PHOENIX – Martin Truex Jr., won the Instacart 500k to score his 28th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season, and his first at Phoenix.
Chase Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie Sunday.
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/115 laps/122 laps)
Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 18th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 32nd, Finished 11th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 26th, Finished 22nd / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 24th, Finished 31st / Running, completed 308 of 312 laps)
SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (7th with 176 points, 60 out of first)
● Cole Custer (20th with 86 points, 150 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (25th with 73 points, 163 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (26th with 70 points, 166 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Harvick earned his fourth top-10 of the season and his series-leading 26th top-10 in 37 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.
● This was Harvick’s 16th straight top-10 at Phoenix. He hasn’t finished outside the top-10 since a lone 13th-place finish in March 2013.
● Harvick finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and sixth in Stage 2 to earn five more bonus points.
● Almirola’s 11th-place finish was his best so far this season.
● This was Almirola’s third straight top-15 at Phoenix.
● Almirola finished eighth in Stage 2 to earn three bonus points.
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie.
Race Notes:
● Martin Truex Jr., won the Instacart 500k to score his 28th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Joey Logano was 1.698 seconds.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 45 laps.
● Twenty-four of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Denny Hamlin remains the championship leader after Phoenix with a 39-point advantage over second-place Brad Keselowski.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Folds of Honor 500 on Sunday, March 21 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
