The 2023 United Rentals Work United 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 12, 2023, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 317 laps – extended from 312 laps due to an overtime finish, on the one mile (1.6 km) oval, and it was the fourth race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Report
Background
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. Phoenix Raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The raceway is currently owned and operated by NASCAR.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Josh Berry (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Todd Gilliland Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Zane Smith (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Noah Gragson (R) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Official entry list
Practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 27.427 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.427 131.258 2 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 27.459 131.105 3 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.539 130.724Official practice results
Qualifying Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.642 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.324 27.642 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.634 27.707 3 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.553 27.709 4 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 27.633 27.743 5 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.632 27.782 6 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 27.656 27.822 7 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.644 27.867 8 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 27.642 27.899 9 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.623 27.918 10 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 27.556 27.933 11 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 27.660 — 12 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 27.666 — 13 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.667 — 14 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.671 — 15 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.683 — 16 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.700 — 17 9 Josh Berry (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.716 — 18 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.723 — 19 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 27.750 — 20 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 27.753 — 21 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 27.757 — 22 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 27.762 — 23 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.766 — 24 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.779 — 25 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 27.784 — 26 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 27.870 — 27 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.974 — 28 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 27.988 — 29 15 Todd Gilliland Rick Ware Racing Ford 28.042 — 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.058 — 31 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28.084 — 32 42 Noah Gragson (R) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 28.140 — 33 78 B. J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 28.194 — 34 38 Zane Smith (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.324 — 35 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 28.752 — 36 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 28.854 — Official qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 102 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 66 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 57 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 48 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 39 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 210 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 125
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 102 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 84 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 75 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 66 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 39 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 210 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 127
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 3 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 317 592 8 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 317 433 12 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 317 464 1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 317 525 15 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 317 436 5 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 317 427 24 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 317 318 9 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 317 309 18 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 317 2810 17 9 Josh Berry (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 317 011 16 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 317 2612 25 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 317 2513 7 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 317 2414 19 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 317 2315 21 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 317 2216 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 317 2117 13 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 317 2018 4 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 317 2819 23 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 317 1820 22 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 317 1721 10 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 317 1622 11 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 317 1523 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 317 224 6 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 317 1925 20 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 316 1226 28 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 316 1127 26 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 316 1028 14 54 Ty Gibbs (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 316 929 32 42 Noah Gragson (R) Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet 316 830 35 77 Ty Dillon Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 315 731 34 38 Zane Smith (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 315 032 29 15 Todd Gilliland Rick Ware Racing Ford 314 533 31 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 313 434 36 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 311 335 27 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 310 236 33 78 B. J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 50 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 10 among 6 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 5 for 35 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 3 hours, 0 minutes and 18 seconds Average speed:
Penalties Prior to the race, NASCAR confiscated the louvers (the hood radiator duct) of all Hendrick Motorsports teams and that belonging to Justin Haley (Kaulig Racing)'s car. On March 15, 2023, NASCAR punished all five teams with $100,000 fine and deduction of 100 driver and owner points each, as well as 10 playoff points and four-race suspensions for the respective crew chiefs, as the modifications were deemed to be an L2 violation. For the No. 9 team, only the owner points were affected as Josh Berry competed as a Xfinity Series regular and thus cannot score or lose points in the Cup Series, while Chase Elliott's driver points remain unaffected as he sat out of the race due to an injury. For Hendrick Motorsports, it was the largest fine imposed to an organization as a whole at $400,000, breaking the fine imposed to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013 ($300,000) for manipulating the finish of the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400.
Following an appeal on March 29, 2023, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the fines and crew chief suspensions for all of the Hendrick Motorsports entries, but rescinded their point penalties giving them back the 100 driver & owner points as well as the 10 playoff points that each team lost. Haley's penalty was upheld following his appeal on April 5, 2023, but the points penalty was reduced to a 75 point penalty. On April 6, 2023, Kaulig Racing announced they would move to a final appeal hearing with the National Motorsports Appeal Panel, after team president Chris Rice hinted on NASCAR Race Hub the evening prior that they would do so. On April 18, the NMPA overturned the points penalties at the request of NASCAR, who asked them to amend their appeal decision to be more in line with Hendrick Motorsport's appeal decision.
Additionally, Denny Hamlin was fined $50,000 and docked 25 driver points for his collision with Ross Chastain, after he admitted on his Actions Detrimental podcast that the collision was deliberate. Hamlin appealed the penalty on April 6, 2023, but the National Motorsports Appeal Panel upheld the penalty. Two of Aric Almirola's crew members were also suspended after his right-front wheel fell out during the race.
Media
Television Fox Sports covered their 18th race at the Phoenix Raceway. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and Danica Patrick called the race in the booth for Fox. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled the pit road duties, and Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
FoxBooth announcersPit reportersIn-race analyst Lap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Clint BowyerColor-commentator: Danica Patrick Jamie LittleRegan Smith Larry McReynolds
Radio MRN covered the radio action for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 2018 NASCAR champion winning crew chief Todd Gordon called the race when the field races past the start/finish line. Dan Hubbard called the action from turns 1 & 2, and Kyle Rickey called the action from turns 3 & 4. Pit lane was manned by Steve Post and Georgia Henneberry.
MRN Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Todd Gordon Turns 1 & 2: Dan HubbardTurns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey Steve PostGeorgia Henneberry
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings