ISM Raceway Schedule of Events
A NASCAR doubleheader is on the calendar this weekend at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.
Both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be in action on the one-mile desert oval. It will mark the second time the track’s reconfigured layout will be in use that saw the start-finish line moved to what was the dogleg area on the backstretch.
Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 (MRN, 2:30 p.m. ET) is the fourth race of the Cup Series season and will feature the 2019 baseline aero elements but with a 1.17-inch tapered spacer that will make the engines generate roughly 750 horsepower. This weekend will not use the aero ducts on the cars that were used last weekend in Las Vegas.
Kevin Harvick has not won yet this year but the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has to be considered a favorite whenever ISM Raceway rolls around on the schedule. He has nine career wins at the track in his career and if Harvick gets number 10 on Sunday he’d join an elite group of drivers with double digit victories at a single track joining Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmie Johnson, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt.
ISM Raceway Winners | ISM Raceway Driver Averages
Kyle Busch might have the best shot at derailing Harvick’s quest considering how well he’s run in Phoenix over the years. In three of the last four ISM Raceway races, Busch has led 359 laps, including 117 in his win during last year’s November Playoff run – the first under the new configuration of the track.
“You’ve got to have a good car, but you’ve got to have good brakes,’’ Busch said. “You’ve got to have a good-turning car, and you’ve got to have a good car that can accelerate off of Turn 2 and go fast down the backstretch.
“For some reason, I’ve always run well there. I don’t know if it’s that I’m comfortable being back close to home on the West Coast, or what. I always have a little more fan support out there, as well. As for the track itself, you’ve always had two distinctly different corners at Phoenix, which makes it fun and challenging all at the same time.”
Cup Entry List | Xfinity Entry List
Busch is also entered in Saturday’s iK9 Service Dog 200 (MRN, 3:30 p.m. ET). There have been three different winners in the season’s first trio of races with Busch victorious last weekend at LVMS.
Atlanta winner Christopher Bell is the point leader with Cole Custer and defending series champion Tyler Reddick tied for second.
“Phoenix is a tough track to get a hold of because both ends of the track are relatively flat and differ from one another,” said Custer, who will make his fifth career start at the track on Saturday. “If we can figure both ends of the track out, I think we will have a good shot at the win.
“We tend to qualify really well at ISM Raceway but we can’t seem to find that long run speed, but Mike Shiplett brings that expertise over to our team, so if we can put together that speed along with the little things this weekend, we will definitely be a contender.”
