NASCAR Sprint Cup: Kasey Kahne Wakes Up Crowd at Phoenix with Checkers

Racin’ with Russ–With all eyes on the top two in points, those being Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne managed to snap a two-year winless streak, grabbing the NASCAR Sprint Cup checkered flag at Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.

The race began with Matt Kenseth’s Ford on the pole and led quite a few laps before Stewart strongly took over the point with Edwards staying among the top 10. Pit stop after pit stop, regardless of where Stewart started, he quickly made his way back out front as Edwards Ford stayed within a few spots of the leader.

Towards the end of the race, Edwards car got better and Stewart’s Chevy set up change proved to be his undoing in staying out front. Edwards led for a while, as did Penske shoe Kurt Busch before running out of gas and handing the lead over to Edwards.

The last pit stop of the day found Edwards cumulative pit road time a few seconds slower than Kahne, an amount Edwards could never overcome, settling for second place, just one spot ahead of Stewart.

Stewart passed Jeff Burton on the penultimate lap, as the Virginia driver earned fourth with Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman capping the top five.

The top two drivers started and ended the day just three points apart as they head for Homestead for the season finale and the deciding race to determine this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Note: After sitting out the past two NASCAR races, Kyle Busch started dead last, the result of a
blown motor in practice, yet worked his way as far as third until launching his second Toyota power plant. That put the Gibbs driver dead last in the standings and out of the picture as far as attending the banquet in Las Vegas.

–Jeff Gordon also had a miserable day, losing brakes midway and finishing 32nd, now sitting 11th in the standings and also in jeopardy of not attending Las Vegas festivities.

–Next weeks finale for the Cupsters has two very talented experienced drivers ready to battle it out, perhaps coming down to the last turn, last lap. Stewart has two titles of experience on his side, but Carl has been Mr. Consistency during the whole chase and a real passion for the Homestead track, a place he’s won twice before.

I’m picking Edwards as this year’s champ. What about you? Drop me a line.

Nationwide–Unlike the Sprint Cup race, the Nationwide race on Saturday was a wreck-a-rama with nearly half the field sidelined by multi-car wrecks. Carl Edwards led for a while as did Brad Keselowski, but it was Brad’s teammate Sam Hornish Jr. taking over late and managed to hold on to the lead and capture his first Nationwide trophy in 32 attempts.

Rounding off the top five combatants included Keselowski, Edwards, Joey Logano and points leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Late in the race, Elliott Sadler was punted into the fence by Jason Leffler, ending any chance at winning the Nationwide title. Stenhouse Jr has only to finish 37th or better to win his first NASCAR title.

Across the Pond–Formula One’s weekend in Abu Dhaibi saw Sebastien Vettel take the pole and lead the first two turns until suffering a flat tire, ending the points champions race early. From there, Lewis Hamilton led the remainder of the race followed by Ferrari hot shoe Fernando Alonso and Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button. The F-1 finale is in two weeks in Brazil.

From Rumorville–Kasey Kahne’s win couldn’t hurt the possible sale of the Red Bull Toyota Cup
team as the No. 4 and No 83 teams could be shuttered as early as this time next week. They surely showed the team combo is capable of winning races.

–Don’t be surprised to see some crew changes among the No. 88 Hendrick team car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr and the No. 42 of Ganassi Motorsports driven by Juan Montoya for next
season.

That’s it for this week. Next week, RWR will review the NASCAR finale for the top three divisions in Homestead, FL along with more racing news from around the globe.