NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard of Shriners Children’s 500

The NASCAR Cup Series moves on to the site of November’s championship race for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Five months ago, Joey Logano held off Ryan Blaney to win the 2024 Cup Series title at Phoenix in an all-Penske affair.

Logano starts Sunday’s race in second, on the outside of the front row with pole sitter William Byron.

Christopher Bell will start 11th in pursuit of a third straight victory in 2025.

Follow along with our live race updates, with green flag set for after 2:40 p.m. CT at Phoenix.

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NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard for the Shriners Children’s 500

LIVE LEADERBOARD: Full field leaderboard of NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500

Christopher Bell holds off Denny Hamlin in an intense finish to win three races in a row

Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin duel for the final couple laps, with Kyle Larson trying to factor in. But Bell leaned on Hamlin through the final corner and prevailed to win the Shriners Children’s 500.

Bell had to earn it at the end with the final restart, and he did.

Lap 304: Ty Gibbs has major issue

Much like Bubba Wallace’s brake issue leading to a tire issue, Ty Gibbs’ Toyota has a brake failure and is in the wall. Caution is out.

The top 10:

1. Christopher Bell

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Kyle Larson

4. Josh Berry

5. Alex Bowman

6. William Byron

7. Chris Buescher

8. Kyle Busch

9. Zane Smith

10. Chase Elliott

Going to be either three laps to go, or a green-white-checkered finish here.

Lap 297: Christopher Bell is clear

Christopher Bell leads Denny Hamlin and is clear by 0.6 seconds as Hamlin and Kyle Larson battle for second. Josh Berry is fourth.

Lap 290: Ryan Blaney loses an engine

Ryan Blaney, who had complained of a sour engine, has his engine give out. Caution is out with 22 laps to go. What to do?

Lap 280: Christopher Bell leads Denny Hamlin

Christopher Bell’s race to lose? Bell leads Hamlin by 0.4 seconds after a good restart. William Byron rockets up to ninth after taking the wave-around.

Lap 268: Caution for Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace cuts a tire down and is in the wall. Caution is out. Very, very bad news for Ryan Preece and Joey Logano.

William Byron was on pit road when the caution flew and is now a lap down. He should be able to take the wave-around. Chase Elliott had also pitted too. The rest of the field comes down pit road for their best tires, mostly option tires. Preece, Logano and Jones all did not have new sets of option tires.

Tyler Reddick is penalized for speeding on pit road. Ty Dillon also hit with a speeding penalty. Huge for both after being in the top five at the time of caution.

Lap 261: Lap times starting to turn for Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell

Ryan Preece’s lap times have fallen off to basically mirror Christopher Bell as the RFK Racing driver leads by 3.1 seconds. Tyler Reddick, still with power steering issues, is third, while Ty Dillon, also on the option tires, is 4th.

Lap 236: Ryan Preece to the front

Ryan Preece takes the lead with 76 laps to go on the option tires, 12 laps into the run. There’s no way the softer tires last for a full run, no?

Lap 224: Christopher Bell clears for the lead

Christopher Bell takes off well on the restart and leads Tyler Reddick who reports is driving with no power steering. Kyle Larson is now a factor in third.

Ryan Preece is on the option tire, along with Erik Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland and Ty Dillon among the lead lap cars. Preece is up to fifth and moving up, but at what cost?

Joey Logano is back to sixth place after a so-so pit stop and restart.

Lap 215: Caution for Katherine Legge and Daniel Suarez

Katherine Legge spins off of turn 2 as Josh Berry laps her, and Daniel Suarez hits the No. 78 in the door. Suarez has major front-end damage. Berry has left-rear damage too. The pit strategies will be muddled.

This is an ideal situation for Joey Logano, barring a caution in about 20-30 laps.

Lap 196: Joey Logano leads off the restart

All lead lap cars besides Ryan Preece (who had already used one of two option sets) are on the softer tires. Joey Logano leads Tyler Reddick.

Christopher Bell wins Stage 2

Christopher Bell wins Stage 2, with Joey Logano holding onto second place despite a big drop off in the final 10 laps on the softer tires.

The top 10:

1. Christopher Bell

2. Joey Logano

3. William Byron

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Tyler Reddick

6. Austin Cindric

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Kyle Larson

10. Josh Berry

Lap 178: Christopher Bell passes Joey Logano for the lead

After progress was stalled among lap traffic, Christopher Bell finally runs down Joey Logano for the lead with less than 10 laps to go in the stage.

Logano’s lap times have tracked behind Bell but is looking competitive to the others in the top 10 with the aged softer tires.

Lap 150: Ryan Blaney up into the top 10

Ryan Blaney appears to be the driver that can move up regardless of tires, up to 6th as this run continues on. Joey Logano’s margin ahead of Christopher Bell has stabilized to about 2.7 seconds.

Lap 130: Joey Logano to the lead

Joey Logano leads with 55 laps to go in the second stage, his car about 0.4 seconds a lap better than Christopher Bell. How long will the option tires hold up? Those with two option tire sets remaining will be very interested.

Lap 125: Joey Logano to second with option tire

Joey Logano is up to second, 1.3 seconds behind Christopher Bell. 60 laps to go in Stage 2.

Lap 113: Christopher Bell leads off the restart

Christopher Bell leads William Byron on the restart. Joey Logano already up into the top 15 in two laps.

Lap 99: Caution on the restart for multi-car pileup

Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe all try to fit their cars into a two-car wide area on the track during the restart, and their collision produces a multi-car pileup off of turn 2. Carson Hocevar, Riley Herbst and Haley’s days are done, as they don’t drive away. Spire Motorsports have had three cars involved in the last two cautions after top-10 qualifying efforts yesterday.

Briscoe, Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer and Todd Gilliland among the cars involved, but they all drive away. Briscoe’s Toyota took a big hit. Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Dillon are also involved.

Briscoe is done for the day as well.

Lap 92: Caution for Michael McDowell’s tire issue

Michael McDowell has a right-rear tire down, and the caution is out. The Spire Motorsports Chevrolet was on the softer tire.

This will shake up the tire strategies. Every lead lap car comes down pit road. Joey Logano puts on the softer tires, and he’ll restart 24th. Christopher Bell leads William Byron. The cars on primary tires should be OK to finish the stage here.

Lap 88: Austin Cindric to the lead on the option tire

Austin Cindric, on the softer option tire, passes William Byron for the lead. Justin Haley, Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain have also driven into the top 10 on the softer tire. If Preece could go about 40 laps with none of the drawbacks, maybe these cars can go 50 laps or more before making the 125-lap second stage a one-stop?

Lap 71: Stage 2 begins with more cars on option tire

Most of the cars outside the top 20, bar Joey Logano, are on the option tire including Ross Chastain, who was penalized for crew members over the wall too soon. Austin Cindric is the highest running driver on option tires, in 14th.

William Byron wins Stage 1

William Byron works through lap traffic and wins Stage 1.

The top 10:

1. William Byron

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Ryan Preece

4. Christopher Bell

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Josh Berry

7. Carson Hocevar

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Chase Elliott

10. Kyle Larson

Lap 52: William Byron in control

William Byron leads by 1.5 seconds over Tyler Reddick with eight laps to go in the first stage. Ryan Preece’s lap-time advantage is starting to narrow a bit, but the option tires are going to hold up for the rest of the stage it looks like. Preece, in third, is 3.3 seconds behind Reddick, about a 1-second difference over eight laps.

Lap 38: Ryan Preece rocketing up the field with option tire

About 24 laps into the run, Ryan Preece has moved up 27 spots after pitting under caution to put on the softer option tires. Preece is fourth and about 0.25-0.30 seconds better than the leaders at this point.

Lap 18: Penalty for Joey Logano

Joey Logano touches below the yellow line before crossing the start-finish line leading the field to the restart, and he is penalized. He comes down pit road for a pass-through penalty.

“That’s ridiculous,” Logano said on the radio among other frustrating remarks. The No. 22 stays on the lead lap but won’t record any stage points in Stage 1. William Byron leads.

Lap 10: Caution for Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer

On the following restart, Cole Custer gets loose with Noah Gragson under him. Custer washes up the track into Todd Gilliland and Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and the latter spins and clips Custer. Caution is out.

Lap 5: Caution for Katherine Legge

Caution is out for Katherine Legge, who spins off of turn 2. She was at the rear of the field. No damage.

Lap 1: Green flag!

Joey Logano takes the lead on Lap 1, but William Byron prevails on Lap 2 and clears the Penske Ford.

Two tire types this weekend

The field has the choice of a softer option tire (red) and a harder “normal” tire (yellow) in today’s race. All cars are starting on the normal tires.

William Byron on the pole; full NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix starting lineup

William Byron is on the pole for Sunday’s race, with Joey Logano on the outside of the front row.

The top 10:

1. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

2. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

3. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

4. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

5. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

6. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

7. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

8. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

9. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

10. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Find the full starting lineup here.

NASCAR race radio coverage: How to listen to NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA will be aired on the radio by the Motor Racing Network. PRN has affiliates all across the country, and their feed can also be streamed on NASCAR.com as well as the NASCAR app. The race can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

NASCAR Phoenix race TV schedule, start time

• Green Flag Time:  Approx. 2:40 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 9

• Track: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval) in Avondale, Arizona

• Length:  312 laps, 312 miles

• Stages:  60 laps, 125 laps, 127 laps

• TV coverage:  FOX Sports 1

• Radio:  MRN

• Streaming: FUBO (free trial available); FOX Sports app (subscription required); MAX app for in-car cameras; NASCAR.com and SiriusXM on Channel 90 for audio (subscription required)

The Shriners Children’s 500 will be broadcast nationally on FS1. Streaming options for the race include MAX for in-car cameras, the FOX Sports app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

Recent NASCAR Cup Series winners at Phoenix

• 2024 fall: Joey Logano

• 2024 spring: Christopher Bell

• 2023 fall: Ross Chastain

• 2023 spring: William Byron

• 2022 fall: Joey Logano

• 2022 sprin: Chase Briscoe

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix: Live updates, highlights, leaderboard