NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
News & Notes -
Phoenix International Raceway
• Several Chase Drivers Remain Close to Cup
• Driver Rating Helps Predict Winners
• Stewart Continues To Rack Up Wins
• Petty Enterprises Moves Into Crucial 35th Spot
Phoenix To Set
Championship Stage
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov.
7, 2006) – Two races remain in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series season and while all 10 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
drivers are still mathematically eligible for the title, at
least five have a realistic chance.
Only 105 points separate the
top-five drivers, one of the closest margins in series history.
For the second time in this
year’s Chase, all 10 drivers changed positions. Jimmie
Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) used a second-place
finish last week at Texas Motor Speedway to climb back on top of
the standings where he had been most of the season.
Johnson became the fourth
different driver to lead the 2006 Chase field – the most in the
format’s young history.
Things weren’t looking as bright
for Johnson early in the Chase. He considered his championship
hopes dashed after falling to eighth in the standings, 156
points behind then-leader Jeff Burton (No. 31 Cingular
Wireless Chevrolet) after four Chase races. Johnson
fought back with four consecutive finishes in the top five. He
won at Martinsville and finished as the runner-up in the other
three races. During that stretch, Johnson gained 173 points,
climbing from eighth to first.
Johnson now leads the standings
by 17 points over Matt Kenseth (No. 17 USG Ford)
- the second closest margin under the current points system,
which began in 1975. Richard Petty led Darrell Waltrip by eight
points with two races remaining in 1979.
There isn’t much breathing room
behind Kenseth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser
Chevrolet), a two-time winner at Phoenix is third.
Fourth-place Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Ground
Chevrolet) sat on the pole for last year’s race and
finished 13th. And fifth-place Kevin Harvick (No. 29
Reese’s Cookies Chevrolet) won the spring race at
Phoenix.
Phoenix Tale Of The
Tape
Driver
Starts Top 5 Top 10 Wins Phoenix Driver Rating*
Jimmie Johnson 6 1
4 0 105.6
Matt Kenseth 8 3 4
1 90.8
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 4
4 2 82.2
Denny Hamlin 2 0
0 0 74.1
Kevin Harvick 7 2
2 1 102.9
Jeff Gordon 15
6 12 0 95.2
Jeff Burton 14 5 7
2 83.6
Kyle Busch 3 1 2
1 91.0
Mark Martin 20 8 13
1 91.6
Kasey Kahne 4 1 2
0 74.2
* -- Driver Rating based on Loop Data from 2005 and ’06
races at Phoenix (total of 3 races)
Keys To Victory:
Phoenix Offers Unique Challenges
Phoenix International Raceway is
a unique one-mile oval that presents challenges at both ends of
the track. Turns 1 and 2 each have 11 degrees of banking
compared to nine degrees in Turns 3 and 4. The backstretch is
also unique, with a bit of a dogleg heading into Turn 3.
Here are some “keys” drivers will
be aiming for during Sunday’s race:
• Must Find Balance In
Set Up – With the different degrees of banking on each
end of the track, teams need to find a car set up that works
well with each.
• Pick The Right Groove – Each driver needs to
find the groove his car handles best in, at each turn. As track
conditions change, drivers need to be able to make the proper
adjustments to their line.
• Getting Through The
Corners – A major key at Phoenix is getting the car to
turn and carry the speed through the center of the corner. A
good entry into the turns can make a big difference.
Stewart’s Win Adds To
Driver Rating Prediction Success
Tony Stewart’s (No. 20
Home Depot Chevrolet) victory on Sunday should give
Greg Biffle (No. 16 National Guard Ford) a
little more confidence heading into Phoenix.
Stewart entered the race at Texas
with a pre-race Driver Rating of 111.8 – the
highest of any driver. His win marked the eighth time this year
that the driver with the top pre-race Driver Rating won the race
(a 23% success rate). In addition, the driver with the top
pre-race Driver Rating has finished in the top five in 21 of the
34 races to date (62%).
Biffle leads all drivers entering
the Checker Auto Parts 500 with a pre-race Driver Rating of
123.3.
Race Winners With Top
Pre-Race Driver Rating
Date Track
Winner Rating
3/12 Las Vegas Johnson 140.5
4/2 Martinsville Stewart 130.7
5/13 Darlington Biffle 144.4
7/1 Daytona Stewart 124.3
7/23 Pocono Hamlin 137.1
8/26 Bristol Kenseth 125.9
9/9 Richmond Harvick 125.5
11/5 Texas Stewart 111.8
Top Phoenix Pre-Race
Driver Ratings
1. Greg Biffle – 123.3
2. Kurt Busch – 116.5
3. Jimmie Johnson – 105.6
4. Kevin Harvick – 102.9
5. Carl Edwards – 102.7
6. Tony Stewart – 100.0
7. Bobby Labonte – 99.2
8. Jeff Gordon – 95.2
9. Brian Vickers – 93.0
10. Mark Martin – 91.6
In The Loop: Biffle
Leads Several Pre-Race Loop Data Categories
In addition to leading the
pre-race Driver Rating category, Greg Biffle
holds the edge in several Loop Data categories that will benefit
him this weekend.
Biffle tops all drivers in
Fastest Early in a Run (127.562 mph),
Fastest on Backstretch (140.690 mph), Fastest
in Turns 1 and 3 (113.939 mph, 115.672 mph) and
Fastest on Restarts (126.311). Of the 936 laps run in
the past three races, Biffle has had the Fastest Lap
186 times (23.2%).
An important factor at Phoenix is
to have a car that runs well Early In a Run.
Eight of the top-ten drivers in Driver Rating are also among the
top ten fastest early in a run.
Biffle, Kurt Busch (No. 2
Miller Lite Dodge), Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) are all
in the top five in Driver Rating and the top six in Fastest
Early in a Run.
Defending Champion
Tony Stewart Racks Up Wins
After barely missing the cutoff
for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, several voices in the
garage predicted Tony Stewart would race ‘with
nothing to lose’ and would be in contention to win every race.
Those predictions aren’t too far off.
After Sunday’s victory at Texas
Motor Speedway, Stewart has three Chase wins, including two in a
row. His team is moving in the right direction to grab wins at
the final two races and head into the off-season with as much
momentum as anyone.
'It's a very good goal to shoot
for right now,” Stewart said. “Win these last two races and be
able to say we've won the last four races of the Chase.”
A string of wins wouldn’t be new
territory for Stewart. In 1999, his rookie season, Stewart won
back-to-back races at Phoenix and Homestead at the end of the
season. He has won consecutive races on six different occasions
(including twice within a seven-week span last summer).
But to win four in a row would
give Stewart an accomplishment shared by only seven drivers
since the Modern Era began in 1972. The drivers that won four in
a row are Cale Yarborough (1976),
Darrell Waltrip (1981), Dale Earnhardt
(1987), Harry Gant (1991), Bill Elliott
(1992), Mark Martin (1993) and Jeff
Gordon (1998).
Locked In: Kyle Petty
Takes Over Final Guaranteed Position
For the first time since the
Labor Day race at California Speedway, the No. 45 Wells
Fargo Dodge owned and driven by Kyle Petty
will have a guaranteed spot in the field on Sunday.
Petty finished 11th at Texas,
passing the No. 14 Principal Financial Chevrolet
owned by Bobby Ginn and driven by
Sterling Marlin for the 35th position in the current
car owner standings. The top 35 cars are guaranteed a starting
spot in the field.
Petty was 106 points behind
Marlin’s team after the race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Since
then he has finished 10th, 17th and 11th. Marlin finished 40th
at Texas.
If Petty can hold on to the 35th
position for the remaining two races of the season, he will be
locked-in for the first five races of 2007. Per the NASCAR
rulebook, the first five races of a new season revert to the
previous year’s points.
2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series Owner Points
Position
Points Team Owner
Driver
30th 3,025
No. 01 Chevrolet Bobby Ginn Joe Nemechek
31st 3,003 No. 7 Chevrolet Robby
Gordon Robby Gordon
32nd 2,882 No. 21 Ford Glen
Wood Ken Schrader
33rd 2,849 No. 40 Dodge Felix
Sabates David Stremme
34th 2,811 No. 19 Dodge Ray
Evernham Elliott Sadler
35th 2,761
(bubble) No. 45 Dodge Kyle Petty Kyle Petty
36th 2,742 (-19)
No. 14 Chevrolet Bobby Ginn Sterling Marlin
37th 2,493 (-268) No. 32 Chevrolet Cal
Wells Travis Kvapil
38th 2,343 (-418) No. 55 Dodge Doug
Bawel Michael Waltrip
Manufacturers’
Championship Update: Dodge Extends Second-Place Lead
Although Chevrolet has already
clinched its 30th Manufacturers Championship in the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series, second place continues to be a battle between
Dodge and Ford.
Dodge currently is in second with
an eight-point lead over Ford (195-187). Casey Mears
(No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) finished seventh on
Sunday – the highest of any Dodge or Ford competitor – which
extended Dodge’s lead.
Dodge has only one second-place
finish in the manufacturer’s standings since rejoining the sport
in 2001. In 2003, Dodge edged out Ford 203-200 for second place.
Rookie Report: Bowyer
Adds Another Top-Five Finish
Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack
Daniel’s Chevrolet) finished fifth at Texas Motor
Speedway to claim his eighth Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award.
Bowyer is currently second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year
standings, trailing Denny Hamlin by 51 points (284-233).
Hamlin has led the standings for
most of the season. He began to pull away from the pack after
sweeping both races at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin is the only rookie
with a victory this season.
Reed Sorenson (No. 41
Target Dodge) is third in the rookie standings with 196
points. He is trailed by Martin Truex Jr. (No. 1 Bass
Pro Shops Chevrolet) with 195 points; J.J.
Yeley (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet) with 185
points and David Stremme (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge)
with 159 points.
Where In The World Is Ken
Schrader?
Ken Schrader (No. 21
Little Debbie Ford) continues to be, arguably, the
busiest auto racer in the country, finding time to race in a
variety of disciplines in addition to NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
competition.
This week, however, Schrader will take it easy. Sunday’s race at
Phoenix is the only one he is scheduled to participate in.
Driver Availability
Each race weekend, NASCAR
schedules driver media availability for the top-10 drivers in
the point standings, to facilitate coverage of the Chase for the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. The interview sessions typically last 15-20
minutes and take place outside the drivers’ transport haulers in
the garage area.
For the complete list of availability and times, go to
NASCARmedia.com.
On The Right Track
… Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Burton
and Davey Allison are the only drivers with
more than one victory at Phoenix. They have each won there
twice. … Mark Martin (No. 6 AAA Ford) leads all
drivers with eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 races
at Phoenix. Martin is one of only three drivers to start all 20
races at Phoenix. The other two are Dale Jarrett (No. 88
UPS Ford) and Ken Schrader. … Six of
the Chase drivers posted top-10 finishes at Phoenix in April
(Harvick - first, Kenseth – third, Kahne – sixth, Johnson –
seventh, Burton – ninth, Gordon – 10th). … Six different Chase
drivers have won a race at Phoenix – tied for the highest at any
Chase track. Six drivers have also won at Dover, Lowe’s and
Atlanta. … Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker
Dodge) leads all drivers with four consecutive top-10
finishes at Phoenix. … Five of the last six races at Phoenix
have been won from outside a top-10 starting position. ...
Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with 22 top-10
finishes in 2006.
On Deck:
Homestead-Miami Speedway Hosts Season Finale
Homestead-Miami Speedway will
host the 36th – and final – event of the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series season on Sunday, Nov. 19 (2 p.m. ET, NBC).
Greg Biffle is
the defending race winner, while Carl Edwards
started on the pole.
Several of the drivers in the
Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup are expected to be eligible for
the championship heading into the race.
The Race:
Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil
The Place: Phoenix International Raceway
The Date: Nov. 12
The Time: 3:25 p.m. (ET)
TV: NBC, 3 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: l-mile oval
Distance: 500 kilometers/312 miles/312 laps
Purse: $4,892,924
2005 Winner: Kyle Busch
2005 Pole: Denny Hamlin
Pos. Driver Pts.
1 Johnson 6,157
2 Kenseth 6,140
3 Earnhardt Jr. 6,079
4 Hamlin 6,077
5 Harvick 6,052
6 Gordon 6,000
7 Burton 5,973
8 Busch 5,924,
9 Martin 5,904
10 Kahne 5,867
*** *********** ******
11 Stewart 4,488
12 Edwards 4,131
13 Biffle 3,829
Pre-Race On-Track Schedule: Friday—Practice,
11:35 a.m.-1:05 p.m. and Qualifying, 3:10 p.m.
Saturday—Practice, 12:05-12:50 p.m.
Track Contact: Tami Nealy (623) 463-5613;
tnealy@phoenixinternationalraceway.com. |
