Ryan Newman benefited from a late-race caution to end a 77-race winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway.
Newman passed Jeff Gordon for the lead during a two-lap overtime finish in the Subway Fresh Fit 600, and then held off Gordon by 0.13 seconds for his 14th career Cup victory but his first since the 2008 Daytona 500. MiamiHerald.com
Both Busch and Johnson took four tires on Lap 373, under caution for Scott Riggs’ blown tire in Turn 4 one lap earlier. Gordon, who took two tires and left pit road with the lead, spun his tires on the decisive restart on Lap 377, allowing Newman to surge into the top spot.
Johnson charged from seventh to third during the green-white-checkered finish. Mark Martin, also on two tires for the final restart, ran fourth, one position ahead of Juan Montoya. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Busch, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano completed the top 10.
“I’ve got to throw Gibson under the bus—he wanted to go four, and I said, ‘Just give me two,’ Newman said. “I liked the track position. I’d rather block than have to boot. I was in a good position there, obviously.
“I had restarted on the bottom side earlier tonight and could not get going. On two tires, I was kind of impressed—but there were a lot of cars behind us with two tires. It was a good situation to be in. It was just the right time, right place.” NASCAR.com
“It’s been a long time coming for me to get to Victory Lane,” Newman said. “I’m gracious to be here. This is the most emotional victory I’ve ever had in my entire career just because it’s been so long.”
Newman, driving the No. 39 Chevrolet owned by Tony Stewart, had led only two laps before the final two. That lead came during the first caution only 21 laps into what became a 378-lap race — instead of the scheduled 375, already 63 more than last spring — on the oddly shaped mile track.
“I couldn’t believe it. I saw the white flag and I was like I don’t have that far to go,” Newman said. “Every restart, I had been on the inside and I couldn’t get going. ... I held my line and got a good shot off Turn 2. That’s all we needed.” The Associated Press
Busch and Johnson had dominated the two long green-flag runs that preceded the two-lap dash to the finish. In fact, Busch, who tied Johnson for most laps led with 113, stayed out front from the time he passed Johnson on Lap 262 until Riggs’ accident 110 laps later.
“I can’t freaking believe this,” Busch lamented on the radio to crew chief Dave Rogers when the ninth and final yellow flag flew. “What do you want to do?”
Busch and Rogers opted for four tires. Johnson made the same call for his No. 48 team.
“I was excited to see the caution come out, because it was an opportunity to win,” Johnson said. “I decided—I made the call for four tires. It’s the first time that I can remember in a long time that I actually said what I wanted for a pit stop, with the way Martinsville played out and Bristol and last night’s [Nationwide] race [where four-tire calls proved successful]. I knew with the green-white-checkered there weren’t a lot of laps, but I felt we might get a caution with everybody racing so hard.
“So I made the call for four and made the most of it. We got from seventh to third and just did what we could. So, not a bad night at all. Excited to see us stretch out the points a little bit and get another top-five finish here.” NASCAR.com
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix - Race Results
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