Four time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet and Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, are headed to the final race of the 2010 Chase a mere 15 points and 46 points, respectively, behind the leader after finishing fifth and sixth at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR).
Hollywood could not have written the script for today’s Kobalt Tools 500. With only five cautions for 25 laps, long green flag runs turned the 312-lap/312-mile/500K race into a battle of crew chiefs as they were forced to play the fuel mileage strategy game during the final 73-lap run of the race.
Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus radioed him to start conserving fuel to ensure they could make it to the end without being forced to pit. Gil Martin, Harvick’s crew chief, delivered a similar message to his driver who had to battle his way back to the top-five after losing a lugnut on pit road during a earlier pit stop.
Point leader Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was forced to pit for fuel and could only muster a 12th place finish at the checkered flag; as the Team Chevy drivers crossed the finish line with fuel to spare.
Ryan Newman, No. 39 US Army Veterans Day Chevrolet, finished second to back up his victory at PIR in the spring race.
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RANK DRIVER POINTS BEHIND 1 Denny Hamlin 6462 Leader 2 Jimmie Johnson 6447 -15 3 Kevin Harvick 6416 -46 4 Carl Edwards 6198 -264 5 Matt Kenseth 6151 -311 6 Jeff Gordon 6124 -338 7 Kyle Busch 6115 -347 8 Greg Biffle 6113 -349 9 Tony Stewart 6074 -388 10 Kurt Busch 6033 -429 11 Clint Bowyer 6028 -434 12 Jeff Burton 5958 -504 13 Mark Martin 4249 -2213 14 Jamie McMurray 4225 -2237 15 Ryan Newman 4156 -2306 16 Joey Logano 4139 -2323 17 Juan Montoya 4060 -2402 18 David Reutimann 3975 -2487 19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3871 -2591 20 A.J. Allmendinger 3843 -2619 21 Kasey Kahne 3806 -2656 22 Martin Truex Jr. 3781 -2681 23 Paul Menard 3670 -2792 24 David Ragan 3496 -2966 25 Brad Keselowski 3361 -3101 26 Marcos Ambrose 3337 -3125 27 Elliott Sadler 3155 -3307 28 Sam Hornish Jr. 3123 -3339 29 Regan Smith 3117 -3345 30 Scott Speed 3084 -3378 31 Bobby Labonte 2486 -3976 32 Travis Kvapil 2365 -4097 33 David Gilliland 2357 -4105 34 Robby Gordon 2028 -4434 35 Kevin Conway* 1757 -4705 36 Casey Mears 1509 -4953 37 Dave Blaney 1361 -5101 38 Reed Sorenson 1355 -5107 39 Joe Nemechek 1321 -5141 40 Brian Vickers 1158 -5304
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