Phoenix is unique. Even though it’s a 1 mile oval, it’s not like any other track on the circuit. It’s not exactly a tri-oval and not exactly a D-shaped oval—it’s got a funky little dogleg in the back stretch where drivers come in at one angle and go out at another. That makes turns one and two a whole different ballgame from turns three and four. One and two tend to be a tight set of corners, while three and four will find you loose. The track is also relatively flat, with 11 degrees of banking in one and two, and 9 degrees in three and four—it’s also got 9 degrees in the backstretch.

Crew chiefs tell me that you’ve got to set your car up kinda like you’re going to a short track, but with a high degree of downforce. Like at a lot of places, the key is how you get through the long sweeping corners and onto the straights without losing too much momentum. Drivers will try to pass either getting into or coming out of the corners. Now usually the track gets slick in the hot sun, but with a race that starts in sunshine and ends at night, the track gains grip as the race goes on. That definitely puts the pressure on teams to work together to change their setup as the race goes on.

This race won’t be as long as it seems, the 500 in the title isn’t miles, it’s kilometers, which works out to 312 laps.

If you run well at Richmond and New Hampshire, you should run well at this fairly flat track. Sure it's a mile, but think of it like a short-track; all the teams do.