Denny Hamlin seems to have this Car of Tomorrow thing figured out. On Thursday night at Phoenix International Raceway, Hamlin qualified third for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 (8 p.m. ET Saturday, FOX), his third top-10 start in as many COT races. He led 125 laps at Martinsville, second only to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He finished third, after starting from the pole. He led 177 laps in the COT's debut at Bristol, second only to teammate Tony Stewart. But a fuel-pump issue slowed his effort and resulted in a 14th-place finish.
"The guys in the JGR [Joe Gibbs Racing] shop spent a ton of time and effort in preparing these cars and it is pretty clear they hit on something because we have been really strong," Hamlin said. "Really, only some random problems kept us or the 20 [Stewart] from winning at Bristol. "Then we were both good at Martinsville the next weekend so I do feel like we are ahead of the curve at the moment but this sport can change in a hurry. We know we need to keep working hard on these cars, and hopefully win one here."
Hamlin will start in a favorable position for victory at Phoenix. Three races from PIR have been won from the third starting spot, tied with second for most at the track.
Hamlin earned his first career pole at Phoenix, in just his sixth Nextel Cup start, when he took the controls of the No. 11 Chevrolet for the final seven races in 2005. He finished 13th in that race -- a missed lug nut ruined a possible top-five finish -- but was third in his most recent attempt there this past fall.
"Really, no track that we visit reminds me more of racing when I was younger than PIR. I spent my early career running flat tracks in Late Models and this track feels like that to me," Hamlin said. "Put us out there under the lights and you can't get any closer to the Late Models days than here at Phoenix and that is one of the reasons it's my favorite place to race."
Regan Smith has competed in three Busch Series events at Phoenix International Raceway, and has notched two top-five starting spots, a third (Nov. '05) and fourth (Nov. '06).
"We get to the track each week and the No. 4 Chevy is fast off the truck," Smith said. "We're taking a pretty sporty Shea HomesChevy to Phoenix this week so we're just focusing on that event and working toward delivering a top-10 or better finish."
Stephen Leicht returns to his racing roots as the NASCAR Busch Series visits Phoenix International Raceway for this Friday’s Bashas’ Supermarkets 200. Leicht, who moved to Ahwatukee, Ariz. in the early 1990’s with his family, began racing go-karts at South Mountain Raceway Park near Phoenix when he was five-years old. Leicht, now 20-years old, will make his 31st NASCAR Busch Series start and second at the 1-mile speedway. In his two previous starts at PIR, Leicht posted a 15th and 27th-place finish respectively.
“I always enjoy racing at Phoenix International Raceway. It is such a unique track with two very different corners. One is very flat and wide and the other one is very sharp and has a lot of banking. There is also a little dog-leg on the backstretch. I like that the track has a lot of grip and I can run high or low if my car is handling well. The CitiFinancial Team is taking a brand new car to PIR that we tested in Richmond and had positive results, so I’m looking forward to a solid run this weekend.”
Marcos Ambrose has his sights set on a strong result in the Bashas’ Supermarkert 200 at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona this weekend. Ambrose will tackle the Phoenix track for his 31st race in NASCAR, with Phoenix one of the most challenging venues on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule. Phoenix features different banking in the turns at each end of the one-mile venue as well as a ‘dog leg’ kink in the middle of the back straight.
“Phoenix is a tough race track and one that puts on some really good racing,” said Ambrose. “We are definitely making some progress at the moment with the car and I’m getting a better feel for things with every run. I’m really happy with where things sit at the moment, not only with the points, but how we are moving forward together as a team.”
Most of the following is from the blog Unforgettable Bobby Hamilton
by Tom Higgins: That's Racin' Blogger
I was fortunate enough to cover stock car racing off and on--mostly on--from 1957 through 1996. That's 40 years, or half an expected lifetime. I can count on 10 fingers the races I remember most and never will forget, this old mind willing. High on the list is Bobby Hamilton's dramatic triumph in the 1996 Dura Lube 500 on Oct. 27 at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona.
This race is especially significant to me for two reasons. First, due to illness, it's the last NASCAR event I ever covered. I took early retirement shortly afterward. More importantly, Hamilton's triumph returned Petty Enterprises to Victory Lane after an improbable absence of 13 years. Memories of Hamilton, and his grand accomplishment, came rushing back to mind because of the popular Tennessee driver's untimely death on Sunday. Hamilton was a victim of cancer at age 49.
Here's a sampling of how I wrote the story from Phoenix for the Oct. 28, 1996 edition of The Observer:
"It seemed like old times for the Petty Enterprises team on Sunday...Hamilton took the lead on the 283rd of the 312-laps in the 500-kilometer race and returned the storied No. 43 car made famous by Petty to Victory Lane. "It was the first win for the Petty-owned car since October of 1983 in the Miller 500 at Charlotte Motor Spedway with Petty at the wheel."
Petty won twice in '84, but he was driving a car owned my Hollywood music figure Mike Curb. It bore the No. 43, but it was not fielded by Petty Enterprises of little Level Cross, N.C. The second of those triumphs came in that Pepsi Firecracker 400 and that car now sits in a place of honor in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
So to me, and most others, Bobby Hamilton's triumph REALLY marked the return of the REAL 43 to Victory Lane. This was not lost on Bobby.
"I can't believe it," he said in the press box after giving the new Grand Prix model its first victory and going through the ceremonies just off pit road. "Those last laps I thought I felt tires going down. I heard rattles and even thought the battery was shaking. "My mind was running wild the last lap. There were three cars smoking and and I was concerned they would put some oil on the track.
"I'm so happy for Richard and Dale Inman and Robbie Loomis and the other guys on the team. They've worked so hard and have gone a lot of years without a win. To be the first to do it in this Pontiac since Richard means a lot to me." Inman, Petty's cousin, was the team manager. Loomis was the crew chief.
Hamilton finished 1.23 seconds ahead of runnerup Mark Martin in a Ford.
"The boys did good today," said Petty, who was mobbed on pit road when the checkered flag fell. "I just sat and watched. Today, we had it all together. I thought Bobby had enough to take care of 'em there at the end, but you never know for sure."
Hamilton had tears in his blazing blue eyes in the press box as the interview ended. So did a lot of media members who admired the down-to-earth country boy Tennessean whose humbleness and sincerity and honesty affected everyone he met.
Beneath those ever-present dark glasses, I sensed King Richard's eyes were moist, too.
Tbfka#5 commented on Tom's blog.
Among the subplots to that race was that Robbie Loomis was entertaining an offer to work for RCR; he asked Ray Evernham about it (knowing Evernham would keep the offer out of the press) and Evernham said not to take the job, because "you may be only three years away from a championship with what you've built." Bobby Hamilton likewise reminded Loomis, "We need another year to finish what we started." Loomis agonized over whether to go to RCR, and finally decided to stay.
Hamilton, for his part, felt a mizture of liberation and bitterness because after that Phoenix win "there's this TV person....who asked a good friend of mine, someone he didn't know I knew, when Richard Petty was going to quit putting up with mediocrity. I'm waiting for that SOB, I've got his name burned into my head. You get so much pressure to perform and you hear so much stuff that when you finally do it, the #### everyone puts on you just ruins the first win for you."
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