NASCAR fans know all too well how weather can affect a race, remember back in 2020 at Texas Motor Speedway, when we waited for 3 days for the race, when it was postponed again and again due to the rain. Or more recently, when Mother Nature gave us a scare at Daytona this year when the start of the race was delayed by more than three hours.

While NASCAR has the option tires at their disposal after successful use at Richmond and Loudon last year, the Goodyear rubber isn’t suited to race in rain. So, as the NASCAR bandwagon heads west to Phoenix, the eyes are going to be drawn towards the weather updates.

At Phoenix Raceway, the forecast for Friday was ominous with showers predicted the whole day, “On Friday, a strong upper-level trough is forecasted to be over Southern California & Western Arizona in the morning… This system should bring some showers to the Phoenix area throughout the day.” However, it looks like the weather gods want the race to go smoothly and have had their quota of rain already, as the forecast for the weekend is looking to improve to allow for uninterrupted racing.

As the weekend arrives, NASCAR fans should rejoice with a dramatic turnaround in weather. By Saturday, the sun is expected to be out and about, with a high of 66°F temperature and gentle winds at 5 mph from the west-southwest.  According to Race Weather, “Into the weekend, the trough is forecasted to move eastward, with an upper-level ridge taking its place. This will lead to clear skies for the rest of the weekend!”

As the racing gods prepare to watch the race, Sunday promises to be even better than Saturday, with a sunny sky and a temperature around 75°F, accompanied by light winds, with a prediction for amazing racing weather, both for the fans and the drivers.

With Mother Nature clearing up the weather for the race, will we see history being made in the NextGen Era?

Can Christopher Bell achieve the historic NASCAR three-peat?

As we get ready for the 4th race of the season, Christopher Bell is on the verge of achieving a milestone that nobody has achieved in this Next Gen era. Since the Next Gen era started in 2022, no driver has won three races in a row in a season, Kyle Larson did it back in 2021 and won the championship. What would make this achievement even more impressive for Bell is that each of his 3 wins will come at 3 different types of tracks. Phoenix is a flat track, Atlanta a drafting track, and COTA is a road course.

As Bell heads into this weekend looking to make history, William Byron and Ryan Blaney, who sit at 1 and 2 in the standings, will want to give Bell a run for his money along with all the drivers looking to capitalize on their position in the standings early in the season. Byron, who won here in 2023, is looking to solidify his position at the top of the driver standings and stop Bell from achieving his historic three-peat.

In the last four races at the Jewel of the Desert, Bell has three top-five results including a win from 2024. The JGR driver is a defending race winner, thus making him a clear favorite to script NASCAR history this weekend. But as mentioned above the likes of Byron and Blaney are in hot pursuit as well and cannot be counted out of the equation.

Going by the data, the driver of the #24 Chevy has 1,351 laps run in the top five since the Next Gen’s debut. Just like Bell, Byron has three top-fives in his last four starts at Phoenix with a win coming back in 2023. In contrast to the two drivers, Blaney is arguably more consistent with his results but he is chasing his first win on the racetrack. The Penske star has finished inside of the top 5 at Phoenix in the Next Gen era which includes four runner-up results. So you see, neither Bell nor Byron are in clear.