NASCAR viewer’s guide: Phoenix Raceway

The NASCAR Cup Series ends its West Coast Swing with a pivotal trip to Phoenix Raceway, building the notebook for this fall’s championship race.

Cup teams tested the Next Gen car at the 1-mile, D-shaped oval in late January, the final test before the 2022 season began. Martin Truex Jr. was victorious in March 2021 and was part of the Championship 4 chasing a title last November. But it was Kyle Larson who claimed his first Cup championship and first win at Phoenix when the series last visited to end the season.

Three races into the new year, it’s time to see who’s building momentum and who’s falling behind entering Phoenix Raceway for Sunday’s race (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

To the shock of very few, the elite teams in NASCAR remain elite. Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports are the lone programs to score victories in this young season, and Joe Gibbs Racing found two of its drivers — Truex and Kyle Busch — duking it out for the apparent win before a late caution in Las Vegas.

Drivers are quickly learning how to balance their cars on the edge of control — some quicker than others. And the best teams in the sport tend to feature the best wheelmen too. Maybe that’s why Larson, Truex, Joey Logano, Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric and Busch hold the top five points positions too.

On the contrary, these first three Cup races have displayed the most parity in nearly 50 years.

Twenty-five drivers with top 10s thus far is an astounding number. And while the faces highest among the leaderboard have been from familiar teams, take a look around at who else has been competitive. In consecutive weeks, winless drivers Tyler Reddick (90, Auto Club) and Ross Chastain (83, Vegas) have led the most laps respectively.

Erik Jones, driving the