NASCAR live updates: Martin Truex Jr. wins at Phoenix for the first time

Note: Live updates on this story are complete. Full NASCAR race analysis and takeaways will be posted here.

The NASCAR Cup Series races today at Phoenix Raceway, a one-mile intermediate track in Avondale, Ariz. The Instacart 500 starts at 3:30 p.m. on FOX.

Stages end on laps 75, 190 and 312. All times are Eastern.

Check back here for live updates throughout the race and follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

NASCAR race at Phoenix results

Final stage

CHECKERED FLAG: Martin Truex Jr. becomes the fourth different winner this season and earns his first win at Phoenix in 31 starts. He leads Joey Logano across the line to take the title, his 28th career Cup series victory. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott round out the top 5.

6:42 p.m., Lap 298: Just over 10 laps remaining and Martin Truex Jr. leads Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at the front.

6:33 p.m., Lap 282: Caution is out again as Kyle Busch spins at the start/finish line. This gathered the field and sent everyone near the front into the pits for what they hope is one final adjustment. Most of the top teams took their last set of sticker tires and any adjustments needed. Joey Logano was first off pit road after the stops and he’ll retain the lead when we go back to green flag racing.

6:28 p.m., Lap 275: On the restart, Bubba Wallace got squeezed in the middle of the track after choosing the inside lane. Brad Keselowski, as he’d done on the initial green flag of the day, dove way inside and snagged the lead. Joey Logano went with him, and has passed him for the lead.

Of note, three Hendrick cars — Larson, Byron and Elliott — which all started in the back after inspection violations, are all running in the Top 10.

6:20 p.m., Lap 264: Yellow is out after a tire issue for Tyler Reddick, and everyone in or near the lead made another pit stop. This put Bubba Wallace out front, since he elected not to pit with everyone else. Logano, Truex, Keselowski, Larson and Hamlin trail Wallace.

6:14 p.m., Lap 257: The last of the scheduled green-flag pitstops are now behind us. Truex had a five-second lead on Hamlin before pit stops. Now, Truex still leads, but Kyle Larson — who had to move to the back THREE times today, is hot on his tail in second.

6:10 p.m., Lap 250: Truex, Hamlin, Logano, Keselowski, Larson. For the first time in this race, the front of the pack has been pretty static. Denny Hamlin just passed Joey Logano as the Logano team reported getting a bit loose on the front end.

5:59 p.m., Lap 225: We have a new leader! Joey Logano hits a bit of lapped traffic and Martin Truex Jr. sped by on the inside. Truez quickly runs the lead out to .45 seconds.

5:55 p.m., Lap 216: Kyle Larson continues his march through the field after a pair of penalties — one in each stage — for speeding on pit road. Having been sent to the tail end of the lead lap last time with a drive-through penalty, he’s worked his way all the way back into the top 7. Joey Logano maintains his advantage over Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., though Truex’s lap times have been consistently a hair faster than Logano’s.

5:43 p.m., Lap 196: Multiple drivers get speeding penalties under the caution, including Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola and Ross Chastain. They’ll all have to restart at the rear as speeding penalties continue to be an issue for top-running teams. Elliott and Almirola were both running in the top-10 at the flag.

Stage 2

5:37 p.m., Lap 190: Joey Logano wins the second stage at Phoenix for his fourth career stage win at the track and first stage win of the 2021 season. He’s followed at the green-and-white checkered flag by Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell. Kyle Larson finishes the stage in 13th.

5:32 p.m., Lap 182: Kyle Larson is back into 15th place, but Joey Logano continues to lead. Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski are running in the top-five as the stage winds to a close.

5:22 p.m., Lap 140: Green flag pit stops start with Kyle Larson, in second, being reminded by his team to watch his pit road speed. He still gets a speeding penalty. Kyle Busch gets an uncontrolled tired penalty. Larson becomes the last car on the lead lap and is told his pit road speed was 50.01 miles per hour, with 50 miles per hour being the limit including a five mile per hour tolerance. “But right now we’re going to put that behind us,” Cliff Daniels says. “... We’ve still got a shot to win this thing.” Larson is the last car on the lead lap and is slicing his way through the filed with a fast car.

5:05 p.m., Lap 124: Kyle Larson passes Brad Keselowski, then drives below Chase Elliott for third place. A few laps later, he gets by Ryan Blaney in second. He’s 2.7 seconds behind leader Joey Logano with under 60 laps to go in the stage.

5 p.m., Lap 115: The field is racing tight after the restart on Lap 98, with slight contact between Ryan Newman and Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson further up, early. But it’s still Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott leading the race, followed by Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.

4:43 p.m., Lap 90: A caution comes out for Anthony Alfredo, who goes for a major spin into the Turn 2 wall, after getting moved by Cody Ware. Alfredo was running a lap down, but the front of his No. 38 Ford is badly damaged. “Just got torn up. Nothing I could do there. Sorry guys,” Alfredo says on his team radio.

4:40 p.m., Lap 84: Joey Logano wins the race off pit road as Daniel Suárez gets a speeding penalty and Justin Haley gets a penalty for his team removing equipment during the pit stop. Logano keeps his lead when the race goes green, but Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are close behind in second and third.

Stage 1

4:29 p.m., Lap 75: Ryan Blaney wins Stage 1 at Phoenix. This is his first state win of the season. Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski finish in the top-three in that order. Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Matt DiBenedetto will all get stage points in the top-10. DiBenedetto needs the stage points as he entered the race in the bottom-10 in points. He started the race in 20th. Larson posted an impressive first-stage performance after starting from the back and receiving a pit road speeding penalty to send him to the back with fewer than 20 laps left in the stage.

4:20 p.m., Lap 58: Team Penske leads the field with Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano in the top-three. They’re followed by Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in the top-five. Kyle Larson drives up to 11th and then into the top-10 a few laps later.

4:12 p.m., Lap 47: Alex Bowman spins in Turn 2 to bring out the caution flag when drivers check up. FOX shows Ross Chastain slowing as Bowman gets a run on Austin Dillon, who was just behind him. Dillon’s car takes some front damage after he gets into Alex Bowman, and both pit for repairs for damage.

4:08 p.m., Lap 45: A two-second slower pit stop gives Brad Keselowski the advantage over Denny Hamlin when the race goes green. Keselowski leads Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin, but Blaney gets past Keselowski.

4:03 p.m., Lap 30: The running order at the competition caution is Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Joey Logano in the top five. Kyle Larson has driven up to 14th after starting at the rear. William Byron and Chase Elliott are in 20th and 21st. Larson gets a speeding penalty on pit road, his first speeding penalty at the track, to send him to the rear for the restart.

3:57 p.m., Lap 20: Brad Keselowski drops back to third, and is challenged by Penske teammate Ryan Blaney. He’s told that Blaney is making up time entering Turns 3 and 4 earlier, and Keselowski is able to separate himself a few laps later. He races back up to second behing Denny Hamlin. Martin Truex Jr. has damage on his right rear. Timmy Hill goes to the garage after running off pace. His day is over.

3:50 p.m., Lap 3: Denny Hamlin takes an early lead at Phoenix, passing Brad Keselowski, who dips very low rounding the dogleg. Keselowski chose the inside lane to start the race, with Christopher Bell moving up to start in the outside lane in the front after Larson dropped back. Bell was starting fourth with Hamlin starting third.

3:30 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies underway

Ryan Nunez of Palm Valley Church delivers the invocation from the track followed by a virtual performance of the national anthem by the Phoenix Boys Choir. FOX’s Cherries Wild host and “American Pie” actor Jason Biggs is the grand marshal for today’s race. He gives the command to fire engines. Lyn St. James, the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award, waves the green flag.

2:40 p.m. Elliott also starting from the back

Hendrick Motorsports announces that due to inspection issues, the No. 9 car driven by Chase Elliott will also drop back to the rear at the start the race, joining teammates Larson and Byron. Elliott won the last race at Phoenix starting from the back in the fall to clinch the 2020 Cup championship title. He was slated to start sixth.

NASCAR confirms Elliott is dropping to the rear for unapproved adjustments. Quin Houff, who was starting 35th, will also drop to the rear for unapproved adjustments, bringing the total to six drivers starting from the back, including Larson, Byron, Cody Ware and Garrett Smithley.

2:30 p.m. Who’s dropping to the rear?

Three teams twice failed pre-race technical inspection, which NASCAR conducted Saturday evening, and will drop to the rear for the start of the race. Those teams were Kyle Larson’s No. 5 team, William Byron’s No. 24 team and Cody Ware’s No. 51 team. Larson was slated to start in the front row with Brad Keselowski, who’s on the pole, after Larson won last weekend’s race at Las Vegas. Byron won at Homestead two weeks ago and was slated to start 10th. Ware was slated to start 31st.

Additionally, NASCAR announced that the No. 53 car will drop to the back for the start due to a driver change from the original list. Garrett Smithley will be in the car, replacing J.J. Yeley.

NASCAR this weekend: How to watch the race at Phoenix

• Race: Instacart 500
• When: Sunday, March 14 at 3:30 p.m.
• How to watch/listen: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 312 laps, 312 miles on the one-mile tri-oval
• Stages: Laps 75, 190, 312
• Last year’s winner: Joey Logano

NASCAR Cup at Phoenix starting order

(i) ineligible for driver points, # series rookie

This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 2:30 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription