NASCAR caps off historic weekend at Phoenix Raceway with Shriners Children’s 500

Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

AVONDALE – NASCAR at Phoenix this weekend has been historic. The three-day event has produced moment after moment, final lap wins, and controversial overtime endings. Phoenix Raceway is notorious for waving the caution flag, and that continued to ring true for some exciting finishes.

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ACRA General Tire 150: Crews win in upset over Butterbean

The 16-year-old Brent Crews was underdog over the charismatic Brendan “Butterbeam” Queen, who just won at Daytona. Queen dominated a majority of the field, but six caution flags stalled all of his momentum. Saturday saw heavy rain throughout the day, that slicked up the already difficult track, making it the longest ARCA race in its history.

Regardless of the delays, Queen led on the final overtime lap with Crews beside him. “Butterbean” jumped to a great start, but another caution flag caused a restart on the overtime lap. Crews realizing his opponents strategy, adjusted course and passed Queen to secure the win.

Xfinity Series GovX 200: Allgaier loses via late caution flag; Almirola controversial win

Justin Allgaier has a forgettable history in Phoenix. Despite winning the Xfinity Series Championship back in November, Allgaier has a bad track record at Phoenix Raceway. The 38-year-old would race a perfect 190 laps before late caution flags, or other mistakes would deter his stellar performance. And it was the same on Saturday.

With four laps to go, Allgaier had a comfortable lead over second place Alex Bowman, when a caution flag enforced a two-lap overtime period. Allgaier’s lead vanished and it was a sprint to the finish line. The final lap was physical, with Allgaier and Bowman bumping to the finish. That is when Aric Almirola cut between to get infront of Allgaier and neck-to-neck with Bowman. The Arizona native had the inside leverage on the final turn, but a late bump by Almirola forced Bowman into the wall.

The hit gifted Almirola the win, making it the second closest race in Xfinity Series history, but fans online found the move controversial. However, Almirola defended the move postgame.

Aric Almirola’s perspective on the last turn that led him to winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series GovX200 at Phoenix Raceway. #NASCAR #GOVX200 pic.twitter.com/EBXzmJSmnf

— Burn City Sports (@BurnCitySports) March 9, 2025

NASCAR Shriners Children’s 500: Bell on the verge of history

The grand finale of NASAR at Phoenix is the Shriners Children’s 500, where Christopher Bell has an opportunity to win three races in a row for the first time since 2021. Winning three races in a row has only happened 28 times in NASCAR modern history, and Bell has a chance to add his name to that list.

However, the field is tough. Throughout the lineup, previous winners and former NASCAR champions will try to stop Bell from making history. The 30-year-old is still the favorite to achieve history, +450 on most Sportsbooks ahead of Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway.

Bell does start at a disadvantage starting at 11 on the lineup. A majority of previous Phoenix Raceway winners have come within the top 10. #20 will need to break that curse to get into the history books.

NASCAR Shriners Children’s 500 starting lineup and preview

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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports