What to Watch: Phoenix begins stretch of traditional tracks, but with ‘option’ twist
NASCAR CUP SERIES
By Zach Sturniolo
NASCAR.com
Published: March 8, 2025
7 Minute Read
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Christopher Bell scores third straight NASCAR win of 2025: Highlights from Phoenix
Christopher Bell has slammed his foot on the gas to open the 2025 season, and Sunday at Phoenix Raceway he claimed his third consecutive victory of the young season.
Bell edged Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson at the finish line to win the Shriners Children’s 500, the second year in a row Bell has triumphed in the March race at the Avondale, Arizona track.
Bell, who won two weeks ago at Atlanta and last weekend at Circuit of the Americas, became the first driver since 2021 to win three consecutive races. Larson accomplished the feat twice that season en route to the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Bell also became the first driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win three of the first four races and the first driver to win three straight in the Next Gen car, which debuted in 2022
Bell’s lone blemish of the season came in the season-opening Daytona 500, when he finished 31st after getting caught up in a late crash.
The 30-year-old Bell had the dominant car of the day Sunday at Phoenix, despite starting 11th. He raced into the top four by the end of the opening stage and then won Stage 2. It appeared Bell would cruise to victory until his JGR teammate brought out the caution flag with eight laps remaining in the race when Hamlin hit the wall after blowing out a tire. That forced Bell to maintain the lead on one more restart, but Hamlin and Larson made him work in the final few laps.
“Oh, my gosh, man,” Bell said after climbing out of his No. 20 Toyota. “It was all about who could get clear on the restart. Neither of us could. We were racing really, really hard there coming to the line. JGR ran 1-2, how about that?”
Hamlin nearly stole the victory from his younger teammate in one of the closest finishes in the history of Phoenix Raceway, but Bell was able to hold him off by 0.049 seconds.
“The 5 (Larson’s Chevrolet) really gave me a great push on the frontstretch on the (final) restart, down the backstretch,” Hamlin said. “I had kind of position on the 20. I knew he was going to ship it in there. Obviously we just kind of ran out of racetrack there.
“Great finish. Great job by the whole Joe Gibbs team to give us some fast cars.”
The win was the 12th of Bell’s NASCAR Cup Series career, and he’s already matched his most wins in a season, with three in both 2022 and 2024.
Josh Berry, Chris Buescher and William Byron, who won the Daytona 500, rounded out the top six. Byron also won the opening stage at Phoenix and led the Cup Series standings entering Sunday’s race.
(Car number in parentheses)
Joey Logano rebounded from a penalty in the opening segment to climb all the way back to the lead, but ultimately it was defending race winner Christopher Bell who won the stage. Bell had taken the lead following pit stops to begin Stage 2, but Logano roared through the field on the option tire to overtake him. But, in the waning laps of the segment, Logano’s softer tire finally began to wear out, and Bell was able to retake the lead and win the stage.
The segment was marred by a huge multicar crash following a restart on Lap 99. As drivers were battling mid-pack through Turn 2, a four-wide scrum became way too tight went Ty Gibbs began drifting up the track, triggering multiple collisions. The eventual melee mangled several cars and caused early exits for Riley Herbts, Carson Hocever, Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer and Shane Van Gisbergen. A handful of other drivers went multiple laps down after making repairs, including Michael McDowell and Noah Gragson.
Here are the top 10 finishers of Stage 2:
Pole sitter William Byron dominated the opening stage of the Shriners Children’s 500, leading all but the five led by Logano. But Logano was penalized for going under the yellow line on a restart and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty, which sent him to the back of the field. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece made up 30 positions as the only driver using the option tire in the opening stage. Every driver will make use of the option tires at least one during the 312-lap race.
Here are the top 10 finishers of Stage 1:
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NASCAR at Phoenix – Top 10 finishers
NASCAR at Phoenix – Stage 2
NASCAR at Phoenix – Stage 1
2025 Shriners Children’s 500 odds, expert predictions, picks, props: Use Denny Hamlin in NASCAR best bets
The first non-superspeedway oval race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season has arrived, with the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 set for Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Races on non-superspeedway ovals are generally won by top-tier drivers due to the lack of equalizers in play, and there are several with short odds atop the NASCAR odds board. Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson are +700 favorites, followed by Joey Logano (+750) and Christopher Bell (+750) in the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 odds. Should you back any of those drivers with your 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 picks? William Byron is on the pole.
The green flag is scheduled to drop at 3:30 p.m. ET. Before entering any 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 props or NASCAR parlay picks on sites like PrizePicks, DraftKings Pick6, Sleeper Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy, you need to see what elite expert auto racing handicappers Phil Bobbitt and Steve Greco have to say.
Bobbitt and Greco built a predictive engine that consistently beats the books. They find huge value and aren’t afraid of volume. Over the past four years, their followers are up more than $28,000 on $100 plays. Last season, they nailed seven outright winners in the Cup Series, returning nearly seven units for a 25.7% ROI.
They predicted Daniel Suarez’s victory in Atlanta at +3500 and were 10-2 on matchup plays. Their 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race preview nailed Joey Logano at +1100 and went 4-0 in matchup picks, and they hit Austin Cindric at +2800 in the Enjoy Illinois 300. They also nailed Ross Chastain as a +3000 longshot in the Hollywood Casino 400. Overall, they were up 47.18 units across all racing articles last season. They got off to a hot start this season, picking William Byron as a 23-1 longshot in the 2025 Daytona 500. Anyone following Bobbitt and Greco on betting apps and sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.
Now, Bobbitt and Greco have analyzed the field and odds for Sunday’s NASCAR at Phoenix 2025 race. They’re sharing their best bets only at SportsLine.
One of Bobbitt and Greco’s top NASCAR bets: They are backing Denny Hamlin to finish ahead of Kyle Busch in a head-to-head prop that pays -170 at DraftKings:
Busch is a previous champion at this track, taking the checkered flag in 2019. However, he posted an average running position of 21.0 in 14 short, flat-track races from 2023 and 2024, spending less than 30% of his laps inside the top 15.
Hamlin has been significantly better in that data set, topping the leaderboard in average running position (6.8). He has been inside the top 15 in 93.3% of his laps and averages 23.4 fast laps. Additionally, Hamlin has eight top-10 finishes and an average finishing position of 9.4 in those 14 races, making him the clear value side of this matchup.
“Here it is, the matchup of the weekend. Denny Hamlin is our #4 pick for short, flat tracks, while Kyle Busch? Let’s scroll down… yep, #23,” Bobbitt and Greco told SportsLine. See what other NASCAR prop picks they like at SportsLine.
Bobbitt and Greco have locked in more NASCAR props and identified several longshots they like to win it all. One of the drivers is going off at more than 35-1 to win the race, so anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see who he is here.
So who wins the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500, and which epic longshot stuns NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2025 NASCAR at Phoenix prop picks and best bets from a team of elite NASCAR handicappers who were up over 47 units last year, and find out.
See full NASCAR at Phoenix picks at SportsLine
Ryan Blaney +700
Kyle Larson +700
Joey Logano +750
Christopher Bell +750
Kyle Busch +850
Tyler Reddick +850
William Byron +850
Chase Elliott +1300
Denny Hamlin +1700
Chase Briscoe +2100
Ross Chastain +1400
Ty Gibbs +2200
Chris Buescher +2200
Josh Berry +3300
Brad Keselowski +3500
Bubba Wallace +4000
Alex Bowman +5500
Austin Cindric +6500
Ryan Preece +7500
Carson Hocevar +7500
Daniel Suarez +8000
Cole Custer +10000
Noah Gragson +10000
Michael McDowell +17500
Erik Jones +20000
Riley Herbst +20000
Justin Haley +20000
AJ Allmendinger +25000
Austin Dillon +25000
Shane Van Gisbergen +25000
Todd Gilliland +30000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +30000
Zane Smith +35000
John Hunter Nemechek +75000
Ty Dillon +150000
Cody Ware +250000
Katherine Legge +250000
Here are some of the sportsbooks to bet on NASCAR races, along with the various NASCAR sportsbook promos they currently offer.
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