For the second consecutive week, the top drivers in the world will stay out west, and head from Nevada to Arizona. Sunday’s Instacart 500 at Phoenix Raceway marks the 50th race hosted by this track in the series’ history. The race kicks off at 3:30 p.m. EST. The track in Phoenix is one of the most unique tracks on the circuit, featuring a “D-shaped” oval. The straights are almost completely flat and incredibly fast heading into the low and progressive corners. For this reason, the speed of the car is of utmost importance.

Phoenix Raceway is often won by the racer who leads the most laps. In four of the last five races here, the driver who led the most laps won the race. You don’t typically see a lot of lead changes at this track. That is why pole positioning is so important.

After winning his first Busch Pole Award of the season, Brad Keselowski will lead the pack on Sunday afternoon, followed by last week’s Penzoil 400 winner, Kyle Larson. Last week’s victory at Las Vegas marked Larson’s seventh career victory. He will be a favorite again this week as he has finished sixth or better in his last four starts at Phoenix.

Despite the fact that Larson currently ranks third in the NASCAR standings and has had really solid showings at Phoenix Raceway, there are seven drivers with better odds to win the event, including frontrunner Kevin Harvick (9-2 odds). Harvick is the only racer on the circuit who averages a finish in the single-digits (7.8 average finish). He is a nine-time winner at this track and leads all drivers in the series in laps led at this oval during the last 16 seasons. The No. 4 team at Stewart Haas Racing has two top-five finishes and an additional top-ten finish to begin this season. Of all the tracks where Harvick is likely to win, Phoenix might be his greatest opportunity.

Following Harvick, three drivers come in with 11-2 odds – Keselowski, Chase Elliott, and Denny Hamlin. Rounding out the five most likely winners coming into the race is Martin Truex Jr. (13-2 odds).

The defending Cup Series champion, Elliott, won the last time drivers raced in Avondale, Arizona at the Season Finale 500 last November. Elliott dominated that afternoon, leading a whopping 153 laps on his way to Victory Lane. Elliott has always performed well at small oval tracks, and has led 256 laps over his last two starts at Phoenix Raceway.

Overall, this should be an incredibly competitive race with the best drivers around the world competing. Tickets are still available.

President Donald Trump welcomed 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. to the White House on Monday afternoon in a brief ceremony.

Trump Invites Martin Truex Jr. To White House

Trump also thanked NASCAR for supporting him, and added that the organization’s chairman Brian France has been his friend “for a long time.”

“You [had] 19 top-5 finishes and led more than 2,000 laps. Does it get lonely being in front?” Trump asked Truex. “Not at all. Never, right? … Thanks to incredible speed, lightning-fast pit stops and exceptional driving, this team stood alone among NASCAR’s many contenders.”

Trump also honored Truex’s team, Furniture Row Racing, on Monday. The president also remarked how Furniture Row Racing has fought through several hardships, including the death of crew member Jim Watson in October 2017 and Truex’s girlfriend Sherry Pollex’s fight against ovarian cancer.

In addition, Trump took time to thank the NASCAR members for not protesting the national anthem in any way, much like athletes from other major sports leagues — like the NFL, NBA and MLB — have done over the past year.

“At every NASCAR race, you will see thousands of patriotic Americans from the grandstands to the pit stalls proudly waving our flag and roaring with joy at the words, ‘Start your engines,'” Trump stated. “I will tell you, one thing I know about NASCAR, they do indeed, Brian, stand for the playing of the national anthem, right? They do indeed. Somebody said maybe you shouldn’t say that, that will be controversial. I said ‘That’s OK. NASCAR is not going to mind it at all, right, fellas?'”

Truex returned the honor Trump gave him by giving the president a duplicate of one of the helmets he uses for races.

“I’m just really proud to be here today to represent the sport, to represent our millions of fans out there across the world,” Truex said.

Truex, 37, is one of several athletes to visit the White House since Trump took office. The New England Patriots, Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Penguins all made the trip to Washington after each team won a national championship, although not every member of each team was at the White House. Some players, like the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and several Patriots players, and even some teams like the South Carolina women’s basketball team — which won the NCAA women’s title in 2017 — refused to go to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, citing either personal reasons or their discontent with the current president and his administration.

Martin Truex Jr. earned his seventh Monster Energy Cup Series victory of the season at Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 results, Martin Truex Jr.

Truex, 37 — who drives the No. 78 Toyota Camry for Furniture Row Racing — has now increased his NASCAR playoff point total to 69, and advances to the Round of 8.

Furniture Row Racing dedicated the win to former crew member Jim Watson, who died Saturday at age 55.

Truex’s longtime girlfriend and cancer fighter Sherry Pollex, who missed his last victory due to chemotherapy, attended Sunday’s race.

Joining Truex in the Round of 8 will be Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. 

Crashes on Sunday led to the elimination of drivers Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie McMurray. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson’s engine exploded early on in Stage 1.

During a restart in Stage 1, Truex went under the white line on the track and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Though the No. 78 was ahead at the time of the restart violation, Busch took over once Truex came down the pit road. Harvick was also below the line, but NASCAR explained that since the No. 4. followed leader Truex, he was not penalized.

Pollex expressed her discontent with the result on Twitter: “That makes ZERO sense,” she wrote.

The Round of 8 — the First Data 500 — will be held next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kurt Busch
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Chase Elliott
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Chris Buescher
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Aric Almirola
10. Kyle Busch
11. Jimmie Johnson
12. Paul Menard
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Austin Dillon
15. Kasey Kahne
16. Ty Dillon
17. David Ragan
18. Michael McDowell
19. Clint Bowyer
20. Trevor Bayne
21. Joey Logano
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Landon Cassill
24. Cole Whitt
25. Reed Sorenson
26. Jeffrey Earnhardt
27. Corey LaJoie
28. Gray Gaulding
29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (eliminated)
30. BJ McLeod
31. Brett Moffitt
32. AJ Allmendinger
33. Ryan Newman
34. Jamie McMurray (eliminated)
35. Erik Jones
36. Daniel Suarez
37. Matt Kenseth (eliminated)
38. Danica Patrick
39. Kyle Larson (eliminated)
40. Derrike Cope

KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 22: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 22, 2017 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Martin Truex Jr. beat out Brad Keselowski at Sunday’s Kobalt 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in Las Vegas, but it was another duo of drivers who made most headlines.

After the race, Kyle Busch approached Joey Logano near the pit. A furious Busch, who finished 22nd, squeezed out of his No. 18 Toyota and began walking toward Logano, who backed away, and one of his crew members immediately stepped between him and Busch to confront the latter.

Busch attempted to land blow after blow on Logano, but was unsuccessful and only left with a bloody cut on his forehead.

“Not a lot of talking,” Logano said. “Just a lot of swinging. We usually don’t have any issues.”

Were any punches landed? “None to me,” Logano said with a smile.

Busch claimed Logano, who finished fourth, blocked him when both cars were dueling for position and attempting to pass the slowed car of Keselowski, Logano’s Team Penske teammate, on the final lap of the race. Logano got loose and into the rear of Kyle Busch’s car, causing Busch to spin onto pit road at the end.

“He tried to pin me down into the corner underneath Brad (Keselowski) and we about crashed on entry and I was still trying to gather it up out of center and I was going to spin out so I’m trying to chase it up and he was there,” said Logano. “I would say nothing intentional but obviously he thinks that.”

Logano doesn’t have the best relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing, especially with Busch’s teammate Matt Kenseth, who was suspended in 2015 for intentionally wrecking Logano at Martinsville.

“I don’t run from conflict,” Logano later told reporters Sunday. “You just talk about it, but [Busch] wasn’t in a talking mood. He was in a fighting mood, I guess. Typically, you can handle this stuff like men and talk about it. You don’t have to fight, but whatever.

“Kyle and I have always raced really well together.  We’ve never had an issue, but I guess that’s over.”

Following the altercation, Busch clearly said he wasn’t done with Logano: “That’s how Joey races, so he’s gonna get it,” the Toyota driver said, visibly still infuriated.

With 24 laps remaining, Keselowski went low to pass Truex after having looked at the back of Truex’s No. 78 Toyota for nearly 100 laps. Three laps later, Keselowski increased his lead to more than half a second.

With 17 laps left, Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Ford blew its engine into Turn 1, leaving a trail of smoke billowing out the back.

Keselowski, who was attempting to defend his 2016 Kobalt 400 victory, said something on his car broke on the final lap. He also won last week’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“I felt like the race didn’t play into our hands,” Truex said. “We got a little bit lucky there. That’s why you fight until the end.”

Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford blew a tire just past the start/finish line on Lap 70. He crashed into the wall hard, his cabin filled with smoke. After being released from the infield medical area, Harvick said, “I’m fine. Blew a tire.”

Harvick elaborated just minutes later while sitting in a golf cart in the infield: “It started vibrating about four or five laps before it blew out, and I was just trying to ride it to the end of the stage … the worst part was the medical response; it took them forever to get to the car. I thought we made that better, but obviously we haven’t … it either just cut the tire, or came apart and melted the bead.”

Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Keselowski and Chase Elliott, were among the top five in the first stage.

LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 12: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Pennzoil Ford, leads Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 12, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)