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Cup Series Notebook... watch for updates all weekend
Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona

  • Bud Pole Qualifying: Friday, November 10 (SPEED at 6:00 p.m. AT, 5:00 p.m. ET)
  • Final Practice: Saturday, November 11 (SPEED at 3:00 p.m. AT, 2:00 p.m. ET)
  • Race: Sunday, November 12 (NBC at 3:30 p.m. AT, 2:30 p.m. ET)
Fast Facts
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
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.

Click here for the complete pre-race point standings.

Event Stats - underlined when link is activated
  • Practice Results - click here
  • Qualifying Order - click here
  • Qualifying Results - click here
  • Starting Lineup - click here
  • Race Results (unofficial) here
  • Point Standings (post-race, unofficial) here

    Harvick Holds Off Johnson for Phoenix Win

    Phoenix, Ariz. (November 12, 2006) - Kevin Harvick did his part. He won the race.

    Jimmie Johnson, however, remains atop the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings after finishing second behind Harvick in the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

    Harvick, who dominated things on this sunny Sunday in the Arizona desert, had to fend off Johnson several times in the closing laps of the race.

    After a relatively caution-free race (only three periods) during the first half, a flurry of cautions (four in the last 30 laps) and a red flag period bunched the field for restarts with Johnson glued to Harvick's bumper.

    Harvick, who has already clinched the NASCAR Busch Series championship for the season, kept his hopes alive in the Chase with the win. He trails Johnson in the chase by 90 points with the season finale scheduled next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in south Florida.

    Rookie Denny Hamlin passed four-time champion Jeff Gordon on the final lap for third place. Gordon was fourth and Carl Edwards came home fifth.

    Chase drivers grabbed four of the next five spots with Mark Martin sixth, Kasey Kahne seventh, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ninth and Jeff Burton 10th. Former champion Kurt Busch finished eighth.

    Other Chase contenders didn't fare so well. Matt Kenseth was 13th, but he managed to hang on to second spot in the Chase point standings, 63 behind Johnson, and just ahead of Harvick.

    Kyle Busch had another unlucky day, getting tagged in a late accident that dropped him to 38th in the finishing order.

    It boils down to a five-car battle for the championship at Homestead next Sunday, with Johnson on top, Kenseth 63 behind, Harvick and Hamlin each 90 points back and Earnhardt 115 back. Gordon is fifth but is mathematically eliminated from the championship.

    It didn't take Johnson too many laps to work his way through the field into contention. Starting way back in 29th position, Johnson had moved to third place by the 67th lap of this 312-lap event around the phoenix oval.

    Harvick started the race from the no. 2 position alongside pole winner Jeff Gordon but quickly established himself as the frontrunner, leading well more than half of the first 200 laps.

    His Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet looked like a monorail, sliding smoothly through the corners with Gordon and Johnson in pursuit. Most of the Chase contenders were staying within reach of the leaders but former champion Matt Kenseth seemed to be having problems getting a handle the handle on his machine.

    The pace for the race was extremely fast and Tony Stewart, for the first time in several weeks, Stewart did not appear to be a contender in this one. He 23rd and never came to the front like he has in winning the past two races at Atlanta and Texas.


    Kevin Harvick (29) crosses the finish line just ahead of Jimmie Johnson to win the Checkers Auto Parts 500.


    Victory Lane celebrations - win number five on the 06 Nextel Cup campaign for Harvick.

    Post-Race Notes
    • Kevin Harvick won the 2006 Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, scoring his 10th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 213th career start.
    • Harvick moved into a tie for 50th on NASCAR’s All-Time win list, tied with Donnie Allison, Greg Biffle and Sterling Marlin.
    • This is Harvick’s fifth victory in 2006. He also won races at Phoenix in April, Watkins Glen, second Richmond and second New Hampshire.
    • Harvick is the third driver in 2006 to sweep both races at a track this season. He joined Denny Hamlin (Pocono) and Kasey Kahne (Charlotte).
    • Harvick is the only Chase driver to score two victories in the 2006 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
    • Harvick won five races in the first five seasons in his career (between 2001-2005). Harvick has five victories this season.
    • Harvick scored his second victory in eight races at Phoenix. Harvick has scored three top-10 finishes at Phoenix, all top fives.
    • Harvick is the fourth different driver to post back-to-back victories at Phoenix.
    • Harvick scored his 19th top-10 finish in 2006.
    • Harvick’s victory today was the 23rd Chevrolet victory in 35 races in 2006.
    • Harvick led four times for 252 laps, leading the most laps for the third time in 2006.
    • Race winner Harvick led the final 30 laps in the 2006 Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix.
    • This was team owner Richard Chidress’ 83rd NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory. Childress has scored six NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories in 2006.
    • Denny Hamlin (third) scored his 19th top-10 finish in 2006. It was his first top-10 finish in three races at Phoenix. Hamlin was the highest finishing rookie for the 17th time in 2006.
    • Jeff Gordon (fourth) scored his 18th top-10 finish in 2006. It was his 13th top-10 finish in 16 races at Phoenix.
    • Carl Edwards (fifth) scored his 19th top-10 finish in 2006. It was his fourth top-10 finish in five races at Phoenix.
    Qualifying Notes
    • Jeff Gordon won the Bud Pole for the Checker Auto Parts “500” presented by Pennzoil, lapping Phoenix International Raceway in 26.773 seconds at 134.464 mph. Ryan Newman holds the track-qualifying record of 26.499 seconds, 135.854 mph - set Nov. 5, 2004.
    • This is Gordon’s 56th career Bud Pole in 472 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races. He moved into sole possession of sixth on the all-time Bud Pole winners list, breaking a tie with Bill Elliott.
    • This is his second Bud Pole and 17th top-10 start in 2006. He became the eighth repeat Bud Pole winner this season.
    • This is Gordon’s second Bud Pole and ninth top-10 start in 16 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
    • Kevin Harvick posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 26.871 seconds, 133.973 mph – and will join Gordon on the front row for the Checker Auto Parts “500”. Harvick posted his fourth top-10 start in eight races at Phoenix and his 14th top-10 start in 2006.
    • This is the 13th Bud Pole for Chevrolet in 2006. Dodge has 15 Bud Poles and Ford has six. Qualifying was canceled at the first Bristol and second Atlanta races.
    • Brian Vickers (third) has posted five top-10 starts in six races at Phoenix and has not started worse than 14th here.
    • Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fourth) has posted just two top-10 starts in his nine Phoenix races. This is his 150th race without a Bud Pole.
    • Joe Nemechek (fifth) has posted just four top-10 starts in 15 races at Phoenix.
    • Five of the 10 Chase drivers qualified in the top 10: Gordon, Harvick, Earnhardt, Kyle Busch (eighth) and Matt Kenseth (10th). Kasey Kahne (11th), Jeff Burton (18th), Mark Martin (21st), Denny Hamlin (22nd) and Jimmie Johnson (29th) are the Chase drivers starting outside the top 10.
    • Michael Waltrip (19th) was the fastest of the drivers required to qualify on time.
    • Brandon Whitt (37th) qualified for his career-first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race and will be the 77th different driver to compete in at least one NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race this season.
    • Bill Elliott used a past champion’s provisional to make the field – the second consecutive week that the past champion provisional had been employed. Terry Labonte used it in Texas.
    • Eight drivers failed to qualify for the Checker Auto Parts “500”: Jason Leffler, Todd Kluever, Morgan Shepherd, Brandon Ash, Kevin Lepage, Kenny Wallace, Derrike Cope and Jeremy Mayfield.
    Who's Hot Heading to Phoenix
    • Jimmie Johnson is the only Chase driver to post seven top-10 starts in the Chase.
    • Matt Kenseth is the only Chase driver to score seven top-15 finishes in the eight races in the Chase.
    • Jimmie Johnson has finished first or second in the last four Chase races.
    • Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to lead in six of the eight Chase races. Johnson has led 456 laps in the Chase and has earned 40 lap-leader bonus points, both the most among Chase drivers.
    • Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin have both scored three straight top-10 finishes.
    • Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart are the only drivers to score 15 top-five finishes in the first 34 races of 2006. Stewart has three top-five finishes in the last three races, including two straight victories.
    • Bobby Labonte has scored seven straight top-20 finishes.
    Phoenix Nuggets
    • Six Chase drivers have scored at least one victory at Phoenix: Jeff Burton (two), Dale Earnhardt Jr., (two) Kyle Busch (one), Kevin Harvick (one), Matt Kenseth (one) and Mark Martin (one).
    • Mark Martin leads all Chase drivers with eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 starts at Phoenix.
    • Six of the Chase drivers posted top-10 finishes at Phoenix in April including Kevin Harvick who won from a 15th-place starting position.
    • Denny Hamlin has posted top-10 starts in both of his races at Phoenix. His 3.5 starting average at Phoenix is the best of all Chase drivers and best among all drivers with more than one start there.
      All-time Standouts
    • Three drivers have started in all 20 races at Phoenix: Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Ken Schrader.
    • Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace lead all drivers, each with three Bud Poles at Phoenix.
    • Davey Allison, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. lead all drivers each with two Phoenix victories.
    • Mark Martin leads all drivers with eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 races at Phoenix.
      Current Standouts
    • Tony Stewart leads all drivers with five straight top-10 starts at Phoenix.
    • Bobby Labonte leads all drivers with four straight top-10 finishes at Phoenix.
    • Carl Edwards has scored three straight top-10 finishes at Phoenix.
    • Jimmie Johnson has finished 15th or better in all six of his races at Phoenix.
    • Mark Martin posted top-20 finishes in 19 of the 20 races at Phoenix. He finished 36th, posting his only Phoenix DNF, in his first race there in November 1988.
      Starting Positions
    • Only seven of the 20 races at Phoenix have been won from a top-10 starting position.
    • Five of the last six races at Phoenix have been won from outside a top-10 starting position.
      Sweeps
    • 2005 marked the first year of twice-a-year racing at Phoenix.
    • Both races at Phoenix in 2005 were won by a Busch; Kurt won in April and Kyle won in November.
      Owner Wins
    • Jack Roush leads all owners with five victories at Phoenix since 1988. Four of the five Roush Phoenix victories were scored by a different driver: Mark Martin (1993), Jeff Burton (2000 and 2001), Matt Kenseth (2002) and Kurt Busch (April 2005).


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