AVONDALE, Ariz. — Mistakes on pit road have been prevalent this season and that’s likely to continue in today’s Cup race at Phoenix Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on Fox).
There have been 21 speeding penalties on pit road through the first three races of the season — five more than this time a year ago. Much of the increase is due to Atlanta moving into the second race of the year. That race had 14 speeding penalties.
Today, the series races at a track that had a season-high 10 speeding penalties on pit road a year ago.
Ross Chastain, who won at Phoenix last November, has had a pit road speeding penalty in each of the last two races and also had one during his qualifying race at Daytona.
Several Phoenix winners will be in the lineup for Sunday’s race.
Chastain said contact with Brad Keselowski on track precipitated him speeding on pit road at Atlanta.
“We had slammed side-to-side, so I had pitted without telling my crew,” Chastain said. “It just spiraled out of control. There were like 90 seconds where my mind and the car just kind of went haywire. I felt like I couldn’t function because we hit and I thought I was going to blow a left-front tire.”
Last week at Las Vegas, Chastain called it “laziness” on his part for thinking he was going the proper speed when he was speeding as he entered pit road.
Pit road also will be important for Kyle Busch. He’ll have his third different pit crew in four races — an unprecedented amount of changes for a Cup pit crew so early in the season.
RCR executive Andy Petree: “We just need a consistent crew that is not going to be making mistakes.”
“We just need a consistent crew that is not going to be making mistakes,” Andy Petree, executive vice president at Richard Childress Racing, told NBC Sports on Friday.
“One of the problems with these young guys and development guys is you put them on Kyle’s car and he’s running second, they’re trying to win. I’m not sure they’re mentally ready for it. … We’re trying to find a mixture of guys that can handle some pressure and deliver a solid performance, not stellar. We’re not even looking for stellar right now.”
2. Will this be Toyota’s day?
Since the Next Gen car era in 2022, Toyota has led 15 laps in four races at Phoenix Raceway.
That’s 15 of 1,253 laps … 1.2% of the laps run.
Toyota has not won any of those four races. Toyota has not won a Cup title since the season finale moved to Phoenix in 2020.
“It’s completely unacceptable that we have yet to win a championship at Phoenix,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development, in January.
The 1-mile Arizona track hosts two national NASCAR series this weekend.
Toyota has started this weekend strong.
Denny Hamlin won the pole, and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs qualified second, sweeping the front row for Toyota.
Also, Toyota driver Bubba Wallace had the fastest average speed over 10 consecutive laps in practice Friday, and Toyota driver Christopher Bell had the fastest average speed over 15, 20 and 25 consecutive laps on Friday.
3. A new package and new tire
Drivers will race with a new short track package and a new tire that is intended to wear more.
The new package includes a 3-inch spoiler, a simplified diffuser and simplified diffuser strakes.
Michael McDowell: “If you want it bad enough and you chase your dream hard enough, you’ll figure out a way.”
Driver reaction has been mixed. Some have said they see minimal improvement. Others don’t see that the package is any better.
“I was kind of surprised at how many people were negative about it,” said Chase Briscoe, who won at Phoenix in March 2022. “I’m excited for the race (today) to kind of see where it all ends up stacking up because it’s hard to say after practice. When we start racing, that’s when we’re really going to know.”
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