It what turned out to be a “fuelish” event tonight at Phoenix International Raceway, Kevin Harvick passed Greg Biffle on lap 303 and led the final 10 circuits to capture the Subway Fresh 500….with probably only a little gas to spare. Harvick got the weekend sweep as numerous cars ran out near the end with most teams trying to stretch it and quite a few failing in that attempt. This was win #6 for Happy Harvick (he’s solo in 61st on the all-time win list) and the 78th for RCR. They may send RC packing more often…..I seem to remember when Dale Earnhardt got his first ever road course win at Sears Point back in 1995 that Childress was off hunting that weekend as well. Harvick’s take from the over $4.8M in posted awards was $228,486.
Tony Stewart finished as the runner-up in the final shake out as Greg Biffle had to pit for fuel with just a handful of laps left.
Clint Bowyer (5th) had his career-best finish tonight. His previous best was 6th at Daytona in February.
Sterling Marlin (12th) had his best finish since he was 7th at Talladega last October.
Tony Raines (17th) had his best finish since he was 13th at Homestead in November of 2003! (only 15 races)
Travis Kvapil (21st) had his best finish since he was 10th when we were here last November.
Kenny Wallace (25th) had his best finish since he was 21st at Homestead last November. (only 3 races)
Stanton Barrett (33rd) had his best finish since he was 31st at Darlington last May. (only 9 races)
STREAKIN….Kevin Harvick has 4 Top-10’s in a row.
Kasey Kahne has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races.
Tony Stewart has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the week is a lonely Jeff Burton (+28 ). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Kyle Busch (-35), followed by Denny Hamlin (-28 ), and Ryan Newman (-26). As longtime “Shaft” watchers will know (and we’ve been doing this since waaaaay before TV thought it was cool), Tony Stewart’s official starting spot is listed as 3rd, so he’s not eligible for this week’s prestigious Op Award.
Clint Bowyer led three times tonight for 21 laps….the first time he’s ever led a NEXTEL Cup event. Dave Blaney led once for two laps tonight, the first time he’s led since Homestead last November. And, Brandon Ash led a lap tonight for the first time in his Cup career. That gives us 33 drivers to lead a lap this season…..a far cry from the 51 we had last year, but the season is still young.
We’ve got a new points leader after tonight. Matt Kenseth takes over the top spot for the second time this season (he led for one week after Bristol), this time by 9 markers. Our “Stayin’ Alive” line is all the way up to 16th…..at this point last season we had 18 drivers eligible. Carl Edwards (22nd to 16th….and jumping ahead of the “Line”) made the best move forward this week while Reed Sorenson (19th to 24th) fell the most spots.(see much more at Stock Car Fans)(4-22-2006)
