Race 8 - Phoenix Int'l Raceway (Subway Fresh Fit 500)

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http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/feat...gs/08/phoenix/
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2008 Power Rankings - PHOENIX - Week 8 of 36
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Who's Up - Biggest Gain this week: Carl Edwards: 6th to 2nd
New This Week : David Ragan + David Gilliland
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Who's Down - Biggest Drop this week: Greg Biffle: 5th to 12th
Dropped Out : Jeff Gordon + Martin Truex Jr.
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Rank 1 PREVIOUS : 1 CHANGE : 0 Jeff Burton # 31
Rank 2 PREVIOUS : 6 CHANGE : +4 Carl Edwards # 99
Rank 3 PREVIOUS : 2 CHANGE : -1 Kevin Harvick # 29
Rank 4 PREVIOUS : 3 CHANGE : -1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. # 88
Rank 5 PREVIOUS : 4 CHANGE : -1 Tony Stewart # 20
Rank 6 PREVIOUS : 7 CHANGE : +1 Kyle Busch # 18
Rank 7 PREVIOUS : 9 CHANGE : +2 Denny Hamlin # 11
Rank 8 PREVIOUS : 12 CHANGE : +4 Jimmie Johnson # 48
Rank 9 PREVIOUS : 13 CHANGE : +4 Matt Kenseth # 17
Rank 10 PREVIOUS : 11 CHANGE : +1 Clint Bowyer # 07
Rank 11 PREVIOUS : 14 CHANGE : +3 Ryan Newman # 12
Rank 12 PREVIOUS : 5 CHANGE : -7 Greg Biffle # 16
Rank 13 PREVIOUS : 10 CHANGE : -3 Kasey Kahne # 9
Rank 14 PREVIOUS : * NR * David Ragan # 6
Rank 15 PREVIOUS : * NR * David Gilliland # 38
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Eyes wide open: The setting sun used to be so bad at Phoenix, David Gilliland said it was "like driving without seeing." Now I know what meant when he said he was so familiar with the place, he could drive it with his eyes closed.
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Points in the last five races:
Jeff Gordon: 562 \ Kasey Kahne: 580 \ David Ragan: 594
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You know it's not your day when the wheels come loose and the engine gets tight.
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Give me your lunch money, kid: "When you're the first one on old tires and everybody's got new tires behind you, they're going to eat your lunch."
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In addition to not uttering a negative comment about the new car, Kyle Busch is refusing to answer questions about global warming, the Democratic primaries and his favorite color of M&M's. :crazy:

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Power Rankings: Rumble in Phoenix
http://msn.foxsports.com/name/public.../Cup/PowerPoll

After a quick venture to Texas, NASCAR's best go back to short-track racing this weekend at Phoenix International Speedway (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET on FOX).

Well, let's call this "short-ish track racing."

On paper, PIR may be a 1-mile venue, but it behaves like a hybrid track with features that resemble both small and large tracks.

"The reason it's unique is because it has superspeedway straightaways and short track corners," said NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship leader Jeff Burton. "It's a fun race track to compete on. It has multiple grooves. You don't have to run right on the bottom, you can run on top or in the middle. It's a neat racetrack with short track characteristics and higher speeds."

That said, tempers can flare at this track, and retribution could be delivered for accidents that have taken place this weekend or in week's past, creating quite a bit of buzz for Saturday night's race under the lights.

Who will do best this weekend? Here's a look at the top performers so far this year.

Power Rankings after the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway

1. Kyle Busch — 112.0 driver rating (No. 1 last week):
2. Carl Edwards — 111.2 driver rating (No. 2 last week):
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. — 104.8 driver rating (No. 4 last week):
4. Tony Stewart — 100.6 driver rating (No. 5 last week):
5. Jimmie Johnson — 100.5 driver rating (No. 8 last week):
6. Jeff Burton — 98.7 driver rating (No. 7 last week):
7. Kevin Harvick — 96.9 driver rating (No. 6 last week):
8. Jeff Gordon — 96.3 driver rating (No. 3 last week):
9. Denny Hamlin — 96.0 driver rating (No. 10 last week):
10. Matt Kenseth — 93.2 driver rating (Outside of top 10 last week):

Dropped out: Greg Biffle

To check out where all the Sprint Cup drivers rank, read the complete list here.

Driver Rating - Season Leaders
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/...eDetailedStats

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Subway Fresh Fit 500 Notes

1* The Rocketman Rockets to Phoenix Pole Position - #12 Ryan Newman won the Coors Light Pole Award - Newman scored his 43`rd pole in 232 career NASCAR Sprint Cup starts and moved into a tie with Buck Baker for 10`th on the all-time pole winners list. This is Newman’s 1`st pole and 3`rd top-10 start in 2008. This is his 8`th straight year to win a pole. The pole position is Newman’s 4`th top start at Phoenix International Raceway but his 1`st since he won 3-in-a-row between 2002 and 2004. Jeff Gordon (3) is the only other repeat pole winner in the 10-race period.
# 19 Elliott Sadler posted the second-fastest qualifying time - This is his best start since he started second at Atlanta in March 2007.
# 99 Carl Edwards (third) posted his fourth top-10 start in eight races at Phoenix. This is his sixth top-10 start in 2008.
# 22 Dave Blaney (19th) was the fastest of the drivers required to make the field on time
# 40 Dario Franchitti (21st) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

2* · Qualifying Results
http://www.race2win.net/wc/08/race/pir/q.html
3* · Starting Lineup
http://www.race2win.net/wc/08/race/pir/sl.html

4* Sprint Cup Series News & Notes - Phoenix
http://www.race2win.net/wc/08/04/notespir.html

5* Nationwide Series News & Notes - Phoenix
http://www.race2win.net/gn/08/04/notespir.html

6* ‘In the Loop’ at Phoenix International Raceway
http://www.race2win.net/wc/08/04/itlpir.html

7* Numbers Game: Analyzing the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix
http://www.race2win.net/wc/08/04/ngpir.html

8* Week 8: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12 – and Beyond
http://www.race2win.net/wc/08/04/top12_8.html