After Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field will shrink from eight to four. Here’s how all of the drivers have fared at the one-mile Arizona track.
1. #48-Jimmie Johnson (clinched Championship 4 berth with win at Martinsville) – In 26 starts at Phoenix, Johnson boasts four wins (second-most in track history), 15 top fives, 19 top 10s and a 7.9 average finish (best among active drivers). The #48 Chevrolet driver has not won at Phoenix since the track was repaved in 2011.
2. #19-Carl Edwards (clinched Championship 4 berth with win at Texas) – Edwards has two wins, eight top fives and 13 top 10s in 24 starts at Phoenix. He finished runner-up at the one-mile track in March in an extremely tight finish where Kevin Harvick beat him to the stripe by .010 seconds – the closest margin of victory in track history.
3. #22-Joey Logano (one point ahead of Matt Kenseth on the cutoff line) – In 15 starts at Phoenix, Logano claims no wins, three top fives, eight top 10s and a 14.0 average finish. Before finishing 18th at the one-mile track in March, he posted five consecutive top-10 finishes there.
4. #18-Kyle Busch (+1) – Busch owns one win, five top fives and 14 top 10s in 22 starts at Phoenix. He has finished fourth in his last two races at the desert track.
5. #20-Matt Kenseth (one point below Kyle Busch on the cutoff line) – In 27 Phoenix starts, Kenseth has one win, six top fives, 11 top 10s and a 16.3 average finish. His last top 10 in the Phoenix fall race was a seventh-place showing in 2010. Kenseth’s win came in 2002 from the 28th starting position – the furthest back in the field an active race winner has started.
6. #11-Denny Hamlin (-2) – Hamlin claims one win, 10 top fives, 12 top 10s and an 11.0 average finish in 22 starts at Phoenix. The #11 Toyota driver finished third there in March and eighth last fall.
7. #4-Kevin Harvick (-18) – Harvick boasts eight wins, 12 top fives, 16 top 10s and a 10.3 average finish in 27 starts at Phoenix. He has won six of the last eight races there and finished runner-up in last year’s fall race.
8. #41-Kurt Busch (-34) – In 27 Phoenix starts, Busch claims one win, six top fives, 16 top 10s and a 13.4 average finish. He has placed no worse than seventh in his last 27 starts at the one-mile track.(NASCAR)
