The United Rentals Work United 500 is a

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

stock car race Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It or ...

held annually at

Phoenix Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...

Avondale, Arizona Avondale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 89,334, up from 76,238 in 2010 and 35,883 in 2000. Avondale, incorporated in 1946, has experienced rapid ...

since 2005. It is one of two Cup Series races at the track, the other being the

Season Finale 500 The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. It is one of five NASCAR races run with a length measured in kilometers; the Ruoff Mortgage 500 (the other Cup Series rac ...

Chase Briscoe Chase David Wayne Briscoe (born December 15, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He also owns a World of Outlaws sprint ...

is the defending race winner.

Race history

As part of the 2005

NASCAR Realignment "NASCAR realignment" refers to changes in the schedule of the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. First Cup schedule in 1949 The first season in 1949 consists of 8 races, exclusively on dirt tracks. The ...

, a second date was awarded to Phoenix with Subway sponsorship. As there was already a race sponsored by Subway on the schedule (the now

Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 The Xfinity 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. The race is traditionally held in the fall and has been run in every NASCAR Cup Series season, starting with the sixth event in the inaug ...

at Martinsville), the name "Subway Fresh 500" was devised to reduce confusion. Subway later added the word "Fit" to the sponsorship to promote its Fresh Fit combo choices. This event swapped dates with the

Food City 500 The Food City Dirt Race is an annual 250-lap, NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. It was th ...

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...

due to the three-race west coast swing, this event used to be race 2 preceding Daytona and Las Vegas before Atlanta took Phoenix's former spot, the

at Bristol used to be race 4 before the

moved up four weeks due to bad weather, on April 19,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. With the new 2010 NASCAR start time rule change that starts races only at 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, and 7:30 pm

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

, track officials were concerned that the new start time (45 minutes earlier than in the past) would put the majority of the race in the day instead of the planned night. At that time of year in Phoenix, sunset takes place at roughly 7:00 pm MST (because Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, this is the same as

Pacific Daylight Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...

). As a result, the race was stretched to so that the extra would take place during the day, and most of the race would still take place at night as planned. However, in 2011, the race moved one week after the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

in February. The race returned to 312 laps [] and was run on Sunday in the daytime for the first time. In 2015, Phoenix moved from the second to the fourth race of the season in mid-March.

Past winners

Notes

* 2010, 2013, 2016–17 and 2020: These races were extended due to

NASCAR overtime The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Multiple winners (drivers)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

Notable moments

* 2007:

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

wins for the first time at Phoenix from the pole (the first winner from the pole at Phoenix), scoring his 76th Cup Series win (tying

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

). After the race, Gordon celebrated with a black flag with the #3 of Earnhardt emblazoned on it. * 2011:

snaps a 66-race winless streak (longest of his career) and ties

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

with his 83rd career win. * 2013:

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. 9 ...

wins in a Subway-sponsored car in the Subway-sponsored race and snaps a 70-race winless streak. * 2020

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the 2014 NAS ...

becomes the second-youngest NASCAR Cup Series Champion at 24 years, and 11 months.

References

External links

* {{NASCAR Cup Series races 2005 establishments in Arizona NASCAR Cup Series races Recurring sporting events established in 2005 Annual sporting events in the United States