Kahne Takes the Checkers While Edwards and Stewart Remain 3 Points Apart

AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Kasey Kahne broke an 81-race victory drought in winning the Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway.  Kahne began the race by dropping back, but improved throughout the race.  He took the lead with 13 laps to go when then-leader Brad Keselowski pitted for service.  Edwards ate into the lead throughout the final laps, but fell about a second short.

Edwards finished second, and a pass of Jeff Burton in the closing laps, put Tony Stewart third.  Since Stewart had led the most laps, neither driver gained anything in the championship struggle.  Stewart sits 3 points behind Edwards.  Burton and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

Early morning rain threatened to make the race a one-groove affair.  As rubber built up on the track during Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, competitors had two ways around the track, which made passing easier.  The downpour early Sunday morning had crew chiefs scratching their heads. 

Pole-sitter Matt Kenseth took the early lead, leading the first 35 laps until Stewart took over at Lap 36.  Stewart led 156 of the first 221 laps.  As proof positive that the heavier Sprint Cup cars had laid down enough rubber to make the high side manageable, Stewart passed on the outside on three occasions during that span, taking the lead from Kenseth and Edwards.

By Lap 170, Kenseth, who had discussed brake problems with his crew all day, had begun to drop back in the field in order to have the best possible finishing position.  Unfortunately, Brian Vickers apparently intentionally ran into the back of Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford as payback for a similar incident that happened at Martinsville two weeks ago, putting Kenseth out of the race and ruining what little chance he had to catch Stewart and Edwards for the championship.

“I was out of brakes and I was up on everybody and I saw him coming and I lifted at least 10 car lengths before where I would normally lift and he drove in there at 165 miles per hour and cleaned us out,” Kenseth said.  “I don’t know. If NASCAR is going to start parking people for being mad 25 second after you wreck and wrecking somebody then you would park somebody for that. You have someone that has been telling everybody for four or five weeks that as soon as he got a chance at a fast race track he was going to make it hurt and wipe us out and they do nothing about it. It was so premeditated it just surprises me that they didn’t do anything. I am disappointed but I expected it.”

Vickers refused to admit the act was intentional.

"If he wants to doubt us, that's fine," Vickers said. "He wrecked me at Martinsville, he got wrecked here, but it actually wasn't (payback). I'm not saying I wasn't going to pay him back, but I'm just saying that wasn't it."

The championship battle comes down to two men.  Jimmie Johnson, who had won the previous five titles, finished 14th and now sits 70 points out.  Since the most points he can gain in one race is 48, he was eliminated today.  The same could be said for Kevin Harvick, who now sits 51 points out.

Stewart continued his mental battle with Edwards in what has become the theme of the final races since he told Edwards to “watch his back” in the final races.

"We're going to make him sweat it out," Stewart said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a dead heat going in there. I'm pumped. I wish I was going to Homestead tomorrow."

Edwards agreed.

"This is going to be a battle. I truly believe it's going to be a good race," Edwards said. "That place is magical for us. I really enjoy going there.

"I hope it comes down to the fastest guy winning the race."

It wasn’t a good day for Kyle Busch, though.  Busch, racing again after NASCAR parked him at Texas last weekend for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday, Jr., worked his way up to third before his engine failed. He finished 36th.

"It's just devastating," Busch said. "To go through turmoil like this, all you can do is group together and pull through it and try to persevere and move on."

Busch, who started the Chase tied with Kevin Harvick as the top seed, will almost certainly finish 12th in the final standings and won't be included in the season-ending awards ceremony held in his hometown, Las Vegas.

Kahne had not won a race since 2009.  He’ll be leaving Red Bull Racing at the end of the season to replace Mark Martin in the No. 5 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports.  Of course, Red Bull is also leaving at the end of the year, so this victory was sweet.

“These guys work so hard, even under these circumstances,” Kahne said.  “I’m just thrilled I could pay them back for all that work.”

It was only the second win for Red Bull in the Sprint Cup Series in six seasons.  The other trip to victory lane had Vickers as the driver.

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