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Since the Cup circuit added a second trip to the Phoenix desert to the schedule in 2005, the results have been streaky.

Last year, Hendrick’s one-two punch of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson scorched yet another track, winning both events. In 2006, Kevin Harvick led a combined 262 laps on his way to winning in April and November. In ’05, it was Kurt Busch followed by brother Kyle taking the checkered flags.

Back when there was an annual trip to the 1-mile oval at Avondale, Dale Earnhardt Jr. repeated as champ in ’03 and ’04, while Jeff Burton won back-to-back races in 2000 and ’01.

Will the repetitious raceway results continue or are they only a statistical mirage? Time will tell.
One trend did begin in Phoenix last year. The CoT made its debut on a track 1-mile or longer — a superspeedway — in the eighth race of the season. As was the case at several other tracks, Joe Gibbs was the first to figure out the new piece, but Rick Hendrick got the last laugh at the finish line.

Gibbs teammates Tony Stewart (132 laps led) and Denny Hamlin (70) were in control of the race for 202 of 312 total laps but finished second and third, respectively. In the end, however, Gordon (53 laps led) went bumper-to-bumper to knock Stewart out of his way to take the victory and add yet another chapter to arguably the top rivalry in racing today.

FANTASY STALL
Looking at Checkers
Tony Stewart provided the Toyotas are kind to him.
Pretty Solid Pick
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
Good Sleeper Pick
If Kevin Harvick can be considered a sleeper, he’s it.
Runs on Seven Cylinders

Dave Blaney, David Gilliland and Kyle Petty.
Insider Tip
Don’t forget about the Roush cars.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Clint Bowyer The Childress pilots seem to like flat tracks, and Bowyer is no exception. The 07 Chevy has one top-10 run in five races at this venue, while his Nationwide ride has three consecutive top-4 runs, with a win coming in last season’s spring race.

Carl Edwards Although winless in Cup competition at Phoenix, Edwards won the pole and led 87 of the first 125 laps before an engine failure sidelined him last fall. In his five previous runs, Edwards had averaged a 5.6-place finish.


Matt Kenseth
Kenseth has three top-5 runs in his last four Phoenix starts. He led for a race-high 93 laps before settling for a third last November.

Martin Truex Jr. Truex’s results continue to improve at PIR. He had a seventh-place run last November in the CoT, when he started second and led 72 laps.


RACE RESULTS FOR Subway Fresh Fit 500 (Apr 18th, 2009)
DRIVER MANUFACTURER START FINISH POINTS EARNINGS
Mark Martin (#5) Chevrolet 1 1 195 $232,150
Tony Stewart (#14) Chevrolet 6 2 175 $183,223
Kurt Busch (#2) Dodge 3 3 170 $145,375
Jimmie Johnson (#48) Chevrolet 10 4 165 $167,711
Greg Biffle (#16) Ford 13 5 155 $122,400
Denny Hamlin (#11) Toyota 12 6 150 $107,975
Martin Truex Jr. (#1) Chevrolet 26 7 146 $124,690
David Reutimann (#00) Toyota 8 8 147 $109,723
Sam Hornish Jr (#77) Dodge 35 9 138 $106,860
Carl Edwards (#99) Ford 11 10 134 $127,756
Jamie McMurray (#26) Ford 28 11 130 $87,600
Reed Sorenson (#43) Dodge 36 12 127 $115,001
Kasey Kahne (#9) Dodge 21 13 124 $115,348
Marcos Ambrose (#47) Toyota 29 14 121 $89,423
Jeff Burton (#31) Chevrolet 16 15 118 $117,381
Ryan Newman (#39) Chevrolet 30 16 120 $110,529
Kyle Busch (#18) Toyota 2 17 112 $117,023
David Stremme (#12) Dodge 19 18 109 $105,115
Brian Vickers (#83) Toyota 5 19 111 $100,298
Casey Mears (#07) Chevrolet 38 20 103 $87,900
Joey Logano (#20) Toyota 31 21 100 $116,851
David Ragan (#6) Ford 14 22 97 $79,450
Paul Menard (#98) Ford 7 23 94 $102,581
Juan Pablo Montoya (#42) Chevrolet 20 24 91 $105,548
Jeff Gordon (#24) Chevrolet 4 25 88 $108,801
Clint Bowyer (#33) Chevrolet 24 26 85 $78,525
Matt Kenseth (#17) Ford 17 27 82 $113,440
Regan Smith (#78) Chevrolet 9 28 79 $67,075
Bobby Labonte (#96) Ford 42 29 81 $97,679
Kevin Harvick (#29) Chevrolet 33 30 73 $107,653
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) Chevrolet 15 31 75 $84,660
Elliott Sadler (#19) Dodge 40 32 67 $77,475
David Gilliland (#71) Chevrolet 27 33 64 $67,300
Scott Speed (#82) Toyota 18 34 61 $80,798
A.J. Allmendinger (#44) Dodge 25 35 58 $66,100
Scott Riggs (#36) Toyota 37 36 55 $66,950
Michael Waltrip (#55) Toyota 32 37 57 $73,825
John Andretti (#34) Chevrolet 41 38 49 $73,675
Robby Gordon (#7) Toyota 23 39 46 $84,310
Sterling Marlin (#09) Chevrolet 39 40 43 $65,400
Joe Nemechek (#87) Toyota 22 41 40 $65,250
Dave Blaney (#66) Toyota 34 42 37 $65,125
Tony Raines (#34) Chevrolet 43 43 34 $65,496
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