It's out to the Grand Canyon State this week guys! And I'm looking forward to it. It's a flat track, and it's probably a disadvantage for Denny Hamlin. That team was tough.. they had a bad car in the spring with Hamlin coming off of knee surgery and have nothing to go off of for this week. Kyle Busch nearly won the spring race and if not for that late race caution, had it in the bag with a 5 second lead. Plus, this past week at Texas Denny wasn't that good in final practice but got that car right for the win. He's good on flat tracks, he was good at New Hampshire, won Richmond, and he swept Martinsville. Phoenix has a little of all of that. Jimmie has won this race for like 2-3 years in a row, and he is ALWAYS stellar at Phoenix. Plus, I do'nt think there is a team in the garage area that is better at bouncing back than the 48. Chad Knaus will pull his boys together. As for Harvick... well, he's good at lurking, but he better win if he wants to stay in title contention.

So I'm going with my boys from last week... but in this order.

1) Jimmie Johnson
2) Denny Hamlin
3) Kevin Harvick.

And watch out for Joey Logano.. the boy has been in the top 10 a lot lately, and he is good at flat tracks like this one, Richmond, Martinsville, and New Hampshire.

So I'm going to say 4 Toyota's, 3 Chevrolets, 2 Ford's, and a Dodge in the top 10!!!

Last Place: That ModSpace car from Martinsville.

 

The Mod`Space Car may come in last place, but it's in the Race. If I was driving I think we could win (Something: )
Winner: for taking `up space on the Track : )
Thanks `Duane for starting our MCF Racing thread...
I'm not ready to post my picks, but will b-4 the start of the race. Hope we see more member's making their picks.

 

What's best for the team
Chad Knaus didn't want to make the call, but says it would have been a mistake not to. It's how the business model is run at Hendrick Motorsports.

Johnson to use Gordon's crew for rest of season | Video: Knaus makes change
Avondale, Ariz.
Clear 55°
Forecast


Burton: Gordon and I are moving forward

Doesn't believe there will be any lingering hard feelings at Phoenix.
103 Comments
Sound Off: Burton


Busch penalized for gesture, verbal abuse

NASCAR fines driver $25,000, places him on probation until Dec. 31.
Kyle should get one of the below for flip'in people `off
WoW $25K for the Bird ~> WoW

1249 Comments
Temper kicks in



Daily Pit Stop:
Late-season moves

Estes and Sheheen talk about Hendrick pit crew changes and No. 11 crew chief, Mike Ford.
More Daily Pit Stop


Crew swap raises questions of fairness

Head2Head: Should teams be allowed to make change mid-race?
643 Comments
Pit Stop: Crew swap
Hey `Duane ~>Source NASCAR.com : )

 

Yeah, Chad Knaus pretty much made the 24 team his b*tch at Texas and I don't think it's fair at all to Jeff Gordon. Jeff cna still win races, so I sure hope the decision was made with his input. I hope an air gun gets stuck on the last pit stop Sunday.

As far as Kyle Busch goes... well, I wonder how much more leash Joe Gibbs has for him. Hendrick let him go, but I don't think Gibbs will. The boy brings too much attention to his sponsors, wins races... but he does need to learn that right or wrong, it's not worth it to fight nascar.

 

...Hi `Duane & member's reading this thread. I think Kyle is a super talented driver, but I sure don't like his personality.
He has proven that he has the talent to win, and I still would not want him on my team `if I were a owner...

How much would you be fined for all the times you gave someone the finger ? LOL WoW, $25K is a high amount to me. Maybe he will mature ?

I also think that Jeff Gordon has enough money to start his own race team `if he does not like the decisions made by the Henricks organization : )~*

Getting close to the end of this season...Is anyone going to post who they think will win the chase ?

I'll check back to see who you picked : )

 

I'm worried about Denny for this week because he ran so badly there in the fall, but to his positive side he is a good short track/flat track driver, so I think he'll figure something out. But Jimmie is the two time defending winner of this race, and he bounces back really well when he has a bad week (New Hampshire - 25th, Dover - 1st) So I think he is the one to beat on Sunday. I could be wrong, but hey.

But I already said that - and I say it again because I think Denny is going to have to salvage what he can because Jimmie is going to win. I think Denny will score a good top 5 or so. That will send them to Homestead within about 5-10 points of each other. And quite frankly, Jimmie isn't used to actually racing at Homestead, but I think he can, and those two will battle for the win their. He has run top 5 at Homestead and he wanted ot drive harder and try to win last year but Chad convinced him to just run where he was to secure chamipionship #4.

I think it will be Denny about 15 points though.

 

I expect Martin will win this one hands down. He'll likely snag the pole later today...

 

Hi `Brent,
First I like and admire Mark Martin, and he may grab the pole, but I don't think he will win the Race I think he is driving conservatively and doesn't take chances..I do think Smiling Kevin is driving more like Dale Sr, then Dale `Jr...He drives agressively all the time & takes chances...Mark does not seem to as much as he did in his younger years...

It should be a super race this Sunday...I'm looking forward to listening and maybe even get the chance to watch it on a friends TV
My net friend `Brent ~> Time will reveal the answers to your post claim : )~* Check #`13 below on Mark : )
_________________________________________
Four-time champ Johnson the man to beat at PIR

By Sporting News Wire Service
November 11, 2010


Here's a look at the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway. All statistical references are for Cup races at Phoenix unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past 11 races at the track.
Top five
1. Denny Hamlin, 95.2 Driver Rating. Hamlin finished 30th in April in his first race after knee surgery. Forget that. What's more important is what he did in the four previous races in the desert: 3rd, 5th, 6th and 3rd. He has five top-10s in 10 starts and will challenge for a win Sunday. But if it's not there, his focus will be finishing ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. He should go to Homestead with the lead.

• Complete Coverage

2. Jimmie Johnson, 123.7. Johnson's numbers are dynamite: Four wins and nine top-fives in 14 starts. He hasn't finished worse than fourth in more than four years. Johnson trails Hamlin by 33 points and badly needs max points -- the win, plus leading the most laps for the extra bonus points -- to have any shot at a fifth consecutive title. Banking on Hamlin having a mediocre day is a waste of time.
3. Kevin Harvick, 94.6. Harvick is 59 points behind Hamlin, and he needs the same thing Johnson does. But for Harvick to win the championship, Hamlin and Johnson need to mess up. That's asking a lot. Both of Harvick's wins came in 2006, and he has been inconsistent since. He finished 13th in April but should finish better Sunday. Much better. It might not be enough, though.
4. Carl Edwards, 98.6. It's down to two races for Edwards to get his first win since 2008. He has a better shot next week at Homestead, where he is much stronger. He is winless with eight top 10s in 12 starts at Phoenix.
5. Matt Kenseth, 83.3. Kenseth finished a strong second last week for his second runner-up finish of the year. Like Roush Fenway Racing teammate Edwards, Kenseth is winless this year and has a long winless streak -- his last win was in the second race of 2009. Kenseth's one win at Phoenix was in 2002. His sixth-place finish in April was his first top-10 since 2007.
Five to watch
6. Jeff Gordon, 101.1. Gordon finished second in April, and although he has only one win in 23 starts, he has 17 top-10s. The tight racing on the 1-mile track will provide plenty of opportunities for Gordon to be near his new sparring partner, Jeff Burton. But Gordon's winless streak hit 63 races last week, and getting a win is much more important than messing around with Burton. Plus, his pit crew is motivated.
7. Kyle Busch, 94.8. I just can't put a finger on why I think Busch will be motivated this week. Oh, yes I can. Even on his best behavior, Busch can get the job done. His only top-five is a win in 2005, his rookie year, but he has six other top-10s in his 11 starts. As always, it'll be fun watching Busch, who is a showman at heart.
13. Mark Martin, 102.3. Martin has come alive in the final weeks of the season. He finished third last week for his second top-five in three races. And since finishing 29th at Loudon, he hasn't finished worse than 14th. His driver rating is second only to Johnson, and he has two wins and 12 top-fives in 27 starts. Three of those top-fives have come in the past three races.
16. Joey Logano, 73.4. If what we are seeing from Logano during the Chase is a preview of 2011, Joe Gibbs Racing will have three cars in next year's Chase. Logano has five top-10s during the Chase, four in the past four races. He finished fifth at Talladega and fourth last week at Texas, the first time in his career he has posted consecutive top-fives. His one top-10 in three starts was in April.
18. David Reutimann, 73.3. Reutimann has four top-10s during the Chase, including a strong fourth-place run at Talladega. Reutimann needs one more top-10 to tie his career high, which he set last year. Two top-10s and he sets a personal best. There are two races left. Hmmm. Reutimann is driving well and there's a big carrot out there. He has two top-10s in six starts, including 10th in this race last year.

 

I've never seen Mark Martin run very aggressively, he's a smooth, calculated driver who doesn't put himself in situations where he knows he'll wreck his car or endanger someone else. That's why he is so respected around the garage area.

 

So on NASCAR.com there is an article about Edwards winning the pole. Allmendinger, despite all the adversity, is second. It says that Allmendingers car didn't leave Texas until Roush got a payment... and a few weeks ago, the repo man showed up at RPM and Roush and Petty had a nice long discussion about it.

So, is Petty going to have a car to race with next year? His last stint with Ford only lasted on year (1969 in a Torino =D), so is this stint with Ford going to have a similar time span? Will Toyota or Chevrolet bail him out?