"The Indianapolis of the West. A one-mile desert oval at the foot of the Estrella Mountains, racing since 1964, rebuilt for $178 million, and host of NASCAR's Championship Weekend from its 2020 arrival until the title races' return to Homestead-Miami for 2026. Race 30 of the O'Reilly Chase runs here."
Key Takeaways
- One-mile asphalt oval in Avondale, Arizona, southwest of Phoenix, with distinctive low variable banking of 0 to 11 degrees on its uniquely shaped layout.
- Built in 1964 by Scottsdale builder and amateur sports car racer Richard Hogue, who designed it as the "Indianapolis of the West" with a one-mile oval, a drag strip, and a 2.5-mile road course.
- NASCAR arrived in 1988: Alan Kulwicki won the first Cup race, the Checker 500, and celebrated with the first "Polish Victory Lap." The track has held two annual Cup weekends since 2005.
- A $178 million modernization, announced in 2017 and completed for the 2018 season, rebuilt the venue; NASCAR then moved its Championship Weekend to Phoenix beginning in November 2020.
- The 2026 O'Reilly Chase visits October 17: Race 30, the Saturday O'Reilly Series race of the Freeway Insurance 500 weekend, with ARCA the same day, Trucks on Friday, and the Cup race on Sunday, October 18.
Location: Avondale, Arizona Track Type: Asphalt oval Length: 1 mile Banking: 0 to 11 degrees Opened: 1964 Owner: NASCAR (purchased by International Speedway Corporation in April 1997; ISC merged into NASCAR October 18, 2019) Signature: Dogleg backstretch · hillside viewing area · Championship Weekend host beginning 2020
The Chase at Phoenix: Race 30
Race 30 of the 33-race season, the sixth of the nine Chase races, runs in the desert on October 17, part of the Freeway Insurance 500 weekend the track bills as "The Heat of the Chase." The Chase is the O'Reilly Series championship: the top 12 drivers in points after Race 24 at Daytona settle the title over the season's final nine races.
| Date | Race | Series | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, Oct 16 | Truck Series race | NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series | |
| Saturday, Oct 17 | O'Reilly Series race (Race 30 of the Chase) | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series + ARCA Menards Series | Doubleheader Saturday |
| Sunday, Oct 18 | Freeway Insurance 500 | NASCAR Cup Series |
Tickets: single-day, two-day, and three-day packages are sold through the track's fall weekend event page. Phoenix's famous budget seat is the Hillside behind Turn 1: first-come lawn seating where fans bring chairs and blankets, coolers of any size are allowed (no glass or alcohol), and the desert-slope view is nothing like a grandstand's. Camping, the Desert Diamond Casino Infield Experience (with Victory Lane access and a chance to sign the start/finish line), scanner rentals, and premium parking round out the add-ons.
Overview
Phoenix Raceway is NASCAR's desert crucible. The one-mile oval at the foot of the Estrella Mountains looks nothing like the sport's other short tracks: banking that nearly disappears in places, corners with different personalities, and the uniquely shaped layout the track was born with in 1964. Low grip and open geometry put the car in the driver's hands, which is a big part of why NASCAR chose Phoenix to crown its champions: beginning in November 2020, Championship Weekend, the deciding races for all three national series, ran here, before its return to Homestead-Miami for 2026.
The venue itself was rebuilt almost entirely for the modern era. A $178 million modernization, announced by International Speedway Corporation in January 2017, rebuilt the venue for its full reopening at the November 2018 weekend.
History
The Indianapolis of the West (1964)
Construction finished in January 1964 on Scottsdale builder Richard Hogue's ambitious project at the foothills of the Estrella Mountains: a uniquely shaped one-mile oval, a quarter-mile drag strip, and a meandering 2.5-mile road course, promoted as the "Indianapolis of the West." Davey MacDonald won the first race, a sports car event on the road course, in February 1964; A.J. Foyt won the first oval race that March, a 100-mile USAC event. Don White won the track's first stock car race in 1968, and in October 1970 Hollywood star Steve McQueen won a sports car race on the road course from the pole in a Porsche 908.
NASCAR Arrives (1977 to 1988)
Cale Yarborough won the track's first NASCAR race, an event in NASCAR's western regional series (then Winston West), in November 1977. After Emmett "Buddy" Jobe purchased the raceway in 1985 and rebuilt its grandstands (lightning had burned the main grandstand to the ground in April 1987), NASCAR's premier series arrived: on November 6, 1988, Alan Kulwicki won the Checker 500 before a then-record crowd of 60,000 and celebrated with the first "Polish Victory Lap," driving the wrong way around the track to face the fans.
ISC, Lights, and Two Race Weekends (1997 to 2011)
International Speedway Corporation purchased the raceway in April 1997. Lights arrived in late 2004 (1,044 fixtures, 70 miles of wire), and in 2005 the track gained its second annual Cup weekend, making it, after a 2010 NASCAR schedule realignment, the only West Coast venue with two Cup dates. The old surface was retired in 2011: Jeff Gordon won the final race on it, then personally scraped the first asphalt off the start/finish line from the seat of a backhoe.
Modernization and the Championship (2017 to today)
In January 2017, ISC announced the $178 million modernization; the rebuilt venue opened fully for the November 2018 weekend. In March 2019, NASCAR announced that Championship Weekend would move to Phoenix for November 2020, bringing the deciding races of all three national series to the desert. Along the way the venue spent two seasons named ISM Raceway before returning to the Phoenix Raceway name in January 2020. With NASCAR's October 18, 2019 merger with ISC, the track is today owned by NASCAR itself.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1964 | Track completed (January); first race February; A.J. Foyt wins first oval race (March 22) |
| 1977 | First NASCAR race: Cale Yarborough, Winston West (November 27) |
| 1985 | Buddy Jobe buys the track |
| 1988 | First Cup race: Alan Kulwicki's Checker 500 win and the first Polish Victory Lap (November 6) |
| 1995 | First Truck Series race (February); first 100,000-plus crowd (October) |
| 1997 | International Speedway Corporation buys the track (April) |
| 2004-05 | Lights installed; second annual Cup weekend added |
| 2011 | Repave: Gordon wins the last race on the old asphalt and starts the demolition himself |
| 2017-18 | $178 million modernization announced and completed |
| 2019 | NASCAR-ISC merger (October 18); Championship Weekend awarded to Phoenix |
| 2020 | ISM Raceway name reverts to Phoenix Raceway (January); first NASCAR Championship Weekend at Phoenix (November) |
| 2026 | The O'Reilly Chase visits during the Freeway Insurance 500 weekend (October 17) |
The Racing
Phoenix is a driver's mile. With banking as low as zero degrees in places, grip is always scarce, and the two ends of the track demand different disciplines; restarts are chaotic in the best way, and long-run car management tends to decide who is attacking and who is defending in the closing laps.
For Race 30, Phoenix arrives deep in the Chase with the field down to its final contenders, on a track that has crowned champions in every NASCAR national series. Track records by series are maintained by the raceway's media office and updated event by event.
Ownership and Management
Phoenix Raceway is owned by NASCAR, which acquired the track's longtime owner International Speedway Corporation in a $2 billion merger completed October 18, 2019; ISC had owned the raceway since April 1997. The track operates in NASCAR's portfolio alongside Daytona, Darlington, Talladega, and Homestead-Miami, and its website runs on the NASCAR Digital Media Network.
Visiting Phoenix Raceway
The raceway is in Avondale, Arizona, about 20 minutes southwest of downtown Phoenix. The Hillside behind Turn 1 is the signature budget experience: bring a chair, bring a cooler (any size, no glass or alcohol), and watch from the desert slope. Grandstand tickets, camping, and infield experiences are sold through the fall weekend page, and October race-week extras include Track Laps for charity on October 3.
See Also
- Homestead-Miami Speedway Track Guide covers the track that took Championship Weekend back for 2026.
- O'Reilly Series standings for the live Chase picture.
- The Grand National Show, our weekly show, follows the stories behind the race through the Chase.
2026 O'Reilly Chase tracks
- Darlington Raceway · Race 25
- World Wide Technology Raceway · Race 26
- Bristol Motor Speedway · Race 27
- Las Vegas Motor Speedway · Race 28
- Charlotte Motor Speedway · Race 29
- Phoenix Raceway · Race 30
- Talladega Superspeedway · Race 31
- Martinsville Speedway · Race 32
- Homestead-Miami Speedway · Race 33
O'Reilly Series reference
Track facts compiled from primary sources read August 26, 2026: phoenixraceway.com (About Us official timeline and fall weekend event pages) and SEC filings on the 2019 NASCAR-International Speedway Corporation merger. Records by series are maintained by the raceway's media office. Page version 2, August 26, 2026.