NASCAR Shriners Children's 500 takeaways: Second-closest finish in Cup Series history at Phoenix caps eventful race

Here are five takeaways from the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix:

Make it three in a row for Bell

For the first time since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022, a driver has won three straight races in a Cup Series season. Bell has now won three of the season's first four races, becoming the first driver to accomplish the feat since Kevin Harvick in 2018 and only the fourth driver all-time to do so.

Bell won Stage 2 and led a race-high 105 laps from an 11th-place starting position. Sunday marked his 12th career Cup Series win and the second year in a row he has won the spring race at Phoenix. With wins at a drafting-style track (Atlanta), road course (COTA) and one-mile layout (Phoenix), Bell has proven he can win anywhere and is not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Option tire adds a new element for teams

Drivers and teams were presented with two sets of softer option tires for Sunday's race in addition to seven sets of the primary tires. The idea behind the option tires — which were first used in a points race at Richmond last summer — is to provide more grip, but wear out faster than the primaries, ultimately providing crew chiefs with more strategy options to utilize.

It did not take long for the option tires to be put to use with RFK Racing's Ryan Preece going from 33rd to third in Stage 1 to show how effective they could be. The limited sets of option tires made for some interesting strategy throughout the event and delivered an entertaining race. 

Joey Logano unable to overcome early adversity

After qualifying second and leading the field to green on Lap 15 after the race's second caution, Logano was penalized for going below the yellow line too soon on the restart and had to serve his drive-through penalty under green. As a result of the penalty, Logano lost track position and had to use his first set of option tires earlier than most drivers to regain the lost track position, which left him at a disadvantage late in the race.

Logano led 81 laps and appeared to show race-winning speed when he was at the front. However, a 13th-place finish — his fourth straight result outside the top 10 to begin the season — leaves the three-time Cup Series champion with another disappointing outcome.

Ryan Blaney still unable to find victory lane at Phoenix

Despite running top five in each of the first two stages, Blaney suffered a blown engine going into Turn 3 while running ninth on Lap 290, ending his day early with a 28th-place finish.

Coming into the weekend, Blaney had 13 top 10s in 18 starts at Phoenix and an average finish of 10.4. While he never led any laps on Sunday, Blaney was once again among the frontrunners at Phoenix and left with nothing to show for it.

Brad Keselowski cannot catch a break

After getting caught up in a big wreck on Lap 99, Keselowski finished the race in 33rd. It is the third time in four races that the 2012 Cup Series champion has finished outside the top 25 with a best finish of 15th at COTA.

It has been a rough start to the 2025 season for the owner/driver for RFK Racing. As a three-time winner at the series' next stop at Las Vegas, perhaps a much-needed rebound is on the way for Keselowski.