The NASCAR Cup Series season is three races deep. Tyler Reddick is off to a hot start with three consecutive wins, but the season really starts now for everyone else in the field.
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No longer do they have to focus on "wild cards." For now, it's time to take on some more traditional tracks and see exactly where they stack up against each other.
"I mean, we're three races in, but really, the season starts this weekend in a way," Connor Zilisch, who sits 32nd in points, said. "Obviously, I can't say that exactly, but the first three races, we had two speedways and a road course, so this is the first race where you kind of start to figure out where we are as a team and how fast our race cars are going to be.
"Phoenix is the first test to that. So yeah, it really all starts this weekend. I feel like I've done a good job at the speedways and last weekend at the road course, but this will really be the test of how comfortable I am."
The NASCAR season starts with races that deliver excitement while providing scant information about which teams are actually competitive. The Daytona 500 focuses more on running in the pack and avoiding wrecks. Atlanta adds some handling into the mix, but this race is still about being in the right place at the right time.
Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race of the schedule, highlights speed and handling. Yet, this race plays less of a role in the outcome of the season considering that only four races with left and right turns are on the schedule. None are in The Chase that serves as the postseason.
Phoenix Raceway and beyond, however, provide more details. These oval tracks that make up the majority of the schedule show which teams will be fastest while contending for the championship.
These races will show which pit crews are the most consistent under pressure. They will serve as important opportunities for drivers buried in the standings to score points and make some moves.
"I look at this format and what it's intended to do," Brad Keselowski said. "It's intended to make every race a big race and, for us specifically, this is what I think most of the teams would tell you is the start of the regular season. It's more of a traditional racetrack and more of what we're going to see.
"It values the things that most of the races from here on out are going to value, whether that's speed in the race car, tactics by the driver, execution by the pit crew, or strategy by the crew chiefs. Those four elements are more represented here than they are the first three weeks of the season and more representative of the challenges we're gonna have throughout the rest of the year."
