# 2019 TicketGuardian 500

The 2019 TicketGuardian 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on March 10, 2019, at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps on the one-mile (1.6 km) oval, it was the fourth race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report
### Background

ISM Raceway, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

#### Entry list

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet |
| 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 8 | Daniel Hemric (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 36 | Matt Tifft (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Daniel Suárez | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 47 | Ryan Preece (R) | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Cody Ware (R) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet |
| 52 | Bayley Currey (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 77 | Quin Houff (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota |
| Official entry list ||||

## First practice

Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 25.403 seconds and a speed of 141.716 mph (228.070 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 25.403 | 141.716 |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 25.590 | 140.680 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 25.640 | 140.406 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Ryan Blaney scored the pole for the race with a time of 25.480 and a speed of 141.287 mph (227.379 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 26.073 | 25.641 | 25.480 |
| 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.943 | 25.718 | 25.683 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 26.207 | 25.663 | 25.713 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 26.055 | 25.685 | 25.741 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 26.045 | 25.673 | 25.742 |
| 6 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.181 | 25.669 | 25.757 |
| 7 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.086 | 25.813 | 25.794 |
| 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 25.903 | 25.754 | 25.823 |
| 9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 26.168 | 25.811 | 25.861 |
| 10 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 26.175 | 25.909 | 25.901 |
| 11 | 8 | Daniel Hemric (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 26.078 | 25.908 | 25.946 |
| 12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 26.046 | 25.819 | 25.962 |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 26.058 | 25.924 | — |
| 14 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 26.157 | 25.936 | — |
| 15 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.205 | 25.936 | — |
| 16 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 26.166 | 25.943 | — |
| 17 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 26.013 | 25.948 | — |
| 18 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 26.145 | 25.956 | — |
| 19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 26.002 | 25.989 | — |
| 20 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 26.194 | 26.005 | — |
| 21 | 47 | Ryan Preece (R) | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 26.126 | 26.025 | — |
| 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 26.016 | 26.191 | — |
| 23 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.288 | 26.289 | — |
| 24 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 26.303 | 26.310 | — |
| 25 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 26.315 | — | — |
| 26 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 26.362 | — | — |
| 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.371 | — | — |
| 28 | 41 | Daniel Suárez | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 26.379 | — | — |
| 29 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.382 | — | — |
| 30 | 36 | Matt Tifft (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.411 | — | — |
| 31 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 26.709 | — | — |
| 32 | 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 26.777 | — | — |
| 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.989 | — | — |
| 34 | 51 | Cody Ware (R) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 27.770 | — | — |
| 35 | 77 | Quin Houff (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.646 | — | — |
| 36 | 52 | Bayley Currey (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 0.000 | — | — |
| Official qualifying results ||||||||

## Practice (post-qualifying)
### Second practice

Chris Buescher was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 26.092 seconds and a speed of 137.973 mph (222.046 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 26.092 | 137.973 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 26.103 | 137.915 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 26.154 | 137.646 |
| Official second practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.126 seconds and a speed of 137.794 mph (221.758 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 26.126 | 137.794 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 26.235 | 137.221 |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 26.338 | 136.685 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Race
### Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 75
During pre-race ceremonies, the Luke Air Force Base presented the nation's colors. Pastor Rick Derbyshire would give out the invocation.16-year old Chevel Shepherd, who had won Season 15 of The Voice, would sing the national anthem. The son of the CEO of TicketGuardian. Hudson Derbyshire, accompanied by his father and CEO, Brian and his mom, gave out the starting command.
At the race start, NASCAR judged that Chase Elliott jumped the restart against Ryan Blaney, and Elliott, while leading the first couple of laps, had to make a pass through penalty on pit road. Ryan Blaney would lead the first 35 laps before being passed by Kyle Busch on lap 36. Three laps later, Erik Jones would suffer a flat tire and spin in Turn 2, causing the first caution of the day. After cycling through pit stops, Denny Hamlin would lead the field to green on lap 46, before being passed for the lead by Busch just a lap later. Busch would lead until lap 65, when Brad Keselowski also suffering a flat tire and hitting the Turn 2 wall, almost collecting Ryan Preece. After more pit stops, Ryan Blaney would restart in the lead on lap 71 and would hang on to win the first stage.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||
Stage Two Laps: 75
The field restarted on lap 84, with Kyle Busch leading the field to green. Busch, starting from lap 80 would go on to lead the next 73 laps. Alex Bowman would suffer a flat tire with just three laps to go in the stage, hitting the turn 1 wall. Kyle Busch would win the stage under caution.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 162
Kyle Busch would jump to the lead on the initial restart, but a lap later Michael McDowell after missing the exit of the turn 2 wall, got hit in the rear by David Ragan and hit the wall. His car would not steer and would then hit the turn 3 wall, causing McDowell to retire. Kyle Busch would once again lead the field to the restart on lap 166, and would stay in the lead until lap 195, when Alex Bowman had another flat tire and pounded the turn 3 wall. Alex Bowman would retire from the race. Busch restarted and held on to the lead until lap 219, when Elliott spun off of turn 4. Hemric would take the lead after pit stops cycled, and restarted in first. However, on the first lap of the restart, Preece would hit the wall and clip the right front end of Daniel Suarez's car, sending Preece into the inside backstretch wall. Blaney would take the lead again, however Preece would again cause another caution, causing him to retire. Almirola would restart and take the lead until lap 251 when Blaney took the lead. Blaney held on to the lead until Busch, after a few laps battling took the lead on lap 296. Busch would pull away from Blaney and win.
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 312 | 56 |
| 2 | 9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 312 | 42 |
| 3 | 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 312 | 44 |
| 4 | 14 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 312 | 42 |
| 5 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 312 | 38 |
| 6 | 31 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 312 | 36 |
| 7 | 16 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 312 | 31 |
| 8 | 15 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 312 | 33 |
| 9 | 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 312 | 37 |
| 10 | 12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 312 | 38 |
| 11 | 26 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 312 | 35 |
| 12 | 18 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 312 | 30 |
| 13 | 19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 312 | 24 |
| 14 | 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 312 | 27 |
| 15 | 20 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 312 | 22 |
| 16 | 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 312 | 21 |
| 17 | 17 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 311 | 20 |
| 18 | 11 | 8 | Daniel Hemric (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 19 |
| 19 | 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 311 | 18 |
| 20 | 30 | 36 | Matt Tifft (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 311 | 17 |
| 21 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 311 | 20 |
| 22 | 23 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 311 | 15 |
| 23 | 28 | 41 | Daniel Suárez | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 311 | 14 |
| 24 | 7 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 310 | 16 |
| 25 | 29 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 310 | 12 |
| 26 | 24 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 310 | 11 |
| 27 | 33 | 15 | Ross Chastain (i) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 308 | 0 |
| 28 | 25 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 308 | 9 |
| 29 | 10 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 304 | 8 |
| 30 | 35 | 77 | Quin Houff (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 302 | 7 |
| 31 | 36 | 52 | Bayley Currey (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 301 | 0 |
| 32 | 34 | 51 | Cody Ware (R) | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 5 |
| 33 | 32 | 00 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 4 |
| 34 | 21 | 47 | Ryan Preece (R) | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 229 | 3 |
| 35 | 6 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 191 | 9 |
| 36 | 27 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 157 | 1 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 17 among 6 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 9 for 57
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 3 hours, 4 minutes and 5 seconds
* Average speed: 101.693 miles per hour (163.659 km/h)

## Media
### Television

Fox Sports covered their 15th race at the ISM Raceway. Mike Joy, two-time Phoenix winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.
Fox :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip | Jamie Little Vince Welch Matt Yocum |

### Radio

MRN covered the radio action for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
MRN :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Turns 1 & 2: Dan Hubbard Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey | Jason Toy Steve Post Dillon Welch |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| 3 | 1 | Kyle Busch | 177 |
| 1 | 2 | Joey Logano | 171 (–6) |
| 1 | 3 | Kevin Harvick | 168 (–9) |
| 1 | 4 | Denny Hamlin | 165 (–12) |
| 3 | 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | 140 (–37) |
| | 6 | Kyle Larson | 138 (–39) |
| 4 | 7 | Aric Almirola | 134 (–43) |
| 3 | 8 | Brad Keselowski | 133 (–44) |
| 1 | 9 | Kurt Busch | 126 (–51) |
| 3 | 10 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 123 (–54) |
| 2 | 11 | Clint Bowyer | 118 (–59) |
| 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 113 (–64) |
| 1 | 13 | Chase Elliott | 108 (–69) |
| 5 | 14 | Erik Jones | 106 (–71) |
| 2 | 15 | Jimmie Johnson | 98 (–79) |
| 4 | 16 | Alex Bowman | 94 (–83) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Toyota | 149 |
| 1 | 2 | Ford | 147 (–2) |
| | 3 | Chevrolet | 128 (–21) |