Drivers To Watch At Phoenix International Raceway

 

Drivers To watch at Phoenix

by Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily,

As the Series gets ready to duke it out in the Valley of the Sun this Sunday, it will be a contest of the ‘Chasers’ and the ‘Non-Chasers’. Those drivers not in the hunt for the championship will be looking to finish the season on a high note, while those who are in the running for the Chase for the Cup will be trying to grab a good finish in preparation for the final race of the 2005 season at Homestead in just one short week.

Mark Martin sits in his vehicle on pit road after qualifying for Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Friday Nov.4, 2005, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Cup Here are you drivers to watch at Phoenix.

Carl Edwards cruised to his second straight victory last week in Texas and in the process gained 30 points on Tony Stewart with his fourth victory overall in his amazing rookie season. He’s now just 77 points off the pace with two races remaining in his quest to become the third different Roush Racing driver to win a championship in as many years.

Edwards has run in the top 10 six times in the last seven races since opening the Chase with a 19th in New Hampshire. Edwards finished seventh at Phoenix International Raceway in April, the best of his two finishes there. "The last two weeks have been awesome and our goals have definitely evolved throughout the year. My primary focus right now is to win this championship. Both Tony and Jimmie will be tough to beat, but this team isn't out of contention just yet," Edwards said.
"We're going to do everything we can to go out there and run up front and try to win this thing," he said.

Edwards wished his girlfriend, Olympic gold medalist Amanda Beard, happy birthday after winning at Texas. He should have done it after he won the October 30 race at Atlanta because Beard's birthday was October 29.

Factoid: Four short years ago Edwards made his pavement debut at Phoenix in the 2001 Copper World Classic.

Jimmie Johnson passed Stewart for fifth in the closing laps of last week's Dickies 500 and pulled within 38 points of the lead with two races to go. Johnson believes he's still got a chance at the championship with two races remaining.

"I would like to take the lead. To be in control isn't a bad thing, especially with a few races left. Where we are, especially from last year, we experienced a lot leading the points all year long," Johnson said.

Johnson has run four races at Phoenix with two top-10 finishes; he placed 15th in April, tying his worst effort there in his 2002 rookie season. His 9.5 average finish in Phoenix is second among championship-eligible drivers.

Johnson’s sixth place finish in this event last year marked his worst result over the final six races of 2004 as he made a furious comeback to finish just eight points behind Kurt Busch in the closest standings finish in stock car racing history. He also finished the 2003 season second to Matt Kenseth. Johnson is the only driver besides Edwards with two checkered flags during the Chase, winning at Dover and Charlotte; has run eighth of better in all but two of the first eight Chase races

Factoid: Johnson tested at Homestead this week in preparation for next weekend's season finale.

Mark Martin finished second to teammate Edwards in Texas, but it didn't really help him significantly in the standings, he’s 123 points off the pace but just one behind fourth-place Biffle. Martin is tied with Kenseth for the most top-fives during the Chase, including that runner-up finish last week in Texas.

"We've had some really strong runs in the last couple of races. These cars that they are giving me are awesome and it's a lot of fun to drive them. We had a really good car this past weekend at Texas and we almost pulled it off, but we just lost out to the best car," Martin said.

Martin has competed in all 18 races at Phoenix, scoring one victory and 13 top-10 finishes. His only Phoenix victory came in October 1993. He finished 16th in April.
Martin finished 16th here in April but his 9.055 average finish on this track leads all Chase drivers.

Factoid: No matter whether Martin is successful in overcoming the odds in the next two races to win the championship, he is buoyed by the accomplishments of this season. "I've had the best racing season of my life," he said.

Matt Kenseth led 149 laps from the pole and finished third last week in Texas for his fifth top-five during the Chase. The 2003 series champion managed only one top-10 in last year's 10-race battle for the championship, but has posted back-to-back top-fives to improve three spots to sixth in the standings, 135 points back.

Engine trouble led to a 36th in this event last year and his bad luck here continued in April when an early accident saddled him with a 42nd; has recorded 15 of his 16 top-10s and each of his 11 top-fives over the last 22 events; won this event in 2002 and followed with a sixth here the following year.

"I'm looking forward to this weekend in Phoenix. We're coming off a good run in Texas. It felt really good to lead all of those laps. I don't know if we can still win this thing, but we can certainly continue to move up, and our whole team is focused on that," Kenseth said.

Factoid: Kenseth will be competing in the Busch Series event Saturday in the No. 17 Waste Management Ford. In his five Busch Series starts at Phoenix, Kenseth has three top-10 finishes.

Ryan Newman’s slide to the rear of the Chase field continued with his 25th-place finish in Texas. That 25th-place finish dropped him out of a tie for fourth to seventh place, 174 points out of the lead. Newman's weekend at Texas went down the tubes on his qualification attempt Friday when he won the pole on his first lap but crashed on the second lap, forcing him to start at the rear of the field in a backup car.

Newman has competed in six races at Phoenix, scoring two top-10 finishes. He finished 14th at Phoenix in April, his third straight top-15 finish there. Newman's 19.666 average finish at Phoenix ranks sixth among the Chase drivers. "The team is really anxious to get back to Phoenix," Newman said. "The last two weeks have been rough on us. We've had a fair amount of success at PIR and we're ready to find that again this weekend."

The Ryan Newman Foundation is hosting its first charity dinner on Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Proceeds from the event will go to the foundation as well as the Arizona Animal Welfare League and the Maricopa County Animal Care & Control. More information can be found at www.ryannewmanfoundation.org.

Factoid: Newman will be driving chassis PRS-55, which won at New Hampshire.

Kurt Busch finished 10th in Texas, but his biggest victory came a day later when he was released from Roush Racing and freed to go drive for car owner Roger Penske next season. Busch now sits 281 points behind Stewart, more than can be made up in a single race. Busch ranked first in the point standings after 34 races one year ago and went on to record his first Cup championship, by just eight points over Jimmie Johnson.

Overall in 2005, Busch has scored 18 top-10 finishes in 34 races this season.
Busch has competed in six races at Phoenix with four top-10 finishes, including a victory in April. He has a 12.0 average finish at Phoenix, third among the Chase drivers.

"I feel good about Phoenix this weekend," Busch said. "Phoenix is a track where I have a lot of experience from my Southwest Tour Series and Truck days. With good finishes in the past there, our team is poised for a top-five run there.

We picked up our first victory of the year at Phoenix in April, and we're bringing the same car this time around, so we're looking for another solid run.”

Factoid: Busch will be driving the same car (chassis No. 52) that won at Phoenix in April, and it will be in the blue-and-yellow paint scheme of IRWIN Industrial Tools. This chassis has finished first or second in six of its 10 starts and also won at New Hampshire and Homestead.

Jeremy Mayfield became the first driver to be mathematically eliminated from the Nextel Cup championship after finishing 35th at Texas. He trails first-place Tony Stewart by 407 points, more than can be made up if all drivers start in the two remaining races.

This team has become the Atlanta Braves of NASCAR — successful in making the playoffs, only to be eliminated early. Mayfield has posted one top-10 finish in the 2005 Chase, a seventh at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

"We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. Only two races are left to get back on track. The problem isn't for a lack of effort. Anything that could go wrong seems to have gone wrong since we made the Chase," Mayfield said.

He has competed in 11 races at Phoenix, scoring just one top-10 finish, second in November 2000. He finished 13th at Phoenix in April. Mayfield has a 26.363 average finish at Phoenix and ranks last among the Chase drivers in average finish here.

Factoid: Mayfield ranked 10th in the point standings after 34 races one year ago.

Rusty Wallace was strong the entire race at Texas, but decided not to pit for tires under the final caution and dropped from fourth on the restart with 11 laps to go to 22nd and he now trails first-place Tony Stewart by 315 points, more than can be made up if all drivers start in the two remaining races.

In his final season, Wallace has scored 24 top-15 finishes in 34 races. He is making his first appearance in the Chase and has scored three top-10 finishes in the first eight races in the Chase.
Wallace has competed in all 18 races at Phoenix, scoring one victory (October 1998) and eight top-10 finishes. Wallace's 16.888 average finish ranks fifth among the Chase drivers.

"The thing about racing all these years at Phoenix is that the figures just don't do us justice. We really should have us about four or five wins there, not just the one. We've finished second several times there and really should have been to Victory Lane more than once," Wallace said.

Factoid: Wallace will drive the car he named "The Predator" at Phoenix. He first drove it at Martinsville on April 18, 2004, where he led the final 45 laps en route to claiming the 55th win of his career. Its last outing was in the Sept. 10 Richmond race, where Wallace started 15th and finished a strong fifth

Greg Biffle likely saw his shot at the title slip away in Texas by finishing 20th, worst of the Roush Racing drivers. He spun out twice, once on the front stretch after Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet took the air off his rear spoiler on lap 83 and in the fourth turn on lap 291. He now trails first-place Tony Stewart by 122 points after the eighth of the 10 Chase races. He arrived at Texas 75 points out of first. The last time Biffle ran at Texas, he dominated the 500-mile race in April; leading 219 laps to drive to an easy win.

Biffle has scored four top-10 finishes in the first eight races in the Chase. His worst Chase finish of 27th came at Talladega.

"It looks like we're not out of it, but it's going to take a big turnaround for us to be on the podium in Homestead," Biffle said.

Biffle has run three races at Phoenix, his best effort there was a 13th in 2004. He was 41st in April. Biffle has a 23.0 average finish at Phoenix; ranking ninth among the Chase drivers in average finish there.

"I love racing in Phoenix," Biffle said. "I've had a lot of success out there in the Busch and Truck series, and we had a good run going there in the spring in the Cup car until that incident on pit road took us out of the race."

Factoid: Biffle will be racing the same car he used at Phoenix in the spring.

Tony Stewart finished sixth in Texas, and his lead over Jimmie Johnson was cut to 38 points. But he's become the master of bonus points, leading three laps to earn a five-point bonus. He's scored 50 bonus points for leading laps during the Chase, the most among the Chase drivers. Stewart has been first in the standings for six weeks. Stewart, who has six top-10 finishes in the first eight races of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, has won at both of the remaining venues — Phoenix in 1999 and Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1999 and 2000.Stewart is closing in on his second Cup title and merely needs to drive at a consistent pace the next two weekends to win the championship.

"With the last couple of weeks the way they've been, we've been able to stay pretty consistent in our point margin. With only two weeks to go it probably makes it a little easier on us to just worry about doing what we've been doing," Stewart said.

If the old points system still was used, Stewart would have a 302-point lead over second-place Greg Biffle and a 339-point lead over third-place Jimmie Johnson, enough to clinch the championship if Stewart were to finish 41st or better in the last two races

Stewart has competed in seven races at Phoenix with four top-10 finishes, including a victory in 1999. Stewart has run USAC Midgets, USAC Silver Crown cars, Indy cars, Supermodifieds, a NASCAR Busch Series car and a Nextel Cup car at Phoenix, in fact Stewart's last win at Phoenix came behind the wheel of a USAC Midget during the 2000 Copper World Classic.
He placed 33rd at Phoenix in April, his worst finish there.

Factoid: Stewart will drive chassis No. 63 at Phoenix. This car won at New Hampshire in July and finished second there in September, and it also finished second at Martinsville last month

Others:
Jamie McMurray: Phoenix has not been one of McMurray's better tracks; his best finish in four starts there is 12th. Car owner Chip Ganassi on Monday released McMurray from his contract so he can drive for Roush Racing in 2006. ...

Jeff Gordon: Gordon has 11 top-15 finishes in 13 races at Phoenix, including 10 top-10s. But Phoenix is one of only four active tracks where Gordon has not scored a victory. Chicagoland Speedway, Homestead and Texas are the others. ...

Elliott Sadler: Sadler said his goal in the last two races is simple — "Man, we just want to win a race." But Phoenix has not been one of his better tracks. He has one top-10 finish in seven starts there. ...

Kevin Harvick: Harvick thinks he can gain points this week in his quest to finish 11th. Harvick is 14th, 81 points behind McMurray. "We had a top-five car back in the spring race before running out of gas on the last lap," he said.

Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com