TC Daily Pit Stop: Logano Scores Phoenix Cup Pole; Zane Smith Penalized; Allgaier Wins O'Reilly Race After Late-Race Charge

TC Daily Pit Stop: Sunday, March 8, 2026

Mar 08, 2026

Joey Logano Helps Deliver “Penske-Perfect” Qualifying Results At Phoenix

Joey Logano secured the pole position for Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway — Wes Masure III | TobyChristie.com

Joey Logano will start from the pole position in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway, as he helped Team Penske secure a “Penske Perfect” weekend in qualifying at the 1-mile oval between IndyCar and NASCAR Cup competition.

Logano will now look to deliver a race win, as Josef Newgarden was able to accomplish for Team Penske in Saturday’s NTT IndyCar Series event.

Kyle Larson will lineup alongside Logano on the initial start of Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500.

OFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP

Zane Smith Penalized, Car Chief Ejected After Unapproved Adjustments

Zane Smith, who enters this weekend’s race at Phoenix 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, faces an uphill battle in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500. The driver and his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team were handed stiff pre-race penalties after unapproved adjustments were discovered with the underbody of their car between practice and qualifying.

Smith will have to drop to the rear before the green flag, he’ll have to perform a pass-through penalty after taking the green, and his car chief has been ejected for the remainder of the race weekend.

Justin Allgaier Storms to Phoenix Victory Over Jesse Love

Justin Allgaier didn’t look destined to score a third career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Phoenix Raceway in Saturday’s GOVX 200, as he didn’t lead a lap through the opening 95% of the race.

But when the chips were on the table, Allgaier was able to charge past Jesse Love for the race lead with 11 laps remaining, and he never looked back on his way to his 29th career series win.

While Allgaier felt elation in victory lane, Love, who led a race-high 114 laps, was left crushed by the defeat.