NASCAR Cup Phoenix practice and qualifying suggests promising race

There was definitely a different feel for NASCAR Cup Series drivers to chase in their return to Phoenix Raceway four months after the 2025 championship race.

By the end of the day, Joey Logano secured the pole for Team Penske, but only after a brief afternoon of practice in which there were several tire failures and spins that included the driver chasing four straight wins to open the 2026 season.

To be clear, ‘failure’ doesn’t mean an issue with Goodyear, but rather teams aggressively going as low as possible on tire pressure in the pursuit of speed with an increase to 750 horsepower from the 670 used last year.

It has changed the notebook to a certain extent and teams needed to find the limit and no one did so on Saturday quite like Logano, crew chief Paul Wolfe and the Team Penske No. 22 Ford team.

“I would say the power is definitely in effect,” said Logano during his post pole press conference. “It’s not huge but it’s directionally that way. Any time you talk to any driver, they’re going to say put more horsepower in it, but the fact it seems like (tire) fall off is pretty high and cars are searching around has to go into the equation too right?

“We’re on the brakes more and on the gas a little less, but spinning the (tires) more, and it’s just easier to wear them out. It just promotes a wider track and better racing. So whether it comes from the tire wear or the horsepower, it all goes together. It’s all a package.”

Said ‘package’ created an exciting pair of 20 minute practice sessions with RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski each losing right front pressure. Buescher was able to nurse it to pit road but Keselowski hit the wall and needed to go to a backup car as a result.

Keselowski did not turn a qualifying lap.

“It’s really surprising,” Keselowski said on the Amazon Prime broadcast. “We saw that Chris had an issue so we pumped it up full of air and drove it slow to build some air and not abuse it … not sure why it would blow.”

Chase Briscoe said he felt the power too.

“I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think we would feel the difference in power,” said Briscoe on Prime. “But I’ll be the first to admit, it feels like there is way more than 750 or whatever it is. This is the most slick and wore out we’ve been here. It’s going to be fun tomorrow for sure.”