CLICK FOR SPRING 2012

1 99 Carl Edwards SUBWAY Ford
2 22 Kurt Busch Shell / Pennzoil Dodge
3 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota
4 18 Kyle Busch Combos Toyota
5 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
6 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota
7 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
8 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet
9 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge
10 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
11 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
12 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota
13 27 Paul Menard Vertis / Menards Chevrolet
14 39 Ryan Newman Tornados Chevrolet
15 43 A J Allmendinger Valvoline Ford
16 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet
17 29 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
18 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet
19 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
20 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
21 47 Bobby Labonte Clorox Toyota
22 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
23 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
24 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford
25 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
26 00 David Reutimann Best Western Toyota
27 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota
28 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
29 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford
30 34 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford
31 7 Robby Gordon Speed Energy / Bashas’ Dodge
32 87 Joe Nemechek(i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
33 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford
34 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing LLC Toyota
35 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet
36 32 Mike Skinner(i) K1 Speed / Cerwin Vega Ford
37 60 Landon Cassill(i) Big Red Toyota
38 46 J J Yeley AAMCO Transmission / Ohsweken Speedway
39 09 Bill Elliott RYDEX Chevrolet
40 38 Travis Kvapil(i) Long John Silver’s Ford
41 71 Andy Lally # Eco-Fuel Saver Chevrolet
42 37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford
43 36 Dave Blaney Accell Construction Chevrolet

Trevor Bayne’s No. 21 Ford gets towed back to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage after he hit the wall in Friday’s first practice for the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

PHOTO CREDIT: NASCAR MEDIA

King of the Cassill – For Now
After finishing second at Daytona, Landon Cassill is the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings leader heading to Phoenix, having “checked” the series’ box as far as earning 2011 driver championship points. But he’ll hand that lead to another driver after Saturday’s race. The talented 21-year-old doesn’t have a full-time ride, so his top position will transfer.

Reed Sorenson is currently second in the standings, followed by his Turner Motorsports teammate Jason Leffler, in third. The Roush Fenway Racing duo of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne are fourth and fifth, respectively. And due to the new 43-1 points system, positions 2-5 are separated by only four points.

This will be the first race for the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car at Phoenix. It’s also the second race on a track one-mile in length or less for the new models – Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang, and the sportier Chevrolet Impalas and Toyota Camrys. Last fall at Richmond was the first race for the new car at a short track.

Stenhouse, the 2010 Rookie of the Year, was 10th last year at Phoenix, the best finish among those drivers in the current top five. Kyle Busch, the 2009 series champion, is the defending race winner.

Back in the Sadler?
Elliott Sadler was chosen by the media in a pre-season poll to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship. His No. 2 KHI Chevrolet also was selected to unify the title by claiming the owner title.

But his first full-time series season since 1998 – when he finished eighth in the final standings – didn’t get off to a good start with a did not finish (DNF) result last week at Daytona due to an accident on Lap 46.

He comes to Phoenix 27th in the standings, 35 points out of first. He last ran in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the 1-mile track in 2007, finishing 14th. He had a runner-up finish in 2005.

Comfort Zone Grows For Patrick
Phoenix resident Danica Patrick takes a trip home this weekend following her NASCAR Nationwide Series career-best start (fourth) and finish (14th) at Daytona. During the season-opener, she also became the first woman to lead a lap at Daytona in a national series race. This will be the second of four consecutive races to start the 2011 season for the double-duty star who will run 12 NASCAR Nationwide Series races in addition to her full-time IndyCar ride.

She’s back at Phoenix for a second time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series having run there last fall, finishing 28th.

Patrick caused a stir last Friday at Daytona when she grabbed the provisional pole after going out 24th of 45 cars and staying there until Landon Cassill knocked her off from his 38th qualifying position. Her time held well enough to beat out eventual race winner Tony Stewart and Joey Logano.

Patrick’s near-miss had the record books at the ready. Shawna Robinson is the only female to capture a pole in NASCAR national series competition having done so in 1994 at Atlanta, also in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(February 25, 2010)

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Win the race off pit road. Win the race.

After taking the lead under caution on Lap 44 of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, Kyle Busch led the final 107 to post his second win at the 1-mile track and his 25th in the Camping World Truck Series.

Busch beat polesitter Clint Bowyer to the checkered flag by .291 seconds, as Bowyer tightened the margin on the final lap.

Ron Hornaday Jr. was third, followed by Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon.

As full-time Sprint Cup drivers, Busch and Bowyer aren’t collecting points in the truck series. Consequently, seventh-place finisher Matt Crafton left Phoenix with a one-point lead over Clay Rogers (16th Friday) in the series standings.

“We had a really good truck, but I was scared there at the beginning,” said Busch, who ran second to a dominant Bowyer at Phoenix in November. “I was like, ‘Man, it’s going to come down like last fall — Clint’s going to walk the dog on this one.’

“But (crew chief) Eric (Phillips) made some changes to this thing that really brought it to life.”

Bowyer faulted himself for not being able to overtake Busch on six restarts in the final 50 laps of the race.

“Whichever one of us had clean air, we were about a 10th (of a second) to a 10th and a half better,” Bowyer said. “For me — and I’m not making any excuses; I was screwing up big-time on the restarts — I’m just not used to a) not having any power and b) I was hitting the rev what sounded like about 5,000 less rpm than it should have been.

“I was just messing up. It’s the difference between a Corvette and an Impala—maybe a Volt. … That’s that electric car.”

Bowyer dominated the opening green-flag run, leading the first 41 laps before Chase Mattioli blew his right front tire and scattered debris in Turn 3. After pit stops, Busch was first off pit road and held the top spot through four more cautions, the last of which (and fifth of the race) was caused by a wreck off Turn 4 involving defending series champion Todd Bodine, David Starr and Dusty Davis.

Busch led the field to a restart on Lap 120, having held the point for 76 consecutive laps. Timothy Peters’ spin in Turn 2 on Lap 123 slowed the race for the sixth time.

In the late going, the trucks had difficulty running more than three laps without a caution. Brendan Gaughan spun and backed into the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 128 to bring out the seventh yellow flag.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2011) – NASCAR has issued penalties and fines to the No. 15 team that competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, as a result of rule infractions found during post-race inspection Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway.

The No. 15 truck driven by Michael Waltrip was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20B-3.1.2E (rear spoiler did not meet specifications in post-race inspection) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book.

As a result, crew chief Doug Howe has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Owner Billy Ballew has been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points.

Note: Now 25 points really means something.