This weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway is the penultimate race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, with the victor inheriting the title of “Penultimate Warrior.” (By no one in particular, of course.)
And the manner in which the latter half of this Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has unfurled suggests Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart as the favorites on Sunday. Points leader Edwards leads Stewart by a scant three points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
Really, in-season momentum might be the only way to analyze the upcoming race at the repaved and reconfigured Phoenix International Raceway. Studying past Phoenix statistics might only tell a small portion of the story; most drivers say the “new” Phoenix is unlike the old.
Said Denny Hamlin of Phoenix’s new “wild-card track” status, “Driving it was like ‘wow, this is a lot different than any other course we’ve ever kind of been on before,’ with the elevation changes and things like that.”
The changes…
• Widened the frontstretch from 52 to 62 feet
• Reconfigured pit road with the installation of concrete pit stalls
• Pushed the dog-leg curve between Turn 2 and Turn 3 out 95 feet
• Tightened the turn radius of the dog-leg from 800 to 500 feet
• Implemented variable banking to ensure the immediate use of two racing grooves, including 10-11 degree banking between Turn 1 and Turn 2; 10-11 degree banking in the apex of the dog-leg; and 8-9 degree banking in Turn 4
In other words, little is known. One certainty: Stewart and Edwards will share the spotlight. The two top contenders have run more laps than most drivers, having participated in both the two-day test in October and the Goodyear tire test in August.
Stewart and Edwards have been literal mirror images, point-wise – they’ve both scored the exact same number of points in the Chase: 313. Edwards owns his miniscule advantage because of the three Chase bonus points he earned for winning a race in the regular season.
That three-point advantage roughly equates to 13 points in the old system, making it the closest margin between first and second in Chase history with two races to go.
But who has the edge this weekend at Phoenix? Early exit polls say Stewart, winner of four Chase races this postseason, including the last two. Stewart turned the fastest lap during last October’s test.
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