It’s race day for NASCAR, and the drivers are in Avondale, Arizona to take part in the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway. This is the fourth race of the Cup Series season and the first of two trips to Phoenix with the second being the NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Nov. 6. Today’s race will start at 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on Fox.
The Cup Series season is still in the early stages, but one of the surprises so far is Denny Hamlin’s slow start. He placed 37th in the Daytona 500 and followed that up with 15th and 32nd place finishes in the last two races. As mentioned by NASCAR.com this is the second time since 2010 that Hamlin didn’t manage a top 10 finish through the first three races. But Hamlin is confident the team can turn things around soon.
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“Everyone on the team is very confident, Hamlin said, per NASCAR.com “We know what we’re capable of and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota are doing a great job giving us cars capable of running up front. It’s just a matter of getting to the finish without anything crazy happening and unfortunately, that has been easier said than done so far. At the end of the day, we just have to go out and execute and we’ll be fine.”
On the flip side, Kyle Larson is off to a very hot start. After finishing 32nd at Dayton International Speedway, the defending Cup Series Champion won the WISE Power 400 and finished second Penzoil 400 last week. Larson is in first place in the current Cup Series standings and is looking to win his second consecutive race in Phoenix. But it will be challenging as he will start at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to address a steering issue.
Another driver to watch is Kevin Harvick. Since 2013, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has won six races in Phoenix and hasn’t finished outside the top 10 during that span. Harvick currently is in 16th place in the Cup Series standings and a strong performance today could propel him into the top 10. He won the Cup Series Championship in 2014 and the Cup Series Regular Season title in 2020.
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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – JULY 1986: NASCAR driver Cale Yarborough sits in his race car prior to the start of the 1986 Pepsi Firecracker 400 stock car race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
