It’s a championship preview as NASCAR visits the valley for the first time in 2022. Today’s Ruoff Mortgage 500, the fourth race in NASCAR’s season, sets the stage for November’s Championship race, the first championship featuring NASCAR’s new seventh generation of cars.
2021 Daytona 500 champion and Glendale native, Michael McDowell, looks to set some foundation for the early part of the season after parts issues and bad luck have led Front Row Motorsports to stumble after another great showing in Daytona. The small team has confidence that they can run with the stars in these new cars and showed speed in practice on Saturday.
Tucson native and seven-time Cup Series winner, Alex Bowman has a chance to build on momentum following last week’s win at Las Vegas. The Hendrick Motorsports driver and his sponsor Ally donated $4,800 to local animal shelter, The Barn House, and if Alex can win at his home track, that donation is increased to $10,000.
"I want to win there more than anywhere else we go."
I had a chance to catch up with Tucson's @Alex_Bowman while in @DAYTONA about returning to his home track.
The @allyracing driver starts 9th in today's #RuoffMortgage500 at @phoenixraceway, eyeing that elusive home track win. pic.twitter.com/hQ07lAxjev
— Devon Henry (@devonhenry77) March 13, 2022
The green flag coverage drops on FOX at 12:30 p.m. MST.