312.8
Austin Dillon
4
0
0.0
5
1.3
52.3%
14.0
74.6
1249
312.3
Matt DiBenedetto
4
0
0.0
3
0.0
14.4%
5.5
49.5
1244
311.0
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
4
0
0.0
8
2.0
26.7%
14.5
66.5
1098
274.5
Ross Chastain
2
0
0.0
2
0.0
1.7%
2.5
36.4
618
309.0
Tyler Reddick
Chris Buescher
4
1
0.3
0
0.0
2.4%
2.0
45.0
1242
310.5
Christopher Bell
Cole Custer
Ty Dillon
4
0
0.0
0
0.0
8.3%
10.0
61.2
1248
312.0
Bubba Wallace
2
0
0.0
0
0.0
1.5%
4.0
50.4
620
310.0
Ryan Preece
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.0%
0.0
38.0
229
229.0
Tier 4
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
John Hunter Nemechek
0
Daniel Suarez
3
23.3
19.8
12.7
10.6
0
0
2
2
2
Corey Lajoie
3
29.3
33.3
33.7
-4.4
0
0
0
0
0
Michael McDowell
4
29
28.3
29.5
-0.5
0
0
0
0
0
Brennan Poole
Timmy Hill
2
37
34.5
32.5
4.5
0
0
0
0
0
Joey Gase
1
39
34.7
32
7
0
0
0
0
0
Quin Houff
1
35
33.1
30
5
0
0
0
0
0
JJ Yeley
Reed Sorenson
1
35
31.2
30
5
0
0
0
0
0
BJ McLeod
Laps
Laps Led
Fastest
Fast Laps
Top-15
QP
Avg.
Laps.
LC
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Laps
/Race
Rate
/Race
Rating
Comp
/Race
John Hunter Nemechek
Daniel Suarez
3
0
0.0
7
2.3
20.5%
13.7
71.5
937
312.3
Corey Lajoie
3
0
0.0
1
0.3
0.0%
0.0
29.8
448
149.3
Michael McDowell
4
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.5%
0.0
41.3
1087
271.8
Brennan Poole
Timmy Hill
2
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.1%
0.0
28.9
0
0.0
Joey Gase
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.0%
0.0
29.2
0
0.0
Quin Houff
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.0%
0.0
28.0
302
302.0
JJ Yeley
Reed Sorenson
1
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.3%
0.0
37.6
0
0.0
BJ McLeod
0
Top-20 Drivers Over Last Eight Races at Phoenix
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Kyle Busch
8
6.9
4.5
2.8
4.1
2
7
8
8
8
Kevin Harvick
8
9.9
6.7
4.5
5.4
2
6
8
8
8
Denny Hamlin
8
6.4
7.6
9.8
-3.4
1
4
5
7
7
Joey Logano
8
6.4
11.3
17.1
-10.7
1
1
2
4
6
Kyle Larson
8
7.8
12.2
11.0
-3.2
0
4
5
6
7
Martin Truex Jr
8
12
10.2
11.9
0.1
0
3
4
7
7
Chase Elliott
8
5.5
9.1
13.8
-8.3
0
2
4
6
6
Aric Almirola
8
19.5
15.9
12.3
7.2
0
2
4
5
6
Ryan Blaney
8
6.3
10.6
14.3
-8.0
0
2
3
4
6
Brad Keselowski
8
13.6
11.5
13.8
-0.2
0
2
2
4
7
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Erik Jones
6
9
13.1
12.3
-3.3
0
1
4
4
5
Kurt Busch
8
12.9
13.1
14.6
-1.7
0
1
3
5
5
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
8
19.3
21
20.0
-0.7
0
1
2
3
4
Clint Bowyer
8
22
17.7
17.6
4.4
0
0
2
5
5
Jimmie Johnson
8
15.3
14.5
18.5
-3.2
0
0
2
5
6
Austin Dillon
8
16.8
16.1
18.8
-2.0
0
0
2
3
5
Daniel Suarez
6
20.2
20.3
17.8
2.4
0
0
2
2
4
William Byron
4
13.8
13.8
15.5
-1.7
0
0
1
2
3
Alex Bowman
5
6
15
21.4
-15.4
0
0
1
2
2
Ty Dillon
7
25.3
20.8
18.0
7.3
0
0
0
1
5
Laps
Laps Led
Laps
LC
Avg.
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Comp
/Race
Rating
Kyle Busch
8
680
85.0
2511
313.9
124.2
Kevin Harvick
8
250
31.3
2511
313.9
112
Denny Hamlin
8
379
47.4
2474
309.3
108.7
Joey Logano
8
233
29.1
2285
285.6
90.3
Kyle Larson
8
69
8.6
2302
287.8
94.5
Martin Truex Jr
8
11
1.4
2445
305.6
98.1
Chase Elliott
8
156
19.5
2361
295.1
102.5
Aric Almirola
8
26
3.3
2507
313.4
78.3
Ryan Blaney
8
108
13.5
2435
304.4
91.9
Brad Keselowski
8
47
5.9
2504
313.0
91.2
Laps
Laps Led
Laps
LC
Avg.
Driver
#
Led
/Race
Comp
/Race
Rating
Erik Jones
6
11
1.8
1864
310.7
86.3
Kurt Busch
8
63
7.9
2469
308.6
86
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
8
0
0.0
2305
288.1
66.7
Clint Bowyer
8
0
0.0
2324
290.5
75
Jimmie Johnson
8
17
2.1
2319
289.9
84.9
Austin Dillon
8
0
0.0
2471
308.9
73
Daniel Suarez
6
0
0.0
1657
276.2
67.4
William Byron
4
15
3.8
1245
311.3
78.9
Alex Bowman
5
194
38.8
1422
284.4
82.5
Ty Dillon
7
0
0.0
2181
311.6
63.5
Top-20 Drivers Over Last 16 Similar Races (Phoenix and Richmond)
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Kyle Busch
16
8.6
5.3
4.4
4.2
4
11
15
15
16
Kevin Harvick
16
7.8
6.5
5.3
2.5
2
12
15
15
16
Denny Hamlin
16
7.3
8
7.5
-0.2
2
10
12
14
15
Martin Truex Jr
16
9.3
7.6
9.8
-0.5
2
7
9
14
14
Joey Logano
16
8
10.9
11.9
-3.9
2
5
7
12
14
Kyle Larson
16
8.6
12.1
11.1
-2.5
1
6
10
12
14
Brad Keselowski
16
12.9
9
10.4
2.5
0
5
8
12
15
Chase Elliott
16
11.2
11.2
13.1
-1.9
0
4
6
11
13
Aric Almirola
16
20
15.7
14
6.0
0
3
6
7
12
Kurt Busch
16
9.3
11.1
12.9
-3.6
0
2
6
11
13
Avg.
Run.
Avg.
Pos.
Top
Top
Top
Top
Driver
#
Start
Pos.
Finish
Diff.
W
5
10
15
20
Erik Jones
12
12.5
14.9
13.3
-0.8
0
2
6
9
10
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
16
16
19
18.4
-2.4
0
2
3
5
10
Ryan Blaney
16
10.6
15.6
19.9
-9.3
0
2
3
4
9
Jimmie Johnson
16
15.9
13.9
13.6
2.3
0
1
6
13
14
Clint Bowyer
16
20.5
16.3
16.6
3.9
0
1
5
9
10
Austin Dillon
16
18.4
15.8
17.1
1.3
0
0
4
6
9
Daniel Suarez
12
21.6
18.9
15.1
6.5
0
0
3
6
10
William Byron
8
15.1
15.1
16.5
-1.4
0
0
1
4
5
Alex Bowman
9
9.6
16
19.8
-10.2
0
0
1
3
5
Bubba Wallace
8
25.3
24.5
22.1
3.2
0
0
0
2
2
Led
Fast Laps
Laps
LC
Avg.
Driver
#
/Race
/Race
Comp
/Race
Rating
Kyle Busch
16
76.5
38.4
5724
357.8
118.3
Kevin Harvick
16
25.1
27.8
5724
357.8
111.2
Denny Hamlin
16
39.6
24.5
5686
355.4
106.6
Martin Truex Jr
16
61.3
29.4
5657
353.6
109.4
Joey Logano
16
25.1
9.9
5497
343.6
95.5
Kyle Larson
16
8.9
9.9
5240
327.5
92.9
Brad Keselowski
16
22.4
22.8
5717
357.3
99.4
Chase Elliott
16
11.9
13.7
5573
348.3
93.9
Aric Almirola
16
1.7
4.3
5717
357.3
78.1
Kurt Busch
16
13.7
9.1
5678
354.9
91
Led
Fast Laps
Laps
LC
Avg.
Driver
#
/Race
/Race
Comp
/Race
Rating
Erik Jones
12
0.9
5.8
3874
322.8
81.5
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
16
0.1
7.8
5517
344.8
71.8
Ryan Blaney
16
6.8
4.8
5492
343.3
75.9
Jimmie Johnson
16
3.8
7.9
5532
345.8
85.4
Clint Bowyer
16
2.8
8.1
5534
345.9
78.6
Austin Dillon
16
0
3.0
5679
354.9
74.9
Daniel Suarez
12
0
5.3
4061
338.4
71
William Byron
8
1.9
4.3
2841
355.1
76
Alex Bowman
9
21.7
8.8
3019
335.4
77.6
Bubba Wallace
8
0
1.4
2832
354.0
54.8
Finishes By Starting Spot Ranges
This table is new for the 2020 season, it shows how many wins, top-fives, top-10s, and top-15s, have come from starting spot ranges in groups of five (i.e. 1-5, 6-10) over the last four of this week’s specific race.
Start
Top
Top
Top
Range
W
5
10
15
1-5
1
9
10
15
6-10
1
6
10
13
11-15
0
1
7
11
16-20
1
1
5
10
21-25
1
2
5
6
26-30
0
1
2
4
31-35
0
0
1
1
36-40
0
0
0
0
Total
4
20
40
60
Team Averages At Phoenix (since Feb. 2018)
Driver
Avg Fin
Races
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Joe Gibbs Racing
8.94
16
3
8
12
Chip Ganassi Racing
10.13
8
0
2
5
Stewart-Haas Racing
12.31
16
1
5
10
Team Penske
14.75
12
0
3
6
Richard Childress Racing
16.38
8
0
0
1
Roush Fenway Racing
18.13
8
0
0
1
Hendrick Motorsports
18.31
16
0
1
3
Scoring Averages Over Last Five FanShield 500s
DraftKings
Driver
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Last 2 Avg
Last 5 Avg
DK Seas. Avg.
Kyle Busch
144.75
111.5
103
72.75
128.13
108.00
25.15
Martin Truex Jr
65.5
40.25
38
24
48.5
52.88
43.25
26.75
Kevin Harvick
39.5
92.5
57
135.75
158.5
66.00
96.65
46.1
Joey Logano
36.5
11
12.5
20.5
46.25
23.75
25.35
38.9
Brad Keselowski
14
51.5
56.5
6.5
74.5
32.75
40.60
31.75
Denny Hamlin
43.25
57.25
46.5
44.5
23
50.25
42.90
50.35
Ryan Blaney
76
24
1
36
50.00
34.25
48.55
Chase Elliott
24
57
80
51.5
40.50
53.13
40.7
Alex Bowman
-19
22.5
10
1.75
4.50
37.85
Jimmie Johnson
44
33
48.5
35
42.5
38.50
40.60
32.25
Kyle Larson
63
31
56.75
27
36
47.00
42.75
34.2
Erik Jones
-4
38.5
39
17.25
24.50
38.75
William Byron
6.5
37.75
22.13
22.13
21.6
Kurt Busch
46.5
54
5.25
36
50.25
35.44
26.5
Clint Bowyer
56
62.5
31
17
27
59.25
38.70
32.55
Aric Almirola
60
52
38
32
38
56.00
44.00
27.1
Austin Dillon
16
28
25.5
42
25
22.00
27.30
44
Matt DiBenedetto
14.5
24
16
27
9
19.25
18.10
38.5
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
37
29
59
-20
34
33.00
27.80
34.19
Ross Chastain
24
26
25.00
25.00
25.25
Tyler Reddick
0.00
30.5
Chris Buescher
34
10
23.25
16
22.00
20.81
39.44
Christopher Bell
0.00
11.88
Cole Custer
0.00
18.62
Ty Dillon
34
12
27
42
23.00
28.75
28.88
Bubba Wallace
23
15
19.00
19.00
36.5
John Hunter Nemechek
0.00
32.25
Daniel Suarez
29.5
43
57
36.25
43.17
19.5
Corey LaJoie
16.5
3
-1
9.75
6.17
36.19
Michael McDowell
-1
11
21
25
5.00
14.00
22.44
Ryan Preece
-3
-3.00
-3.00
8.62
Brennan Poole
0.00
27.38
Timmy Hill
13
19
13.00
16.00
16.88
Joey Gase
19
19.00
21
Quin Houff
19
19.00
19.00
12.5
JJ Yeley
22
22.00
19.33
Reed Sorenson
19.25
19.25
17.12
BJ McLeod
0.00
16.5
FanDuel
Driver
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Last 2 Avg
Last 5 Avg
FD Seas. Avg.
Kyle Busch
93.4
86.5
83.8
74.3
89.95
84.50
38.26
Martin Truex Jr
74.7
65.5
63.9
55.3
69.2
70.10
65.72
37.12
Kevin Harvick
62.7
82.5
74.9
96.7
96.6
72.60
82.68
51.48
Joey Logano
63.2
46.1
33.9
49.7
64.7
54.65
51.52
48.72
Brad Keselowski
46.1
63.4
67.9
37.7
71.4
54.75
57.30
41.80
Denny Hamlin
66.9
72.5
66.9
69.3
50.2
69.70
65.16
54.98
Ryan Blaney
77.6
54.1
38.9
63.3
65.85
58.48
50.60
Chase Elliott
52.2
69.2
68.5
68.8
60.70
64.68
45.34
Alex Bowman
10.6
54.7
39.9
32.65
35.07
42.42
Jimmie Johnson
68.1
59.7
65.9
58.3
65.7
63.90
63.54
43.62
Kyle Larson
78.7
51.5
72.7
57.8
63.2
65.10
64.78
47.10
Erik Jones
32.9
63.2
64.4
48.05
53.50
48.44
William Byron
39.5
61.2
50.35
50.35
32.04
Kurt Busch
69.7
69.3
40.5
65.3
69.50
61.20
38.74
Clint Bowyer
68.7
72.7
59.4
42.7
51.2
70.70
58.94
45.30
Aric Almirola
75.8
72.7
60.9
59.8
59.7
74.25
65.78
42.00
Austin Dillon
47.1
55.6
53.9
66.3
55.2
51.35
55.62
52.32
Matt DiBenedetto
42.3
49.6
43.8
53.7
36.7
45.95
45.22
51.10
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
62.2
52.1
76.9
6.6
61.2
57.15
51.80
47.10
Ross Chastain
47.8
49.5
48.65
48.65
39.40
Tyler Reddick
43.40
Chris Buescher
59.2
40.4
48.5
42.7
49.80
47.70
51.18
Christopher Bell
26.43
Cole Custer
35.63
Ty Dillon
59.7
40.9
55.9
63.8
50.30
55.08
41.10
Bubba Wallace
50.6
43.4
47.00
47.00
48.10
John Hunter Nemechek
43.38
Daniel Suarez
51.6
67.7
75.4
59.65
64.90
31.47
Corey LaJoie
45
4.3
11
24.65
20.10
46.08
Michael McDowell
16.2
39.3
48.9
49.3
27.75
38.43
36.60
Ryan Preece
23.4
23.40
23.40
25.93
Brennan Poole
38.43
Timmy Hill
39.6
43.2
39.60
41.40
27.73
Joey Gase
43
43.00
33.78
Quin Houff
43.7
43.70
43.70
24.30
JJ Yeley
45.4
45.40
32.07
Reed Sorenson
44.8
44.80
29.63
BJ McLeod
20.40
Weekly Rankings
The Race History, Phoenix History, and Track Type History columns are ranked on average finish over those spans and the DK and FD average columns are ranked from highest to lowest scoring averages over those spans. Best=1 and Worst =40.
