Entry List

Instacart 500

Sunday, March 14th, 2021

Phoenix Raceway, Phoenix, AZ

  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota
  • 18 Chevrolet

  • Phoenix Raceway
  • Instacart 500
  • Pole Winner: Brad Keselowski
  • Age: 37
  • Team: No. 2 - Wurth Ford
  • Owner: Team Penske
  • Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • Brad Keselowski won the Pole Award for the Instacart 500 by having the highest total PMQ.
  • PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
  • 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
  • 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
  • 25% of the owner's final race position.
  • 35% of the Owner Points position.

  • Sunday, March 14th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Martin Truex Jr. ends 29-race winless streak with Phoenix victory

Martin Truex Jr. overcame an early-race brush with the wall and took the lead on the final restart with 25 laps remaining to earn his first victory of 2021 and first in 31 career starts at Phoenix Raceway.

Truex's No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ultimately held off Joey Logano's No. 22 Penske Racing Ford by a convincing 1.698-seconds for the win in the Instacart 500. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Truex took the race lead from the outside on a bold restart move - pulling away in the closing laps of a spirited race that featured 22 lead changes.

Truex, 40, of New Jersey, is now the fifth different winner in as many NASCAR Cup Series races this season joining Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Kyle Larson who have also earned spots in the Playoffs.

"Just an awesome job by everybody, [crew chief] James [Small], all the pit crew guys fixing it, just really solid," said Truex, who now has 28 career wins. "At the beginning of the race I thought we were going to run 15th or so. Man, I just really can't believe it. I'm kind of speechless.

"This feels pretty amazing. Phoenix has been a tough one for us.

"I wish it was November and I was in the Final Four," he added with a smile, referring to the season championship finale at Phoenix Raceway later in the year. "Just so thankful and proud of everyone at JGR, everyone who makes this possible."

Statistically, Logano's Ford was the dominant car on the afternoon, leading a race best 143 of the 312 laps and winning Stage 2 - his first stage win of the year. His Penske Racing teammate Ryan Blaney won Stage 1 (also his first stage victory of 2021) and all three Penske Racing cars finished in the Top-10. In all, the Penske trio of Logano, Blaney and Keselowski combined to lead 197 laps - out front 63 percent of the day.

Logano started alongside Truex on the front row for the final restart and mounted a challenge for the lead, but he couldn't hold off Truex even with a more favorable inside starting position.

"I was surprised he was able to hang with me on that [final] start," a disappointed Logano conceded of Truex's winning move. "He had a good start too, but I had a good one on the bottom and I thought might have short-cut it on the dogleg and I thought, boy I might have him cleared. Then we went into that corner still door-to-door and when you're door-to-door the outside car has control.

"I'm pretty sure even if I beat him even on that start he was still going to hound me and probably get by me. They had the best car. We had a good car for sure, but once they tuned it in toward the second stage, it was the best car on the race track."

Truex's JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski and last November's Phoenix winner Chase Elliott in fifth.

Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, was sixth, earning his fourth Top-10 finish in the season's opening five races. Last week's Las Vegas winner Kyle Larson was seventh, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron was eighth followed by JGR driver Christopher Bell and Blaney to round out the Top-10.

Even without the victory, it was an impressive showing for the three Hendrick Motorsports cars that rallied to a Top-10. Elliott, Larson and Byron all had to start from the rear of the field on Sunday with inspection issues. And the fourth Hendrick car, driven by Alex Bowman, was equally resilient with a 13th place finish despite hitting the wall and bringing out an early race caution flag.

Larson, in particular put on a lesson in resiliency. He rallied to race among the Top-10 - even lead a lap - a third of the way into the race - but was sent back to the rear of the lead lap cars twice after that because of pit road speeding violations.

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 312
  • Margin of Victory: 01.698 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 0 Minutes 20 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 103.808
  • Cautions: 7 for 45 laps
  • Lead Changes: 22
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,228 (12.1 passes per green flag lap)

  • Phoenix Raceway
  • 17th Annual Instacart 500
  • Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
  • Age: 40
  • Team : No. 19 - Bass Pro Toyota
  • Owner: Coy Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: James Small
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the 17th Annual Instacart 500, his 28th victory in 554 Cup Series races.
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2021, breaking a 29-race winless streak. Truex's last win came at Martinsville Speedway on June 10, 2020.
  • This is his first victory and 13th top-10 finish in 31 races at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Joey Logano (second) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 25 races at Phoenix Raceway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 19th top-10 finish in 32 races at Phoenix Raceway.
  • Chase Briscoe (22nd) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Joe Gibbs Racing (Truex, Christopher Bell) joins Hendrick Motorsports (William Byron, Kyle Larson) with two drivers qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Chase Elliott celebrates
Avondale, Arizona - November 8, 2020 : Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale 500 and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 08, 2020 in Avondale, Arizona.
Brian LawdermilkGetty Images
Instacart 500 at Phoenix Raceway Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 10 Aric Almirola Tampa, FL Mar 14, 1984 40 Ford Pit Boss Grills Stewart-Haas Racing Mike Bugarewicz
2 2 Brad Keselowski Auburn Hills, MI Feb 12, 1984 40 Ford Wurth Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
3 11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Nov 18, 1980 43 Toyota Offerpad Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
4 22 Joey Logano Middleton, CT May 24, 1990 34 Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
5 4 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Dec 8, 1975 48 Ford Jimmy John's Stewart-Haas Racing Rodney Childers
6 1 Kurt Busch Las Vegas, NV Aug 4, 1978 46 Chevrolet Gearwrench Chip Ganassi Racing Matt McCall
7 18 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV May 2, 1985 39 Toyota STANLEY Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
8 19 Martin Truex Jr Mayetta, NJ Jun 29, 1980 44 Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
9 34 Michael McDowell Phoenix, AZ Dec 21, 1984 39 Ford Love's Travel Stops Front Row Motorsports Drew Blickensderfer
10 6 Ryan Newman South Bend, IN Dec 8, 1977 46 Ford Guaranteed Rate RFK Racing Scott Graves
11 3 Austin Dillon Lewisville, NC Apr 27, 1990 34 Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Off Road Richard Childress Racing Justin Alexander
12 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Olive Branch, MS Oct 2, 1987 37 Chevrolet Kroger / Energizer JTG Daugherty Racing Brian Pattie
13 66 Timmy Hill Port Tobacco, MD Feb 25, 1993 31 Toyota LasVegas.net / Diamondback Surveying MBM Motorsports Clinton Cram
14 5 Kyle Larson Sacremento, CA Jul 31, 1992 32 Chevrolet HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
15 48 Alex Bowman Tuscon, AZ Apr 25, 1993 31 Chevrolet Ally / Best Friends Hendrick Motorsports Greg Ives
16 12 Ryan Blaney High Point, NC Dec 31, 1993 30 Ford Menards / Richmond Water Heaters Team Penske Todd Gordon
17 7 Corey Lajoie Kannapolis, NC Sep 25, 1991 33 Chevrolet Youtheory Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
18 9 Chase Elliott Dawsonville, GA Nov 28, 1995 28 Chevrolet UniFirst Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
19 21 Matt DiBenedetto Grass Valley, CA Jul 27, 1991 33 Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Wood Brothers Racing Greg Erwin
20 17 Chris Buescher Prosper, TX Oct 29, 1992 31 Ford Roush Performance RFK Racing Luke Lambert
21 43 Erik Jones Byron, MI May 30, 1996 28 Chevrolet Medallion Bank Richard Petty Motorsports Jerry Baxter
22 78 BJ McLeod Wauchula, FL Nov 17, 1983 40 Ford Surface Sunscreen Live Fast Motorsports Frank Kerr
23 37 Ryan Preece Berlin, CT Oct 25, 1990 33 Chevrolet Scott Brand JTG Daugherty Racing Trent Owens
24 99 Daniel Suarez Monterrey, Mexico Jan 7, 1992 32 Chevrolet CommScope Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
25 51 Cody Ware Greensboro, NC Nov 7, 1995 28 Chevrolet Nurtec ODT Rick Ware Racing Mike Hillman Sr
26 42 Ross Chastain Alva, FL Dec 4, 1992 31 Chevrolet Chevrolet Accessories Chip Ganassi Racing Phil Surgen
27 23 Bubba Wallace Mobile, AL Oct 8, 1993 31 Toyota McDonalds 23XI Racing Mike Wheeler
28 24 William Byron Charlotte, NC Nov 29, 1997 26 Chevrolet Axalta Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
29 41 Cole Custer Ladera Ranch, CA Jan 23, 1998 26 Ford HaasTooling.com Stewart-Haas Racing Davin Restivo
30 53 Garrett Smithley Ligonier, PA Apr 27, 1992 32 Chevrolet Turf Sellers Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
31 52 Josh Bilicki Menomonee Falls, WI Jun 3, 1995 29 Ford Junction Fuels Rick Ware Racing Peter Sospenzo
32 8 Tyler Reddick Corning, CA Jan 11, 1996 28 Chevrolet Quartz Hill Records Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
33 00 Quin Houff Weyers Cave, VA Sep 15, 1997 27 Chevrolet Mount-N-Lock StarCom Racing George Church
34 77 Justin Haley Winamac, IN Apr 28, 1999 25 Chevrolet General Formulations Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
35 20 Christopher Bell Norman, OK Dec 16, 1994 29 Toyota Rheem Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
36 15 James Davison Melbourne, Australia Aug 28, 1986 38 Chevrolet Smart Sanitizer Rick Ware Racing Pat Tryson
37 14 Chase Briscoe Mitchell, IN Dec 15, 1994 29 Ford HighPoint.com Stewart-Haas Racing Johnny Klausmeier
38 38 Anthony Alfredo Ridgefield, CT Mar 1, 1999 25 Ford MDS Trucking Front Row Motorsports Seth Barbour