Here is the thing about desert racing: it can turn on a single tire strategy, and that is exactly what we saw unfold. Joey Logano grabbed the win in Stage 1 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chase race at Phoenix Raceway, asserting himself by leading the final nine laps of the opening frame. This desert showdown marks the seventh of 10 postseason events in The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
Behind him, Denny Hamlin crossed the line second by a hair over Christopher Bell. Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe completed the top five. William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Josh Berry rounded out the rest of the top 10 and walked away as the initial points earners in this 312-lap event.
Things looked very different when the afternoon first got underway. Blaney, starting from the pole, shot out to the front and paced the field for the first 44 laps. That early rhythm broke when the first caution waved after a tangle in Turn 4 involving Michael McDowell and Riley Herbst while they were scrapping for 20th position. Herbst clipped the No. 71 Chevrolet from behind following some close-quarters racing down the backstretch.
That yellow flag triggered the first round of pit stops, and the pit lane order shuffle changed the entire complexion of the race. Hamlin, Byron, and Elliott opted for two tires and rocketed out as the first three drivers off pit road. Larson, fighting his way forward from a 22nd-place start after making a minuscule gain during the first stint, also took two tires and lined up fifth. Unfortunately for Blaney, a slow four-tire stop dropped him all the way back to eighth in the running order.
That was when Logano made the call that won him the stage. Choosing four fresh tires instead of two, he hunted down his rivals and passed Hamlin at Lap 51 to secure the stage win. Meanwhile, the two-tire gamble backfired spectacularly for Larson, who plummeted all the way back to 22nd—right where he started—leaving him empty-handed without any stage points.
