NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY ON DISPLAY AT TALLADEGA – MOTORSPORT AMERICA PHOTO
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
The Place: Phoenix Raceway
Track Length: 1 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Sunday, Nov. 2
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $12,394,135
TV: NBC & Peacock, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 312 miles (312 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 185), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 312)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race
The Place: Phoenix Raceway
Track Length: 1 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Saturday, Nov. 1
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $2,151,939
TV: CW, 6:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 200 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship Race
The Place: Phoenix Raceway
Track Length: 1 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Friday. October 31
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,160,400
TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET
Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 150 miles (150 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 150)
Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:
Friday, Oct. 31
NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 3:30 p.m. ET)
NXS Final Practice (CW App at 4:30 p.m. ET)
NCS Final Practice (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM at 5:30 p.m. ET)
NCTS Race: NCTS Championship Race (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET)
Saturday, Nov. 1
NXS Kennametal Pole Qualifying (CW App at 3:30 p.m. ET)
NCS Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM at 5 p.m. ET)
NXS Race: NXS Championship Race (CW, MRN, SiriusXM at 7:30 p.m. ET)
Sunday, Nov. 2
NCS Race: NCS Championship Race (NBC & Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m.
ET)
NASCAR Cup Series
Phoenix Raceway Storylines and Insights:
· This weekend marks the 59th running of a NASCAR Cup Series
race at Phoenix Raceway.
· 2025 is the sixth season that Phoenix hosted the Championship
round (2020-2025)
· Kyle Larson is the only former Cup champion in the
Championship 4
· William Byron is the only Championship 4 drivers who also
raced for a Championship at Phoenix last year
· Chase Briscoe is the only driver in the Championship 4 for the
first time
· Kyle Larson is the only Championship 4 driver without a
Playoff win, twice the Champion won the Championships without a playoff
win in the first nine races of elimination style playoffs (Kyle Busch in
2015 and 2019 who won both the race of the Championship)
· Tony Stewart in 2005 is the only Champion who went winless in
the Playoffs
· This is the second time two teams had multiple cars in the
Championship 4 – Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing had two cars
each in 2021 with Hendrick Motorsports winning the Championship with
Kyle Larson
· Denny Hamlin finished 2nd at Phoenix in March, Kyle Larson
3rd, William Byron 6th & Chase Briscoe 35th
· 15 of the 35 races in 2025 were won by the four Championship 4
drivers, all four have at least three wins and Denny Hamlin has a
series-best six
· Each of the Championship 4 drivers has a Cup win at Phoenix,
Denny Hamlin is the only driver with multiple wins but hasn’t won there
since 2019
· William Byron leads all drivers in laps run in the top-five at
Phoenix in the Next Gen car (1,618), and laps run in the top-10 at
Phoenix in the Next Gen car (1,975)
· Denny Hamlin would become the third-oldest Cup champion at 44
years, 11 months, 15 days old, and the oldest since Bobby Allison in
1983
· Kyle Larson’s 10 top-five finishes at Phoenix are his most at
a track, his 14 top-10 finishes are tied for his most at a track with
Las Vegas
· Kyle Busch will become the 14th driver to make 750 Cup starts
this weekend, the best finish for a driver in their 750th start was 2nd
by Mark Martin at Dover in September 2009
· Ricky Stenhouse Jr will make his 400th consecutive Cup start
this weekend, the 3rd longest active streak
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Phoenix Raceway Storylines and Insights:
· This weekend marks the 48th running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series
race at Phoenix Raceway.
· Phoenix has been on the Xfinity Series schedule every year
since inaugural race in 1999
· This will be the 6th time Phoenix hosted the Xfinity Series
Championship 4 race, every year since 2020
· The highest finishing Championship 4 driver will win the 2025
championship: #88 Connor Zilisch, #7 Justin Allgaier, #2 Jesse Love & #1
Carson Kvapil
· The highest finish Championship 4 car win the 2025 Car Owner
Championship: #7 JRM, #19 JGR, #21 RCR, #88 JRM
· Two teams are represented in Championship 4: JR Motorsports
(3) and Richard Childress Racing (1)
· Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil could each become the fourth
rookie to win Xfinity Series championship
· Connor Zilisch was highest finishing of Championship 4 drivers
in 17 of 32 races this season; Allgaier – 7, Love – 4, Kvapil – 4
· Connor Zilisch, at the Roval, is the only Championship 4
driver with a Playoff win this season
· Justin Allgaier finished 5th at Phoenix in March, the highest
of the Championship 4 drivers
· At 25 years, 5 months, 25 days, this is the second-youngest
Championship 4 in series history
· When Justin Allgaier made Xfinity Series debut in 2008, the
other three Championship 4 drivers were 5-years-old or younger: Kvapil –
5, Love – 3, Zilisch – 2
· Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19 (Almirola) and Richard Childress
Racing’s #21 (A. Hill) are in owner’s Championship 4 along with JR
Motorsports’ #88 (Zilisch) and #7 (Allgaier)
· Non-Playoff drivers won seven of the last 13 Playoff races
· Jesse Love finished top-10 in all three Phoenix starts
including a runner-up in March 2024
· Joe Gibbs Racing won four of six Playoffs races this season
with three different drivers but don’t have a driver represented in the
Championship 4 (driver point standings)
· The last two Phoenix races featured last-lap pass for the win
· NASCAR suspended Sam Mayer for one race after intentionally
wrecking Jeb Burton after checkered flag at Martinsville; Ryan Sieg will
drive #41 for Haas Factory Team at Phoenix, while Kyle Sieg will move to
RSS Racing’s #39
· Connor Zilisch’s ten wins this season is the record for most
wins by a rookie
· Connor Zilisch leads series with 10 wins, 19 Top 5s, 22 Top
10s, 986 laps led, an 8.2 avg finish & eight poles
· Connor Zilisch won Fastest Lap Award seven times this season,
Justin Allgaier is second with six
· Justin Allgaier leads the series with 14 stage wins this
season
· JR Motorsports won 17 races this season with a series-record
six different drivers (does not include Parker Kligerman who won in
relief role at Daytona)
· Justin Allgaier’s 28 career wins are 9th on the all-time wins
list and one away from tying Matt Kenseth
· Chevrolet led 3,773 of 5,123 laps this season (74%)
· Ryan Sieg is making his 400th NXS start this weekend at
Phoenix
· O’Reilly Auto Parts will replace Xfinity as title sponsor
starting in 2026 becoming the fifth different title sponsor of the
series: Budweiser, Busch, Nationwide, Xfinity & O’Reilly
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Phoenix Raceway Storylines and Insights:
· This week marks the 35th running of a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck
Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
· This is the sixth consecutive season Phoenix will host the
Championship race (2020-2025)
· Phoenix is one of only two tracks to host a Truck Series race
in every year of its existence (Martinsville)
· The regular season champion went on to win the championship
twice, Corey Heim won regular season championship in 2025
· Corey Heim and Ty Majeski are the only two Championship 4
drivers who have appeared in the Championship 4 before
· Corey Heim finished top 3 in the last 10 races, the first
driver in series history to accomplish this feat
· Corey Heim is 6 laps led away from tying the all-time single
season laps led record (Mike Skinner, 1533 laps – 1996). He’s led 68
laps in three starts at Phoenix, including 16 last year.
· Corey Heim has led over 40% of the laps raced in 2025, the
highest percentage ever in a season
· Corey Heim led 25 consecutive races, the longest streak in
Truck Series history.
· Corey Heim led in every race in 2025 and could become the
first driver to lead in every race of a season
· Corey Heim finished top-5 in all six Playoff races in 2025, no
driver finished top-5 in every race of the playoffs in a season
· 20 races this season were won by drivers aged 25 or younger,
the most ever in a single Truck Series season
· ThorSport Racing remains winless after 24 races in 2025, the
deepest into a season the organization has gone without a win since
2007, the last time they were winless in a season
· Chevrolet has not won in 12 races (Rajah Caruth – Nashville in
May), after winning six of the first 12 races of 2025, tied for the
brand’s longest winless streak in Truck Series history.
· TRICON Garage won seven of the last eight races. No team has
ever won eight out of nine races.
· TRICON Garage won the last four races. The Truck Series record
is five consecutive wins by one team, which occurred four previous
times, most recently Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2021
· Toyota will win their 14th career manufacturers championship
· Three of the five Phoenix Championship races went into
overtime. The 2023 Championship race required three overtime attempts
and 29 extra laps, the longest overtime in series history
· In every Phoenix Championship race with overtime, the pass for
the win came in overtime
· In every Phoenix Championship race with overtime, the pass for
the Championship happened in overtime
· Ty Majeski and Corey Heim combined to lead 148 of the 150 laps
in last year’s Phoenix finale
· Kaden Honeycutt can become the first Truck Series champion to
have driven for multiple teams in his title-winning season
· Kaden Honeycutt could become the first Truck series Champion
without a series win. Matt Crafton won the 2019 Championship without
winning a race that season but he had prior career wins
· Ford teams won the last three NCTS Driver Championships
· ThorSport Racing won three of the last four and the last two
NTS Driver Championships
· The last Toyota team to win the Championship was ThorSport
Racing in 2021
· Every truck series Champion was born prior to the year 2000.
Corey Heim (2002), Tyler Ankrum (2001), Kaden Honeycutt (2003) were all
born in the current millennium. (Ty Majeski was born in 1994)
· The average age of the Championship 4 is 25 years, 4 months,
20 days the youngest ever
NASCAR & Phoenix, Etc.
Historical & Significant Events at Phoenix Raceway:
· Construction was completed on Phoenix Raceway in January of
1964. The facility was built by Richard Hogue, an amateur sports car
racer. The facility was built in the foothills of the Estrella Mountains
and originally consisted of a one-mile oval, a quarter mile drag strip
and a 2.5-mile road course.
· The first race held at Phoenix Raceway was in January of 1968
and the event was run on the 2.5-mile road course and won by Don White.
· In October of 1970 Hollywood giant Steve McQueen wins the 17
lap ‘Winter Sprint’ sports car race on the track’s road course in
Porsche 908 from pole position, setting a new lap record of 1:41.09
· On Nov. 25, 1973 Phoenix Raceway holds its first USAC Midget
race and the event was won by Billy Englehart.
· The first NASCAR race held at Phoenix Raceway was on November
27, 1977 and it was a NASCAR Winston West Series (now ARCA Menards
Series West) race won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough.
· Sept. 15 1985 – Emmett ‘Buddy’ Jobe purchases Phoenix Raceway
from Dennis Wood. At the time, the track featured less than 10,000
reserved seats.
· April of 1987 – Lightning strikes the track’s main grandstand,
burning the majority of the structure to the ground. Reconstruction
begins.
· October of 1988 – Construction of a three-story suite building
is completed outside Turn 1. Reserved seating capacity is increased to
30,000 at Phoenix Raceway.
· NASCAR Hall of Famer Alan Kulwicki won the first NASCAR Cup
Series race at Phoenix Raceway on November 6, 1988. Kulwicki performed
his ‘Polish Victory Lap’ following the event.
· June of 1991 – During the summer months, the infield course is
redesigned to a new configuration with 11 turns and 1.51 miles of track.
· April of 1997 – International Speedway Corporation (now
NASCAR) purchases Phoenix Raceway from Emmett ‘Buddy’ Jobe.
· June of 2003 – Upgrades to Phoenix – Turn Two is modified for
safety while a tunnel is installed under Turn Four.
· November of 2004 – Phoenix Raceway installs track lights,
which will change the way racing is seen at Phoenix. The lights create
146 million lumens (a typical table lamp is 25 lumens), for a total of
1.5 million watts of power per hour.
· April of 2005 – Phoenix Raceway President Bryan R. Sperber
announces the expansion of the Bobby Allison Grandstand, one of the most
extensive construction projects in the history of the track.
· The first spring NASCAR Cup Series race was held on April 23,
2005 and was also the first night race, which was won by Kurt Busch
driving for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
· The track underwent its first repave in 2011. The construction
began in March and concluded in September of that year. The following
changes were made during the construction period (March – Sept. 2011):
* Widened the frontstretch from 52 to 62 feet and reconfigured pit
road with the installation of concrete pit stalls
* Pushed the dog-leg curve between Turn 2 and Turn 3 out 95 feet and
tightened the turn radius of the dog-leg from 800 to 500 feet
* Implemented banking, including 11-degree banking between Turn 1 and
Turn 2; 10-11-degree banking in the apex of the dog-leg; and 9-degree
banking in Turns 3 and 4.
· March 1, 2013 – Abraham Calderon captures the checkered flag
in the inaugural stateside running of the NASCAR Mexico Series at
Phoenix Raceway.
· 2014 – Phoenix Raceway celebrated its 50th anniversary.
· Following the spring race in 2015 the track added SAFER
barrier. The outer wall around the entire track is completely protected
by SAFER barrier, the longest stretch of new barrier was on the front
stretch which still had portions of brick wall from when the track first
opened in 1964.
· Monument Hill a.k.a. “Rattlesnake Hill”, a part of the
Estrella Mountain range, overlooks turns 1 and 2.
· Following the 2017 season, the track was renamed from Phoenix
Raceway to ISM Raceway. Then in 2019 the track was renamed from ISM
Raceway back to Phoenix Raceway.
* Phoenix Raceway underwent a $178 million modernization following the
Spring race of 2018. Upgrades included:
* Relocating the start/finish line to what was previously Turn 2 area
and reconfigured pit road.
* Four new escalators, nine new elevators, 51 new and upgraded lounge
style suites, 11 garage offices, and three garage suites, new pedestrian
tunnel, new infield experience with garage access, media center,
driver’s meeting area and victory lane.
* Extension of the grandstands around turn 2 and the demolition of
previous front stretch grand stands.
· March 26, 2019 – The Valley of the Sun will play host to a new
championship sporting event as NASCAR announced that the NASCAR
Championship Weekend will be held at Phoenix Raceway, November 6-8,
2020, for the first time in the sport’s history.
Latest News at Phoenix Raceway:
· Phoenix Raceway is turning up the volume for NASCAR’s biggest
weekend of the year. Multi-platinum, award-winning country music artist
Jordan Davis will headline the pre-race concert ahead of the NASCAR Cup
Series Championship Race on Sunday, November 2, bringing his signature
blend of personal storytelling and southern sound to the championship
stage. Known for pushing the boundaries of country music, Davis has
captivated fans with hits like “Buy Dirt,” “Next Thing You Know,” and
the chart-topping “I Ain’t Sayin’,” which recently reached No. 1 on U.S.
country radio. Now, he’s bringing the energy of his highly anticipated
new album, Learn the Hard Way, to Phoenix Raceway for a performance fans
won’t forget.
· Phoenix Raceway is revving up the high-octane excitement for
NASCAR Championship Weekend with an all-new Phoenix Raceway Fan Fest,
set for Thursday, October 30. This free, family-friendly event will run
from 4-7 p.m. at Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix and serve as the
official kickoff to a thrilling weekend of championship racing and
entertainment at Phoenix Raceway, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
* Fan Fest Highlights Include:
* Driver appearances, including NASCAR Cup Series star Daniel Suarez,
offering autograph opportunities
* Live entertainment on stage throughout the evening, including a
concert presented by Straight Talk Wireless, and a live DJ
* Kid-friendly games, and interactive experiences
* Photo ops with show cars and the NASCAR Cup Series championship
trophy
* Local food and beverage partners serving up Phoenix favorites
* Official merchandise and ticketing booths for fans to gear up and
grab their seats for race weekend
* Sponsor and partner showcases, featuring exclusive giveaways and more
* NASCAR fans in the Valley for NASCAR Championship Weekend are in for
a one-of-a-kind pit stop — a 10-acre NASCAR Championship Weekend Corn
Maze at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek. Before engines roar at Phoenix
Raceway, visitors can take a scenic detour through the 3 miles of
twists, turns, and photo ops inside Schnepf Farms’ legendary Pumpkin and
Chili Party, open through October 31. It’s the perfect way to gear up
for a weekend full of fast cars, big moments, and championship glory.
* Raja, a 7-year-old Sumatran tiger, is wild about William Byron’s
NASCAR Cup Series championship chances. During a ceremony on Tuesday at
the Phoenix Zoo, the beloved beast predicted that the driver of the No.
24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series
Championship on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.