Why Gateway and New Hampshire Will Prove Who Will Be Successful in Phoenix
The NASCAR Playoffs are in full swing, and Chase Briscoe broke through with a dominant performance in the Southern 500 at Darlington to win and advance to the next round. Now, the series heads to the Midwest for a date at the Gateway Arch in St Louis. This is just the fourth Cup Series race in the track's history and the first time it will be a playoff race. In three races, three different drivers have taken the win, two of which were Team Penske cars.
Joey Logano won the inaugural Gateway race in 2022 and went on to win the championship in Phoenix, a track similar to Gateway. A year later, Logano came home third as Kyle Busch won. Last year, Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel with a lap to go, but fortunately for Penske, their other driver, Austin Cindric, stole the win from his teammate in dramatic fashion. The main constant at the track has been the Penske trio, who have been nearly unstoppable at Gateway.
Across the three races, Logano has scored the most points of any Cup Series driver with 127. Right behind him is Blaney with 122 points, and third is Cindric with 118. It’s no secret that Team Penske has been strong at flat, short ovals in the Next Gen era, having won two Gateway races and all three championships at Phoenix, with Logano in 2022 and 2024, and Blaney winning the title in 2023. The driver who has scored the fourth-most points at Gateway in the Next Gen car is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, which makes sense considering his Next Gen record at New Hampshire.
Joe Gibbs Racing has been flat-out dominant in Loudon with the Next Gen car. Bell is the reigning winner at the track and won in 2022. The 2023 race was the final win for 2017 series champion Martin Truex Jr. Bell’s 2023 race didn’t go his way, as he finished 29th after a loose wheel and a spin plagued his day. However, Bell reached the Championship Four in both 2022 and 2023 and missed out on the 2024 title race by four points after a penalty in Martinsville.
In the spring Phoenix races with the Next Gen car, Briscoe won in 2022, William Byron won in 2023, and Bell won in 2024 and 2025. The fall Phoenix races have been won by Logano in 2022 and 2024, with each victory securing the championship. Ross Chastain stole the show in 2023 when he became the first non-Championship Four driver to win the championship race. Blaney won the title by finishing second in the race. The commonality is that Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Team Penske have all been successful on the short, flat tracks in the Next Gen car. The difference is that Penske wins the right races at the right time.
Phoenix and New Hampshire, although slightly different in shape, are each one mile in length. Gateway, while still flat like the former two, is longer at 1.25 miles. This Sunday’s race from Gateway at 3:30 p.m. EST on USA Network is sure to provide a glimpse into who will be the ones to watch at the Phoenix finale. In a couple of weeks, the New Hampshire race may be the confirmation on whether or not Team Penske will win a fourth-straight title, or if a different team will finally take the crown in the Next Gen era.
