The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, the Checker 400, was run at Phoenix Raceway in November 1988. Alan Kulwicki, in his third full-time season, captured his first career Cup win after Ricky Rudd suffered an engine failure, giving the lead to Kulwicki. However, there was one more “first” to come.
Did you know that this was the genesis of what would soon be known as the “Polish Victory Lap?” It was a moment that Kulwicki had anticipated for quite some time and he had planned something unique.
After the race was over, he turned his No. 7 Ford Thunderbird around, driving in the opposite direction that the cars had raced. This perspective meant that his window was facing the grandstands and he could wave at the fans cheering him on as he made one last lap around the track.
“I wanted to do something special,” he explained. “There will never be another first win and I just wanted to give them something to remember me by.”
Kulwicki would go on to score four more victories and the 1992 Cup Championship, but his reign as champ was short-lived. The 1993 season had gotten off to a strong start and he was already ninth in the point standings when everything changed in the blink of an eye. On April 1, 1993, Kulwicki was flying to the next race in Bristol, Tennessee when the plane carrying him and three others went down near Bristol. There were no survivors.
There have been 41 Cup Series races at Phoenix Raceway, including one each season from 1988-2004 and two each year since. Twenty-four different drivers have won at the one-mile oval, led by Kevin Harvick with eight wins. Jimmie Johnson has won four times while Davey Allison, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin have two victories each.
But did you know that out of all the multiple winners, Martin is the only competitor to have won for two different manufacturers, Ford (1993) and Chevrolet (2009)?
Phoenix Raceway is one of those rare tracks where everyone has a chance to prevail, regardless of starting position. Only five of the 41 (12.1 percent) Cup Series events have been won from the pole. And, although, 21 of 41 (51.2 percent) of these races have been won from a starting position inside the top 10, did you know that 20 (48.8 percent) have been won from a starting position outside the top 10?
Johnson heads to Phoenix with the best driver rating (111.2) followed by Harvick (110.7) and Chase Elliott (103.9). Johnson is currently in 18th place in the points standings, just outside the top 16 playoff grid. A triumph this weekend could move him into contention for an eighth championship trophy.
But did you know that Harvick has recorded three perfect driver ratings of 150 at Phoenix in November 2006, November 2014 and again in March 2015? Kurt Busch also achieved a perfect driver rating in April of 2005.
Tune into Fox Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET for the fourth race of the 2017 season at Phoenix Raceway. The Camping World 500 will consist of three segments. Stage 1 and 2 will be comprised of 75 laps each with a final stage length of 162 laps.
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