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Phoenix Raceway is once again the home of NASCAR championship weekend this season. The race yesterday (March 10) should be an eye-opener to the series that this needs to change.
The season began with two superspeedways – the Daytona 500 and an epic three-wide photo finish at Atlanta. With the spotlight shining bright, the next race at Las Vegas produced good racing, and a popular winner. What we saw yesterday in the desert was far from that. Typically, that’s no big deal. Not every race is going to light the world on fire and have everyone shouting from the rooftops.
This is different, though. It is where the 36-race season culminates. Where a champion is crowned.
NASCAR debuted the new 2024 short-track package at Phoenix. A simplified rear diffuser and a shorter rear spoiler were used on the cars, which was meant to cut out downforce to create more competitive racing. Whether or not that helped depends on who you ask.
Teams were given nearly an hour of practice time on Friday, something that used to be normal but became an anomaly since the COVID years. Feedback from the drivers was mixed, but most of them didn’t feel a noticeable difference from the last race in November.
Goodyear also brought a tire with a thicker tread, designed to increase lap time falloff. Oddly enough, the drivers were split on that change as well. Chase Briscoe was adamant that it would be the biggest change in terms of the racing, while Chase Elliott said he didn’t notice any difference at all.
When it comes to all of these changes, one thing is certain. Toyota clearly has Phoenix figured out.
Toyota dominated the 2024 Spring race, leading 298 of the 312 laps. They scored pole position with Denny Hamlin, and the race win with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell. Toyota went three-for-three on the weekend, scoring wins in ARCA, Xfinity, and the Cup series races.
Amid all of the changes, the on-track product was still far from exceptional. This wasn’t the worst race in the history of motorsports, but no one will remember it five years from now. Phoenix hosts the Men’s NCAA Final Four this year and the NBA All-Star Game in 2027, but their days of crowning a NASCAR champion might be numbered.
Phoenix Raceway Track Changes
One of the unique characteristics of Phoenix is the dogleg on the front stretch. It allows the field to span out, and choose one of two different paths. There is a trade off between distance and momentum, where neither is widely considered the best option.
Would eliminating the dogleg make the racing better, or worse? Everyone has their own opinion, but no one can sure until we see it. There is not a consensus among drivers, either. Returning to the old Phoenix configuration could be a possibility in the future, but it won’t be happening anytime soon.
Kevin Harvick mentioned something on the broadcast that many people have been harping on for years. The value of the first pit stall means everything at Phoenix.
The white scoring line exiting pit lane is just feet away from that first stall, giving that team a tremendous advantage. Like Harvick said, it should be the same distance at every track.
Other Track Locations for Championship Weekend
Phoenix has been the home of championship weekend since the 2020 season. Should NASCAR ultimately decide to move on from the desert, what other options would they consider? Given the time of year and type of racing put on for the fans, there is one obvious answer – back to Miami.
It is difficult to make a case against Homestead-Miami Speedway hosting the finale. Perfect weather, electric atmosphere, phenomenal racing. It checks all of the boxes that NASCAR is looking for.
There were many good reasons why NASCAR ended the season at the facility from 2002 through 2019. The “winner take all” format of the Championship 4 plays perfectly well at Homestead, where multiple grooves provide incredible on-track racing.
The shortlist of other options would include Las Vegas, Texas, and possibly Kansas. Texas has been hit-or-miss in terms of the on-track product. Fontana is still being torn apart, and there is zero chance of a road course or superspeedway hosting the finale. Atlanta hosted the last race from 1987 through 2000 but that was a much different track back then.
Championship locations in all sports tend to move around each year. Nothing is permanent with today’s NASCAR. A move to Miami (or elsewhere) is probably the right decision, but keeping Phoenix in a small rotation of a few select tracks is likely the best move.
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