NASCAR : Phoenix O’Reilly Auto Parts 500

[rickaren]

Busch is 4th in Cup points heading to Phoenix

Posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 4:05 PM EST. (Employee News)



Following his win last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, Kurt Busch didn’t return to his North Carolina home. Instead, Busch headed westward to Arizona, the next stop on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.

The Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is set for Sunday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, in Avondale, Ariz., the 35th of 36 races on the 2009 schedule.

There may be a second reason for the early arrival in Phoenix in addition to a couple days relaxation in the “Valley of the Sun” with his wife, Eva, and friends. Busch’s had plenty of success in recent outings on the tri-oval with a curve, often referred to as a dogleg, in the middle of the backstretch.

Busch finished second in last year’s fall event and was third at the one-mile track in April. He led more than 60 laps in each of those events and 571 in 13 previous starts. In addition to a win in 2005, Busch has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes at Phoenix.

Currently fourth in the Sprint Cup standings, Busch has used the 10-race Chase to the Championship to flex the muscles of the Pat Tyson-tuned “Blue Deuce” with an average finish of 11th over the first eight races of the Chase. If not for a final-lap incident at Talladega that dropped Busch from a top-10 finish to 30th, the 2004 series champion stats would even be more impressive.

Speaking of stats, there have been 10 perfect driver ratings in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since the inception of the Loop Data statistic in 2005 (178 races). Of those 10, Dodge’s Kurt Busch holds two perfect ratings including his April 2005 perfect rating at Phoenix where Busch had an average running position of 1.9, recorded 76 of the fastest laps run in the event, led 219 laps and spent all 312 laps running in the top 15.

“Our one–mile, flat–track program has been one of the biggest highlights for our Miller Lite Dodge Team over the last couple of seasons,” Busch said. With the runner-up finish last fall and the third back in the spring, we’ve been knocking on the door for another Phoenix win. We’ve been right there racing them ‘till the very end. We’re hoping to really rise to the occasion there this weekend and earn another trip to Victory Lane.”

For Crew Chief Pat Tryson, knowing Busch is strapped into the 900-horsepower Dodge Charger is “comfort food” while he sits atop of the pit box.

“Kurt is as good as they get on those tracks and his record certainly shows that,” Tryson said. “He’s won a ton of races on the flat one–mile tracks and is always on top of his game every time we race there. When we get out to Phoenix, Kurt seems to have some extra swagger going and I’m sure that’ll be the case again this weekend. He has such a strong background and connection with that track.”

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge) is set to make his 11th career Sprint Cup Series start at Phoenix and his 215th career start in NASCAR’s premier series. In 10 previous outings at Phoenix, Kahne has one top-five and three top-10 finishes.

Kahne is currently 10th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 75 points behind ninth-place driver Ryan Newman.

“Phoenix is a pretty unique race track,” Kahne said. “To me, it’s a neat place to go (race). The weather always seems to be good out there. That’s a track that I haven’t really run that well at. Early on (in my career) I did … my first year. We’ve kind of been up-and-down there. I feel like this year, with where we’re at right now and the gains that we’ve made in the last month. Phoenix will be another track where we can run pretty well.”

Dodge is seeking its first Sprint Cup win at Phoenix and fifth win in the 2009 NASCAR season. All six Dodge teams are entered in the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 and assured berths in Sunday’s race.

Sprint Cup Chase standings:

(After race 8 of 10 in the Chase)
1. Jimmie Johnson, 6,297
2. Mark Martin, -73
3. Jeff Gordon, -112
4. Kurt Busch (Dodge), -171
5. Tony Stewart, -178
6. Juan Pablo Montoya, -236
7. Greg Biffle, -247
8. Denny Hamlin, -322
9. Ryan Newman, -324
10. Kasey Kahne (Dodge), -399
11. Carl Edwards, -440
12. Brian Vickers, -520

Other notes:
• Brad Keselowski (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) will be making his first appearance at Phoenix in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In five NNS starts at Phoenix, Keselowski has one top-five and one top-10 finish.
• Dodge has earned four poles at Phoenix since returning to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 (Casey Atwood- 1, Ryan Newman – 3).

What you need to know:
The Race: Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500
The Place: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
The Date: Sunday, Nov. 15
The Time: 2:30 p.m. EST
Race Distance: 312 laps/500 Kilometers
TV: ABC, 2:30 EST

[rickaren]

Busch finishes sixth at Phoenix

Posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 10:18 AM EST. (Employee News)



Busch recorded his 20th top-10 finish of the season Sunday in the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., driving his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge to a sixth-place finish.

The 36th and final race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season will be Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Busch started second and was one of only four drivers to lead in the 312-lap event on the one-mile oval. He led the first 52 laps of the race and three times for a total of 69 circuits. Although Busch was mathematically eliminated from title contention, he has a firm hold on fourth place in the standings. He is 74 points ahead of Tony Stewart and trails Jeff Gordon in third by only 42 points. Jimmie Johnson has a 108-point lead over Mark Martin.

Busch won the Sprint Cup title in 2004 before joining the Dodge ranks at Penske Racing.

“We had a great car in the beginning, a good feel, but lost the handle late in the race,” Busch said. “It was a tough day for the Miller Lite Dodge. We wanted to be right up there in the mix going for the win. Sixth place, we’ll take it. Last week was a win. We’re gaining points and we’re still doing a good job. (Jeff) Gordon is within distance going into Homestead for third place overall.”

The season finale at Homestead-Miami will be the final race for Pat Tryson as crew chief for the No. 2 Miller Light Dodge. Busch says the objective is to end the season on a winning note.

“We’re bringing back Patriot, the car we won with at Texas,” Busch said “It’s a great car. Our team has an upbeat feel. We’ve had a long year. We’ve had a successful year. There’s no better way than to put together a 100 percent effort this next week and go out with a bang and hopefully a win.”

Tryson called it a good day. “It was a good day, just not quite good enough,” he said. “We started out good, but as the track rubbered up, we weren’t quite as good as we needed to be. All in all, it was a good day. We would have liked it to have been a little better.”

The second Dodge driver in the Chase, Kasey Kahne, started fourth and ran in the top 10 early before handling problems plagued the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge over the final third of the race. Kahne finished 15th, but remains 10th in the Chase standings.

“Overall, it was a pretty good day for our Budweiser Dodge,” Kahne said. “Track position was so important today, and we just couldn’t get the car balanced like we needed to stay up front with the leaders as the race wore on. We were running inside the top 10 for nearly 150 laps and then fought a front-end issue that we couldn’t fix. At one point in the race, I felt like I could feel every crack in the race track. With such long green flag runs today, if your car wasn’t perfect, you just didn’t have time to make the adjustments that you needed.”

Sam Hornish finished 17th in the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger despite being caught up in one of two nine-car mishaps. He ran in the top 10 through the first 60 laps and stayed inside the top 20 throughout the race.

“It was a nice day for the Mobil 1 Dodge after a couple weeks of adversity,” Hornish said. “We were able to have good patience and finish the race, which was our goal today. We were running inside the top 10 when we came to pit road, ran over some fluid entering our pit box which spun the car around and cost us some time. Once we got back to racing, the car was consistent all day long. A lot of hard work by the Mobil 1 team all day. I’m proud of my guys.”

The third member from the Penske Racing stable wasn’t as fortunate. Brad Keselowski was a victim in both nine-car mishaps in the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger. The damage received in the second required an extended stay in the garage for repairs. He finished 37th.

“What a shame,” Keselowski said of the mishap. “I couldn’t really tell what happened when we got caught up in that wreck. Somebody spun in front of the field and we just got caught in the mess. This Penske Dodge was fast. We were passing cars, and I felt like we were going to get a solid top 10 today. We just needed some more laps today, but got caught in that wreck. It’s part of racing. That’s just the way that this deal goes sometimes. I’m really proud of this Penske group for giving me a car as good as this one was today. We showed some real signs of progress this weekend. The end result may not be there, but the effort was, and I’m proud of everyone. I’m looking forward to heading down to Miami and racing hard at Homestead.”

Race results
Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500
Phoenix International Raceway
(Race 35 of 36)
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Burton
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Mark Martin
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Kurt Busch (Dodge)
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Juan Pablo Montoya
9. Jeff Gordon
10. David Reutimann
(Other Dodge drivers)
15. Kasey Kahne
17. Sam Hornish Jr.
26. Reed Sorenson
28. Elliott Sadler
37. Brad Keselowski

Sprint Cup point standings
(After Race 9 of 10 in Chase)
1. Jimmie Johnson, 6,492
2. Mark Martin, -108
3. Jeff Gordon, -169
4. Kurt Busch (Dodge), -211
5. Tony Stewart, -285
6. Juan Pablo Montoya, -289
7. Greg Biffle, -321
8. Denny Hamlin, -352
9. Ryan Newman, -411
10. Kasey Kahne (Dodge), -476
11. Carl Edwards, -520
12. Brian Vickers, -666
(Other Dodge drivers)
26. Elliott Sadler
28. Reed Sorenson
29. Sam Hornish Jr.
38. Brad Keselowski