Devon HenryA Penske Perfect weekend concluded with 2023 NASCAR Champion, Ryan Blaney, claiming his second straight win in Avondale at Phoenix Raceway.
A weekend of hot temperatures, wind gusts, and tire wear made for a weekend of intense racing and action-packed drama. It also brought a side effect of 23 lead changes and tied a track record of 12 caution flags.
The smooth mustache and mullet of the 32-year-old NASCAR Champion overcame obstacles all race long to claim his 18th career win and end the historic three-win streak by Michael Jordan’s 23XI team with Tyler Reddick. Blaney fought through two early-race penalties, including pitting outside of his box, and drove his way through the field twice to put himself in position for a late-race caution.
After restarting on the second row, Blaney catapulted to the lead with ten laps to go but had to hold off the race’s dominant driver, Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing, who led a race-high 176 of 312 laps. Bell’s late-dash came up short by 0.399 seconds, allowing Blaney to claim his first checkered flag of 2026, his first win as a father, and his second straight victory at Phoenix Raceway.
“Just perseverance,” Blaney conceded of his afternoon. “I mean, everybody on the 12-group persevered all day. We had a couple mistakes that we learned from, got better, had to come from the back a couple times.
“Obviously the 20 [Bell] was the best car. But [Blaney’s crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler] made a great call to take two [on last stop]. We were able to get the lead. Hold them off. I don’t know how many more laps I could have held them off.”
The victory capped off a historic weekend for one of the most legendary teams in all of auto racing, Team Penske. The organization is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and claimed victory at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday in the NTT INDYCAR Seires race with Josef Newgarden. With Blaney capturing Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series checkered flag, Team Penske completed a sweep of the first-ever NASCAR/INDYCAR doubleheader in history.
“It’s always special to win for Roger [Penske] in anything, but this weekend was just a cool weekend,” Blaney told Sports360AZ in Victory Lane. “I love motorsports in general, but I root for Scotty [McLaughlin], and Josef [Newgarden] and David [Malukas] every weekend and it was really cool to share the track with them. Josef definitely put the pressure on us winning yesterday and he let us know that, so it was great to pull off the Team Penske sweep.”
Behind the lead duo, reigning series champion Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports finished third. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs recorded his second straight top-five finish of the year in fourth with fourth place finish with his teammate Denny Hamlin rounding out the top-five.
Glendale native, Michael McDowell overcame a flat tire early in the race to rebound for a ninth-place finish, his fourth top-ten in his last six races at his home track. The 41-year-old continues a stellar start to the 2026 season, residing eighth in the points after four races. Tucson’s Alex Bowman was unfortunately sidelined for the race weekend after being diagnosed with vertigo earlier this week. While it is reported the 32-year-old is progressing well, there is no timetable for his return.
"It's our history. This is what this place was really built for."
What's old is new again!🏆
8⃣ years after winning in @INDYCAR's last visit to @phoenixraceway, @josefnewgarden made an improbable run to put @Team_Penske back in Victory Lane at the Indianapolis of the West! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/q5eqCPs5dy
— Devon Henry (@devonhenry77) March 8, 2026
NASCAR stays west for this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Meanwhile, INDYCAR heads to the streets Arlington to battle around the homes of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers.
The speed and thrills of NASCAR returns to the Valley of the Sun, October 16-18 with the ARCA Menards West Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and NASCAR Cups Series for a group of pivotal race in the The Chase, NASCAR latest postseason format.
