2020 FanShield 500

The 2020 FanShield 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on 8 March 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 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.

Background
Phoenix Raceway, is a 1.022 mi, 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.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Practice
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.

First practice
William Byron was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 26.747 seconds and a speed of 134.595 mph.

Final practice
Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.823 seconds and a speed of 134.213 mph.

Qualifying
Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 26.065 and a speed of 138.116 mph.

Stage 1
Elliott took the lead as the green flag waved, he had to battle Harvick for a couple of laps before establishing a two-second advantage. The two slowly pulled away from the rest of the field, with drivers complaining of a number of handling issues.

Truex had no issues as he marched towards the front. Joe Gibbs Racing has had a number of issues this year causing their drivers to start at the rear of the pack. At the midway point of the Stage, Truex recorded the 3,600th pass of a car on track by a JGR driver. Who counted that statistic?

On Lap 57, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(47) spun and backed into the wall. The yellow flag gave everyone the opportunity to hit pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and chassis adjustments. After pit stops, Elliott and Harvick still held the two top spots. Denny Hamlin(11), Matt DiBenedetto(21), and Brad Keselowski(2) rounding out the top five.

Before completing a lap, Hamlin got loose and tagged the rear of Keselowski. They both hit the outside wall and collected Ryan Blaney(12) in the incident. Blaney, the points leader, suffered the most damage and was forced to the garage; the first car out of the race. Hamlin and Keselowski were able to continue but multiple pit stops sent them to the rear of the lead lap cars.

Stage 2
Harvick and Elliott did not pit and again led the field to the green flag. Restarts have been very similar to last week, with drivers going three, four, and five wide trying to gain positions. Battles around the race track scrambled the running order, including at the front. Harvick lead, then Elliott passed him, Harvick continued to hound the #9 car and regained the lead a few laps later.

Keselowski’s crew did a good job of repairing the cosmetic damage to his car and he raced his way into third place. Followed by Logano and Kyle Busch. Hamlin, was not as fortunate, with the damage to his car slowing his pace, he went a lap down.

Ross Chastain(6), running in his third race as a fill-in for Ryan Newman, held down a top 20 position. Newman, making his first visit to a track since his Daytona crash, sat on the pit box watching the action.

The Final Stage
Off pit road, its Keselowski out first, followed by Truex, Reddick, Kyle Busch, and Harvick with another slow stop. Keselowski jumped out to the lead on the restart and Reddick moved to second. Harvick and Logano ducked under Reddick to make it three-wide, causing the #8 car to get loose and drop a half dozen positions. Chase Elliott worked his way back into the top 10 with 100 laps to go.

With 96 laps to go, Quin Houff(00) had his engine let go and brought out another caution. Most of the leaders came to pit road and took four tires, Reddick opted to take just two trying to regain track position. As they exited the pits, young guns outnumbered the veterans at the front of the pack. Truex in front, Reddick in second, followed by Erik Jones(20), Logano, and rookie Christopher Bell(95) in fifth. The race went back to green with 91 laps to go.

With 85 laps to go Logano was in the lead, Harvick second, Keselowski third in Blue Oval sweep for Ford Mustang at the top of the leader board. Elliott had moved back into the top 5 in fourth and Truex ran fifth.

With 60 laps to go, Custer ran into the back of Erik Jones sending the #20 car into the wall. Everyone hit pit road for what possibly will be the last service of the day. The line-up with 54 laps to go at the restart was Harvick, Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Truex. Logano drove past Harvick on the start, but could not build a lead as Harvick remained on his bumper.

With 47 laps to go, Reddick’s great run came to an end as something happened on the right front of his car and he drove straight into the wall. During the caution most of the leaders pitted, Logano’s crew had a problem with the jack and lost a lot of positions.

Nine cars stayed on the track. Keselowski, Elliott, Kyle Larson(42), Jimmie Johnson(48), William Byron(24), Custer, Chris Buescher(17), Daniel Suarez(96), and Corey LaJoie(32). A lot of new names at the front of the field. Those drivers had 13 laps on their tires, the first car with four fresh tires is Harvick in 10th. Logano restarted in18th.

As Keselowski and Elliott battled for the lead both cars got loose. Larson dropped low and drove to the front. With new tires outrunning old tires positions swapped all through the lead lap cars. Buescher cut a tire and hit the wall bringing out another caution.

More position swaps as some drivers pitted for tires while others stayed out. On the restart, it was a five-wide madhouse. Truex had to check-up and Almirola ran into the back of the #19 car. Slamming the wall, Truex was forced to retire to the garage with heavy damage.

For the restart with 24 laps to go, Keselowski will not give up the lead to pit so he starts on old tires. Bower in second, Logano, Alex Bowman(88) and Harvick followed. Kyle Busch with the freshest tires restarted in ninth.

Logano’s tires are six laps fresher than Keselowski’s and Joey drives into the lead. Harvick follows with a nudge to the #2 car and Keselowski falls back into the clutches of Kyle Busch. They swap positions for three laps.

Ross Chastain spins with nine laps to go and the yellow displays again. Setting up a sprint to the finish. Pull the safety belts tight, things could get crazy when they go back to green. It will be Logano, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Larson, and Bowyer as the running order on the restart with four laps to go.

The Finish
Logano gets a big jump and outraces Harvick to the lead. But they don’t run too far before a jumble in the back of the pack sends Stenhouse and John Hunter Nemechek(38) spinning to the bottom of the track. That means the race will finish in overtime.

Logano won’t be denied as he holds off Harvick for his second win of the young season. A remarkable finish considering Logano had to overcome a penalty that sent him to the rear of the field at the halfway point and broken jack during a late pit stop.

Points Standings
The biggest surprises to date are Matt DiBenedetto doing a great job for the Wood Brothers has the #21 Ford Mustang solidly in 10th place. Chris Buescher in 14th is also an unexpected new entrant into the playoff mix. Johnson in 5th and Truex in 15th seem out of place on opposite ends of the spectrum from where you might expect them to be. Erik Jones in 21st is certainly not where the Joe Gibbs Driver would have thought he would be, especially considering he won the non-points Busch Clash at Daytona in the opening event of the season.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 75

Stage Two Laps: 115

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 122

Race statistics

 * 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 mph

Television
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. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties. Shannon Spake, Larry McReynolds and Jamie McMurray provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio
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.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.