Kahne Wins At Phoenix; Edwards, Stewart Race To Dead Heat

Kasey Kahne celebrates winning the 24th Annual Kobalt Tools 500, his 12th victory in 287 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Last win was Sept. 6, 2009 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This breaks an 81-race winless streak. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR)Click for Full Photo Gallery

by Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
It was Ali-Frazier in the Garden. It was Celtics-Lakers with Bird and Magic.

It was NASCAR’s dream. Punch and counterpunch—the top two drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup trading shots in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Yes, Kasey Kahne won the race—his first victory of the season and the 12th of his career—but Edwards and Stewart dominated the action as their battle for the 2011 championship remained as close as it was at the start of the day.

In a race between the only two drivers mathematically alive for the Cup championship, Edwards finished second and Stewart third, but Stewart led the most laps for the second straight week and leaves Phoenix three points behind Edwards as the drivers prepare to settle the issue in the season finale next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jeff Burton ran fourth at Phoenix with Ryan Newman in fifth. AJ Allmendinger, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

“We couldn’t ask for anything more,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s neat to be able to go to Homestead and race it out. I’m sure these guys (Stewart’s team) are going to be good down there—they’re fast on the mile-and-a-halfs.

“I’m just proud of my guys today. They did a great job on pit road. Tony was really fast, and we got our car tuned in, and we were able to go up there and race with them and compete. It was just a good hard-fought day, and I’m really pumped about Homestead.”

Stewart appeared poised to win his fifth race in the Chase before the handling on his No. 14 Chevrolet deteriorated slightly in the final 100 laps.

“We just came up two spots shy,” Stewart said. “It was just a little too loose on entry those last two runs there. I thought that Darian (crew chief Darian Grubb) made a really good call there with just gas only at the end (on Stewart’s final pit stop on Lap 294), and we were able to run Jeff (Burton) down there and get back to third.

“Every point counts right now, and that’s why we raced Carl so hard and Kasey so hard to make sure we led enough laps to lead the most laps today (160). We are going for every single point we can get.”

Stewart said the formula for winning the title is simple.

“Just keep doing what we’re doing,” Stewart said. “We’re going to keep the pressure on him, and we’re going to make him sweat it out.”

Seven more drivers, all of whom started the Chase nine weeks ago with hopes of hoisting the Sprint Cup, were eliminated from championship contention. Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch joined Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Newman in a group that will be fighting for positions in the standings but not for a title.

In Johnson’s case, the run of consecutive championships ends at five.

Kahne, who will be Johnson’s teammate next year, chalked up a win for Red Bull Racing, whose owner/sponsor is withdrawing from that role at the end of the season, leaving the future of the organization in doubt.

Kahne pitted early during a late cycle of green-flag stops and took the lead on Lap 299 of 312 when Keselowski came to pit road. Edwards chased him for the final 14 circuits but finished .802 seconds behind.

“We have great cars,” said Kahne, who will leave Red Bull and its uncertain future for a stable seat at Hendrick Motorsports next season. “I feel like each week I’m going to the racetrack with as good a car as anybody out there, which has been really nice this season.

“We haven’t won in a while (since September 2009 at Atlanta). We put the whole race together today and then had a little luck. Everything that falls into winning a race, we had it today.”

Leading only those final 14 laps, Kahne stole the spotlight from the slugfest between Edwards and Stewart, but the action between the contenders overshadowed even Kahne’s win.

After a bold pass to the outside gave Stewart the lead over Kenseth, the polesitter, on Lap 36, Stewart began to rack up laps led, like so many sharp body blows to Edwards’ title hopes. But Edwards refused to fall.

Stewart dominated the first half of the race, but on Lap 167, Edwards passed Kenseth to lead for the first time. On that same Lap Stewart surged past Kenseth into second.

Edwards held Stewart at bay after a restart on Lap 173, but Stewart returned the favor after Brian Vickers wrecked Kenseth—belated revenge for an altercation at Martinsville—in Turn 3 on Lap 177. Stewart powered around Edwards on Lap 182, clearing him off Turn 4 with a make-yourself-stay-in-the-gas-and-hold-your-breath determination that brought fans in the grandstands to their feet.

Edwards chased Stewart for 39 laps thereafter, getting an eyeful of the TV panel on Stewart’s No. 14 as he tried everything in his repertoire to make a pass. Robby Gordon’s crash in Turn 3 on Lap 220, however, changed the game in Edwards’ favor.

On Lap 225, Stewart and Edwards restarted third and fourth, respectively behind Kurt Busch and Paul Menard, both of whom had used two-tire stops to get to the front of the field. Edwards moved forward, but Stewart fell back, as his handling started to suffer.

With an aggressive pass of Burton with nine laps left, however, Stewart made sure that Edwards wouldn’t leave Phoenix with a net gain in points—not even one.

“It may come to that,” Stewart said after the race.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 35
Unofficial Race Results for the 24Th Annual Kobalt Tools 500 - Sunday, November 13, 2011
Phoenix International Raceway - Phoenix, AZ - 1 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 312 Laps - 312 Miles - Purse: $4,957,233

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 10 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 312 47 4 112.3 $202,233 Running 1 14
2 9 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 312 43 1 123.6 $210,141 Running 2 27
3 8 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1 / Office Depot Chevrolet 312 43 2 136.2 $188,033 Running 5 160
4 14 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet 312 40 107.7 $126,350 Running
5 30 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Veterans Day Chevrolet 312 39 95.6 $155,850 Running
6 2 43 A J Allmendinger WIX Filters Ford 312 38 114.3 $136,836 Running
7 7 00 David Reutimann TUMS Toyota 312 37 103.7 $115,458 Running
8 3 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 312 36 104.3 $114,166 Running
9 11 27 Paul Menard Peak / Menards Chevrolet 312 35 87.7 $90,275 Running
10 28 33 Clint Bowyer USO / Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 312 34 80.8 $123,058 Running
11 25 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota 312 33 81.7 $87,150 Running
12 33 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 312 32 72.9 $121,375 Running
13 29 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Meguiar's Ford 311 31 70.8 $92,075 Running
14 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 311 30 71.5 $124,761 Running
15 26 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 311 29 77.5 $111,683 Running
16 4 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 311 28 78.6 $81,150 Running
17 6 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 311 27 84.3 $107,364 Running
18 12 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 311 27 1 89.1 $97,208 Running 1 4
19 27 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 311 25 80.9 $117,036 Running
20 5 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 311 24 84.7 $80,375 Running
21 31 47 Bobby Labonte Wounded Warrior Project / Clorox / Kleenex Toyota 311 23 61.1 $98,645 Running
22 17 22 Kurt Busch Shell Pennzoil Dodge 311 23 1 102.3 $112,975 Running 1 57
23 18 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 311 21 67.5 $98,439 Running
24 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Retro Diet Mt. Dew / National Guard Chevrolet 310 20 57.9 $79,925 Running
25 19 84 Cole Whitt(i) Red Bull Racing Toyota 310 0 58.1 $67,175 Running
26 38 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 309 18 56.0 $70,875 Running
27 43 35 Dave Blaney Golden Corral Chevrolet 309 17 45.8 $67,925 Running
28 41 38 J J Yeley Vampt Ford 309 17 1 45.0 $84,483 Running 1 1
29 21 51 Landon Cassill(i) Phoenix Construction Chevrolet 309 0 50.9 $81,758 Running
30 39 32 Mike Bliss(i) Veterans United Home Loans Ford 308 0 42.2 $80,572 Running
31 42 34 David Gilliland Aloft Hotels Ford 307 13 38.4 $69,400 Running
32 23 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 306 12 54.8 $105,936 Running
33 13 6 David Ragan UPS My Choice Ford 298 11 32.8 $75,325 Running
34 1 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford 238 11 1 88.1 $108,986 Accident 4 49
35 20 7 Robby Gordon SPEED Energy / MAPEI Dodge 218 9 44.5 $65,850 Accident
36 34 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 188 8 61.4 $113,816 Engine
37 40 36 Geoffrey Bodine Luke & Associates Inc. Chevrolet 153 7 33.1 $65,575 Accident
38 15 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 62 6 28.5 $92,070 Accident
39 24 46 Scott Speed(i) Green Stuff Absorbent Ford 60 0 32.4 $65,325 Electrical
40 35 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 46 4 38.9 $65,175 Transmission
41 32 87 Joe Nemechek(i) AM FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota 30 0 34.1 $65,020 Brakes
42 36 37 Mike Skinner(i) MaxQ Motorsports Ford 25 0 31.5 $64,895 Brakes
43 37 55 Travis Kvapil(i) Aloft Hotels Ford 20 0 30.3 $65,274 Brakes

Race Comments: Before an estimated attendance of 85,000, Kasey Kahne won the Kobalt Tools 500, his 12th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #18 (engine change).

Failed to Qualify: (3) 23 Scott Riggs(i), 30 David Stremme, 71 Andy Lally #.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 45 Mins, 47 Secs. Average Speed: 112.918 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.802 Seconds

Caution Flags: 8 for 30 laps: Laps: 3-5 (#6,78 accident Turn 3 [None]); 8-10 (#36 spin Turn 4 [6]); 42-45 (competition caution [66]); 94-97 (#36 spin backstretch [35]); 160-163 (#36 accident Turn 1 [13]); 169-172 (#84 spin backstretch [27]); 178-181 (#17, 83 accident backstretch [48]); 221-224 (#7 accident Turn 3 [33]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers: M. Kenseth 1-35; T. Stewart 36-42; J. Yeley 43; M. Kenseth 44-45; T. Stewart 46-94; M. Kenseth 95-97; T. Stewart 98-157; M. Kenseth 158-166; C. Edwards 167-181; T. Stewart 182-221; Kurt Busch 222-278; C. Edwards 279-290; T. Stewart 291-294; B. Keselowski 295-298; K. Kahne 299-312.