Roush Fenway Racing’s exceptional season continues. With two races remaining, it should be no surprise with the success the organization has had this season that it’s on the cusp of making series history if it can become the first organization to win the series driver standings championship and the owner standings championship in the same season with two different teams.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 team leads the owner standings, but Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 60 team is just two points back and closing. Gibbs aims for a series-record fourth consecutive owners title. Jack Roush leads all owners with nine NASCAR Nationwide Series wins at Phoenix, including this race last year. Carl Edwards, the 2007 series driver champion, has won the last three November races at Phoenix and has a pre-race Driver Rating of 123.3. Edwards has made 13 series starts, posting four wins, nine top fives and 12 top 10s at Phoenix.
“Phoenix is really a big unknown,” said Edwards. “The track is very smooth and easy to drive. I don’t know that you’ll be able to go there and manhandle the car and hustle it around there like you could at the old Phoenix, at least not this first time.”
Joey Logano will be in the No. 18 this weekend at Phoenix, attempting to pad his team’s scant lead. Logano has made five series starts at the 1-mile raceway, posting two top fives and five top 10s. The tale of the tape may give the nod to Logano in this bout. He has a better Average Running Position (5.310) than Edwards (5.759) at Phoenix.
At the other end of the championship table sits Ricky Stenhouse Jr., leading the driver’s standings by 17 points over second place Elliott Sadler, the only competitor who can mathematically catch Stenhouse.
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