FanHouse SubwayFreshFit500

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?

The NASCAR on FOX television crew tried to play it off as an accident, but Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon was having none of it.

"I'm really looking forward to having a new driver in the [No.] 55 next year," said Gordon during his post-wreck interview, mad after Michael Waltrip bumped him into the Phoenix International Raceway turn three wall Saturday night in the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

No, Gordon doesn't have insider infomation about Waltrip's 2010 plans, but rather he was just citing comments that the driver/owner made at the beginning of the season.

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.

Ryan Newman went from first the last Saturday night in a cloud of smoke both from under his hood and from the carnage caused behind him.

Newman, who had led 30 laps, blew a front seal on his Dodge motor on lap 133 during theSubway Fresh Fit 500, ruining his night and several others. Watch as the red flag comes out at 0:06:



As you can see, Newman lost his engine heading into turn three, and behind him several drivers lost control. The list included point leader Jeff Burton, Reed Sorenson, Matt Kenseth, Johnny Sauter and J.J. Yeley.

Now, I'll admit, I was one of the fans yelling at his TV because Newman failed to get off the track after obviously oiling-down the race track.

His quotes, though, after the race helped to settle me down some after Newman fully explained his issue and tried to reason why he caused a full-fledged race-stopping oil cleanup.

NASCAR fans across the country were treated to a pre-race show that consisted of nothing but balls and strikes after Fox Sports decided to keep a game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox on the air deep into the NASCAR timeslot.

Fans who had tuned in for the NASCAR event in Phoenix, Ariz. were abruptly switched to racing as the field entered turn three during the first lap of Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500, while viewers hoping to catch the end of the baseball game were told nearly a minute later that they could continue watching on FX.

All in all, the situation simply wasn't handled well.

Me? I was hoping to see the NASCAR action. But neither here (Fox) nor there (FX) could I see any of the pre-race show, much less "Gentleman, Start Your Engines".

I understand that there are obligations Fox Sports has to carry while covering these two events, but it seems pretty clear to me that Fox Sports should have just been proactive enough to at least start the NASCAR coverage over on FX.

The Red Sox/Yankees tiff was a close one and I understand that millions of people were wanting to see the end of that one. Was it right for those fans to have to quickly switch over to FX to catch the last few pitches of a one-run game?

I don't think so.

The solution to put one or the other on FX long before the green flag of the Sprint Cup Series race makes a lot of sense to me. What say you?

Jimmie Johnson kicked all of those stories about Hendrick Motorsports struggling to find its way to the curb Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway.

By outlasting the rest of the field, Johnson had enough gas at the end to take his first victory of the season during the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

A restart on lap 233 left 79 laps left until the checkered flag and forced teams to calculate their pit strategy according to how far they could run on fuel. Only Johnson and Clint Bowyer were able to conserve enough to avoid a pit stop.

What: Subway Fresh Fit 500
Where: Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, Ariz.
When: Saturday, April 12 8:30pm/et FOX
Distance: 312 laps, 500k
Weather: Clear, with a low around 61. East northeast wind around 7 mph.
2007 Winner: Jeff Gordon
Predictions: Keep Reading





Gordon Was Horrible at Texas, Could Be Horrible at Phoenix - All across the NASCAR web world, there's been plenty of talk about how bad Jeff Gordon was one week ago at Texas Motor Speedway.

There's also been plenty wrote about how Gordon scored his first Phoenix victory one year ago in this same race and how that should bode well for a comeback for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

I just don't see that happening. Remember back to last fall when Gordon was battling teammate Jimmie Johnson for the Cup title and how Gordon flat out struggled to stay in the Top-10. During Friday's practice sessions at PIR, Gordon was a lowly 30th-fast in both practices.

Face it, the racing last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway left a lot to be desired for the fans of the Sprint Cup Series.

Carl Edwards won his third race of the season in a fashion that hasn't changed. Each race, Edwards has simply had a car that was the class of the field after the halfway point and no one could touch him.

It's obvious that Edwards & Co. at Roush Fenway Racing have figured something out that the rest of the teams haven't with NASCAR's new car. After all, it's not too often that you hear Jimmie Johnson talk about how drivers are worried to race side-by-side and Jeff Gordon race like Kyle Petty.

So what's NASCAR to do? Scrap the new car? Make some drastic rule changes?

Nah, they just need to take advantage of an offer from Lowe's Motor Speedway head Humpy Wheeler:

"We have offered NASCAR at least two days, May 5-6, to bring the teams in so they can test the new car. We'll have the track open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. so they can experiment with chassis set-ups during both daytime and nighttime conditions," Wheeler said.

NASCAR's current policy for testing means that teams cannot test at any track they currently compete at, leaving teams heading to Nashville, Kentucky, and a plenty of other tracks to try to get a handle on the next-generation car.

Ryan Newman will start out front for Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

The Penske Racing driver, fresh off a 25-point penalty from his Dodge being too high in post-race inspection Sunday at Texas, will line up from the pole after laying down a lap of 133.457mph.

His pole-winning run -- the 43rd of his career -- was just .009 seconds faster than Elliott Sadler. It also puts Newman 10th all time on the list of pole winners.

Last week's winner Carl Edwards will start third.

Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne will round out the Top-5.

The rest of the Top-10 Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr. and Scott Riggs.

Johnny Sauter, who replaced Jeremy Mayfield this week in the No. 70, made the field despite being outside the Top-35 in owner points.

Kyle Petty and John Andretti both didn't make the race.

Kasey Kahne may be a highly talented Sprint Cup Series driver, but put him on the roadways of America and he's just like you or me.

From the NASCAR Scene:

According to police reports, Kahne ran into the back of a car driven by a 17-year-old woman as traffic slowed on Highway 114 near the track. No one was injured and neither driver was charged in the accident. Both vehicles had to be towed away from the scene.

I'm glad their both OK, but do you think those crazy Allstate mom's were involved?

Kahne, according to the article, was driving a Dodge Durango "leased" from a dealership near Texas Motor Speedway. That's likely a perk of being a Dodge driver.

I'd really like to know, though, if the "17-year-old" driver had any clue who Kahne was. Can you imagine that phone call home if she happened to be a NASCAR fan?

"Hey Dad. Uh, I've been in accident, but it's totally sweet because Kasey Kahne hit me!"

That's a story I'd be proud to tell.