NASCAR and IndyCar Phoenix preview

For only the fourth time in 60 years, NASCAR and IndyCar will race on the same track on the same weekend.

They will race at Phoenix, a track last visited by IndyCar in 2018.

Alex Palou, unsurprisingly, won the IndyCar season opener in Saint Petersburg.

Tyler Reddick became the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three races of the year with his win at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend.

Phoenix Raceway hosts a mile-long dog-leg oval.

The last time IndyCar was here, Josef Newgarden won.

The last time NASCAR was here was riddled with controversy, as it hosted what is hopefully the final-ever one-race championship.

Denny Hamlin was on course to win both the race and a title before William Byron’s tire blew, which brought out a late caution before Kyle Larson snatched the title and Ryan Blaney snatched the win.

In the spring race, Christopher Bell held off Hamlin to win the third of three races in a row.

Unfortunately, the Craftsman Truck Series is on a long break, so they will not be racing this weekend.

Their next race will be in two weekends at Darlington.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will race, however.

Unlike previous weeks, there are not many Cup Drivers racing here.

The only one is Anthony Alefredo, who is going to be in the Hendrick #48 for the time being while Alex Bowman recovers from vertigo.

In this race, I am going to go with Jesse Love to win.

He drove very well here in the races last year, including his title-winning race in November.

For Cup, I am going to pick Denny Hamlin.

It just feels right, and it would also be objectively very funny for him to get a win on the track where he lost a title and also to continue the stretch of drivers involved with the recent lawsuit winning races this year.

Finally, in IndyCar, I’m going to pick Newgarden.

He is just so fast on short ovals that I have a hard time seeing anyone beat him, and it should be fun to see someone other than Alex Palou win for a change.

Edison Pellumbi is a first-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at ejp5889@psu.edu.