Shriners Children’s 500: Storylines To Follow

On Sunday, Avondale, Arizona will play host to the fourth race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Four months after crowning a NASCAR Cup Series champion, Phoenix Raceway will be the backdrop for a crucial early-season showdown. Here’s what you need to know before the green flag drops for the Shriners Children’s 500.

Spire flexes their muscle

If you need any indication that Spire Motorsports is on the up-and-up, Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions should be all the proof you need. Not only did Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell go 1-2 on the speed chart in practice, but Spire put multiple cars inside the top-eight in qualifying for the first time ever. It’s another encouraging sign in a season full of them so far for a young organization trying to establish itself as a weekly contender.

What’s wrong with Kyle Larson?

A week after a disastrous outing at Circuit of the Americas, Larson and the No. 5 team didn’t do themselves any favors on Saturday. Larson will roll off the grid in 17th on Sunday, but the more worrying number stemmed from practice. In a 45-minute session in which Larson ran 68 laps, he was only 26th-fastest on the speed charts – not exactly indicative of a car that will be in contention on Sunday. It appears as if Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels will have some work to do on Sunday.

Byron aims to continue hot start

All the talk this week has rightfully surrounded Christopher Bell, who will go for his third consecutive Cup Series win at Phoenix on Sunday. Lost in the talk of Bell, however, has been the hot start for Daytona 500 winner William Byron. After winning the Daytona 500, Byron finished second at COTA to Bell last week and was running inside the top-five at Atlanta before being involved in a crash. He won the pole on Saturday, and won at Phoenix in the spring of 2023. Byron has been the only driver to match Bell’s pace early in the season, and if anyone can stop Bell from a three-peat, it’s Byron.

Guildford, England, native Katherine Legge will make her NASCAR Cup Series debut in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet on Sunday, starting 37th.

Shriners Children’s 500 Schedule – Sunday, March 9

Pre-race coverage: 2 p.m. ET, FS1 – NASCAR RaceDay

2:30 p.m. ET, MRN

NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500, 3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notable Practice Results:

1. Carson Hocevar
2. Michael McDowell
3. Tyler Reddick
4. Austin Cindric
5. Chris Buescher
6. William Byron
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Erik Jones
9. Christopher Bell
10. John Hunter Nemechek

12. Bubba Wallace

14. Ryan Blaney

17. Brad Keselowski

20. Chase Elliott

21. Kyle Busch

26. Kyle Larson

31. Shane van Gisbergen

37. Katherine Legge

Shriners Children’s 500 Starting Lineup:

1. William Byron
2. Joey Logano
3. Carson Hocevar
4. Josh Berry
5. Erik Jones
6. Chase Elliott
7. Michael McDowell
8. Justin Haley
9. Tyler Reddick
10. Denny Hamlin
11. Christopher Bell
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Chris Buescher
14. Austin Cindric
15. Kyle Busch
16. AJ Allmendinger
17. Kyle Larson
18. Riley Herbst
19. Bubba Wallace
20. Brad Keselowski
21. Austin Dillon
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
23. Cole Custer
24. Ross Chastain
25. Ty Dillon
26. Zane Smith
27. Todd Gilliland
28. Ryan Preece
29. Shane van Gisbergen
30. Chase Briscoe
31. Daniel Suarez
32. Alex Bowman
33. Noah Gragson
34. Ty Gibbs
35. Cody Ware
36. John Hunter Nemechek
37. Katherine Legge

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