Auto Racing Glance

[March 09, 2018]  MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: TICKETGUARDIAN 500 (312 laps, 312 miles (500 kilometers) around a 1-mile tri-oval), ISM Raceway; Avondale, Arizona.

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 3:30 p.m. ET) -- Fox (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The fourth of 36 races on the season, Kevin Harvick has won two straight - but was stripped of the latest victory -- and comes to Phoenix, where he has won eight times in the top series, the last time being the spring of 2016. ... On Wednesday, NASCAR docked Harvick 20 points, stripped away his win and his playoff points for having a car that failed technical inspection at Las Vegas on Sunday. ... Harvick leads all drivers with 1,484 laps led and 782 "fastest laps" at Phoenix. His driver rating of 110.2 is also the best. ... Ford Fusions have won both races with Harvick at the wheel and two of the three this season. In all, Fords comprise five of the top 10 in the standings and sweep the top three. Austin Dillon took the season-opening Daytona 500 in a Chevrolet Camaro SS. ... Ryan Newman won this race last year, with Matt Kenseth -- since retired -- winning in the fall. ... Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson continues to struggle, having not won in 26 races. He sits 29th in the standings. ... This is the 44th Cup race at ISM Raceway, but the last before a dramatic re-configuration of the track commencing in April. ... Joey Logano leads the standings with 132 points, followed by Ryan Blaney (131), *Harvick (115), Martin Truex Jr. (115), Kyle Busch (104), Kyle Larson (104), Brad Keselowski (99), Denny Hamlin (97), Paul Menard (96) and *Dillon (94).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: DC SOLAR 200 (200 laps, 200 miles around a 1-mile tri-oval), ISM Raceway; Avondale, Arizona.

TV: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 4:16 p.m. ET) - FS1 (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: This is the fourth of 33 races this season. This is the 33rd Xfinity race at ISM. ... Justin Allgaier won this race last spring while William Byron won in the fall. ... Full-time Xfinity Series racers are 1-for-3 this year, with full-time Cup drivers Kyle Larson winning last week at Las Vegas and Kevin Harvick at Atlanta. ... Rookie Tyler Reddick is still the only Xfinity driver with a guaranteed playoff berth thanks to winning the season-opener in Daytona. ... Reddick and JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler are dominating so far, running 1-2 in the standings by a wide margin. ... *Reddick leads the Xfinity standings with 123 points, getting the tiebreaker over Sadler (123) because of a race win. They are followed by Christopher Bell (100), Justin Allgaier (95), Spencer Gallagher (89), Ryan Reed (88), Brandon Jones (86), Ryan Truex (85), Daniel Hemric (84) and Matt Tifft (69).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

 

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

THIS WEEK: The Trucks are beginning a two-week layoff and will return at Martinsville Speedway on March 24.... *Johnny Sauter leads the Truck standings (148 points), followed by *Brett Moffitt (109), Grant Enfinger (108), Noah Gragson (107), Ben Rhodes (103), Stewart Friesen (101), Spencer Davis (94), Dalton Sargeant (92), Matt Crafton (84) and Matt Snider (84).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG (110 laps, 198 miles around a 14-turn temporary street course), St. Petersburg, Florida.

TV: Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET (Green flag approx.. 12:40 p.m. ET) -- ABC (Radio: Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 214, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app).

THIS WEEK: The opening race of the 17-race 2018 season, drivers and teams have been testing to get ready for the race that has become the annual opener for the series. ... This is the 15th race at St. Petersburg. ... Sebastien Bourdais won the race last season. He started on the pole for the first one back in 2003 under CART sanction. ... Will Power is the only driver entered with more than one St. Pete victory (2010, 2014) with the recent retirements of three-time winner Helio Castroneves and two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya. ... 2017 series champion Josef Newgarden opens his title defense for Team Penske. Penske has not won back-to-back championships since Gil de Ferran on 2000-2001 under CART sanction.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION: The series is off this weekend, set to return for the Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida from March 15-18.

--K. Lee Davis, Field Level Media

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