Stock car racing in Arizona getting ready to take NASCAR's center stage (2024)

When Tucson nativeAlex Bowman steered into victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway last June, he became the first Arizona driver to win a race in the more than 70-year history of NASCAR’s premier Cup series.

Bowman's triumph was more than historic.

It reaffirmed that stock car racing in Arizona, in what perhaps is a surprising truth, has powered its way onto the national sports scene. The culmination will be Nov. 8, when, for the first time, the Cup championship will be determined at Phoenix Raceway.

That, unquestionably, will be the most important day ever in Arizona motorsports.

But first at the Avondale oval is Sunday's FanShield 500, fourth in the 36-race marathon that is the Cup schedule. It might provide a preview of what will happen eight months hence.

Julie Giese is in her second year as president of the raceway, itself a year out from a massive $178 million modernization thatturned it into one of the country's best for spectator and sponsor amenities. Her conversations with local business and political leaders, as well as fans, has convinced her the community is embracing this opportunity.

"Just saying the word 'championships' resonates and elevates us to a whole new level,"Giese said. "We'll have the eyes of the entire industry on us that weekend."

Power move

The sporting and business significance of NASCAR shifting to the southwest from the southeast is akin to having an extra 100 horsepower under the hood.

Fact: Not since 1986 has a non-southern track been chosen as the place the Cup will be hoisted.

The moveis intended, in part, to strengthen public appeal and corporate value outside its traditional geographic hub. The Valley offers the kind of large and demographically diverse population NASCAR's multi-million dollar sponsors crave, so marketing and promotional efforts should kick into overdrive, spiked by the extra hype and inherent prestige only a live sports championship event can deliver.

In all, four titles will be decided in three days, including the finales for the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck (Nov. 6) and Xfinity and ARCA Menards Series West (Nov. 7.)

Thus, NASCAR Championship Weekend rightfully will join the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, college football playoffs, Fiesta Bowl and Waste Management Phoenix Open as ultra happenings that the Valley has proven it can host in a winning way.

"We looked at that," NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. "The Valley lends itself to these major events. It's a fantastic place to bring corporate executives and their guests. The hotel facilities. The restaurants. The night life. Couple that with great racing at a beautiful facility."

The decision ended Homestead-Miami Speedway's 18-year run as championship weekend host.

Among the first to endorse the change was Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who won on the 1-mile oval last November in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota. Hamlin is an avid golfer who frequently winters in Scottsdale.

"It's been a great track for me and I love the idea of them hosting the championship races," Hamlin said. "They've spent a lot of money upgrading the facility to make it a great fan experience.

"It's a great city and area and they are going to do a great job of hosting our final event."

Growing together

Oh, the twists and turns along the road ultimately leading to Championship weekend, anotion that, as recently as four years ago, seemed as unlikely as a margarita bar adjacent to the garage area.

Stock cars were part of the track's long-gone but beloved Copper World Classic, eventually introducing future superstars like Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart to the mile. Some years, when the Cup season ended in California, teams towed to Avondale for a fun run before heading home to the Carolinas.

They didn't find much other than the track and its wooden grandstands.

Over time, however, the Valley's westward residential and commercial expansion began to meet up with the raceway. Longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton was among those who noticed positives for both.

"It's been interesting to watch the evolution of this areaand of the track itself," said Helton, now vice chairman. "Avondale, Glendale and other cities began to blossom and become major suburban parts of Phoenix.

"I'd like to think the (track) played a role in this, helped it along. As our race attracted interest, nationally and locally, people would have the experience of seeing us, and some of those people were looking for real estate to develop. They'd come out to watch NASCAR and say, 'There's some territory we could consider going into.'"

Good timing

NASCAR beat the Super Bowl and World Series to the Valley with the Cup series' Nov. 6, 1988, Phoenix Raceway debut. The timing proved fortuitous: That race provided much of the in-car footage used in the Tom Cruise movie "Days of Thunder." NASCAR even allowed special camera cars to make race laps.

Winner Alan Kulwicki made the TV highlights by inventing what he called the "Polish victory lap," saluting fans while driving the wrong way.

“You wonder what (track) would look like if we had not been able to secure that first NASCAR race,” former track President Bryan Sperber said. “I think this track would look very different that it does today. That was an incredibly important moment ... the people who (made the decision) knew that it was important. I don’t think at the time they could have fathomed how incredibly important it was.”

Another key decision came in 2005, when Phoenix earned a prestige-enhancing second NASCAR event, which was added to the early season schedule. Lights were installed and financial success made possible a variety of other improvements, including a vehicle tunnel. In 2011, the oval was repaved and reconfigured, a $10 million project.

An innovative $25 grandstand ticket price strategy helped keep attendance strong through the economic downturn that began in 2008. Over the next decade, however, the facility lost ground to more modern sports and entertainment venues across the Valley. Non-hardcore NASCAR fans noticed.

Desert jewel

Calls to do better intensified. Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corp. (then the Raceway's parent company), told The Republic the track was next for a long overdue renovation after the 2016 completion of a $400 million "re-imagining" of flagship Daytona International Speedway.

On Election Day in 2016,Sperber sought final approval from the ISC Board of Directors. He concluded by paraphrasing presidential candidate Donald Trump's slogan: "Make Phoenix Great Again."

Both Trump and Sperber won the day. And while the subject wasn't on the agenda, the ISC Board's OK effectively was also the start of bringing championship weekend to the raceway.

Today, the facility boasts new grandstands, hospitality suites, escalators, elevators, free Wi-Fi, interactive midway displays, large video screens, and an "INfield" that allows race-goers perimeter garage access, the drivers' red-carpet walk to their pre-race meeting. Add the margarita bar, beer garden and other attractions, and Phoenix Raceway today is,arguably, second only to Daytona in terms of fan, sponsor and competitor amenities.

"The investment was huge," saidPhelps, the NASCAR president. "The facility is beautiful. Is it a component (in moving the finale)? Sure it is. We want to put our best foot forward."

Meanwhile, Arizona drivers were racing up the leader board.

Phoenix' J.J. Yeley became a Cup and Xfinity Series regular. Scottsdale's Danica Patrick qualified on the Daytona 500 pole position. Glendale's Michael McDowell became the state's first racer to win a NASCAR national series event, in Xfinity, in 2016. Tucson's Bowman got an Xfinity win the following year and then the 2019 Cup breakthrough.

Arizona rises

Plans are to expand the Championship Weekend footprint across the Valley with driver appearances, show cars, displays and other attractions.

"We're not the NFL and we acknowledge that," NASCAR's Helton said. "What attracts us to the Phoenix market,particularly for our championships, is the energy level around major sporting events. The opportunities this area has to offer and the attitude and culture of this area.

"Now, it's on us, and it's on Julie. We'll help her to take full advantage and include all of this area into the Championship Weekend. That's a big moment for us and it's on us to do it right."

SaidGiese: "I don't want to do 100 things OK. I want to do a half-dozen things really well. That will have more positive impact on the industry to show how excited and proud we are to have the championships."

Phelps expects media partner and race broadcaster NBC will make sure "the light will be shown bright on Phoenix."

Finally, McDowell and Bowman say "Phoenix" and "Arizona" come up more often in their conversations across the NASCAR schedule.

"I think it's going to create new race fans and bring people from all around the world to the Valley," said McDowell, whose ride is the No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford.

"You think about a Super Bowl-size event. A fan's not going to be able to go down on the field and shake Tom Brady's hand. At the races you can actually do that."

"I want to win there more than any place we go," concededBowman, who expects to have 15 family and friends cheering him and the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet. "It's so neat to go to your home track for what's going to be such a big event."

AddedMcDowell:"When I first heard about it (championships in Phoenix), I thought, 'Awesome!' There is a lot of pride in that for Bowman and I."

More: What to know about NASCAR this weekend at Phoenix Raceway

NASCAR at Phoenix Raceway

Friday (gates open 10 a.m.):

10 a.m. – ARCA Menard Series practice

12:35 p.m. – Xfinity Series practice

1:35 p.m. – NASCAR Cup series practice

2:30 p.m. – ARCA Menard Series qualifying

3 p.m. – Xfinity series final practice

3:35 p.m. – NASCAR Cup Series final practice

5 p.m. – ARCA Menard Series race (150 laps/150 miles)

Saturday (gates open 8 a.m.):

11:05 a.m. – Xfinity Series qualifying

12:35 p.m. – NASCAR Cup series qualifying

2 p.m. – Xfinity Series race, LS Tractor 200 (200 laps/200 miles)

Sunday (gates open 8 a.m.)

12:30 p.m. – NASCAR Cup Series race, FanShield 500 (312 laps/312 miles)

Tickets: available online at phoenixraceway.com, by phone at 1-866-408-RACE (7223), or at the raceway ticket office.

For information on fan events including driver Q&A sessions, visit phoenixraceway.com

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