It’s always sunny in Phoenix, or at least it was for Toyota. Toyota drivers led nearly every lap of the Shriners Children’s 500 with Christopher Bell leading 50 of those laps on his way to Victory Lane.
It’s pretty obvious that Toyota and Ford had the new race package figured out more than Chevy with just one car in the Top 10 and four in the Top 15. Toyota had four in the Top 10 and Ford five.
Track position played a critical role in how drivers finished with passing at a premium with the new short track package. With just a handful of yellow flag action, getting it done on pit road was make or break for most teams. You may not like that kind of racing but with the cars so similar right now, pit road is more important than ever.
It was also a good day for RFK racing with Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher finishing 4th and 2nd even though neither led laps and Buescher was more than 5 seconds behind Bell at the end. You can chalk a lot of that time up to the clean air advantage Bell had.
It continues to be a decent start to the season for Michael McDowell (P8), Chase Briscoe (P9), Ty Gibbs (P3) and Tyler Reddick (P10). Gibbs and Reddick are solidly in the overall Top 10 and for the other two to have another Top 10 finish is great.
After such a strong start for Hendrick and Chevy, they all missed the mark with the new package. Kyle Larson (P14) had some laps up front but he was off in traffic. Chase Elliott (P19) continues to struggle and needs to find his mojo fast. While he ranks 9th in overall points, he is the only driver without a Top 5 or Top 10 finish. That can’t continue.
Teams will have a chance to take advantage of what they learned at Phoenix as Bristol is next up on the schedule. We’ll see what tire Goodyear brings to Bristol and if that changes how the three manufacturers run.
Overall, Chevy still has 5 drivers in the Top 10, Toyota has 4 and Ford has one. But that one is at the top of the points and is named Ryan Blaney, the 2023 champion. Ford does have 4 drivers knotted between P15 and 19 with Buescher being the one driver I think has the potential to get into the Top 10 in points. Toyota has 3 more drivers P12-18 and at least two of those are potential Top 10 candidates including race winner Bell. Team Chevy has 3 drivers in P11-20 and two of them have potential of reaching the Top 10. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is in 20th and unless he finds a golden horseshoe, he’ll probably remain in the Top 15.
But for any of these drivers to make the Top 10, someone has to drop out and there is only one or two drivers that fit that bill right now so getting into the Top 10 and staying there will be a huge challenge. The race for the Top 16 is already well underway and no one wants to be there, especially without a win.
Stay frosty and keep the shiny side up.