Denny Hamlin had a good day Sunday, leading 33 laps and finishing third.  That effectively means that he stands pat.  His points lead increased by one to 39 over Brad Keselowski.  Keselowski finished fourth on Sunday.  Joey Logano led the most laps Sunday and finished second.  That moved him up to third in points.  Martin Truex Jr.'s victory allowed him to gain four places and move up to fourth.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson had similar days Sunday.  After having to start in the rear, they both had pit road speeding penalties, then recovered to finish fifth and seventh, respectively.  They exit Phoenix tied for fifth.  Kevin Harvick remains in seventh after a sixth-place finish.  Christopher Bell is down three places to eighth after finishing ninth.

William Byron is up two positions to ninth after coming from the rear to finish eighth.  Kurt Busch remains in 10th.  Michael McDowell finished 23rd and dropped from ninth to 11th in points.  Austin Dillon is still 12th.

Ryan Blaney is up two places to 13th after winning stage one and finishing 10th.  That came at the expense of Ryan Preece, who struggled to a 26th-place finish and dropped to 14th.  Kyle Busch dropped to 15th after hitting the wall and spinning out en route to a 25th-place finish.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moved into the top 16 with a 12th-place finish.

Stenhouse is the final driver currently in the playoffs.  He is three points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman, who recovered from a crash to finish 13th.  That performance gained him a position in the standings.  Chris Buescher fell two places to 18th after finishing 18th.  Bubba Wallace moved up one place to 19th after finishing 16th, but he should have finished better.  A bad decision to stay out when everyone else pitted cost him track position.  Cole Custer hit the wall on the backstretch with 20 laps to go and dropped back to a 31st-place finish.  That put him back to 20th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 236, 2) Brad Keselowski -39, 3) Joey Logano -44, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -56, t-5) Kyle Larson -57, t-5) Chase Elliott -57, 7) Kevin Harvick -60, 8) Christopher Bell -69, 9) William Byron -84, 10) Kurt Busch -92, 11) Michael McDowell -96, 12) Austin Dillon -101, 13) Ryan Blaney -102, 14) Ryan Preece -113, 15) Kyle Busch -121, 16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -123.

Playoff Points: t-1) Kyle Larson 6, t-1) William Byron 6, t-3) Michael McDowell -1, t-3) Christopher Bell -1, t-3) Martin Truex Jr. -1, 6) Denny Hamlin -3, t-7) Brad Keselowski -5, t-7) Joey Logano -5, t-7) Chase Elliott -5, t-7) Ryan Blaney -5, t-7) Chris Buescher -5.

Stage Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 77, 2) Joey Logano -20, 3) Brad Keselowski -25, 4) Chase Elliott -28, 5) Kyle Larson -35, 6) William Byron -38, t-7) Martin Truex Jr. -39, t-7) Ryan Blaney -39, 9) Kevin Harvick -45, 10) Christopher Bell -46, 11) Austin Dillon -49, 12) Kurt Busch -50, 13) Bubba Wallace -56, t-14) Chris Buescher -60, t-14) Kyle Busch -60, 16) Ryan Preece -62.

Outside of the Top 16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Michael McDowell -71.

Note: Stage Points include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Denny Hamlin 184, 2) Brad Keselowski -16, 3) Kevin Harvick -19, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -20, t-5) Kyle Larson -23, t-5) Joey Logano -23, 7) Christopher Bell -27, t-8) Michael McDowell -29, t-8) Chase Elliott -29, 10) Kurt Busch -46, 11) William Byron -49, 12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -50, t-13) Ryan Preece -56, t-13) Austin Dillon -56, t-15) Ryan Blaney -66, t-15) Kyle Busch -66.

Race Winners: Michael McDowell (Daytona-1), Christopher Bell (Daytona-2), William Byron (Homestead), Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix)

 
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.

Austin Cindric scored his second win of 2021 Saturday in Phoenix and led the most laps.  He ended up three points short of a perfect day.  That allowed him to expand his lead over Daniel Hemric up to 47 points.  Hemric ran well, but hit the wall on the final restart and finished 23rd.  Jeb Burton is up one place to third after recovering from a speeding penalty to finish sixth.  AJ Allmendinger and Harrison Burton are tied for fourth.  Allmendinger finished fifth, while Harrison was 13th.

Brandon Jones dropped three places to sixth after crashing out on the background following contact from Allmendinger.  Myatt Snider and Justin Haley are tied for seventh.  Snider had a quiet day and finished 11th while Haley hit the wall on the final restart like Hemric and finished 26th.

Brandon Brown avoided the chaos and finished a career-best third Saturday.  That moved him up to ninth in the standings.  That came at the expense of Jeremy Clements, but Clements still finished 10th to stay in the top 10.  Justin Allgaier had a chance to win late, but hit the wall and fell back to a eighth-place finish.  That was still enough for Allgaier to move into the top 12 for the first time this season in 11th.  Riley Herbst slipped through the chaos to finish fourth and move up to 12th.

Herbst is the last driver in the top 12 at the moment.  He is five points ahead of Michael Annett, who dropped out due to engine issues and finished 38th.  Landon Cassill is down to 14th after finishing 22nd.  Ty Gibbs returned for his first run since Daytona and finished second, moving back up to 15th.  Finally, Tommy Joe Martins recovered from hitting the wall to finish 17th and move up to 16th.  Noah Gragson blew an engine and caught on fire early on Saturday, finishing 39th.  That dropped him from 12th to 19th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 248, 2) Daniel Hemric -47, 3) Jeb Burton -76, t-4) AJ Allmendinger -86, t-4) Harrison Burton -86, 6) Brandon Jones -94, t-7) Myatt Snider -99, t-7) Justin Haley -99, 9) Brandon Brown -111, 10) Jeremy Clements -114, 11) Justin Allgaier -134, 12) Riley Herbst -150, 13) Michael Annett -155, 14) Landon Cassill -159, 15) Ty Gibbs -160, 16) Tommy Joe Martins -161.

Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the playoffs.

Note No. 2: Drivers in italics are ineligible for the playoffs.

Note No. 3: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be ninth in points.

Playoff Points: 1) Austin Cindric 14, t-2) AJ Allmendinger -8, t-2) Ty Gibbs -8, 4) Myatt Snider -9, 5) Daniel Hemric -12, 6) Brandon Jones -13.

Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would have one playoff point and be tied for sixth in playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 68, 2) Daniel Hemric -12, 2) Brandon Jones -21, 4) Harrison Burton -25, 5) Justin Haley -26, 6) Justin Allgaier -27, 7) AJ Allmendinger -35, 8) Noah Gragson -38, 9) Riley Herbst -42, 10) Myatt Snider -44, 11) Ty Dillon -50, 12) Jeremy Clements -51, 13) Jeb Burton -52, t-14) Michael Annett -54, t-14) Brandon Brown -54, 16) Ty Gibbs -55.

Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be tied for 13th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 207, 2) Jeb Burton -30, 3) Daniel Hemric -38, 4) AJ Allmendinger -56, 5) Myatt Snider -62, 6) Brandon Brown -63, 7) Harrison Burton -68, 8) Jeremy Clements -69, 9) Justin Haley -77, 10) Brandon Jones -78, 11) Landon Cassill -99, 12) Tommy Joe Martins -100, t-13) Joe Graf Jr. -103, t-13) Josh Williams -103, 15) Michael Annett -110, 16) Justin Allgaier -113.

Note: If he were eligible for points, Brett Moffitt would be sixth in old points.

Race Winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona-1, Phoenix), Ty Gibbs (Daytona-2), Myatt Snider (Homestead)

Note: Wins that are ineligible for playoff ineligibility are in italics.

The Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend.  They will be back in action Saturday afternoon in the Fr8 Auctions 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

When they roll into Atlanta, Kyle Busch Motorsports' John Hunter Nemechek will have a 14-point lead over Ben Rhodes.  Sheldon Creed is third in points, followed by Matt Crafton and Chandler Smith.

A number of contenders have struggled early on.  Brett Moffitt is 16th in points, while Zane Smith is 14th.  Ryan Truex has dropped to 20th after a good early start, while Derek Kraus is 24th.  Hailie Deegan is a disappointing 29th.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) John Hunter Nemechek 150, 2) Ben Rhodes -14, 3) Sheldon Creed -35, 4) Matt Crafton -40, 5) Chandler Smith -60, 6) Stewart Friesen -70, 7) Grant Enfinger -79, t-8) Todd Gilliland -81, t-8) Johnny Sauter -81, t-10) Carson Hocevar -82, t-10) Austin Wayne Self -82, 12) Austin Hill -85, 13) Christian Eckes -88, t-14) Zane Smith -89, t-14) Raphael Lessard -89, 16) Brett Moffitt -93. 

Playoff Points: 1) Ben Rhodes 10, t-2) John Hunter Nemechek -2, t-2) Raphael Lessard -8.

Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be fourth in playoff points.

Stage Points: 1) John Hunter Nemechek 46, 2) Sheldon Creed -16, t-3) Ben Rhodes -29, t-3) Raphael Lessard -29, 5) Matt Crafton -21, 6) Chandler Smith -27, 7) Stewart Friesen -30, 8) Grant Enfinger -31, 9) Johnny Sauter -33, 10) Austin Hill -34, 11) David Gilliland -36, 12) Zane Smith -38, t-13) Austin Wayne Self -29, t-13) Christian Eckes -39, t-13) Brett Moffitt -39, t-16) Todd Gilliland -40, t-16) Ryan Truex -40.

Old Point Standings (1-16): t-1) Ben Rhodes 95, t-1) John Hunter Nemechek 95, 3) Sheldon Creed -18, 4) Matt Crafton -22, 5) Chandler Smith -34, 6) Carson Hocevar -39, 7) Stewart Friesen -42, 8) Todd Gilliland -44, t-9) Grant Enfinger -46, t-9) Austin Wayne Self -46, 11) Christian Eckes -48, 12) Zane Smith -50, t-13) Austin Hill -53, t-13) Codie Rohrbaugh -53, t-15) Johnny Sauter -55, t-15) Brett Moffitt -55.

Race Winner: Ben Rhodes (Daytona-1, Daytona-2), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas)

"Just an awesome job by everybody, James (Small, crew chief), Blake (Harris, car chief) and all the pit crew guys fixing it. I mean really solid. I thought at the beginning of the race we were gonna run 15th or so. Man, I can’t really believe it, I’m kind of speechless. This feels pretty amazing, you know? Phoenix has been a tough one for us and to come here and win this, I wish it was November, but hopefully we can come back here in November and have a shot at being in the Final Four. Man, just so thankful and so proud of everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and everybody who makes this possible." - Martin Truex Jr., race winner

"I was surprised [that Martin Truex Jr.] was able to hang with me on that start. I felt like he had a good start too, but I had a good one on the bottom and I thought the amount I short-cutted it in the dogleg I thought, ‘Boy, I’m gonna have him cleared,’ and then we went in the corner it was still door-to-door and when you’re door-to-door the outside car has control of you. I’m pretty sure even if I beat him on that start he was still gonna hound me and probably get by me. They had the best car. They tuned it in. We had a good car, for sure, but once they tuned it in toward the end of the second stage that was the best car on the racetrack. He just had to get up front and he did, so I’m proud of the Shell/Pennzoil team. We did a great job all day execution-wise, staying up front, good pit stops, getting us back up front when we lost our track position, and, overall, a solid day. We had a stage win and some points in second place, so we’ll take it. It’s not a win. Second hurts, but we’ll move on and go to Atlanta." - Joey Logano, finished second

"I think we are happy with that. Obviously, we want to win with our Offerpad Toyota but certainly the short tracks is something we want to put a lot of emphasis on this year. We just didn’t have the results on the short tracks that we wanted last year, but getting the first short track win here for JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) – 1, 3 is a good sign that we worked on the right things and we are headed in the right direction." - Denny Hamlin, finished third

"Not a bad day. We were just really consistent, top five all day. We got the lead there towards the end on that one restart and I thought, “Oh, man, we’re gonna drive away,’ and I just wasn’t quite fast enough. We learned some things for today. We tried some things here to try to be better for the fall and I don’t know if they were necessarily better, so a lot to learn." - Brad Keselowski, finished fourth

"We struggled really bad all the way up to that very last run, to be honest. We got better and had a good pit stop there at the end. Proud of the effort that the Unifirst team put in to pull out a top five." - Chase Elliott, finished fifth

"Yeah, I hadn’t felt loose all day and that last run, I got loose in and just couldn’t get in the corners as [aggressively] as I needed to. I ended up guarding my entry zones; my angles for exit aren’t great. It just kind of made everything harder. The No. 9 (Chase Elliott) and No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) got behind me and finished seventh. It was weird that I hadn’t had it all day, but all-in-all, I had a really fast car again. That’s very promising and [I] just have to clean up mistakes on my end and have a smoother race." - Kyle Larson, finished seventh

"Decent day here at Phoenix Raceway. We had a good car; ran in the top 10 all day and it just kind of ended there in eighth. We’ve got some things we need to work on when we come back, but we definitely know the areas to work on and improve. So, we just have to go to work on those things. Looking forward to it and looking forward to the challenge. We’re looking forward to Atlanta Motor Speedway next week." - William Byron, finished eighth

"I was really happy with our Rheem Camry. It was pretty fast. Right off the bat, we were pretty good, we just had to tweak on the balance just a little bit to get it going. I felt like we were in really good shape had it stayed green. Our long run speed was pretty good. I felt like we were going to be looking at another top-five, but I made a lot of mistakes throughout the course of the race that cost us a better finish. I’m happy to keep the momentum rolling, get another top-10. Hopefully we can keep rolling, but definitely have to clean up the mistakes on my part." - Christopher Bell, finished ninth

"Towards the end of the day I think the track kind of changed on us and we lost some speed. We were fighting stuff that we weren’t fighting at the beginning and other guys’ cars came to life and we were kind of chasing ours a little bit. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. We tried a bunch of stuff and tried to get ahead of the track and just couldn’t quite get there, so, for how much speed we lost throughout the day just track changing, running 10th I’m proud of that. I’m proud of Todd and everybody for sticking with it all day and good stage points for sure and not a bad finish, either." - Ryan Blaney, finished 10th

"I’m really proud of the effort that everyone at JTG Daugherty Racing put in to get this No. 47 Kroger/Energizer Chevrolet to a third-consecutive top-15 finish. It would take a few laps for our car to come in, and with the couple of cautions we had in the middle of the race it made it tough to get that longer run where we had really strong speed. Once that came in, we were able to keep pushing forward to gain and keep our track position. Being consistent has been really key early in the season as we have a variety of racetracks and that was definitely the best run at Phoenix Raceway than I’ve had in several years. I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 12th