PREVIEW: Legge’s Cup debut, some special paint schemes set for Phoenix
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Vans Warped Tour, @VansWarpedTour
Saturday, March 8, 2025 (Green Flag 5:10 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 4 of 33
GOVX 200 at Phoenix
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Patrick Emerling
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered to attempt the 38-car field, so all will qualify.
MISSING: #9-JR Motorsports
Ross Chastain and the now part-time #9 entry at JRM are not among this week’s entrants after an 8th-place run last week in COTA.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
While Garrett Smithley stepped out of his ride last week in COTA out of concern for his lack of road course skills, Carson Hocevar’s role as replacement could not have gone worse. Citing a radio issue and a car that wouldn’t re-fire after a minor impact with the Turn 6 tire barrier, Hocevar climbed from the #14, ending his race in last place. Smithley returns to the #14 this week, this time with DozerWinchParts.com as sponsor.
DRIVER CHANGE: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
The Hendrick team keeps the #17 in the field this week, swapping Daytona 500 winner William Byron – last Saturday’s runner-up finisher – for fellow Cup Series regular Alex Bowman. Bowman has made one XFINITY start in each of the last three seasons driving this car, each at a different track: a 2nd on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit in 2022, a 9th at Watkins Glen in 2023, and most recently another 9th at Loudon last summer.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Like both Hocevar and Byron – but unlike Bowman – Riley Herbst will focus exclusively on his full-time Cup Series ride this weekend, one week after a 13th-place run in COTA. Returning to the #19 in Herbst’s place is Aric Almirola, who will make his 120th series start and second of 2025, his first since a 3rd-place run in Atlanta. Almirola’s 3rd-place finish at Phoenix last fall was his best of nine previous XFINITY starts at the track.
MISSING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Also not entered this week is Corey Heim, who after his late-race altercation with Connor Zilisch finished a distant 31st at COTA. The Sam Hunt team will only field their flagship #26 this week as Dean Thompson continues his full-time run.
MISSING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Still another driver not running this week’s race is Austin Green, who after an unscheduled stop finished COTA in 26th place.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
Last week in COTA, Baltazar Leguizamon made his NASCAR national series debut, but only made 17 laps before suspension issues left him stranded off the track. This week, Greg Van Alst returns to the driver’s seat for his ninth series start and first since a 26th-place run with the Gase team in Daytona.
MISSING: #50-Pardus Racing
Preston Pardus endured a frustrating series of flat tires and mechanical issues at COTA which left him back in 36th, eliminated due to rear end trouble. As the team performs repairs, Pardus and team will not make the trip to Phoenix.
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
Joey Gase returns to his team’s second entry, the #53, taking the place of 34th-place COTA finisher Sage Karam, eliminated in the final stages due to transmission woes. The National Fire Protection Association and Donate Life Arizona co-sponsor his Chevrolet.
RETURNING: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
While Karam ran with limited sponsorship last week in COTA, the Mike Harmon team announced on Thursday that they have sponsorship opportunities available both for this weekend’s race in Phoenix and next week’s in Las Vegas. Interested parties can contact Harmon by e-mail at mikeharmonracing74@gmail.com. One year after fielding their car through Jordan Anderson’s #32 team in this race, the #74 returns with Dawson Cram aboard. This will be Cram’s first XFINITY start since this same track last fall, when he completed a late-season string of races for DGM Racing and finished 32nd.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Two of the most dazzling paint schemes for this Saturday’s race are the #28 RSS Racing entry of Kyle Sieg – which carries a pattern modeled after the Arizona state flag – and this #07, sponsored by the VANS Warped Tour, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary. According to the team, the deal began as a joke among friends, but a deal then came together. Taking the place of 14th-place COTA finisher Alex Labbe is Nick Leitz, who makes his ninth series start and first since a 22nd-place run with this team in Atlanta.
CUP INVADERS: #17-Alex Bowman
Sunday, March 9, 2025 (Green Flag 3:41 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Race 4 of 36
Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Austin Cindric
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, marking the third straight short field in the season’s first four races.
RETURNING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
Sunday’s race marks the Cup Series debut for Katherine Legge, who continues to diversify her expanding resume in racing between sports cars, IndyCar, five XFINITY starts, and an ARCA debut at Daytona this past February. Legge takes the wheel of B.J. McLeod’s #78 for the first time since Atlanta, where McLeod himself finished 22nd. Droplight is Legge’s sponsor.
MISSING: #87-Trackhouse Racing
Legge stands as the lone “open” entry in Sunday’s field as Connor Zilisch will focus exclusively on Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. The Trackhouse team has not fielded his #87, which finished last after a mid-race crash with Daniel Suarez while racing in 14th.
Friday, March 14, 2025
TRUCKS Race 3 of 25
Victoria’s Voice 200 at Las Vegas
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Timmy Hill
The Truck Series returns in Las Vegas next week.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (March 7, 1954): Jim Paschal picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in a 200-lap race at Speedway Park’s half-mile dirt track in Jacksonville, Florida when his #80 1954 Dodge snapped an axle after 5 laps. The track was a particular challenge for Paschal, who never finished better than 18th in his three starts there.
