#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Checker Auto Parts 500 Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway, his first victory an a non-restrictor plate track since Dover in September 2001. #48-Jimmie Johnson finished 2nd, followed by #12-Ryan Newman [the pole sitter], #97-Kurt Busch [who led the most laps] and #15-Michael Waltrip. The victory also helped Earnhardt Jr. solidify his hold on second in the Winston Cup standings behind #17-Matt Kenseth, who had his strongest run since a fourth at Bristol in August. Kenseth, who started 37th on Sunday, finished sixth and now leads Earnhardt Jr. by 228 points with just two races left in the season. Kenseth needs to finish only 30th or higher in the final two races to clinch the championship [or leaves Rockingham with a 186 points lead]. There were ten caution flags, tying the Phoenix Cup race record set in 1991, the 66 caution laps are a new record.(full story at ThatsRacin.com ) Scheduled Race Re-Air: on Speed Channel : one-hour recap/Fast Forward on Wednesday, November 5th at 7:00pm/et and again on November 6th at 1:00am/et; and a full three-hour race show will re-air at 3:00pm/et on Thursday, November 6th See my Checker Auto Parts 500 Race Info Page for race results links, top 10, lap leaders, drivers out of race/off track, cautions/narrative, notes, lucky dog ‘winners’ and much more. Race Results at Jayski’s Phoenix Race Results Page and see full standings at Jayski’s Drivers/Owners Points after Phoenix .(11-2-2003)
