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2013 Phoenix: NASCAR Sprint Cup Starting Line-up & Race Preview
By Mike Sulka
Welcome back to Phoenix International Raceway which is the second race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The 1.0-mile tri-oval was completed in 1964, but the NASCAR Sprint Cup series didn't start racing here until 1988 when Alan Kulwicki won in a Ford in the debut event.
The unusual banking is eleven degree in Turns 1-2 with nine degree banking in Turns 3-4. The 1,179 foot frontstretch is a relatively flat three degrees with nine degree banking on the 1,551 foot backstretch. The track can host over 77,000 fans.
As for predicting today's winner... this one used to be easy.
Why ?
For a span of eight out of nine races (2006-2010), the worst starting position of any Phoenix winner had been seventh, and the polesitter won four of those nine races.
Not any more. So we'll have to look elsewhere for stats since five out of the last six winners have started 10th or WORSE.
How about this one ?
Chevrolet has won 14 of the last 18 races at Phoenix ?
That might have worked except Ford (Carl Edwards), Chevrolet (Jeff Gordon) and Toyota (Kasey Kahne & Denny Hamlin) have won the last four of the last five races. It appears that an end to manufacturer dominance has come to an end at Phoenix.
As for other strong stats, the Hendrick team has won seven of the last 12 Phoenix races. But none of their four drivers could finish better than fourth in 2012.
So maybe today's pick isn't going to be so easy.
Plus consider this... only two drivers have finished in the top-five in each of the last two events: Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. In fact, Hamlin won the Spring visit with Harvick second, and Harvick won the Fall visit with Harvick second.
With that in mind, today's pick to win is going to be... Kevin Harvick. Plus he has Chevrolet power, and faired very well during speedweeks at Daytona.
Behind Harvick, it should be Hamlin, but keep an eye on 2012 Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson, he has the hot foot right now.
So enjoy today's race! It's a late start.
PaddockTalk has also released a beta version of our new NASCAR news android app! Check it out at Google Market - NASCAR News
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Starting Line Up by Row
Phoenix International Raceway
9th Annual SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, March 01, 2013 @ 08:01 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Tony Stewart 11/07/99 02:38:28 118.132
| Row |
Pos |
Car |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Speed |
| 1 |
1 |
55 |
Mark Martin |
Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota |
26.073 |
138.074 |
|
2 |
5 |
Kasey Kahne |
Quaker State Chevrolet |
26.113 |
137.862 |
| 2 |
3 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Lowe's Chevrolet |
26.124 |
137.804 |
|
4 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
M&M's Toyota |
26.149 |
137.673 |
| 3 |
5 |
24 |
Jeff Gordon |
Pepsi MAX Chevrolet |
26.246 |
137.164 |
|
6 |
14 |
Tony Stewart |
Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet |
26.250 |
137.143 |
| 4 |
7 |
29 |
Kevin Harvick |
Jimmy John's Chevrolet |
26.263 |
137.075 |
|
8 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
FedEx Ground Toyota |
26.292 |
136.924 |
| 5 |
9 |
20 |
Matt Kenseth |
Husky Toyota |
26.300 |
136.882 |
|
10 |
39 |
Ryan Newman |
Quicken Loans Chevrolet |
26.304 |
136.861 |
| 6 |
11 |
2 |
Brad Keselowski |
Miller Lite Ford |
26.309 |
136.835 |
|
12 |
17 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # |
Best Buy Ford |
26.329 |
136.731 |
| 7 |
13 |
15 |
Clint Bowyer |
5-hour Energy Toyota |
26.344 |
136.654 |
|
14 |
56 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
NAPA Filters Toyota |
26.354 |
136.602 |
| 8 |
15 |
99 |
Carl Edwards |
Subway Ford |
26.377 |
136.483 |
|
16 |
27 |
Paul Menard |
Menards/Serta Chevrolet |
26.400 |
136.364 |
| 9 |
17 |
16 |
Greg Biffle |
3M/Novec Ford |
26.414 |
136.291 |
|
18 |
43 |
Aric Almirola |
Farmland Ford |
26.419 |
136.266 |
| 10 |
19 |
1 |
Jamie McMurray |
McDonald's Chevrolet |
26.483 |
135.936 |
|
20 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Cheerios Chevrolet |
26.492 |
135.890 |
| 11 |
21 |
88 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
National Guard Chevrolet |
26.496 |
135.870 |
|
22 |
9 |
Marcos Ambrose |
DeWalt Ford |
26.580 |
135.440 |
| 12 |
23 |
51 |
AJ Allmendinger |
Guy Roofing Chevrolet |
26.580 |
135.440 |
|
24 |
34 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
26.614 |
135.267 |
| 13 |
25 |
78 |
Kurt Busch |
Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet |
26.618 |
135.247 |
|
26 |
7 |
Dave Blaney |
Sany Chevrolet |
26.647 |
135.100 |
| 14 |
27 |
36 |
JJ Yeley |
Accell Construction Chevrolet |
26.654 |
135.064 |
|
28 |
95 |
Scott Speed |
Surrender the Sponsor Ford |
26.683 |
134.917 |
| 15 |
29 |
42 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
Target Chevrolet |
26.702 |
134.821 |
|
30 |
93 |
Travis Kvapil |
Burger King/Dr.Pepper Toyota |
26.725 |
134.705 |
| 16 |
31 |
38 |
David Gilliland |
Long John Silver's Ford |
26.727 |
134.695 |
|
32 |
22 |
Joey Logano |
Shell Pennzoil Ford |
26.791 |
134.373 |
| 17 |
33 |
47 |
Bobby Labonte |
Glad Toyota |
26.797 |
134.343 |
|
34 |
83 |
David Reutimann |
Burger King/Dr.Pepper Toyota |
26.903 |
133.814 |
| 18 |
35 |
19 |
Mike Bliss(i) |
Plinker Tactical/Value Place Toyota |
26.911 |
133.774 |
|
36 |
35 |
Josh Wise(i) |
Blockbuster.com Ford |
26.948 |
133.591 |
| 19 |
37 |
30 |
David Stremme |
Swan Racing Toyota |
Owner Points |
|
|
38 |
33 |
Landon Cassill |
Little Joe's Autos Chevrolet |
Owner Points |
|
| 20 |
39 |
44 |
Scott Riggs(i) |
No Label Watches Ford |
Owner Points |
|
|
40 |
10 |
Danica Patrick # |
GoDaddy.com Chevrolet |
Owner Points |
|
| 21 |
41 |
87 |
Joe Nemechek(i) |
MaddiesPlaceRocks.com Toyota |
Owner Points |
|
|
42 |
32 |
Ken Schrader |
Safe Skies Locks Ford |
Owner Points |
|
| 22 |
43 |
13 |
Casey Mears |
GEICO Ford |
Owner Points |
|
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 0 Toyota 12 0
PaddockTalk Perspective
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