Friday, March 7

• ARCA Menards and ARCA West General Tire 150 (8 pm ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM)

Saturday, March 8

• NXS Kennametal Pole Qualifying (The CW App at 11:30 a.m. ET)
• NCS Practice and Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Amazon Prime at 2 p.m. ET)
• NXS Race: GOVX 200 (The CW, MRN, SiriusXM at 5 p.m. ET)

Sunday, March 9

• NCS Race: Shriners Children’s 500 (FS1 & FOX Deportes, MRN, SiriusXM at 3:30 p.m. ET)

Latest Phoenix Raceway Storylines:

·       As NASCAR returns to Phoenix Raceway March 7-9, the track and the sport will band together to make a difference within the community. Race week events include:

• Wednesday, March 5 – Valley of the Sun United Way Education Kit Volunteer Activity: From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., join Phoenix Raceway and your fellow campers at the Camper Store Pad as we assemble summer educational kits that will be distributed to children served by Valley of the Sun United Way. Campers will be joined by 2021 DAYTONA 500 champion and Glendale native Michael McDowell.
• Wednesday, March 5 – NASCAR Day at Boys and Girls Club with Michael McDowell: From 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., 2021 DAYTONA 500 champion and Glendale native Michael McDowell and Phoenix Raceway President Latasha Causey will participate in a NASCAR ‘pit stop’ event for youth at the Bob Bové Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley in Avondale. Please RSVP to Matt Humphrey to cover the event ([email protected]).
• Thursday, March 6 – STEM Day at Phoenix Raceway infield with Daniel Suárez: From 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Phoenix Raceway will host its STEM Day where over 450 students from across the valley will engage in fun, educational activities that highlight the science behind motorsports. Please RSVP to Matt Humphrey to cover the event ([email protected]).
• Friday, March 7 – NASCAR Foundation Speediatrics Fun Day Festival powered by Kaulig Racing: From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., The NASCAR Foundation will host students from PH Gonzales Elementary School at the Phoenix Raceway midway (near Kids Zone) for the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival.
•  Phoenix Raceway has announced that Dave & Buster’s will carry naming rights for the Dave & Buster’s Gamer Garage, located in the infield connected to the NASCAR Cup Series Garage adjacent to the track’s dogleg.

Significant Events at Phoenix Raceway:

·       Construction was completed on Phoenix Raceway in January of 1964. The facility was built by Richard Hogue, an amateur sports car racer. The facility was built in the foothills of the Estrella Mountains and originally consisted of a one-mile oval, a quarter mile drag strip and a 2.5-mile road course.

·       The first race held at Phoenix Raceway was in January of 1968 and the event was run on the 2.5-mile road course and won by Don White.

·       In October of 1970 Hollywood giant Steve McQueen wins the 17 lap ‘Winter Sprint’ sports car race on the track’s road course in Porsche 908 from pole position, setting a new lap record of 1:41.09

·       On Nov. 25, 1973, Phoenix Raceway holds its first USAC Midget race and the event was won by Billy Englehart.

·    The first NASCAR race held at Phoenix Raceway was on November 27, 1977, and it was a NASCAR Winston West Series (now ARCA Menards Series West) race won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough.

·       Sept. 15, 1985 – Emmett ‘Buddy’ Jobe purchases Phoenix Raceway from Dennis Wood. At the time, the track featured less than 10,000 reserved seats.

·       April of 1987 – Lightning strikes the track’s main grandstand, burning the majority of the structure to the ground. Reconstruction begins.

·       October of 1988 – Construction of a three-story suite building is completed outside Turn 1. Reserved seating capacity is increased to 30,000 at Phoenix Raceway.

·       NASCAR Hall of Famer Alan Kulwicki won the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway on November 6, 1988. Kulwicki performed his ‘Polish Victory Lap’ following the event.

·       June of 1991 – During the summer months, the infield course is redesigned to a new configuration with 11 turns and 1.51 miles of track.

·       April of 1997 – International Speedway Corporation (now NASCAR) purchases Phoenix Raceway from Emmett ‘Buddy’ Jobe.

·       June of 2003 – Upgrades to Phoenix – Turn Two is modified for safety while a tunnel is installed under Turn Four.

·       November of 2004 – Phoenix Raceway installs track lights, which will change the way racing is seen at Phoenix. The lights create 146 million lumens (a typical table lamp is 25 lumens), for a total of 1.5 million watts of power per hour. 

·       April of 2005 – Phoenix Raceway President Bryan R. Sperber announces the expansion of the Bobby Allison Grandstand, one of the most extensive construction projects in the history of the track.

·       The first spring NASCAR Cup Series race was held on April 23, 2005, and was also the first night race, which was won by Kurt Busch driving for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

·       The track underwent its first repave in 2011. The construction began in March and concluded in September of that year. The following changes were made during the construction period (March – Sept. 2011):

• Widened the frontstretch from 52 to 62 feet and reconfigured pit road with the installation of concrete pit stalls
• Pushed the dog-leg curve between Turn 2 and Turn 3 out 95 feet and tightened the turn radius of the dog-leg from 800 to 500 feet
• Implemented banking, including 11-degree banking between Turn 1 and Turn 2; 10-11-degree banking in the apex of the dog-leg; and 9-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4.
• March 1, 2013 – Abraham Calderon captures the checkered flag in the inaugural stateside running of the NASCAR Mexico Series at Phoenix Raceway.
• 2014 – Phoenix Raceway celebrated its 50th anniversary.
• Following the spring race in 2015 the track added SAFER barrier. The outer wall around the entire track is completely protected by SAFER barrier, the longest stretch of new barrier was on the front stretch which still had portions of brick wall from when the track first opened in 1964.
• Monument Hill a.k.a. “Rattlesnake Hill”, a part of the Estrella Mountain range, overlooks turns 1 and 2.
• Following the 2017 season, the track was renamed from Phoenix Raceway to ISM Raceway. Then in 2019 the track was renamed from ISM Raceway back to Phoenix Raceway.
• Phoenix Raceway underwent a $178 million modernization following the Spring race of 2018.  Upgrades included:
• Relocating the start/finish line to what was previously Turn 2 area and reconfigured pit road.
• Four new escalators, nine new elevators, 51 new and upgraded lounge style suites, 11 garage offices, and three garage suites, new pedestrian tunnel, new infield experience with garage access, media center, driver’s meeting area and victory lane.
• Extension of the grandstands around turn 2 and the demolition of previous front stretch grand stands, control tower and TV booth.
• March 26, 2019 – The Valley of the Sun will play host to a new championship sporting event as NASCAR announced that the NASCAR Championship Weekend will be held at Phoenix Raceway, November 6-8, 2020, for the first time in the sport’s history.