The NASCAR Sprint Cup series is headed to Phoenix International Raceway this week for the CampingWorld.com 500. The question is who can keep Kevin Harvick from winning?
NASCAR is continuing their swing through the west this week moving from Las Vegas last week to Phoenix this week. The Phoenix International Raceway is a mile track. However, with only 10-11 degrees of banking through turns one and two and 8-9 degrees of banking through turns three and four it will be a lot like a short track feel for the drivers.
That means that if the teams do not have the car’s handling balanced with the power under the hood the driver could have the car get loose pretty easily. The driver will have to either slow down or risk the back of the car sliding sideways. If the car gets too far sideways the result will be a spin and possibly a wreck erasing any chance of winning the race for that driver.
What drivers make up the top ten in overall driver rating at Phoenix? Here is the list:
Jimmie Johnson – 114.0 – 4 wins
Kevin Harvick – 106.2 – 6 wins
Jeff Gordon – 100.5 – 2 wins
Carl Edwards – 99.2 – 2 wins
Denny Hamlin – 96.6 – 1 win
Tony Stewart – 96.4 – 1 win
Brad Keselowski – 91.5 – 0 wins
Greg Biffle – 90.1 – 0 wins
Ryan Newman – 87.9 – 1 win
Matt Kenseth – 87.9 – 1 win
Kevin is the odds-on favorite to win the CampingWorld.com 400 when the Sprint Cup drivers take the track at Phoenix this week. No, he does not have the highest driver rating at the track. However, consider these facts. He is the defending Sprint Cup Champion. He just won last week at Las Vegas. Kevin has placed either 1st or 2nd in the last six races going back the final three races of 2014 and the first three this year.
Then there is his recent performance at Phoenix International Raceway itself. Kevin has won four of the last five races held at the track in the Sprint Cup series which also includes the last three races in a row. That means it has been two years since any driver other than Kevin has driven a Sprint Cup car to Victory Lane in Phoenix. Yeah, Kevin would be the safest bet if you are putting money on the race.
Let’s take a look at who COULD keep Kevin from making another trip to Victory Lane in Phoenix.
Jimmie Johnson has the highest driver rating at Phoenix. He won the second race of the 2015 Sprint Cup season in Atlanta. However, last week in Las Vegas tire issues relegated Jimmie to a very disappointing 41st place finish. Jimmie could be a strong contender to beat Kevin this week.
Jeff Gordon has had a dismal start to his final full-time Sprint Cup season. He has found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time in the first three races this year resulting in Jeff being in 30th place in the point standings right now. I know it is still early in the season, but if Jeff wants to get a virtual lock on his last chance to race for the Championship, beating Kevin (and everybody else) to the finish line this week would be the best way to do that.
Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are also going into my list of possible upsets to Kevin’s winning streak at Phoenix. Martin has been having a stellar start to the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season with a one car race team in his Furniture Row Chevrolet. He finished in the top ten in the first two races this year and grabbed second place last week in Las Vegas. Martin could find that little extra something this week to grab the win.
Dale Jr. is not in the top ten of the driver ratings at Phoenix, but he has also had a great start to the 2015 season. He finished in third place at Daytona and Atlanta. Last week a gamble in Las Vegas prevented him from what I believe would have likely been a second place finish to Kevin, but he was still able to finish in the top five. Dale Jr. has won twice at Phoenix in his career and was the second place car in this race last year. Dale Jr. and his new crew chief may just have what it takes this year to beat Kevin to the finish for the win.
Once thing is certain, with the “win and you are in” mentality now in the second year of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series this weekend’s race should be a fun one to watch. I have no doubt that we will see the drivers getting side-by-side for two and three-wide racing and possibly even some four-wide attempts that will likely cars some tempers to flare as much as the sheet metal on the cars.
We will see how it all plays out and if going to the CampingWorld.com 500 as such a heavy favorite actually hinders Kevin Harvick when the race gets started at 2:30pm central time from Phoenix International Raceway.
By: Buck Stevens
