FanHouse PhoenixInternationalRaceway

Here's a glance at Mark Martin's first victory since 2005 Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway as FanHouse takes you by the Sprint Cup Numbers:


.005 - Amount of elapsed time Kyle Busch exceeded NASCAR's pit road speed limit by on the final pit stop. The penalty took him from Martin's bumper as the nearest challenger to the back of the pack.

.734 - Seconds Martin finished ahead of second-place Tony Stewart

2.135 - Martin's average running position Saturday night, best of all drivers.

In one of the best statistical finds of the weekend, ThatsRacin's Jim Utter noted during his race preview for Saturday night's race that each of the three longest winless streaks of Jeff Gordon's career were followed up by two consecutive wins.

That trend ended brutally Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway.

But despite a disappointing night filled with tire rubs and pit road problems that led to a 25th-place finish, should the No. 24 team have something more important -- like the health of their driver -- to worry about later in 2009?

It took 97 races, nearly four years and lot of decision-making but 50-year-old Mark Martin is back in NASCAR Sprint Cup victory lane.

Martin led the most laps of the Subway Fresh Fit 500k -- he also started from the pole position -- to win Saturday night's 312-miler at Phoenix International Raceway during his first season back as a full-time driver with Hendrick Motorsports.

Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle rounded out Top-5 of the afternoon-to-evening event.

Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Time: Saturday 8:46 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN Radio
Forecast: Clear, Lows in the 50s
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles, 500k)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson


Mark Martin has gotten awful good at starting Sprint Cup races from the front in 2009 in his new Hendrick Motorsports ride, but its the whole finishing part that hasn't gone as planned.

Jump in as FH's Holly Cain & Geoffrey Miller go Wheel2Wheel on a variety of racing topics.

Is Saturday night racing good for NASCAR?

Holly Cain: It is a valid concern that Saturday night NASCAR Sprint Cup racing hurts ticket sales at local short tracks, NASCAR's grassroots. But it's a not an argument the short tracks will win. Going night racing is one of the best moves NASCAR has ever made and I think there should be more races under the lights.

If NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams were looking to snap a two-race win streak by Hendrick Motorsports this Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway, they aren't exactly picking a good location.

In fact, with the way things have gone in the last few years, it may well be the worst track to tackle the recent success of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Why, you ask? It's easy -- the last four races at the track have ended with either the No. 24 or the No. 48 in victory lane.

Carl Edwards had his hopes for an improbable run at removing Jimmie Johnson from the top of the Sprint Cup world dashed Sunday night at Phoenix International Raceway, and none of it was it his own doing.

Edwards can solely blame that one on Johnson for having the most dominating car at the Phoenix-area track, leading the most laps and taking home his third-straight win at PIR. All of that success for Johnson meant a hole of 141 points for Edwards as the series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday for the final race.

In other words, the NASCAR world can ultimately turn next weekend's race into a salute to the incredible history Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team is making, because Edwards has next to zero chances of overcoming those odds.

Let's face it, the kid many in the NASCAR garage have referred to as sliced bread -- here's an explanation of the reference -- hasn't exactly been a great beacon of Sprint Cup championship hope for Joe Gibbs Racing in his first three races.

In other words, 18-year-old Joey Logano is really a real person, and, no, he's not going to single-handedly Kyle Busch-ize the 2009 NASCAR season (and probably doesn't want to after we've seen what happens to Busch when the pressure is on).

Will Sunday afternoon's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k be Jimmie Johnson's opportunity to shine? (Ha, get it?
As in shine like the sun above his car in the photo? Funny? Right?) Or will Carl Edwards be able to pounce on a second straight week of misfortune for the No. 48?

The story is simple: Edwards is 106 points behind the two-time defending champion Johnson with two races left. A slip for Johnson today means Edwards can steal the championship. Join us to watch the plot unfold as we analyze all of the Phoenix International Raceway happenings and other musings at 3:30PM EST with a LIVE BLOG! CAPITAL LETTERS EQUAL EXCITEMENT! WOOT!

Join us below. See ya there!

There's been a lot of turmoil in the Petty Enterprises camp as of late thanks to a number of problems facing the once dominant (like, 20 years ago) but now struggling race team thanks primarily to the funding coffers starting to dry up.

The problem is simple -- PE wants to race two teams next season with Bobby Labonte and Chad McCumbee full time with current driver Kyle Petty on a part-time basis without having any sort of adequate funding. So naturally, when money gets tight, people turn sour, and problems arise.

As a result, Kyle Petty (Richard Petty's son who has been in the NASCAR game since 1979 with eight career wins) might be ride-less in 2009 in a move that would likely end what has been a slow trickle down of the number of races he's entered in the past two years.

"Right now, I got nothing," Petty said Saturday at Phoenix, where he'll start 35th in his last race of the year. "Straight up, I got nothing. So I'm still just looking."

Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway (FanHouse is live-bloggin' it again!) will be Petty's last race of the 2008 season because the up and coming McCumbee will try to make the season finale next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Petty has tested with and considered running in a road course racing series in 2009 -- a medium of racing he has some prior experience in.