NASCAR Cup Series

The one-mile oval produces its share of beating and banging. It’s a track that Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer enjoys and if stats are any indication, it’s a track he seems to enjoy most in the spring.

“This weekend’s race will be a big barometer for where our program is at early in the season. Last fall, we finished fifth there, but after early trouble, we were lapped twice under green. The strategy played out in our favor at the end.

“Phoenix is a tough one-mile track but it is a lot of fun to race there. This is our first short track of the season so it will allow us to evaluate our cars to see how our car reacts with new rules package and reduced horsepower.

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.