Kevin Harvick won the Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, scoring his sixth NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 186th career start. He also won the NASCAR Busch Series race at Phoenix. Harvicks last victory came at Bristol in April 2005, 39 races ago where he also swept the weekend winning both the Cup and Busch races. This is the second time a driver has swept both races in a weekend at Phoenix. The last time a driver swept both the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and NASCAR Busch Series races at Phoenix was Jeff Burton races in 2000.
Five of Harvicks six victories have come on a superspeedway.
Harvick became the sixth different race winner in eight races in 2006 and the 17th different race winner in 20 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Phoenix.
Harvick scored his fourth top-10 finish in eight races this season, all in the last four races. The last time Harvick scored four straight top-10 finishes was when he scored five straight in September-October 2003 (Dover, Talladega, Kansas, Charlotte and Martinsville).
Harvick climbed from ninth to eighth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. After eight races in 2005, he ranked 11th in the point standings.
Harvick led one time, leading the final 10 laps.
This was team owner Richard Chidresss 78th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory. Childress has scored two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories at Phoenix. His other Phoenix victory was by Dale Earnhardt in 1990.
Notebook Items
Greg Biffle led 151 laps, leading the most laps for the third time in 2006. He also led the most at California and Atlanta.
Tony Stewart (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in nine races at Phoenix. He scored his fifth top-10 finish of the season, all top-fives and remained fifth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. One year ago he ranked 14th after eight races.
Matt Kenseth (third) scored his fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Phoenix International Raceway and climbed from second to first in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.
Carl Edwards (fourth) scored his third top-10 finish in four races at Phoenix International Raceway. It marked his best finish at Phoenix and his third top-10 finish in 2006, all top fives.
Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year contender Clint Bowyer (fifth) scored his first top-10 finish in two races at Phoenix. It was his second top-10 finish in 2006 and marked his career-first top-five finish. Bowyer led 21 laps, the first laps of his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career. He became the 31st different lap leader of the 2006 season.
Bowyer was the highest finishing Raybestos Rookie-of-the Year contender at Phoenix.
At least one of the 2006 Raybestos Rookie-of-the Year contenders has scored a top-15 finish in every race this season.
Bobby Labonte (eighth) scored his eighth top-10 finish in 15 races at Phoenix. It was his third top-10 finish in eight races in 2006.
Joe Nemechek (35th) has been running at the finish in the last 40 races, a streak that began at Bristol last April – the longest current streak.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(4-22-2006)
