Kevin Harvick Wins In Wild Finish At PIR – Gordon & Bowyer Brawl!

What might have been a dominating victory by Kyle Busch in the AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race turned into a wild finish when Kevin Harvick raced his no. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet to the win in the closing 15 laps on the strength of a fierce restart and another on a green-white-checkered finish.

The race was thrown into overtime when a caution period occurred a split second before the white flag was to wave.  Instead of freezing the field and ending the race with Harvick as the winner in the regulation 312 laps, a red flag was displayed for 14 minutes and 58 seconds to clean a wreck that included four cars.  It also extended the event to 319 laps.

The fireworks started with seven laps left, when Clint Bowyer made contact with Jeff Gordon, sending him into the wall. Gordon’s No. 24 car was black-flagged, but he didn’t leave the track, instead waiting for Bowyer for his chance at redemption.

He got it, slowing down until Bowyer came back around, then sliding down the track when Bowyer tried to get around him on the apron between turns 1 and 2. Both cars, along with Joey Logano’s No. 20, wrecked and were done for the day.

”Things just escalated over the year and I’d just had it,” Gordon said. ”Clint has run into me numerous times, wrecked me and he got into me on the back straightaway and pretty much ruined our day. I’ve had it, fed up with it and got him back.”

Gordon took out Bowyer, the third place championship runner still clinging to faint title hopes, Joey Logano, and Aric Almirola split seconds before new leader Harvick reached the start-finish line.  That angered Bowyer’s crew which took after Gordon’s team in a heated skirmish in the garage.

It also threw the sellout Phoenix International Raceway crowd into a frenzy.  Emotions grew wilder moments later when multiple cars wrecked as they took the checkered flag that came seven laps after the scheduled 312 circuits.

With the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in its closing stages, all eyes at the day’s beginning were on upstart Brad Keselowski who started seven points behind five-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the season’s penultimate race.  When Johnson cut his right front tire on lap 235 his Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet suffered suspension damage when it hit the turn 1 wall.  He finished 32nd, 38 laps down, and fell 20 points behind Keselowski in the championship hunt.  One race remains next week, and Keselowski needs only to finish 15th, regardless of Johnson’s performance, to clinch his first title.

Most of the sunny afternoon was spent focusing on the taillights of Busch, who led by far the most laps with 237.  “It (his pole-sitting no. 18 M&M’s Toyota) was an awesome piece, and I gave the race away,” he said forlornly.  “I guess I didn’t know how to win it.”

Keselowski barely made it past the Gordon-Bowyer wreck on his way to a sixth place finish, saying, “I thought I was going to wreck, so I just hoped I could bounce off the walls and make it back to the start-finish line.”  While the new points leader was bitterly angry over what he considered late-race retaliation by some drivers, he joked about the good luck he received when Johnson hit the wall: “I’m sure maybe five years from now, if I end up winning this thing (the title), there will be somebody saying ‘Remember Phoenix, when such-and-such laid down thumbtacks and blew out Jimmie’s tire?'”

Race winner Harvick, who claimed his first checkered flag this season and third in 20 races at PIR, also offered a light touch when commenting on the fisticuffs between the Bowyer and Gordon teams: “Fights?  This sport was made on fights.  We ought to have more fights.”

The next exciting race weekend at PIR will take place in the second week of the 2013 NASCAR season when the Subway Fresh 500 headlines the March 1-3 weekend.

Five-Time Champ Jimmie Johnson to Celebrate Start of 2011 Season With Phoenix Fans!

Five-time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson will visit the Valley of the Sun today to celebrate the start of the 2011 NASCAR season with local fans from Phoenix International Raceway. Johnson – driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet – will participate in a one-of-a-kind fan event at Casino Arizona’s Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale and will help PIR unveil a 48-hour ticket special for the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500™ at PIR on Feb. 27.

The ‘48-hour Special’ will offer fans a unique discounted opportunity to take in NASCAR Sprint Cup action at PIR this February. Beginning at noon today and ending at noon on January 14, race fans can purchase a regularly-priced $90 ticket to the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500™ for just $48. This ticket, located in the Upper AJ Foyt Grandstand, offers a full view of PIR’s one-mile oval and pit road. ‘48-hour Special’ tickets will be available at PhoenixRaceway.com/Jimmie-Johnson at noon on January 12.

Why Jimmie Johnson is Going to Win his 5th Straight Championship this Sunday!

By Patrick Blackburn, NASCAR Senior Staff Writer

After the shocking turn of events in the final 15 laps in Phoenix on Sunday, Jimmie Johnson is in the driver’s seat to win his 5th straight championship next Sunday at Homestead in Miami.

Denny Hamlin will start the race as the Cup leader, 15 points over Johnson and 46 points to the good on Kevin Harvick. When the Chase started, had anyone told Hamlin that he would leave Phoenix with a 15 point lead over the reigning champion, he would have been ecstatic and confident. Nobody, however, could have predicted how the last 15 laps were going to shake out. Of the three contenders, Hamlin dominated the race. It took him no time to drive from his starting position, 17th, to the front, and he remained there throughout most of the race. With 12 laps to go, Hamlin came in for his final pit stop to get enough fuel into his tank to take him to the finish. Everyone knew Harvick was going to stay out, having about ten laps fewer on his tank. The big question was whether the 48 would play it safe and pit or risk his entire championship and stay out. Chad Knaus, being the champion crew chief that he is, prepared for this scenario all the way back to lap 89, when Jimmie made his final pit stop. Knowing that the Phoenix race has come down to fuel many times before, Knaus told Jimmie to start saving fuel. Remember, Johnson won his first Phoenix race in 2008 with superior fuel strategy.

Edwards Wins – Johnson Closes Gap – Harvick Still Alive – Hamlin Reeling – A Thrilling Day at PIR!

It was an incredible day of racing at PIR. Just what you’d expect with two races to go and three drivers gunning for a championship. For all those Chase haters out there – I hope you’re taking notice of just what the system can produce as far as drama is concerned.

Carl Edwards staged a fierce battle with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin for six thrilling laps and won a fuel gamble in the closing stages to win the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Edwards locked up a victory when the fuel mileage held up in his Aflac Ford and Hamlin had to pit for fuel with 14 laps to go.

Edwards giddily dashed into a stunned but overjoyed crowd of grandstand fans as he celebrated the end of a 70-race victory drought. Edwards of course treated the faithful fans to his signature victory back flip on the front stretch.

Ryan Newman finished second and Joey Logano third when second-running Juan Pablo Montoya (ended up 16th) ran out of fuel on the last lap.

Lowes’s Partners With PIR To Bring Kobalt Tools 500 To Track In November!

Phoenix International Raceway President Bryan R. Sperber announced recently that Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools have joined the track’s team of corporate partners. As part of this new relationship, Kobalt will act as the official title sponsor for the track’s November 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event: The Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

“We’re excited to bring the Kobalt Tools 500 to Phoenix this year to let race fans in the West experience Kobalt as the next generation of tough tools,” said Tom Lamb, senior vice president of marketing and advertising at Lowe’s. “Lowe’s has been active in the Phoenix community for many years, so it was a natural fit to bring this race to our Kobalt fans in the Phoenix market.”

Lowe’s and Kobalt have seen their No. 48 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team make plenty of headlines in Phoenix. Four-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson – driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports – is a PIR record-holder with four Sprint Cup wins, including the last three November Sprint Cup events in Phoenix.

“We are thrilled to be working with Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools for NASCAR’s semi-final race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup here in Phoenix,” Sperber said. “Trusted brands like Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools line up perfectly with the quality of racing and overall quality of event that race fans have come to expect at PIR each November.”

Although this is Lowe’s first time sponsoring a Phoenix race, it has been supporting the Phoenix community for years. Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) have given more than $2 million in donations to education and community improvement projects in Arizona. Most recently, the LCEF gave a $50,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Phoenix to renovate its teen center.

Today, Kobalt and Lowe’s Toolbox for Education program recognized the Metro Tech Vocational Institute of Phoenix as one of more than 400 schools across the country who is receiving a Kobalt tools package worth more than $1,100 to help prepare and educate the next generation of skilled trades professionals.

As the Semi-Final Race in the Chase, the Kobalt Tools 500 will begin at 1 p.m. MST on Sunday, November 14, with television coverage provided by ESPN and radio coverage by the Motor Racing Network. Tickets for the Kobalt Tools 500 and all other events throughout NASCAR’s Semi-Final Weekend at Phoenix International Raceway are available for purchase now at PhoenixRaceway.com.