Official Race Results from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Event at Phoenix

Race Comments: Carl Edwards won the Subway Fresh Fit 500, his 20th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #11,18 (engine change), 30 (transmission), 78 (backup car).

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 2
9TH ANNUAL SUBWAY FRESH FIT "500" PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Avondale, AZ - March 3, 2013
1-Mile Oval
312 Laps - 312 Miles Purse: $5,082,848

Fin	Car			Series	Bonus		Leader
Pos	No	Driver	Laps	Points	Points	Status	Times	Laps
1	99	Carl Edwards	316	48	5	Running	2	122
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	316	43	1	Running	1	1
3	11	Denny Hamlin	316	41	0	Running
4	2	Brad Keselowski	316	41	1	Running	1	16
5	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	316	40	1	Running	1	47
6	15	Clint Bowyer	316	38	0	Running
7	20	Matt Kenseth	316	37	0	Running
8	14	Tony Stewart	316	36	0	Running
9	24	Jeff Gordon	316	35	0	Running
10	31	Jeff Burton	316	34	0	Running
11	51	AJ Allmendinger	316	33	0	Running
12	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	316	33	1	Running	2	12
13	29	Kevin Harvick	316	31	0	Running
14	13	Casey Mears	316	30	0	Running
15	43	Aric Almirola	316	29	0	Running
16	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr #	316	28	0	Running
17	16	Greg Biffle	316	28	1	Running	2	39
18	9	Marcos Ambrose	316	26	0	Running
19	5	Kasey Kahne	316	25	0	Running
20	27	Paul Menard	316	24	0	Running
21	55	Mark Martin	316	24	1	Running	2	75
22	1	Jamie McMurray	316	22	0	Running
23	18	Kyle Busch	316	21	0	Running
24	47	Bobby Labonte	315	20	0	Running
25	83	David Reutimann	315	20	1	Running	1	1
26	22	Joey Logano	315	18	0	Running
27	78	Kurt Busch	315	17	0	Running
28	36	J.J. Yeley	315	16	0	Running
29	93	Travis Kvapil	313	15	0	Running
30	30	David Stremme	313	14	0	Running
31	87	Joe Nemechek	311	0	0	Running
32	33	Landon Cassill	309	12	0	Running
33	7	Dave Blaney	306	11	0	Running
34	32	Ken Schrader	300	10	0	Accident
35	35	Josh Wise	295	0	0	Running
36	56	Martin Truex Jr	284	8	0	Running
37	38	David Gilliland	237	7	0	Accident
38	34	David Ragan	186	7	1	Accident	1	3
39	10	Danica Patrick #	184	5	0	Accident
40	39	Ryan Newman	137	4	0	Accident
41	95	Scott Speed	88	3	0	Brakes
42	19	Mike Bliss	34	0	0	Brakes
43	44	Scott Riggs	19	0	0	Accident

# Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender.
Bonus Points: includes winner, lap leader & most laps led points
(i) = Ineligible for driver points in this series

Failed to qualify: n/a
TIME OF RACE:  3 hours, 0 minutes, 15 seconds   AVERAGE SPEED:  105.187 mph   MARGIN OF VICTORY:  1.024 second(s)

COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Mark Martin (138.074 mph. 26.073 secs.)

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Ricky Stenhouse Jr
++Rollover money awarded at year's end, amount not included in race winnings.

Caution Flags: 8 cautions for 43 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
22-27 (Car #44 Accident Turn 4 [33]);
49-55 (Car #18 Spin Turn 2 [87]);
66-69 (Car #7 Accident Turn 1 [55]);
100-103 (Car #39 Stall On Track [87]);
142-146 (Car #39 Accident Turn 1 [87]);
186-193 (Car #10,34 Accident Frontstretch [36]);
238-242 (Car #38 Accident Turn 1 [18]);
311-314 (Car #32 Accident Turn 3 [18]).

Lap Leaders: 12 lead changes among 9 drivers.
Martin 1-49,
Montoya 50-56,
Biffle 57-64,
Montoya 65-69,
Biffle 70-100,
Martin 101-126,
Keselowski 127-142,
Ragan 143-145,
Edwards 146-189,
Johnson 190,
Reutimann 191,
Earnhardt Jr 192-238,
Edwards 239-316.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TOP 12
Driver	Points	Wins
1 - Jimmie Johnson	90	1
2 - Dale Earnhardt Jr	82	0
3 - Brad Keselowski	82	0
4 - Denny Hamlin	72	0
5 - Clint Bowyer	72	0
6 - Greg Biffle	66	0
7 - Mark Martin	65	0
8 - Jeff Gordon	60	0
9 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr	60	0
10 - Aric Almirola	60	0
11 - Carl Edwards	59	1
12 - Marcos Ambrose	52	0

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Driver	Points
Danica Patrick	24
Ricky Stenhouse Jr	21

NEXT EVENT: March 10, 2013 - 16th Annual Kobalt Tools 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway , Las Vegas, NV (400.5 Miles) (267 Laps)
NOTE: The above figures are based upon team winnings and include racing purse and cash contingency awards by participating manufacturers. (3/4/2013)


NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES DRIVER LEADERS
Race #2: 9TH ANNUAL SUBWAY FRESH FIT "500" Race Date: 3/3/2013 3:00:00 PM

POS	Driver	Points	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Money Won
1	JIMMIE JOHNSON	90	2	1	2	2	$1,774,986
2	DALE EARNHARDT JR.	82	2	0	2	2	1,282,089
3	BRAD KESELOWSKI	82	2	0	2	2	875,931
4	DENNY HAMLIN	72	2	0	1	1	527,839
5	CLINT BOWYER	72	2	0	0	1	513,179
6	GREG BIFFLE	66	2	0	0	1	655,639
7	MARK MARTIN	65	2	0	1	1	943,963
8	JEFF GORDON	60	2	0	0	1	528,510
9	RICKY STENHOUSE JR.	60	2	0	0	0	498,710
10	ARIC ALMIROLA	60	2	0	0	0	524,235
11	CARL EDWARDS	59	2	1	1	1	675,064
12	MARCOS AMBROSE	52	2	0	0	0	488,491
13	J J YELEY	50	2	0	0	1	420,688
14	BOBBY LABONTE	49	2	0	0	0	437,055
15	JEFF BURTON	48	2	0	0	1	407,963
16	DAVID REUTIMANN	48	2	0	0	0	414,105
17	PAUL MENARD	48	2	0	0	0	452,145
18	MATT KENSETH	46	2	0	0	1	725,447
19	CASEY MEARS	45	2	0	0	0	417,647
20	RYAN NEWMAN	44	2	0	1	1	672,029
21	JOEY LOGANO	44	2	0	0	0	505,130
22	DANICA PATRICK	42	2	0	0	1	420,864
23	TONY STEWART	39	2	0	0	1	506,079
24	JUAN PABLO MONTOYA	38	2	0	0	0	472,782
25	DAVE BLANEY	38	2	0	0	0	395,285
26	MICHAEL MCDOWELL	35	1	0	0	1	366,121
27	TRAVIS KVAPIL	35	2	0	0	0	410,710
28	JAMIE MCMURRAY	34	2	0	0	0	432,928
29	A J ALLMENDINGER	33	1	0	0	0	111,808
30	KEVIN HARVICK	33	2	0	0	0	675,379
31	KASEY KAHNE	33	2	0	0	0	480,843
32	KURT BUSCH	33	2	0	0	0	480,679
33	KYLE BUSCH	31	2	0	0	0	535,643
34	MARTIN TRUEX JR.	28	2	0	0	0	488,809
35	SCOTT SPEED	25	2	0	0	0	360,914
36	MICHAEL WALTRIP	23	1	0	0	0	309,564
37	TERRY LABONTE	18	1	0	0	0	307,838
38	DAVID RAGAN	16	2	0	0	0	383,588
39	DAVID STREMME	14	1	0	0	0	77,475
40	DAVID GILLILAND	13	2	0	0	0	355,849
41	LANDON CASSILL	12	1	0	0	0	75,125
42	KEN SCHRADER	10	1	0	0	0	103,874
43	REGAN SMITH(i)	0	1	0	0	1	411,822
44	TREVOR BAYNE(i)	0	1	0	0	0	306,789
45	JOE NEMECHEK(i)	0	2	0	0	0	337,164
46	AUSTIN DILLON(i)	0	1	0	0	0	313,563
47	JOSH WISE(i)	0	2	0	0	0	349,203
48	MIKE BLISS(i)	0	1	0	0	0	78,463
49	SCOTT RIGGS(i)	0	1	0	0	0	47,900
50	BRIAN KESELOWSKI	0	0	0	0	0	0

(i) = Ineligible for driver points in this series


NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OWNER LEADERS
Race #2: 9TH ANNUAL SUBWAY FRESH FIT "500" Race Date: 3/3/2013 3:00:00 PM

POS	Car #	Owner	Points	Starts	Wins	Top5	Top10	Attempts
1	48	JEFF GORDON	90	2	1	2	2	2
2	88	RICK HENDRICK	82	2	0	2	2	2
3	2	ROGER PENSKE	82	2	0	2	2	2
4	11	J D GIBBS	72	2	0	1	1	2
5	15	ROB KAUFFMAN	72	2	0	0	1	2
6	51	JAMES FINCH	71	2	0	0	1	2
7	16	JACK ROUSH	66	2	0	0	1	2
8	55	MICHAEL WALTRIP	65	2	0	1	1	2
9	24	RICK HENDRICK	60	2	0	0	1	2
10	17	JOHN HENRY	60	2	0	0	0	2
11	43	RICHARD PETTY	60	2	0	0	0	2
12	99	JACK ROUSH	59	2	1	1	1	2
13	9	RICHARD PETTY	52	2	0	0	0	2
14	36	ALLAN HEINKE	50	2	0	0	1	2
15	47	TAD GESCHICKTER	49	2	0	0	0	2
16	31	RICHARD CHILDRESS	48	2	0	0	1	2
17	83	RON DEVINE	48	2	0	0	0	2
18	27	RICHARD CHILDRESS	48	2	0	0	0	2
19	20	JOE GIBBS	46	2	0	0	1	2
20	13	BOB GERMAIN	45	2	0	0	0	2
21	39	TONY STEWART	44	2	0	1	1	2
22	22	WALTER CZARNECKI	44	2	0	0	0	2
23	10	GENE HAAS	42	2	0	0	1	2
24	14	MARGARET HAAS	39	2	0	0	1	2
25	42	CHIP GANASSI	38	2	0	0	0	2
26	7	TOMMY BALDWIN	38	2	0	0	0	2
27	30	BRANDON DAVIS	37	2	0	0	0	2
29	93	RON DEVINE	35	2	0	0	0	2
28	98	MIKE CURB	35	1	0	0	1	1
30	1	FELIX SABATES	34	2	0	0	0	2
31	29	RICHARD CHILDRESS	33	2	0	0	0	2
32	5	LINDA HENDRICK	33	2	0	0	0	2
33	78	BARNEY VISSER	33	2	0	0	0	2
34	18	JOE GIBBS	31	2	0	0	0	2
35	56	MICHAEL WALTRIP	28	2	0	0	0	2
36	32	FRANK STODDARD JR.	28	2	0	0	0	2
37	95	BOB LEAVINE	25	2	0	0	0	2
38	33	JOE FALK	25	2	0	0	0	2
39	21	GLEN WOOD	17	1	0	0	0	1
40	34	BOB JENKINS	16	2	0	0	0	2
41	87	ANDREA NEMECHEK	14	2	0	0	0	2
42	35	JERRY FREEZE	13	2	0	0	0	2
43	38	BRAD JENKINS	13	2	0	0	0	2
44	19	RANDY HUMPHREY	2	1	0	0	0	2
45	44	JOHNATHAN COHEN	1	1	0	0	0	1
46	152	BOB KESELOWSKI	0	0	0	0	0	1

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NASCAR Nationwide Series Official Race Results From Phoenix International Raceway

Kyle Busch won the Dollar General 200 presented by AmeriGas, his 52nd NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: None.

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 2
9TH ANNUAL PHOENIX "200" from PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Avondale, AZ - March 2, 2013
1-Mile Oval
200 Laps - 200 Miles Purse: $1,051,789

Fin	Car			Series	Bonus		Leader
Pos	No	Driver	Laps	Points	Points	Status	Times	Laps
1	54	Kyle Busch	200	0	0	Running	3	142
2	22	Brad Keselowski	200	0	0	Running	1	10
3	31	Justin Allgaier	200	41	0	Running
4	6	Trevor Bayne	200	40	0	Running
5	11	Elliott Sadler	200	39	0	Running
6	3	Austin Dillon	200	38	0	Running
7	12	Sam Hornish Jr	200	37	0	Running
8	18	Matt Kenseth	200	0	0	Running	2	41
9	43	Aric Almirola	200	0	0	Running
10	2	Brian Scott	200	34	0	Running
11	7	Regan Smith	200	33	0	Running
12	5	Jimmie Johnson	200	0	0	Running
13	32	Kyle Larson #	200	31	0	Running
14	19	Mike Bliss	200	30	0	Running
15	30	Nelson Piquet Jr #	200	29	0	Running
16	24	Blake Koch	200	28	0	Running
17	20	Brian Vickers	199	28	1	Running	1	7
18	40	Reed Sorenson	198	26	0	Running
19	77	Parker Kligerman	198	25	0	Running
20	79	Jeffrey Earnhardt #	198	24	0	Running
21	51	Ryan Sieg	198	0	0	Running
22	0	Jason White	197	22	0	Running
23	44	Hal Martin #	197	21	0	Running
24	92	Dexter Stacey #	195	20	0	Running
25	23	Harrison Rhodes	194	0	0	Running
26	15	Juan Carlos Blum #	193	18	0	Running
27	74	Mike Harmon	192	17	0	Running
28	60	Travis Pastrana	189	16	0	Running
29	14	Eric McClure	187	15	0	Engine
30	52	Joey Gase	150	14	0	Transmission
31	99	Alex Bowman #	142	13	0	Running
32	1	Mike Wallace	139	12	0	Running
33	33	Kevin Harvick	101	0	0	Accident
34	4	Daryl Harr	95	10	0	Engine
35	55	Jamie Dick	59	9	0	Accident
36	87	Joe Nemechek	50	8	0	Accident
37	10	Jeff Green	17	7	0	Handling
38	42	Josh Wise	10	6	0	Brakes
39	46	Chase Miller	8	5	0	Vibration
40	70	Johanna Long	2	4	0	Accident

TIME OF RACE:  2 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds AVERAGE SPEED:  96.192 mph MARGIN OF VICTORY:  1.943 second(s)

COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Kyle Busch (133.057 mph. 27.056 secs.)

3M LAP LEADER: Kyle Busch (142 Laps )

Caution Flags: 7 cautions for 38 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
4-14 (Car #12,15,55,60,70,99 Accident Frontstretch [None]);
39-43 (Car #92 Spin Turn 4 [51]);
52-55 (Car #87 Accident Turn 3 [00]);
103-108 (Car #33 Accident Turn 2 [14]);
111-113 (Car #12 Spin Turn 2 [24]);
152-156 (Car #32 Accident Turn 4 [24]);
173-176 (Car #20,74 Spin Backstretch [14]).

Lap Leaders: 6 lead changes among 4 drivers.
K. Busch 1-40,
Kenseth 41-48,
Vickers 49-55,
Kenseth 56-88,
K. Busch 89-152,
Keselowski 153-162,
K. Busch 163-200.

-

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES TOP 10
Driver	Points	Wins
1 - Sam Hornish Jr	79	0
2 - Justin Allgaier	79	0
3 - Brian Scott	73	0
4 - Elliott Sadler	69	0
5 - Parker Kligerman	65	0
6 - Regan Smith	65	0
7 - Kyle Larson	63	0
8 - Nelson Piquet Jr	62	0
9 - Austin Dillon	61	0
10 - Alex Bowman	54	0

-

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Driver	Points
Alex Bowman	24
Kyle Larson	20
Nelson Piquet Jr	20
Jeffrey Earnhardt	17
Hal Martin	15
Juan Carlos Blum	12
Dexter Stacey	8

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NEXT EVENT: March 9, 2013 - 17th Annual Sam's Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV (300 Miles) (200 Laps)

NOTE: The above figures are based upon team winnings and include racing purse and cash contingency awards by participating manufacturers. (3/4/2013)

Report Card: How's NASCAR's Gen-6 Car Working Out So Far? Ask Carl Edwards

(Another Single File, Single Car Race-Finish)

This previous NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix brought the new Gen-6 car to a non-retrictor plate track and fans finally got a chance to see what, if anything the new car would bring to the 2013 NASCAR racing season.  And for me, I'm not seeing a huge difference in the racing.  Are you?

- - -

For the last two years, I think we've seen some of the best racing from NASCAR that we've seen in a long time.  Well, to be technically accurate, the best race finishes.  But that's the memory TV fans usually take away from an event, the closing moments, when it all counts.

Most of the races last year and the year before had great finishes and from I saw, many fans agreed with that perspective in that the racing was the best we've seen in many years.

And hence, we were introduced to the Gen-6 car this year, with its primary redesign of how it looks more like the street cars of today.  A nice marketing tweak that's not uncommon in the world of NASCAR.

And supposedly, we were going to see better racing with the car, but so far, I've not been overly excited by what I've seen.

The race finishes at Daytona were drastically altered so most finishes were spread out single-file finishes.  Whoever got into the lead several laps prior to the checkered flag can now successfully defend their hard-earned top spot until the checkered flag.

And this last weekend at Phoenix seemed to favor the well prepared or well funded teams, as usual.

What did the Gen-6 car change at Phoenix?  I'm not sure.

-It didn't change the point standings. 

Jimmie Johnson is leading the point standings by 8 points, over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is also 8 points ahead of Brad Keselowski.

Those names seem familiar from last year.

-It might have changed the racing

This year it seemed that the field was getting more spread out and the leaders were getting way out there and holding their own.

The weather might have been more of an impact on this car, considering how some teams were dominant when the sun was out and not so much when the sun was hiding behind clouds.

There also seemed to be an awful lot of shredded tires from camber issues.  As one announcer so astutely observed, camber caused tire problems come from cars that aren't set up as well as they could be.  (Paraphrased)

-It did NOT help Danica Patrick

(Ouch, Another Camber-Induced Wall Slammer?)

I was expecting great things out of Danica Patrick.  Or maybe, more accurately, I was hoping for greater things out of this bright, lime green driver.

But she was mired back in mid-pack in the 20's, just like she was in some of her Cup races from last year.

-Chevy doesn't seem impacted by the change
As far as I could tell, it was at the behest of Chevy that NASCAR swap out body styles to better reflect the look of today's street cars on the track.

And I was concerned that with the new and different noses between manufacturers, we'd start getting the age-old grumbling about aerodynamic issues between brands.

But regardless, it's only two races in and Chevy is leading the Manufacturer's Points Race, as usual.

(Toyota is giving Chevy a run for their money in the Nationwide and Truck series, where some great racing is still to be had.  Check out the point standings in my sidebar.)

-Carl Edwards might think the Gen-6 car is helping

Finally, after a very long dry spell, Carl Edwards won a Sprint Cup race and we got to see the infamous back-flip and cruising into the stands to say thanks to the fans from Carl.

-It's not Helping NASCAR's Raceview or Other Digital Issues

With NASCAR having taken over their own digital domain, I was hoping (There that word goes again) that things would be as good or better when Turner had manipulated the digital content.

But from what I could tell, there are huge issues going on for some fans.

Raceview Consumer Contact:  If you have had issues, see if you can get some kind of feedback from  Fanfeedback@nascar.com.  I hear folks might be getting refunds for their disappointments.

I also saw one Twitter entry that made note that their NASCAR Sprint App was showing Keselowksi as the race leader, 10 laps up.  Hmm.

-Track position and fuel mileage, still the same old issues

With the Gen-6 car, we're still seeing the same old tactics being displayed.  Teams keep an eye on track position and there was noise over the telecast about fuel mileage issues.

-It did not help the Fox Race broadcast

I usually don't have anything dour to say about the race broadcasts.  They are what they are, and they're the only thing we have.  We saw a nice bit on some ride-along, but did I miss the part about the weather?

The Fox network telecast really seemed dull to me on Sunday afternoon.  Meaning, if you pulled up a laptop and started doing something else, and used verbal queues to look up, well, I had no reason to look up.

Most commentary felt pretty "calm" and level headed.

Though, I swear, when Danica Patrick hit the wall, Darrell Waltrip's first words were something to the effect that "This will ruin her championship efforts."  I can't swear that's what he said but can't attest to it because I was actually being distracted by staring at my grass growing outside the front door.  But seriously, after watching her first non-plate race, I wasn't thinking top-12 for her this year.  Hey, I could be wrong!

-Did you notice no Roof Cams?

Not sure if you heard, but the roof cameras had to go away because some team or teams figured out hot to game the covers to add up to 70 pounds of downforce to a car.

So they're not missing because of the Gen-6 reconfiguration.  They're missing because someone did "The Chad" to them.  And it probably was Chad for all we know!

Rumors are we might see them on tracks that don't depend on down-force like Martinsville.

-I LOVE the Gyro-Cam

No matter what else, I do love Fox's interior Gyro-Cam.  It showed that even a "flat" track like Phoenix, has a non-significant banking to it.

= = = = =

So overall, the racing was thinned out, fuel mileage was an issue as always, track position was still a potent issue and the telecast was unfazed by it.

In fact, the finish was almost exciting because of the green-white-checkered finish and not because of the car, as far as I can tell.  Maybe next week at Las Vegas things will get tighter at the checkered flag.

Maybe.

So far, my report card for the Gen-6 car is has an "E" for effort and marketing and a "C" for competitive race finishes.

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