Phoenix Raceway 2025 NASCAR Track Profile

Since becoming the site of the championship race in 2020, there is perhaps no track where it’s more important to be on your game than Phoenix Raceway. If a driver can make it to the Championship 4 and win at Phoenix, that’s your Cup Series champion. It’s no surprise, then, that the sport’s most successful teams put more emphasis on having speed at the one-mile oval than anywhere else on the schedule.

Since the Next Gen car’s debut in 2022, it’s been a tale of two Phoenix dates. The spring race has been a tossup, with Chase Briscoe, William Byron, and Christopher Bell taking the checkers. The fall date, on the other hand, has been the Team Penske Show. Joey Logano won the race and the championship in two of the three fall races in the Next Gen era (2022, ’24). Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain won the other one in the fall of 2023, but did so by holding off Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who won the championship that day.

Despite going winless at Phoenix, Blaney has been the most consistent in the Next Gen era, boasting four-runner up finishes and none worse than fifth. That equates to an astounding 2.8-place average finish. The next highest? Byron at 8.3.

Only Logano has more laps led than Blaney in that span, leading 298 circuits to his teammate’s 266. Kyle Larson is the only other driver with more than 200 laps led in the last six races (216).

Bell also deserves a nod here. He’s only won once but has been a threat most other races. Bell had the speed to contend for the win and championship in 2022, slotting in 10th and leading 143 laps before settling for fifth last fall.

Phoenix Raceway track info

Site: Avondale, Arizona

Laps: 1-mile D-shaped oval

Banking/Turns: Variable (8-11 degrees)

Banking/Straightaways: 3 degrees

2025 Dates: March 9, Nov. 2

Distance: 312 laps, 312 miles

2024 winners

March: Christopher Bell

November: Joey Logano

Scouting report

Racers still wish this wasn’t the venue that decided the championship. The current Cup Series car doesn’t perform well on flat tracks, even after Goodyear produced a soft-compound tire for them. It’s definitely a track-position race. However, the surface is starting to age and the track is widening out with every passing year. The fans at Phoenix continue to pack the joint twice a year and teams enjoy the atmosphere and enthusiasm from one of its strongest geographic communities. The track also boasts one of the best experiences beyond what happens on the track.