Cup Series Notebook
Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, AZ (1-mile tri-oval)

Bud Pole Qualifying: Thursday, April 20 (SPEED at 9:30 p.m. AT)

Race: Saturday, April 22 (FOX at 9:00 p.m. AT)

Race #: 8 of 36
Race Distance: 312 miles, 312 laps
Length of Front Stretch: 1,179 Feet
Degree of Banking in Corners: 1-2: 11 degrees; 3-4: 9 degrees
Length of Back Stretch: 1,551 Feet
Last year’s event pole winner: Jeff Gordon 133.675 mph 4-21-05 26.931 seconds
Last year’s event winner: Kurt Busch 102.707 mph 4-23-05 3 hrs, 02 min, 16 sec
Track qualifying record: Ryan Newman 135.854 mph 11-5-04 26.499 seconds
Track record: Tony Stewart 118.132 mph 11-7-99 2 hrs, 38 min, 28 sec

Race Results (unofficial) here

Point Standings (post-race, unofficial) here

Qualifying Results here

Leaders Through 7 of 36 Races (Prior to the Subway Fresh 500) here

Harvick Makes it Two in a Row with Subway Fresh 500 Win

PHOENIX, AZ (2006 April 22) - Kevin Harvick made it a double-header win weekend with his victory in the Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix International Raceway Sarurday night.

Harvick started the race in the 15th position and led just 10 laps in the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS he drives for Richard Childress Racing. Greg Biffle led the most laps (151). Click here for the rest of the story.

Pre-Race Notes & Quotes

Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge (4/20) Riggs’s best start at Phoenix came in 2004 when he qualified 11th. His best finish came in the same year when he took the checkered flag in 14th position. Riggs collected Valvoline Evernham Racing’s season-best finish of seventh two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway. It marked his best finish since last August when he took the checkered flag in second place at Michigan. Sunday’s race marks Riggs’ fourth start at Phoenix International Raceway. In his last race at Phoenix he started 31st and finished 38th. Riggs will also drive the No. 9 Ragu/Ultimate Chargers Dodge in Friday night’s Busch race.

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet (4/19) What are your thoughts about racing under the lights at PIR? “I think it is great for the fans. They should see a great event. When we first raced under the lights there, the big thing was how much, if any, the track will change. We have raced here when we have run right at sundown and the track didn’t change a whole lot. I am really looking forward to it. We need a few more good runs like we have had.” Kevin Harvick has completed 1858 of 1875 laps (99.1%) in six Cup starts at Phoenix International Raceway. Of those 1858 laps complete, he has never led, but has been running at the finish in all six starts. Harvick’s average starting position at Phoenix International Raceway is 16.3 with his best qualifying effort coming in 2004 when he started fifth. Harvick’s average finishing position is 19.0 with his best finish coming in 2004 as well, when he finished fourth. Harvick has two wins (2002 and 2003) in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition at Phoenix International Raceway.

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Sylvania Chevrolet (4/19) The Subway Fresh 500 will mark the one-year anniversary of Bowyer’s first NEXTEL Cup start. Bowyer qualified 25th and went on to finish 22nd in RCR’s No. 33 Sylvania Chevrolet last spring at PIR. According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Bowyer leads all NEXTEL Cup Series drivers with 661 green flag passes for position in 2006. Bowyer also leads the way with 151 backstretch passes this season and is second to Casey Mears with 145 passes on the frontstretch.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet (4/19) Gordon has posted six top-fives and 11 top-10's in 14 starts at PIR, he has yet to post a victory at the relatively flat Arizona track. After failing to make the “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” in 2005, Gordon wants to begin building momentum so that does not occur again this year. “We recognize we have to walk before we can run,” said Gordon, who currently sits eighth in the point standings. “We've had some pretty good runs this year – especially on the short tracks. And Phoenix is somewhat of a short track in our opinion. “We ran pretty well here last year and finished third. We're going to try to build on that and be a little bit better this weekend. We're lookng to build some momentum, put a string of top fives together and get to the Winner's Circle.”

Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge (4/19) I think it’s safe to say the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger team will have a keen interest in Thursday’s Bud Pole qualifying for the Nextel Cup Series at Phoenix. All three of my wins have come from the pole. One of the big advantages is pit selection with the pole winning team getting first choice. My crew seems to perform at its best from that No. 1 spot on pit road. We had a good run at Phoenix my rookie season, but had problems there last year. I like the track and with Kenny (Francis, team director), Mike (Shiplett, car director) and Keith (Rodden, engineer) working together the way they have this year and the team communication, I’m confident we can have a competitive run at Phoenix. It’s just a matter of continuing what we’ve been doing all season – working together and communicating." Saturday’s race marks Kasey Kahne’s fourth start at Phoenix International Raceway. Last spring he started 14th and finished 17th at Phoenix. In three starts at Phoenix, Kahne has collected one top five, one top 10 and earned $322,275. His best start and finish at the track came in 2004 when he qualified fourth and took the checkered flag in fifth position.

Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge (4/19) Saturday’s race marks Mayfield’s 13th start at Phoenix International Raceway. Last spring he started eighth and finished 13th at Phoenix. In 12 races at Phoenix, Mayfield has collected one top five, one top 10, led 46 laps and collected $1,101,366. Mayfield’s best start at Phoenix came last spring when he qualified eighth and his best finish at the track came in 2000 when he took the checkered flag in second position.

Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Dodge (4/19) NAPA AUTO PARTS driver Michael Waltrip will make his 18th start at Phoenix International Raceway in Sunday’s Subway 500. He trails only 3 other active drivers who have started every NEXTEL Cup event at the 1.0-mile speedway in Avondale, Ariz. He also has five starts in the NASCAR Busch Series at PIR, making him the leader in starts (23) among active Cup Series drivers in all three major NASCAR series. Michael Waltrip Racing crew chief Larry Carter assumed a consulting role on the No. 55 NAPA team two weeks ago at Texas. Carter has been busy building No. 00 Chevrolet’s for Burger King’s entry back into NEXTEL Cup with Bill Elliott. Waltrip clarified Carter’s role with the NAPA team this week. “Larry Carter is just consulting,” said Waltrip. “He’s been working hard to prepare Bill Elliott’s car’s for this year and when he gets a break from that he’s able to go up to High Point (N.C.) and help BDR with their cars. He’s just another piece of the puzzle. We’re putting everybody in a position to try to do all we can to get this thing running better.”

Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge (4/18) Blaney will make his 207th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start when the green flag waves Saturday evening. He made his first career NASCAR Cup Series start in October 1992 at [Rockingham] North Carolina Speedway and finished eighth (started 13th) in his first Cup Series start at Phoenix in 2000. Like this weekend, Blaney was aboard a Bill Davis Racing-owned machine. Phoenix International Raceway has been good to Blaney over the years, and it is at that track that Blaney has his best qualifying average. In six Cup Series starts at the one-mile oval, he has qualified outside the top 20 only once. Blaney has started inside the top 13 on four occasions and twice in the top 10, including a fifth-place qualifying run in 2002.

Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Crown Royal Ford (4/18) In his five Cup starts at the Phoenix International Raceway, Jamie McMurray has one top-fifteen finish. McMurray will be racing chassis number RK-175 this weekend, which won this race in Phoenix last year.

Jamie McMurray on racing at Phoenix: “This is obviously going to be an interesting week for us. We’re going through some changes, with a new crew chief and a new engineer, and there will be an adjustment period for both myself and the team. But we all know Bob [Osborne], and he’s a great guy with a lot of knowledge. I’m looking forward to working with him and getting our season on track.”

Crew Chief Bob Osborne on racing at Phoenix: “This weekend our goal is to really focus on communication and teamwork and get this team where we all know they can be – running up front. I’m looking forward to working with Jamie and this championship team and know that success is just around the corner. We’re bringing a great car with us, having won several races at Phoenix and Loudon in the past.”

Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet (4/18) In seven Nextel Cup Series starts at Phoenix International Raceway, Jeff Green’s best starting spot came in November, 2004, when he qualified 12th while driving a Petty Enterprises entry. His best finish came the following April, when he finished 21st, also in a Petty Enterprises car.

Q&A WITH JEFF GREEN: You’ve had some success at Phoenix in your NASCAR career. What do you think of the track? “Phoenix is great. They opened it up a couple of years ago coming off Turn 2. It’s kind of a tri-oval, but it’s backwards from the other ones we go to. That ‘Dog Leg’ on the backstretch is just something you have to set up for in terms of your traffic, but it doesn’t really affect you other than that. Turns 1 and 2 are so different from Turns 3 and 4 that if somebody hits it just right on the setup, they’ll show up the field. It’s just like other tracks we visit, in that you have to have a good handling race car to be successful.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF “BOOTIE” BARKER: You say it’s hard to get a car to handle well at both ends of the track at Phoenix, since Turns 1 & 2 are so different from Turns 3 & 4. If you have to pick one end of the track to work on in terms of your car’s handling, which do you choose? “If you can get it done off of (Turn) 2, then you’re going to be all right, because coming off of 2 onto the backstretch is a good place to pass." How did you enjoy the off-weekend? “It was good and not so good. You get in a rhythm when you’re racing week in and week out, and you hate to break your rhythm. On the other hand, it’s good to take a step back and catch your breath for a couple of days. The problem is, you never completely put racing out of your mind and just enjoy yourself. You’re always thinking about something on how to make the car better and asking yourself, ‘What if we tried this? What would this do to the car?’ It’s really hard to detach yourself and be able to relax.”

Scott Wimmer, No. 4 Aero Exhaust Chevrolet (4/18) Wimmer will be attempting to start in his sixth (6) NASCAR Nextel Cup event at Phoenix International Raceway. His career-best start at the one-mile oval raceway is 19th (Nov. 2002) and his best finish is 9th (Nov. 2003). Wimmer will have to qualify based on time for the Subway 500, as Morgan-McClure Motorsports is 37th in owner's points. Wimmer has visited victory lane in Phoenix, winning the Busch Series event in 2002.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Budweiser Chevrolet (4/17) On racing at PIR: “I’ve always liked it. It’s very unique with its configuration, and requires a lot of discipline as a driver. There are so many opportunities to pass there it’s real easy to lose focus and overdrive the corners. It’s a mile long but it drives like a short track, and we’ve always been good on short tracks. Turn four is everything there. If you butcher (turn) four, it ruins your whole lap and part of your next lap. That’s where we’ve been so good in the past – getting that big run off of four. The times we won there, nobody could touch us coming off that turn.” Two of Dale Jr.’s 16 career wins have come at PIR, as the Bud team earned consecutive trips to victory lane in 2003 and 2004. Junior also has four top-fives in his last five races at Phoenix, leading a combined 205 laps. Dale Jr. is one of only three drivers with multiple victories at Phoenix (Davey Allison and Jeff Burton are the others).

Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet (4/17) The Subway Fresh 500k will mark Stewart's 256th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start and his ninth career Nextel Cup start at Phoenix. Stewart has led the most miles this season, pacing the field for 694.57 miles, 48.73 more miles than any other driver. Greg Biffle is second with 645.57 miles led. Matt Kenseth is third with 456.09 miles led. And Kasey Kahne is fourth with 227.40 miles led. No other drivers have led more than 165 miles this season. Stewart is the only driver to have led at least one lap in each of the seven races held this season. His total of 784 laps led is, by far, the most of any Nextel Cup driver. Greg Biffle is second in laps led with 404. As a result, Stewart has earned a total of 50 lap leader bonus points, the most of any Nextel Cup driver and 35 more than championship point leader Jimmie Johnson. Stewart has the best average running position in the seven races held this season. His 7.026 average is 2.095 points better than that of second-place Matt Kenseth (9.121). Stewart has run USAC Midgets, USAC Silver Crown cars, Indy cars, Supermodifieds, a NASCAR Busch Series car and a Nextel Cup car at Phoenix. Stewart's last win at Phoenix came behind the wheel of a USAC Midget during the 2000 Copper World Classic.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.

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