What Happened?
When the checkered flag dropped at Phoenix Raceway, Christopher Bell earned partial redemption after a brake failure prematurely ended his championship bid in the 2023 season finale.
Bell dominated the final laps of the race, opening up a large gap over second-place Chris Buescher, who drove past Ty Gibbs just before the race’s end. Though he had a dominant car, Bell did not exactly have control the entire race.
A slower qualifying lap left Bell mid-pack to start the race. A long green flag run in stage two allowed Bell to drive to the stage win, but a bad pit stop pushed the No. 20 back in the running order.
A slew of cautions and mixed strategy further jumbled up the field, including some rather large crashes.
After the track position shuffle, only Bell proved strong enough to drive back through to the front, regaining the lead when Martin Truex Jr. pitted late in the race for fuel.
While both races last year had cautions break up the race late, this event stayed green, and Bell drove off into the desert sunset.
What Really Happened?
For the first time this season in Cup, a car without a bowtie felt the falling confetti in victory lane. Toyota made a statement by dominating both the race and the weekend.
Yes, Chevrolet was in charge the first three weekends. It could very well rule the next 30. But does it really matter? Despite winning half of the races in the Next Gen car, Chevrolet has zero championships in that time.
The reason? Short track struggles.
The Ford and Toyota redesign remains a hot topic at the front end of the season, and discourse will likely continue as the year plays out with its various twists and turns. But after this weekend, the area of focus for Toyota’s new Camry seems very apparent. It had to get better at short tracks, namely Phoenix.
Of the four previous Next Gen Phoenix races, Toyota had led a total of 15 laps. In that time, Ford and Chevrolet have won twice.
Additionally, Team Penske’s late season success, especially at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix, gives the blueprint for winning championships: only Phoenix matters.
On Sunday (March 10), Toyota led 96% of the laps. Don’t get me…
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