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After five NASCAR Cup Series wins, 15 top-five finishes and 22 top-10 finishes, Chase Elliott’s most important win in 2020 came down to the one he had in Arizona last fall.

That’s when Elliott captured his first Cup championship at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale on Nov. 8.

With that in mind, he’s looking forward to returning to the track when it hosts its spring NASCAR race on March 14.

“Phoenix is a unique track and we do not go anywhere like that place,” Elliott said during an interview with the Arizona Republic on Wednesday.

“I think the tough thing that has made the track even more unique over the last two years is they put down the traction compound in the outer groove. That makes the track dynamic throughout the day and it changes throughout the weekend.”

Elliott sees the upcoming Phoenix race as a chance to see where his Hendrick Motorsports team stands in order to make a run back into the Cup Series final four later this year. The championship race will be held again at Phoenix Raceway, on Nov. 7.

“I look at that opportunity to tune for the last race with it being such an important event,” Elliott said. “With not having any practice throughout our year, this might be the last time we have a chance to tune the car. We have to be diligent and understand where we are with our car and take good notes of what is good and what is bad will be the difference if we go on a run or not.”

Still, Elliott is staying focused on the overall season and his current situation. 

He stands fifth in the series after three races with 105 points, with one top-five and one top-10 finish. Also, he has one stage win and has led in 51 laps, but has not won a race this season as NASCAR heads for Las Vegas this weekend.

His No. 9 car finished 14th in his most recent race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Other than that race, Elliott said the team has been performing well.

“I feel like our performance this year has been good until this past weekend at Homestead where we had a terrible race,” Elliott said. “Prior to that race, we have been pretty solid so we can hope to get turn around this weekend. It has been hit or miss this year and we missed last weekend.”

He hopes this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will turn things around for him and the Hendrick team.  

“Our goal is to win and win often,” Elliott said. “The points format rewards you for having wins throughout the playoffs. You are going to way better position for a run if you could win a bunch throughout the regular season. They have been already counting so we want to rack up on that now.”

Pit stops

—Phoenix Raceway announced on Thursday that Instacart will serve as the title sponsor for the track’s NASCAR Cup Series race on March 14. Instacart, an online grocery platform, offers same-day delivery and pickup of groceries and household essentials to consumers in more than 5,500 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

—Tucson’s Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, will team up with car sponsor Ally to donate $1,000 to local Best Friends-affiliated animal shelters at Cup Series cities they visit. The first donation will be to the Halo Animal Rescue of Avondale. If Bowman wins a race, the donation increases to $10,000.