NASCAR Cup Series

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stays out west for the second straight week as Phoenix International Raceway hosts this weekend’s NASCAR XFINITY AND NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events.

10. Jeff Gordon: Gordon won the pole, but was caught up in Danica Patrick’s spin in Saturday practice. Forced into a backup car, Gordon delivered a respectable 18th in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400.

"I like to gamble. I liked the call. I love being aggressive,” he stated after the race. “We were going to drive up there and pass that No. 4 (Kevin Harvick). So, we had to take a chance. Second, fifth, fourth, whatever; it really don’t matter if you don’t win.”

Another Sunday, another NASCAR Cup race. I think if you loved the race, you may have been a fan to some degree of one of the top four.

NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon left his mark on Phoenix International Raceway – literally – when he tore up the first chunks of asphalt at the start/finish line in April, 2011 to kick off PIR’s repaving project.

After qualifying eighth for the Kobalt 400, Martin Truex Jr. ran up front throughout the whole race en route to scoring a second-place finish.

In five previous starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, A.J. Allmendinger had yet to finish inside of the top 15. That changed on Sunday, though, as he would finish the Kobalt 400 in the sixth spot.

At lap 193, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards were battling hard for position. Their battle wouldn't go as planned, though.

In just the third race of the season, there were a plethora of firsts and lasts, from Jeff Gordon running his last ever race at Vegas to Brian Vickers starting his first race since open heart surgery and Kevin Harvick standing in Victory Lane for the first time ever at LVMS.

Kevin Harvick must have been tired of finishing second, because on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion did something about it.