This weekend, NASCAR returns to the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway for NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series action in Arizona.

Photo: Dominic Aragon/TRE

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is March 20 at Darlington.

NASCAR Cup Series’ Straight Talk Wireless 500 race

Sunday, March 8

3:30 p.m. (all times Eastern)

312 laps

Stages end on laps 60, 185, 312

FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

Last year’s winner: Christopher Bell

Photo: Dominic Aragon/TRE

With 37 teams entered, all drivers are guaranteed to start the race.

Austin Hill is the lone open entry in the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet.

Odds for the NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix Race

Ryan Blaney, who won the Phoenix race in November, is the odds-on favorite to win Sunday, per the Caesar’s Sportsbook, as of Tuesday, March 3. Below are the sportbook’s opening odds for the race weekend.

Ryan Blaney +475

Denny Hamlin +550

Christopher Bell +600

Kyle Larson +750

William Byron +800

Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott +1000

Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick +1300

Ross Chastain +1800

Josh Berry, Chris Buescher +2500

Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar +3000

Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace +3500

Ty Gibbs +4000

Alex Bowman +5000

Ryan Preece +5500

Connor Zilisch +6000

Austin Cindric +7000

Austin DIllon +7500

Austin Hill, Michael McDowell +15000

Daniel Suarez +20000

Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones, Zane Smith, Shane Van Gisbergen +25000

A.J. Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.+35000

Cole Custer +75000

Ty Dillon, Riley Herbst +100000

Cody Ware +250000

NASCAR Xfinity Series’ GOVX 200 race

Saturday, March 7

200 laps

Stages end on laps 45, 90, 200

CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90

Last year’s winner: Aric Almirola

Photo by Dominic Aragon/The Racing Experts

Two drivers will miss the race with 40 total entries.

Notable drivers on the entry list include Garrett Smithley (No. 0), Chandler Smith (No. 5), Austin J. Hill (No. 30), Rajah Caruth (No. 32), Blake Lothian (No. 35), Nathan Byrd (No. 42), Daniel Dye (No. 52), Joey Gase (No. 55), Dawson Cram (No. 74), Willaim Byron (No. 88), and Mason Maggio (No. 91).

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.