NASCAR race at Phoenix live updates: William Byron uses late restart to win

Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Alex Zietlow will be sending along live updates throughout Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway in the section below. Refresh for the latest news. Full results will be posted at the end of the race.

All times are Eastern.

Live updates from Phoenix Raceway

Stage 3

Lap 317: William Byron! Somehow, in a restart that featured three-wide turns and a bunch of slipping and sliding, somehow got some clean air and notched his second win of the 2023 season. Second straight win.

Lap 312: We got overtime! AJ Allmendinger spins out, and we have another overtime. That makes it the 10th overtime finish in Phoenix. Kevin Harvick in seventh still — his streak of Top 10s at Phoenix (now at 19) is now in jeopardy. Tyler Reddick, running fourth, has four tires. Kyle Larson, William Byron and Ryan Blaney all with two fresh tires from the latest pit stop.

Lap 305: Some unpredictability on pit road! Kyle Larson emerges as the leader after the caution. He’s closely followed by William Byron. Both Hendrick cars took two tires, and a not-great pit stop for the No. 4 team has put Kevin Harvick at SEVENTH! The Closer probably doesn’t have enough time now. Wow. Running Top 5 for the restart: Kyle Larson, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch.

Lap 303: And we got a caution! Another late-race restart for a second-straight week! Kevin Harvick had worked to earn a five-second lead over the rest of the field, but Harrison Burton spins and his tire bursts, and now the complexion of the race has changed. Cars about to file down pit road. Can Kyle Larson earn his redemption from last week?

Lap 272: Kevin Harvick! The Closer has passed Kyle Larson with about 40 laps to go. The No. 5 team’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, upset with the result: “Why did we run high in (Turns) 3 and 4? We shouldn’t have done that,” he said. This is Harvick’s racetrack, and he has been dominating on long runs all day. Barring a late-race caution, Harvick is closing in on his tenth win at Phoenix.

Lap 243: Joey Logano and Josh Berry are the first lead-lap cars to head down pit road. The rest of the field follows suit in the next few laps. We’ll see how this cycles out. Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick now separated by less than a second. These two will have a fun run with just over laps to go.

Lap 230: Just over 80 laps to go ... and not much has changed. Things to look for: Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick are running pretty close. William Byron is still in third but is slowly getting caught by Christopher Bell. Top 10: Larson, Harvick, Byron, Bell, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman.

Lap 190: Fastest off of pit road: Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Brad Keselowski. Ty Gibbs caught for speeding on pit road. The 54 car is sent to the rear of the field.

Stage 2

Lap 185: This is shaping up much like last weekend’s race in Las Vegas. Kyle Larson takes the Stage 2 win — and he’s closely followed by William Byron. The Hendrick cars have been running at the front all day and have done so really the last two races. Don’t look now, though: Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 has been steadily running in the Top 5, too — and his reputation at Phoenix precedes him. OK, Stage 2 point-earners (in order): Larson, Byron, Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe.

Lap 139: Yellow! Aric Almirola, the same driver who caused the race-changing caution with two laps to go last week, has now prompted the first caution-for-cause on Sunday. The No. 10 car slams into the wall near the start-finish line, and a chunk of the wheel comes off in the wreck. Looks like a broken toe link. NASCAR assesses Almirola a two-lap penalty for the loose wheel. The rest of the field is now cycling through pit road.

Lap 121: A largely ho-hum race sees its first round of pit stops under green. Kyle Larson cycles as the leader after the trips down pit road. Some penalties: Austin Cindric, Erik Jones Kyle Busch and Michael McDowell are flagged for speeding on pit road. All will have to serve a pass-through penalty. (Busch also had a loose tire on pit road, so that will mean a penalty incoming, too. The No. 8 car will have a lot of work to do to salvage Sunday.) Top 10 running now: Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick.

Lap 69: We are green once more!

Lap 65: No cautions-for-cause yet. And if it stays like this, William Byron will have another great day. Worth noting: On the stage break, Kyle Larson’s pit stop was slightly faster than Byron’s, and the No. 5 car will lead to begin Stage 2. Kyle Busch also made huge progress on pit road — jumping up from 10th to fifth in the stage caution. A penalty update: AJ Allmendinger sped on pit road and will drop to the rear.

Stage 1

Lap 60: The first and shortest stage is complete! And barring a slight bump between Martin Truex Jr. Joey Logano — who was running a lap down and will get a free pass in the stage break — it has been pretty clean. William Byron takes the Stage 1 win. He has now won the last four consecutive stages, stemming from his stage-sweeping win at Las Vegas last weekend. The rest of those earning stage points (in Top 10 order): Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch.

Lap 6: William Byron overtakes Kyle Larson after the first lap after the 24 car uses this racetrack’s unique gem — the dogleg on Turn 4 — to pass his teammate. Top 5 right now: Byron, Larson, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain.

Green flag: 3:49 p.m.: Let’s go racing!

3:41 p.m.: Engines fired! Today’s Cup race is sold out, per NASCAR, and marks the fourth straight sellout at the track. That marks three sellouts in four races: Daytona, Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix.

3:34 p.m.: Some minute-by-minute updates: National Anthem: 3:31:00 p.m.; Command: 3:38:00 p.m.; Green Flag: 3:47:00 p.m.

3:32 p.m.: The No. 38 car will be sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments. Zane Smith was already starting deep in the field.

3:25 p.m.: The talk of the day? It is quite warm at Phoenix Raceway — will peak around the high 70s — and thus this racetrack will a ton of slipping and sliding. Drivers seem excited for the challenge.

3:03 p.m.: The green flag is expected to wave right around 3:47 p.m. Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile track and has helped propel the dominance of all-time great driver Kevin Harvick.

2:56 p.m.: Chase Elliott is still out of the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports after suffering a broken tibia in his left leg just over a week ago. In other news from Hendrick: NASCAR seized the four Hendrick cars’ hood louvers — the vents in the hood that help transfer air out of the radiator — and the Hendrick team could face significant penalties. The verdict on this will come in the upcoming weeks.

2:30 p.m.: Kyle Larson is picking up right where he left off after an impressive run at Las Vegas last week. He’ll sit on the pole to start Sunday’s race and will start next to Denny Hamlin.

How to watch United Rentals Work United 500

• Place: Phoenix Raceway
  
  
• Date: Sunday, March 12
• Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
• Purse: $7,453,660
• TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 312 miles (312 laps)
• Stages: Stage 1 (Lap 60), Stage 2 (Lap 185), Stage 3 (Lap 312)

Starting lineup for Phoenix NASCAR race

This story was originally published March 12, 2023 at 2:30 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription