This past Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series took on the mile-long, Avondale, Arizona racetrack for the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital 500. 37 drivers had one task ahead of them, one of them being Katherine Legge, making her Cup Series debut, being the first woman to start a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick in 2018, starting 37th on the grid. Also in the field were Christopher Bell, who was looking to make it three-in-a-row, as well as Pole-sitter William Byron, who wanted to win his second race of the year.
With Byron starting first, on the inside row, Joey Logano rolled off alongside him in second in his #22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang. Immediately, the field fired off into the “dogleg” section of the track, allowing Logano to prevail briefly, but Byron continued to challenged Logano, before Legge spun on Lap 5, on the Backstretch. The Green Flag came back out on Lap 9, with Byron and Logano continuing to battle.
On Lap 10, Noah Grason got into Cole Custer on the Backstretch, collecting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the process. All drivers were able to continue, allowing the Green Flag to come back out not long after. Logano was told by the NASCAR officials, after it was deemed that he went below the Yellow Line on the restart. Logano came in for a driver-through penalty, cutting his work out for him.
Meanwhile, Ryan Preece used the Red “Option” Tires, charging from the back of the field to third place. The “option” tire was softer, allowing for more passing, pit strategy and grip on the racetrack. Byron wound up winning Stage 1, with Tyler Reddick, Preece, Bell and Blaney rounding out the Top-5. Josh Berry and Carson Hocevar, who are both in their sophomore seasons, finished sixth and seventh, respectively, had strong runs in Stage 1 and looked to be early contenders.
Stage 2 began with Byron once again leading coming to the Green Flag, with Reddick on his outside. A hard-charging pack behind them went three-wide throughout Lap 72, still going side-by side, with Austin Cindric taking the lead not long after. On Lap 91, Michael McDowell slammed the wall after losing a tire, prompting another caution, and the field to come down pit road.
The Lap 99 restart saw Bell prevail to the lead ahead of Byron, before the “big one” struck on the Backstretch, taking out Brad Keselowski Justin Haley, Riley Herbst, Hocevar, Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe and Shane van Gisbergen. This ended several of their days, while the rest escaped with damage.
The Green Flag came back out on 113, with Bell once again leading. Logano reclaimed the lead on Lap 138, but received a challenge from Bell, as Bell eventually reclaimed the lead, enroute to the Stage 2 victory. Fighting to get back on the lead lap where Legacy Motor Club teammates, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek fought to get back on the lead lap. Nemechek prevailed, allowing him to get his lap back.
When the final stage began, Bell led once again, after collecting his valuable points towards the Championship. However, it didn’t take long for Katherine Legge to lose control on the Backstretch, after getting into Josh Berry’s left-rear, and was slammed into the driver’s side door by Daniel Suarez, ending both of their races.
Bell continued to lead on the next Green Flag, before Ryan Preece caught him on Lap 236. The Red Tires once again gave the RFK driver a huge advantage, prior to the caution coming out for debris flying off Bubba Wallace’s vehicle. Despite the quick clean up, another caution flew for Ryan Blaney on Lap 290, due to his engine expiring, as well as another caution for Ty Gibbs slamming the wall with eight-to-go.
On the final restart, Christopher Bell had to hold off the hard-chargers of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, both hungry for their first wins of the season. In a photo-finish, Bell barely surged ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate of Denny Hamlin, collecting his third win in a row. This possibly establishes Bell as the early favorite to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, carrying this momentum into Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, which will take place at 3:30PM EST/12:30PM PST on FOX.
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