NASCAR Cup Phoenix
NASCAR, Goodyear and Ryan Blaney get a win in Phoenix
Sunday was a showcase for everything the industry has been working towards
Matt Weaver
Edited: Mar 9, 2026, 3:53 AM
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Ryan Blaney won the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway but it was also a victory for the NASCAR industry at large.
That was inarguably the best race in the five-year, nine-event history of the seventh-generation car at the one-mile track in Avondale, Arizona. Goodyear’s continued efforts combined with NASCAR’s first race using the 750-horsepower package with this car on an oval gave everyone reasons to believe in this facility again.
Why?
Blaney won this race because his Team Penske No. 12 was the class of the field but two issues on pit road forced him to have to drive from the back and he did so surgically. Again, that is a testament to the driver but also this rules package as this simply would not have been possible at Phoenix in the first two or three years of the NextGen.
The car did not have enough power and made too much grip when combined with its aerodynamic tendencies. NASCAR has methodically worked on the short track package and what Blaney accomplished was a byproduct of those efforts.
“It was a great tire,” Blaney said. “The added horsepower was good. We're creeping up on it. Hopefully we get a little bit more going forward. I always think that's good. You have comers and goers and stuff like that. …
“I thought it wore really good. You could make it angry and pay a penalty for it at the end of the run. I thought that added horsepower stepped that up, too. You could really buzz the right rear if you weren't careful.”
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That meant cars ended up all over the racing surface in the pursuit of making speed and taking care of their tires. There was dirty air, because these are moving objects, but it wasn’t insurmountable.
All of this gave crew chiefs the option to take four tires or two at the end, and two ultimately won over four, but Christopher Bell arguably gets Blaney if he had one more lap or disposed of Kyle Larson one lap sooner.
Regardless, that so many options were viable at the end is a testament to the industry’s efforts, and even a disappointed Bell conceded it.
“I thought the racing was great,” Bell said. “The horsepower was really, really necessary and I would love to keep bumping it up. This really put it in the drivers’ hands and the teams’ hands. You saw Blaney be able to work his way back a couple of times. I ended up in the back once and the cream was able to rise to the top.
“More horsepower is a lot better.”
Sure, there were some tire failures over the course of the race and that caused a handful of cautions but that was also the byproduct of teams trying to find every tenth of a second with one of the few variables they control in this spec car era.
Denny Hamlin credited Goodyear after the race.
“This tire is great,” Hamlin said. “It really allows the drivers and teams to be in control of their destiny. It’s always going to be a battle of how far can you push it. I thought the racing was great and overall, a lot of cautions because restarts, and people getting into each other. That’s part of it.”
Blaney echoed the sentiment that Goodyear did nothing wrong here too.
“As far as the tire failures go, that's just people pushing air pressure,” Blaney said. “When tires wear out a lot, people are going to push air pressure. How low can we get? You're going to see blowouts. What's the basement without having a problem?”
That’s racing.
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So the end was the convergence of all these different storylines. Blaney and Ty Gibbs took two tires at the end in the hopes of retaining clean air. Blaney won that battle with Gibbs and it worked. Bell took four and had he gotten Larson one lap sooner or the race lasted one lap longer, that arguably works.
That nearly 10 teams had a chance to pull a lever that works, is a good day for a car that struggles to give you a win from anywhere but the front row. That Blaney had to drive through the field twice allowed both an elite driver and team to shine.
And it’s also the 2023’s champion’s first win as a father.
Obviously it would have been cool to have Gianna and Charley here, just to be with them, have a photo.
“Looking forward to getting home tonight and seeing them,” Blaney said. “It just changes your perspective. Whenever I get home Sunday nights and see her and him, it just completely changes everything.
“For days like today, it's just the cherry on top. Really, really lucky to have a healthy son and a healthy wife. Hopefully we can do it at some point where they're here. Yeah, pretty cool.”
Photos from Phoenix - Race
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
Phoenix - Sunday, in photos
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