For a driver who's effectively "handing a two weeks' notice" to his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry team, Kasey Kahne sure knows how to make his final stint with them very pheonmenal.
Leading the final 14 circuits at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, Kahne won the Kobalt Tools 500 over points leader Carl Edwards and second-place points racer Tony Stewart to the stripe.
A much needed victory for the Emunclaw, WA native, Kahne snapped an 81-race winless streak that dated back to his last victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in September of 2009.
His victory came with some significance, as it was the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at PIR since its repaving and reconfiguration during this past spring and summer.
"Yes yes yes yes. We got the win today," Kahne tweeted on his Twitter account. "Thanks to everyone at Red Bull for building awesome cars and never giving up! I knew we could do this."
Carl Edwards ran yet another smooth, consistent race at Phoenix, pacing the field 27 times before ultimately coming home in second.
Always the optimist, Edwards already looked forward to next Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track where he came home as the race winner last year.
"This is going to be a battle. I truly believe it’s going to be a good race," Edwards said per AP Sports Writer Jenna Fryer's article, republished on Yahoo! Sports. "That place is magical for us. I really enjoy going there."
While Edwards did his part in maintaining his slender points lead by placing second, Stewart might be a bit agitated with himself following his third-place effort.
Leading the most laps with a race high 160 of 312 laps, Stewart had to stop for fuel with just 18 laps left in the race.
Couple that along with the last restart of the race with just under 100 laps to go, where Stewart found himself in traffic within the top-six racers, and the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevy was nowhere near as dominant as it was in clean air.
"We’re going to make him sweat it out," Stewart said. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead heat going in there. I’m pumped. I wish I was going to Homestead tomorrow.”
Jeff Burton found some sunlight in what has been a dark season for he and his No. 31 CAT Chevy team by placing fourth in "The Valley of The Sun," while Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five finishers.
Placing sixth through 10th were some of the Chase's "honorable mentioned" racers like A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Menard, and Clint Bowyer.
While Edwards and Stewart dominated the Chase headlines, their rivals had rather middling to mediocre afternoons. Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson salvaged otherwise forgettable races with 12th and 14th-place efforts, while Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick finished 18th and 19th.
Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth would probably like to forget about their days at Avondale, AZ, as they placed 22nd, 24th, 32nd, and 34th. Gordon and Kenseth experienced brake issues with their machines, thus resulting in their subpar performances.
Next Sunday's 400-miler at Homestead-Miami marks the season finale in what has been one of the revolutionary in years, with first time winners like Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, David Ragan, Paul Menard, and Marcos Ambrose.
It'll also conclude the first Cup season in which Jimmie Johnson will not hoist the Cup since 2005. Still, there's plenty for he and his Hendrick teammates to look forward to next Sunday, such as building momentum next season with strong runs at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Here's a look at the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings heading into next Sunday's season finale at Homestead-Miami:
- Carl Edwards (Roush-Fenway/Ford/1 win)
- Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas/Chevy/4 wins)
- Kevin Harvick (Childress/Chevy/4 wins)
- Brad Keselowski (Penske/Dodge/3 wins)
- Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick/Chevy/2 wins)
- Matt Kenseth (Roush-Fenway/Ford/3 wins)
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick/Chevy)
- Kurt Busch (Penske/Dodge/2 wins)
- Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas/Chevy/1 win)
- Denny Hamlin (Gibbs/Toyota/1 win)
- Jeff Gordon (Hendrick/Chevy/3 wins)
- Kyle Busch (Gibbs/Toyota/4 wins)
Written by:
