Phoenix a boon for more experienced drivers – NASCAR Talk


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But the new short-track package — plus a 50-minute-long practice session — favors more-experienced drivers.

Veteran drivers historically strong at Phoenix

The graph below shows active drivers with the best average finishing positions at Phoenix Raceway from 2010-2022.

The drivers include:

  • Harvick (793 Cup starts)
  • Denny Hamlin (617 starts)
  • Joey Logano (510 starts)
  • Brad Keselowski (488 starts)
  • Aric Almirola (427 starts).

William Byron, last week’s winner, has the least experience of any driver on the graph with only 183 Cup starts.

Old skills become valuable again

Because of the new rules package, drivers practiced for 50 minutes Friday rather than the usual 20 minutes. The additional time allowed multiple cycles of driver feedback and changes to the car. Teams also had time between practice and qualifying to modify their set-ups.

Veteran drivers (and crew chiefs) have more experience in the process of dialing in a car at a track. Teams that have been together for a long time usually communicate better than those in new partnerships.

The new package, with its decreased downforce will emphasize drivers’ skill in getting in and out of the turns. Less downforce promotes more sliding and more tire wear. That gives drivers with more experience managing tires an advantage.

One caveat: NASCAR confiscated louvers from all four Hendrick Motorsports cars following Friday’s practice and from Justin Haley’s car before Saturday’s qualifying. While we won’t know what — if anything — was problematic until well after the race, the seizure puts a question mark on these cars’ practice stats. Larson and Byron qualified in the top five, so they were clearly fast with the new louvers. There’s no way, however, to know whether the lap falloff times from practice will hold for the race.

The first win of Harvick’s last year?

Harvick has raced four generations of cars at Phoenix. Over 40 races, he’s amassed an average finish of 8.7. His nine wins are the most of any driver at that track and correspond to a win rate of 22.5%.

The California native finished in the top 10 in the last 19 Phoenix races, with five wins. He has 13 top-five finishes (68.4%) during those 19 races.

Rodney Childers leads all crew chiefs in wins at Phoenix with five. Childers has been paired with Harvick for 352 out of the 607 races Childers has served as a Cup crew chief.

Harvick and Childers last won at Phoenix in 2018, and they qualified 15th for Sunday’s race. But being fast is only part of being competitive. The 2023 throwback package should make them strong contenders for this weekend’s race — Harvick’s second-to-last Phoenix run as a full-time Cup Series driver.

Busch’s experience may not overcome his team switch

At 9.1, Kyle Busch has the second highest average finish at Phoenix from 2010-22. But he’s still four positions behind Harvick. Busch’s career average at Phoenix is 10.6 over 35 starts.

He scored top-10 finishes 71.4%…



Read More: Phoenix a boon for more experienced drivers – NASCAR Talk 2023-03-12 10:00:00

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