Jimmie Johnson is sitting in the driver seat but Carl Edwards is not giving up without a fight. He has now won 8 races this season, tying Kyle Busch for the most so far. Carl is coming into this race with a ton of momentum with 2 consecutive Chase wins. He also placed 4th at Phoenix in the spring race, but Johnson has the edge statistically speaking. There are some more drivers that fair well here, read more as I break it all down. You don't want to miss these last couple races. With fuel strategy, wrecks and penalties, the Chase is not over! How far will Carl push it this week?
Statistically speaking, Johnson seems to have mastered Phoenix. He has after all, won the last two races there and he has only finished outside the top 10 twice in ten attempts. Carl Edwards is no pushover here either, he has three top 5's and five top 10's in eight starts. Carl Edwards can be flawless from here on out and it won't even matter, if Johnson can finish the next 2 races 7th or better.
Top 10 Phoenix Driver Averages:
Statistically speaking, Johnson seems to have mastered Phoenix. He has after all, won the last two races there and he has only finished outside the top 10 twice in ten attempts. Carl Edwards is no pushover here either, he has three top 5's and five top 10's in eight starts. Carl Edwards can be flawless from here on out and it won't even matter, if Johnson can finish the next 2 races 7th or better.
Top 10 Phoenix Driver Averages:
Hot Streak Drivers (Last 5 '08 Season Races):
Key Driver - Last 2 Races At Phoenix Stats:
Jimmie Johnson - 1st & 1st
Jeff Burton - 9th & 6th
Martin Truex Jr. - 7th & 8th
Kyle Busch - 8th & 10th
Clint Bowyer - 11th & 2nd
Greg Biffle - 2nd & 9th
Quotes:
Jimmie Johnson on winning a 3-peat - “That’s really the bottom line is we need to be 162 up leaving here, then all I have to do is go down there and start,” Johnson said. “Am I planning on that being the case? No. Carl’s car has been so strong. My goal is to outrun him. I don’t want this margin to shrink anymore.” “This is one of our better tracks,” he said. “I think history shows that Homestead’s been better for the Roush guys, so I want to leave here without using any points. If I get to 56 points and end up 162 ahead, right on. I mean that’s the ultimate goal. But the goal is to outrun Edwards, wherever that is.”
Carl Edwards on Phoenix - “I really like this track,” said Edwards, who has five top 10 finishes at Phoenix in eight career starts. “We’ve been very fast here in the past. It’s a really fun race and I feel good about it.”
Jeff Gordon on his winless streak- “If we don't win this season and then we don't win next season, I'm going to be very disappointed,” Gordon said. “And no matter what, I'm going to be disappointed. I'm looking long term instead of just short term and I've had an amazing career and won a lot of races. One winless season isn't going to be the end of it for us. We're here for the long term.”
Mark Martin on Phoenix - “We had a really, really fast car in the spring race at Phoenix and we are really looking forward to going back there this weekend,” Martin said. “We definitely had a car that could have won that race, and I know that Tony (Gibson) and the guys on the team feel like we have some unfinished business to take care of. Our goal is to go out with that win we have been looking for and hopefully we can finish the deal and put together a type of story-book ending in our last race this weekend. I’ve really enjoyed the part-time schedule, but as soon as Phoenix is over, it will be time to shift gears back into full-time mode and going back to chasing that title one more time,”
Predictions:
Jimmie Johnson - has to be the odds on favorite. As we have seen in the past two races, trouble can rear it's ugly head at any moment. Still, with the stats behind him, I will be picking Johnson to win this weekend with Edwards as my runner up.
Carl Edwards - will turn up the heat. Will he gamble on tires or fuel again? This is what the Chase is suppose to be like, close action and not a runaway train. Edwards is riding a huge wave of momentum and I expect to see him finish in the top 5. Remember, he had led 87 last year from the pole before he had engine failure and he placed 4th this spring.
Jeff Gordon – While, not a dominating force here, if Gordon is gonna win this year, this will be the track. He finally got a win last year and since has finished 10th and 13th. By the way, in 19 starts, he has 15 top 10's. Look for him to be a contender today.
Greg Biffle – is in a good position just like Edwards behind Johnson in the chase. Biffle normally runs strong here, but sometimes is struck with bad luck. In 9 starts at Phoenix, Biffle has led the most laps of the race twice. In 2005 he 189 laps but finished 2nd, and the following spring he led 151 laps to finally place 15. Last fall, he scored another runner-up finish and had a 9th place finish this spring.
Matt Kenseth – knows what its like to lead here too, leading 93 laps in this event last year with a solid 3rd place finish. He has 5 top 5's in twelve starts.
Other drivers to watch :
Jeff Burton (Last 5 races at Phoenix 9th, 10th, 13th, 9th & 6th)
Mark Martin (“”)14th, 11th, 6th, 12th & 5th
Tony Stewart (“”)2nd, 14th, 2nd, 4th & 14th
Denny Hamlin (“”)34th, 3rd, 3rd, 16th & 3rd
Kevin Harvick (“”)1st, 1st, 10th, 6th & 19th
Bobby Labonte (“”)8th, 27th, 8th, 18th & 12th
Good luck, and I hope you all tune in to see what Carl Edwards tries this week.
Jimmie Johnson - 1st & 1st
Jeff Burton - 9th & 6th
Martin Truex Jr. - 7th & 8th
Kyle Busch - 8th & 10th
Clint Bowyer - 11th & 2nd
Greg Biffle - 2nd & 9th
Quotes:
Jimmie Johnson on winning a 3-peat - “That’s really the bottom line is we need to be 162 up leaving here, then all I have to do is go down there and start,” Johnson said. “Am I planning on that being the case? No. Carl’s car has been so strong. My goal is to outrun him. I don’t want this margin to shrink anymore.” “This is one of our better tracks,” he said. “I think history shows that Homestead’s been better for the Roush guys, so I want to leave here without using any points. If I get to 56 points and end up 162 ahead, right on. I mean that’s the ultimate goal. But the goal is to outrun Edwards, wherever that is.”
Carl Edwards on Phoenix - “I really like this track,” said Edwards, who has five top 10 finishes at Phoenix in eight career starts. “We’ve been very fast here in the past. It’s a really fun race and I feel good about it.”
Jeff Gordon on his winless streak- “If we don't win this season and then we don't win next season, I'm going to be very disappointed,” Gordon said. “And no matter what, I'm going to be disappointed. I'm looking long term instead of just short term and I've had an amazing career and won a lot of races. One winless season isn't going to be the end of it for us. We're here for the long term.”
Mark Martin on Phoenix - “We had a really, really fast car in the spring race at Phoenix and we are really looking forward to going back there this weekend,” Martin said. “We definitely had a car that could have won that race, and I know that Tony (Gibson) and the guys on the team feel like we have some unfinished business to take care of. Our goal is to go out with that win we have been looking for and hopefully we can finish the deal and put together a type of story-book ending in our last race this weekend. I’ve really enjoyed the part-time schedule, but as soon as Phoenix is over, it will be time to shift gears back into full-time mode and going back to chasing that title one more time,”
Predictions:
Jimmie Johnson - has to be the odds on favorite. As we have seen in the past two races, trouble can rear it's ugly head at any moment. Still, with the stats behind him, I will be picking Johnson to win this weekend with Edwards as my runner up.
Carl Edwards - will turn up the heat. Will he gamble on tires or fuel again? This is what the Chase is suppose to be like, close action and not a runaway train. Edwards is riding a huge wave of momentum and I expect to see him finish in the top 5. Remember, he had led 87 last year from the pole before he had engine failure and he placed 4th this spring.
Jeff Gordon – While, not a dominating force here, if Gordon is gonna win this year, this will be the track. He finally got a win last year and since has finished 10th and 13th. By the way, in 19 starts, he has 15 top 10's. Look for him to be a contender today.
Greg Biffle – is in a good position just like Edwards behind Johnson in the chase. Biffle normally runs strong here, but sometimes is struck with bad luck. In 9 starts at Phoenix, Biffle has led the most laps of the race twice. In 2005 he 189 laps but finished 2nd, and the following spring he led 151 laps to finally place 15. Last fall, he scored another runner-up finish and had a 9th place finish this spring.
Matt Kenseth – knows what its like to lead here too, leading 93 laps in this event last year with a solid 3rd place finish. He has 5 top 5's in twelve starts.
Other drivers to watch :
Jeff Burton (Last 5 races at Phoenix 9th, 10th, 13th, 9th & 6th)
Mark Martin (“”)14th, 11th, 6th, 12th & 5th
Tony Stewart (“”)2nd, 14th, 2nd, 4th & 14th
Denny Hamlin (“”)34th, 3rd, 3rd, 16th & 3rd
Kevin Harvick (“”)1st, 1st, 10th, 6th & 19th
Bobby Labonte (“”)8th, 27th, 8th, 18th & 12th
Good luck, and I hope you all tune in to see what Carl Edwards tries this week.