2011 February Pole Sitter: #99-Carl Edwards, 137.279mph [track record], finished 28th

2010 November Pole Sitter: #99-Carl Edwards, 136.389mph, finished 1st

Track Qualifying Record: Carl Edwards, 2/26/2011, 137.279mph

Testing at Phoenix Tuesday & Wednesday: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has a two-day test session at Phoenix International Raceway scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 4-5. Teams will be on track from 10 am to 4 pm. In March, construction began on Phoenix’s first track repave since 1990. This test provides the first opportunity for all teams to run on the new surface in preparation for Phoenix’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Nov. 13. Though Phoenix International Raceway remains one mile in length, changes to the banking and configuration have been implemented to promote side-by-side racing. As of today, 37 teams have entered for the test. In addition, three have opted to test fuel injection [no word which teams], as NASCAR and its teams continue to prepare for the introduction of fuel injection for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition, comments on the upcoming test at Phoenix: "The test at Phoenix will give teams the opportunity to gather data for everything they need for their chassis and simulation work in preparation for November's Chase race. Not only is Phoenix getting a repaved surface, there is a track configuration change to go along with it. The backstretch will now have a more defined dogleg and the bank angles have changed. It's almost like we'll be looking at a new race track."(NASCAR)(10-3-2011)

NASCAR changes Phoenix schedule; Goodyear chooses tire: NASCAR has eliminated a scheduled Sprint Cup practice on Thursday of race weekend at Phoenix International Raceway Nov. 11-13. Sprint Cup teams are scheduled to participate in an open test at Phoenix Oct. 4-5. Those testing sessions were scheduled because the track has been reconfigured and resurfaced since NASCAR's last visit. The Thursday practice apparently was eliminated because of the October testing opportunities. Teams are approaching the Phoenix race as one of the most important in the Chase not only because it is the next-to-last event but also because the new surface will make most notes from previous PIR races virtually obsolete.(SPEED)
AND: Goodyear has selected its tire for Phoenix International Raceway. Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager/Worldwide Racing, said that when the Sprint Cup tour returns to PIR for the two-day test, Oct. 4-5, teams will use the same left-side tires as they did at Indianapolis. They also will go with a right side similar to what they used in Indy in terms of construction, compound and mold, but with a little different gauge and tread thickness for heat resistance.(Fox Sports)(9-25-2011)

Phoenix to repave add a little more banking: The dogleg - Phoenix International Raceway's signature backstretch bend - soon will have a stronger bite. The tighter and more-challenging turn will be the most-visible change in a $10 million repaving and reconfiguration of PIR. Other modifications - all designed to facilitate more entertaining side-by-side racing - will include a wider front straightaway and a slight variable banking in the corners. Track length will remain 1 mile. The six-month project, expected to be officially announced today, will start soon after the Feb. 27 NASCAR Subway Fresh Fit 500. It will be the Avondale oval's first major repaving since 1990 and the most-significant overhaul in the track's almost 50-year history. Speeds, according to computer models, will increase by 2-3 mph. Carl Edwards set the PIR Sprint Cup one-lap qualifying record of 136.389 mph last November. Computer modeling has been successfully used to redesign other speedways. Several hundred man-hours of modeling, plus consultation with drivers and NASCAR officials, resulted in:
- Width of the front straightaway will increase 10 feet, to 62 feet. Banking will stay at 3 degrees.
- Pit road will be moved back. Individual pit boxes will be concrete.
- Turns 1 and 2, now banked at 11 degrees, will have variable banking starting at 10 degrees on the bottom up to 11 degrees at the outside wall. Maximum width will be 80 feet, and the turning radius will be opened up from 370 to 400 feet.
- Turns 3 and 4, currently banked nine degrees, will be 50 feet wide. Turn 3 will be banked 8 degrees and Turn 4 variable at 8-9.
Most noticeable, though, will be the dogleg. In recent years, drivers have been able to shortcut the corner, usually running single-file. That section of the track will be pushed out 95 feet from the existing asphalt and be 55 feet wide. The new configuration will have 10- to 11-degree banking at the apex. Significantly, the radius will decrease from 800 to 500 feet. That will affect competition, because drivers will be able to arc more into the corner entry but then must deal with a sharper left turn.(Arizona Republic)(2-9-2011)

Day One: NASCAR Test At Phoenix: Among the grocery list of items needed to repave a one-mile race track located just outside of Phoenix: 23,000 tons of asphalt, 7,000 cubic yards of concrete and 600 pounds of rebar. Combine all of that, and you have cars on the race track in Arizona, and the first opportunity for a full-scale NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test on the newly repaved Phoenix International Raceway.
Testing on the repaved and reconfigured one-mile Phoenix oval kicked off Tuesday, the first of a two-day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session. This was the first opportunity for most teams to test the new track surface following the five-driver Goodyear tire test in late August.
“I think it is a really unique layout,” said #31-Jeff Burton of the new track. “The exit of Turn 2 is very unique; very different; the back straightaway has a lot of banking and it’s like falling into a hole; it’s pretty cool and it is neat to do something different here.” In February, the 47-year-old facility announced it would undergo its first major paving project since 1990. While protecting the integrity of the one-mile oval, changes were implemented to the banking and configuration to promote side-by-side racing.
“It’s cool with the new banking,” said #6-David Ragan. “There is a little bit more speed. Anytime you repave a race track you always have that 6-8 month period where the asphalt is wearing. It is curing and it is coming into its own. It gives us a hard time to figure it out, but the track will only get better with time. I think it is going to be a good race.”
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, noted that the test session is an opportunity for teams to prepare for next month’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix. “This is a brand new facility,” said Pemberton. “These teams will have to throw out their notebooks and start over. It takes time for these newly paved tracks and that’s why we are here testing. The teams are experimenting with a lot of different options and that’s what they need to do.”
In addition to testing the new asphalt and configuration, three teams were also here testing Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) cars. Hendrick Motorsports, Penske Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing brought additional cars to test in preparation for the launch of EFI in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2012.(NASCAR)
.(10-5-2011)

Day Two: NASCAR Test At Phoenix International Raceway: On-track preparations for the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend at Phoenix International Raceway are officially complete as teams concluded a two-day test session on Wednesday. This second day of testing hosted 35 teams on the newly repaved and reconfigured one-mile oval. There were a variety of reactions to the new track, but change seems to be the one constant that drivers have seen to the 47-year-old facility. “As we ran the track, it got a lot better with rubber,” said #99-Carl Edwards. “As treacherous as this place was in the Goodyear tire test, as tough as it was to drive, it got better the whole day. I think we have a lot to look forward to once the track gets more rubber on it. To me it's going to be pretty amazing to be the penultimate race and have all those opportunities for something crazy to happen, it could shake everything up. I don't know how all those dynamics are going to work out. I think as we see the other series run, we'll learn where the problem spots are.”
Crew chiefs have also had to adjust a little over the last two days and try a variety of set ups and strategy. “It's awesome,” said Steve Addington, crew chief #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge and driver Kurt Busch. “They've done an awesome job with the racetrack, plus they've done an awesome job on pit road. You look forward to picking a pit. All the pits should be good when we come back to race. I think that's going to be the action place. We were talking about it last night, about the double file restarts, getting through two. Getting into the dogleg is going to be exciting. During the test, everybody is giving. When you catch a car, they let you go. But when they start racing, it's going to be pretty interesting through there. That's going to open up another can of worms to see how all the action takes place back through there. Getting into it, positioning yourself, where you get a run on the guy, whether it's on the outside or inside of him, the give and take is going to be pretty interesting.”
As teams took their last lap around the track and completed their final notes, the new Phoenix International Raceway certainly has teams and NASCAR ready for an exciting Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race come November. “Testing here has allowed the teams to really focus on their strategy and gather crucial data as they prepare for the upcoming race weekend,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “This is a totally new race track and as with all newly repaved facilities, time is going to play a factor in how these cars compete. It will certainly be an exciting weekend in Phoenix for sure.”(NASCAR)
SPEEDS #14-Stewart was the fastes on the 2nd day of testing with a speed of 137.762mph followed by #48-Johnson and #29-Harvick. The all time track qualifying record, run under the old track configuration was 137.279mph, set by #99-Carl Edwards this past February.(10-5-2011)