NASCAR heads to Phoenix this weekend for the fourth race of the Cup Series season after Las Vegas saw Kyle Larson dominate the field en route to a complete sweep. The importance of the upcoming race in Arizona is not lost on teams and drivers, who will run the latest short track package for the first time after testing in the off-season. Coupled with the fact that this will also be the venue for the Championship race, the teams are laser-focused on performance this weekend.
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Speaking to NASCAR, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. expressed just how important the upcoming race was, saying “Very important, very very important. More than anything, just like a sense of what you need to work on throughout the year. You always want to go there that first race and be really good because it gives you confidence and you don’t have to worry about it, you just worry about getting there.”
Truex., who has an average finish of 15.3 in 36 career Cup Series races at the raceway, has just one win at the track, coming in 2021. The 2017 Cup champion is currently third in the standings but worryingly, without a top-5 finish so far.
Tyler Reddick on why the Phoenix race could be tricky
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who narrowly finished behind Kyle Larson at Vegas despite pit road issues, admitted that while the track is already a tricky one, the debut of the new package would also be a challenge for most teams.
“I think it’s a tricky place to get the balance of the car right. If you miss it by a little bit you’re just struggling all day, so I think it’s just a really sensitive track. Another thing to make it challenging is we’ll be running the that new package there so we’ll be kind of figuring out as we go,” said the #45 driver, who has two top-3 finishes but no wins at the track.
After his second-place finish last weekend, Reddick is 12th in the standings despite finishing outside the top 20 at Daytona and Atlanta.
