The 2014 The Profit on CNBC 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on March 2, 2014, at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps on the 1 mile (1.6 km) asphalt tri-oval, it was the second race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kevin Harvick won the race, his first win driving for Stewart–Haas Racing, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (20th), Austin Dillon (24th), and Cole Whitt (27th).

Although close on fuel and with a piece of bear bond from Ryan Newman's car stuck to his grill, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took off on the last restart of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, moving in front of Jeff Gordon. Over the course of the last lap, an intense battle for the runner-up spots unfolded between Jimmie Johnson, Gordon, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin. Heading through turn 4, Kevin Harvick tried to force himself between Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch in turn 4, and a wreck ensued as Harvick was sent into the wall, collecting a number of other cars including McMurray, Busch, Carl Edwards, and Reed Sorenson. While that was happening, Earnhardt Jr. held off Hamlin and took the checkered flag to score his second Daytona 500 victory. Earnhardt Jr. stated that his car was "awesome" and after some help from Gordon on the restart, Earnhardt Jr. "just took care of it from there".

The track, Phoenix International Raceway, is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races, the others being Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway. The standard track at Phoenix International Raceway is a four-turn short track oval that is 1 mile (1.6 km) long. The track's first two turns are banked from 10–11 degrees, while the third and fourth turns have an 8–9 degree banking. The front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 3 degrees, and the back stretch has a 10–11 degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 55,000 spectators. The 2013 winner was Carl Edwards.

The entry list for The Profit on CNBC 500 was released on February 24 at 11:22 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six drivers were entered for the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 25.951 and a speed of 138.723 mph (223.253 km/h).

In the first running of NASCAR's new-for-2014 knockout qualifying system, Brad Keselowski won the pole with a new track record time of 25.828 and a speed of 139.384 mph (224.317 km/h). Keselowski was intrigued as to how the qualifying session looked to the general public, stating "I'm more curious the feedback we get from our fans" and that "at the end of the day it's not about whether I like it, it's about whether they liked it". Kevin Harvick, who missed out on the top 12 placings by 0.001 seconds in the first part of the session, complained about the cooling of the cars, defining it as "dumb", while also praising the qualifying concept as "really cool, but they need to let you cool the cars down. One of these times somebody is going to get clobbered in the back". NASCAR did not allow teams to use cool-down units and teams were forced to run cool down laps on the track while other drivers were making qualifying laps. Defending champion Jimmie Johnson opined that everyone understood "what NASCAR is trying to do, and I'm confident that if there is a problem they'll make some changes". NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton stated that the organization would "continue to talk to the drivers and teams and solicit feedback and how, if anything, we can improve". Justin Allgaier crashed his car during the opening session, switched to a backup car and started last as a result.

Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 26.133 and a speed of 137.757 mph (221.698 km/h).

Kevin Harvick was also the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 26.285 and a speed of 136.960 mph (220.416 km/h).