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2020 FanShield 500

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2020 FanShield 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 4 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
The 2020 FanShield 500 program cover, featuring Kyle Busch. "Speed Fest!"
The 2020 FanShield 500 program cover, featuring Kyle Busch. "Speed Fest!"
Date March 8, 2020 (2020-03-08)
Location Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona
Course Permanent racing facility
1.022 mi (1.645 km)
Distance 316 laps, 322.952 mi (519.742 km)
Scheduled Distance 312 laps, 318.864 mi (513.162 km)
Average speed 94.407 miles per hour (151.933 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 26.065
Most laps led
Driver Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 94
Winner
No. 22 Joey Logano Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon
Nielsen Ratings 4.575 million[9]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Kurt Becker (1 & 2) and Dan Hubbard (3 & 4)

The 2020 FanShield 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 8, 2020, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 316 laps—extended from 312 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 1.022 mi (1.645 km) oval, it was the fourth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. This was the last race to run before the season was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Report

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Background

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Phoenix Raceway was the site of the fourth race of the season

Phoenix Raceway, is a 1.022 mi (1.645 km), low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The race would be Kyle Larson's last race with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
No. Driver Team Manufacturer
00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet
1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
6 Ross Chastain (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford
8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Garrett Smithley Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet
52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford
53 Joey Gase (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota
77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota
96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
Official entry list

Practice

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Ryan Newman made a return to the race track as a visitor for the first time after his crash at the Daytona 500, where he was injured, three weeks earlier.[10]

First practice

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William Byron was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 26.747 seconds and a speed of 134.595 mph (216.610 km/h).[11]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.747 134.595
2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.896 133.849
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.005 133.309
Official first practice results

Final practice

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Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.823 seconds and a speed of 134.213 mph (215.995 km/h).[12]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.823 134.213
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.825 134.203
3 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.935 133.655
Official final practice results

Qualifying

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Chase Elliott scored the pole position.

Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 26.065 and a speed of 138.116 mph (222.276 km/h).[13]

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time
1 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.065
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.110
3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.117
4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 26.162
5 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 26.190
6 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.190
7 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 26.197
8 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.216
9 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 26.222
10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.230
11 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.257
12 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.278
13 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 26.287
14 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 26.289
15 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 26.295
16 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.339
17 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.364
18 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.388
19 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26.448
20 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26.449
21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.481
22 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 26.502
23 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26.512
24 6 Ross Chastain (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26.527
25 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 26.528
26 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 26.541
27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 26.635
28 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 26.668
29 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.693
30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.772
31 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 26.873
32 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 26.909
33 52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 27.169
34 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 27.211
35 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 27.395
36 51 Garrett Smithley Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 27.464
37 53 Joey Gase (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 27.533
38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 27.584
Official qualifying results

Race recap

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Joey Logano won the race.

Before the race, for the O'Reilly Pre-Race Party, the Arizonian band Harry Luge Band would play a concert in the InField two hours before the race. Wrestler Anthony Robles would try and break the Guinness record for most pull ups with an 80 pound bag, which he succeeded. Country music star Blake Shelton and Pitbull would perform Get Ready and introduce drivers. Skylar Astin, star from "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist", would sing the national anthem. Four F-35s from Luke Air Force Base would perform the fly over at the end of the national anthem. Hudson Derbyshire, son of the CEO of FanShield, Bryan (who accompanied him, along with his mom) would give out the starting command.[14]

Stage One

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The start of the race showed pole sitter Chase Elliott pull out to the lead with Kevin Harvick following behind. Kyle Larson, in what would be his last race with Chip Ganassi Racing passed Harvick on lap 2. While the leaders were pulling away from each other, there were lots of battles for position in the midfield, including Martin Truex Jr. fighting his way up to the front after having to start at the rear. The traction compound poured on the track, PJ1, was a big factor throughout the race as it provided different grooves to run on. With around 40 laps to go in the stage, Denny Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto were fighting for position. Also, Harvick had caught up to Elliott, and was battling him for the lead, and would keep fighting until lap 57, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr., trying to pass the lapped car of Joey Gase hit Gase's left quarter panel and spun into the wall, damaging the back end of his car.

During pit stops, all the lead lap cars decided to pit. Stenhouse was the leader coming off of pit road, but took no tires. Harvick would finally be able to grab the lead off of Elliott, with his crew having a faster time. Elliott would come up 2nd, then Hamlin in 3rd, DiBenedetto in fourth, and Logano rounding out the top 5.

A crash on lap 64, involving Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski. Blaney would retire due to damage sustained from the crash.

During the lap 64 restart, Harvick would pull out to the lead; however, this would be short lived, as while Hamlin was battling for position, Hamlin's car got loose and went up the racetrack, collecting the nearby cars of Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney and sending all three into the outside wall. Keselowski would not suffer much damage, contrary to his teammate, Blaney who had to retire from the race. Hamlin would also be plagued with damage.

With a 4 lap dash to the end of the stage, Harvick and Elliott would duke it out, with Logano following closely behind. However, Harvick would pull out the lead and win the stage. Meanwhile, Erik Jones would win the final stage points in a tough battle with Clint Bowyer.

Race

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Stage Results

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Stage One Laps: 75

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 10
2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 8
4 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 7
5 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6
6 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5
7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4
8 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 3
9 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2
10 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1
Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 115

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 10
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 9
3 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 8
4 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7
5 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6
6 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5
7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 4
8 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 3
9 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2
10 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

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Stage Three Laps: 122

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 13 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 316 52
2 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 54
3 10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 316 46
4 4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 316 35
5 18 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 35
6 7 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 316 31
7 1 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 39
8 6 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 37
9 16 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 29
10 17 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 27
11 14 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 316 36
12 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 25
13 9 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 316 31
14 8 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 28
15 25 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 316 22
16 22 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 316 21
17 23 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 316 20
18 20 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 316 19
19 27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 316 18
20 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 316 17
21 31 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 316 16
22 19 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 316 15
23 24 6 Ross Chastain (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 316 0
24 15 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 316 13
25 26 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 316 12
26 33 52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 316 0
27 28 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 316 11
28 11 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 313 10
29 37 53 Joey Gase (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 313 0
30 35 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 312 7
31 32 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 292 6
32 12 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 282 17
33 29 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 264 13
34 34 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 208 3
35 36 51 Garrett Smithley Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 181 2
36 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 129 1
37 5 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 65 1
38 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 51 0
Official race results

Race statistics

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  • Lead changes: 20 among 7 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 12 for 73
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 20 minutes and 50 seconds
  • Average speed: 94.407 miles per hour (151.933 km/h)

Media

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Television

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Fox Sports covered their 16th race at the Phoenix Raceway. Mike Joy and two-time Phoenix winner Jeff Gordon called the race from the broadcast booth, the last time Fox would have commentators in the booth at the track for the season, and the last for either of NASCAR's television partners until the Charlotte road course race. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties. Larry McReynolds and Jamie McMurray provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Fox
Booth announcers Pit reporters In-race analysts
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon
Jamie Little
Regan Smith
Vince Welch
Matt Yocum
Larry McReynolds
Jamie McMurray

Radio

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MRN covered the radio action for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Rusty Wallace called the race when the field raced past the start/finish line. Kurt Becker called the action from turns 1 & 2 and Dan Hubbard called the action from turns 3 & 4. Pit lane was manned by Kim Coon, Steve Post, and Dillon Welch.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Alex Hayden
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Kurt Becker
Turns 3 & 4: Dan Hubbard
Kim Coon
Steve Post
Dillon Welch

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ "2020 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 17, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  2. ^ "Phoenix International Raceway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  5. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  6. ^ "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "FanShield 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "FanShield 500 ratings". ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  10. ^ Utter, Jim (6 March 2020). "Ryan Newman visits Phoenix: "It's great to be alive"". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  11. ^ Utter, Jim (March 6, 2020). "Hendrick teammates Byron and Elliott lead first Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Avondale, Arizona: Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  12. ^ Utter, Jim (March 6, 2020). "Chase Elliott tops Kyle Busch in final Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Avondale, Arizona: Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Utter, Jim (March 7, 2020). "Chase Elliott tops Kevin Harvick for Cup pole at Phoenix". Motorsport.com. Avondale, Arizona: Motorsport Network. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "FanShield 500: 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' Star Skylar Astin to Perform National Anthem Ahead of NASCAR Race". Sports. Retrieved 2021-07-01.


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