The 2020 FanShield 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 8, 2020, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 316 laps—extended from 312 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 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.

Report Background

Phoenix Raceway, is a , 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.

The race would be Kyle Larson's final race with Chip Ganassi Racing before he was released from the team after using a racial slur during the eventual season's hiatus.

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

Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ross Chastain (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Garrett Smithley Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 53 Joey Gase (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list

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 .

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.747 134.595 2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.896 133.849 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.005 133.309Official first practice results

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

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.823 134.213 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.825 134.203 3 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.935 133.655Official final practice results

Qualifying

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

Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 19 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.065 24 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.110 311 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.117 442 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 26.162 512 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 26.190 610 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.190 71 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 26.197 888 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.216 921 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 26.222 1018 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.230 1120 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.257 1219 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26.278 1322 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 26.287 142 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 26.289 1595 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 26.295 1641 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.339 1724 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.364 1814 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.388 1947 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26.448 2037 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26.449 2148 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26.481 2234 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 26.502 2317 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26.512 246 Ross Chastain (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26.527 2513 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 26.528 2638 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 26.541 2743 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 26.635 2832 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 26.668 298 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.693 303 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 26.772 3196 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 26.873 3215 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 26.909 3352 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 27.169 3400 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 27.211 3577 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 27.395 3651 Garrett Smithley Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 27.464 3753 Joey Gase (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 27.533 3866 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 27.584Official qualifying results

Race recap

Before the race, for the O'Reilly Pre-Race Party, the Arizonian band Harry Luge Band would play a concert in the InField two hours before the race. Wrestler Anthony Robles would try and break the Guinness record for most pull ups with an 80 pound bag, which he succeeded. Country music star Blake Shelton and Pitbull would perform Get Ready and introduce drivers. Skylar Astin, star from "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist", would sing the national anthem. Four F-35s from Luke Air Force Base would perform the fly over at the end of the national anthem. Hudson Derbyshire, son of the CEO of FanShield, Bryan (who accompanied him, along with his mom) would give out the starting command.

Stage One The start of the race showed pole sitter Chase Elliott pull out to the lead with Kevin Harvick following behind. Kyle Larson, in what would be his last race with Chip Ganassi Racing passed Harvick on lap 2. While the leaders were pulling away from each other, there were lots of battles for position in the midfield, including Martin Truex Jr. fighting his way up to the front after having to start at the rear. The traction compound poured on the track, PJ1, was a big factor throughout the race as it provided different grooves to run on. With around 40 laps to go in the stage, Denny Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto were fighting for position. Also, Harvick had caught up to Elliott, and was battling him for the lead, and would keep fighting until lap 57, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr., trying to pass the lapped car of Joey Gase hit Gase's left quarter panel and spun into the wall, damaging the back end of his car.

During pit stops, all the lead lap cars decided to pit. Stenhouse was the leader coming off of pit road, but took no tires. Harvick would finally be able to grab the lead off of Elliott, with his crew having a faster time. Elliott would come up 2nd, then Hamlin in 3rd, DiBenedetto in fourth, and Logano rounding out the top 5.

During the lap 64 restart, Harvick would pull out to the lead; however, this would be short lived, as while Hamlin was battling for position, Hamlin's car got loose and went up the racetrack, collecting the nearby cars of Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney and sending all three into the outside wall. Keselowski would not suffer much damage, contrary to his teammate, Blaney who had to retire from the race. Hamlin would also be plagued with damage.

With a 4 lap dash to the end of the stage, Harvick and Elliott would duke it out, with Logano following closely behind. However, Harvick would pull out the lead and win the stage. Meanwhile, Erik Jones would win the final stage points in a tough battle with Clint Bowyer.

Race

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 75

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 102 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 75 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 66 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 39 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 210 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 115

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 102 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 93 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 75 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 66 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 57 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 48 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 39 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 210 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 122

Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 13 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 316 522 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 543 10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 316 464 4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 316 355 18 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 356 7 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 316 317 1 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 398 6 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 379 16 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 316 2910 17 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 2711 14 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 316 3612 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 2513 9 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 316 3114 8 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 2815 25 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 316 2216 22 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 316 2117 23 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 316 2018 20 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 316 1919 27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 316 1820 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 316 1721 31 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 316 1622 19 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 316 1523 24 6 Ross Chastain (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 316 024 15 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 316 1325 26 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 316 1226 33 52 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 316 027 28 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 316 1128 11 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 313 1029 37 53 Joey Gase (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 313 030 35 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 312 731 32 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 292 632 12 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 282 1733 29 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 264 1334 34 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 208 335 36 51 Garrett Smithley Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 181 236 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 129 137 5 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 65 138 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 51 0Official race results

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: