We were treated to an absolute banger of a race last weekend with Christopher Bell winning a thriller at Circuit of the Americas – his second straight win of the season. Now NASCAR heads to the desert as the Cup Series takes on the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Christopher Bell looks for his third straight victory while the rest of the field hopes to keep up with the #20 team. Will we see a new winner in the fourth weekend of the season or can Bell keep the momentum going?
2025 Shriners Children’s 500 Entry List
For the first time since the 2018 Daytona 500, the NASCAR Cup series will see a woman join the field as Katherine Legge gets behind the wheel of the #78.
Legge is the only non-charter entry in Sunday’s race with the remainder of the field unchanged from last week.
Headed full speed into new year! pic.twitter.com/B4J5dZcLIQ
— Phoenix Raceway (@phoenixraceway) December 31, 2024
It’s likely too early to start diving into the points situation but it is important to note that Austin Cindric was docked 50 points for his incident with Ty Dillon at Circuit of the Americas.
2025 Shriners Children’s 500 Race Predictions
The NextGen car delivered at Circuit of the Americas. Efforts continue to be made to improve this car on all tracks. However, Phoenix has not been conducive to great racing in this car.
Passing is going to be incredibly difficult on Sunday with drivers likely relying on track position to help out their overall standing. This means qualifying is going to be even more important than usual.
Christopher Bell won this race in 2024 and given Bell’s current hot streak, it should come as no surprise to see Bell as the favorite heading into Sunday’s race.
REPOST TO CONGRATULATE CHRISTOPHER BELL ON HIS WIN AT PHOENIX RACEWAY! pic.twitter.com/LoPydaNJqI
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 10, 2024
Of course, Penske also runs extremely well at this circuit and it was Joey Logano who won the fall race at Phoenix in order to win another championship. Ryan Blaney finished just behind his Penske teammate in that race and I expect him to be a contender on Sunday as well.
I’d love to go out on a limb here. However, with Bell possessing a knack for this track and being on quite the hot streak, I think the #20 goes to Victory Lane for the third straight week. Bell is my pick for race winner.
Check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action this weekend.
Friday 03/07
General Tire 150 (ARCA Menards Series) 7:00 p.m. CT on FS1
Saturday 03/08
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 11:40 a.m. CT on the CW App
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 2:10 p.m. CT on Prime
GOVX 200 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 4:00 p.m. CT on the CW
Sunday 03/09
Shriners Children’s 500 (NASCAR Cup Series) – 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX and Max
Stay locked into Apollo for more NASCAR and F1 Coverage throughout the racing season! Follow @CoachJayArnold and @ApolloHOU on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest and check out our Instagram – Apollo NASCAR!
Pingback: 2025 Pennzoil 400 Preview: NASCAR Hits Las Vegas