PrimeSportsMotorsports: SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 Recap
Ed Coombs, Mary Jo Buchanan and Greg Depalma recap the Sprint Cup Series SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Jimmie Johnson holds the points lead with a solid second place finish
Coming off of his Daytona 500 victory, there were high hopes for Jimmie Johnson heading into Phoenix to continue the success. After all, he had finished in the top five in two of his last three starts in the desert.
The weekend started off well for Johnson as he qualified third, however he would fall as low as 18th due to an early race pit stop for four tires while most of the leaders took two.
“We lost a lot of track position and realized then that the game here, it was going to be a little bit different than what we had expected,” Johnson said. “That was our last four-tire stop that we made. That was really key to keep track position.”
Using strategy and making some passes, Johnson would work his way up to fifth mid-race and be in position to possibly take the win, restarting beside Carl Edwards on the green-white-checkered restart. Edwards would get the jump, leaving Johnson to battle for second with Keselowski through turns one and two.
Down the backstraight, Denny Hamlin took the shortcut through the dog leg, finding himself along side Johnson for second. The two would bang fenders all the way to the checkered, with Johnson barely grabbing second.
“I think we made the car better as the day went on and I know we made it a lot better from yesterday’s practice to today,” he said. “We are still learning this Gen-6 car and made some good improvements to it. At the end it got a little crazy, especially that last lap. Denny got a huge run, cut the corner down there and cleared us both, but I felt like I still had a chance if I just hung on on the outside around turns 3 and 4 and I was able to do that and just kind of beat him back to the finish.”
Johnson admits not expecting Hamlin to be to his inside like he was, saying that he thought he was going to be in a bad spot three-wide with Hamlin and Keselowski.
“The clean line turns away from me, so I was looking out my window, and I could see a lot of the 11,” he added. “I thought, well, I’m not sure really what’s going to happen here, sure not going to let off, and the 2, gave him some room, and we all rolled in there without wrecking. When I first heard that we were three wide I was pretty concerned that I wasn’t going to have a clean lane to race in.”
With this being the first race at Phoenix with the new Gen 6 car, there were a lot of questions as to how it would run and the lack of passing that was seen throughout the course of the race. However, Johnson says that this race was no different than any race on this configuration of the track, and added that the race at Las Vegas should show the potential of the car with side-by-side racing.
“The garage area and the teams and owners and the competition side of NASCAR have worked so hard to make these cars equal and we keep changing and jumping through hoops, new chassis, new bodies, new this, new that,” he added. “The cars are equal and when they’re equal you’re going to have a situation like this. What we need now is the racetracks to consider the asphalt they’re putting down and even reconfigure the lanes so that we have somewhere to race.”
There are already questions with how they change the product, even with Denny Hamlin mentioning that they should change the tire compounds. However, what Johnson says, is it’s important for them to leave the car for a good 10, 20 years as they can build into having some good racing with this car.
“I think we have a great product,” he said. “It’s going to continue to get better. One of the things that we’ve all recognized over the years is the faster we go the narrower track gets the harder it is to pass.”
With leading the points and having five championships, there are drivers who have spoke of wanting to beat Johnson at every opportunity. Keselowski said during Nationwide Series qualifying that he wants to beat Johnson in practice, in qualifying and in every race.
“I’m well aware that with the success that I’ve had over the last eight or 10 years that there’s a lot of bull’s eyes on me,” he said. “I’m kind of afraid to sleep at night sometimes. I know those guys are all gunning for me, and that’s a huge honor, it really is, to have the garage and then the reigning champion thinking that way about me.”
As Johnson leads the standings early, there is one thing entering the minds of many – he could get his sixth championship this year. The last time Johnson won a Daytona 500 in 2006, he won the championship.
“Well, we’ll take it one week at a time,” he said. “That’s a cool stat and I want to keep it alive, keep it going.”
The Final Word – Better looking car, interesting races thus far as they head to Las Vegas
Two races down, along with a trio of exhibitions for good measure, so what do we know now about the Gen 6 car? Starting with cosmetics, it at least looks like a car one might drive down the street.
If I wanted a cow catcher, I would buy a steam locomotive. At least that front platform ledge disappeared a couple of years ago. Would I want to seen driving one of these new cars? Sure. In fact, I like it better than the showroom models. It is very sleek, while the cars on the road appear too boxy in comparison. Just tone down the safety features to save me and mine at 80 mph, instead of 200, put in the seats and all the gizmos for me and my crew to travel in comfort and style, and better the gas mileage from the racing version and we are talking about one sweet ride.
Has the Gen 6 car bettered the racing? It has not fixed everything, as when one passes a dozen cars to get up front it still would be nice to be able to pass that final one at the head of the pack. Imagine that little hiccup while out on the highway, and if it does not happen there it should not happen at Daytona. I thought they had engineers who understood this stuff and who could figure this all out. To be fair, they do and they are, but it is not going to happen overnight. Since 2001 it has been a whole lot about driver safety, and now that they have made great demonstrable gains in that area, the focus is starting to turn to better racing.
The racing itself has not been bad at all. I have long thought races at Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, and Bristol to usually provide the most excitement, while I can remember only one at Fontana worth watching. This season I am rating the races to see if what I perceive is really the reality. Daytona I gave an 8.5 out of 10, while the slickness of track, the short cut, and the unexpected tire failures prompted me to give Phoenix the same. Whether it was the car or the tracks that weighed the most heavily in my enjoyment gets tested again when they roll into Las Vegas.
Even though I thought the Nationwide at Phoenix rated a 7, which still is pretty good, I also wonder how much the presentation on television influences my experience. For example, Mike Joy is not exactly Mr. Excitement, but his voice and expertise behind the microphone adds a lot. As much as I loved Allan Bestick on the Inside Winston Cup program where his boyish enthusiasm was a great asset, he vocally lacks the maturity and authoritative strength to keep you glued to three or four hours of race action. The personnel on FOX are better to watch, better to listen to, and they tend to provide real insight compared to those on ESPN. I doubt we will see much difference from their Nationwide crew to what takes over the Cup presentation on ESPN/ABC this summer. At least then the cars and drivers will be the same.
Daytona has its formation racing on those high banks, Phoenix had some quirks in its track design that brought some interesting moments. On Sunday, we will see what hand Las Vegas is able to play. Enjoy the week.
Rating the Race – Phoenix, where you can flip a house, flip a coin, or just flip the race winner
Why I watched — Well, it sure was not to see qualifying, where 43 were entered for 43 slots. Maybe I watched to see which of the three non-points drivers would quit first and what reason they might give to not appear as a strictly field filling start and park. Behind us were the high banks of Daytona, and I wondered if the racing in Phoenix might be just as visually stimulating. I wondered how Danica might do, how Jimmie and Junior and Mark might fare after doing so well in the season opener. Would Carl Edwards rebound out of his slump, or if Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick might actually run at least half of the race. There were many reasons to watch, but I wondered if I would be happy with the results. The fact I gave the Nationwide event a 7 out of 10 had me hopeful.
The race — The fact Mark Martin claimed the pole was also good news. His 21st place finish not so much. Tires proved to provide us with unexpected moments, claiming Scott Riggs twenty laps in as he bounced into the fence after a blow out to end his day, the first to go out.
Ryan Newman blew his twice, the second time killing his car before we hit the midpoint. The driver still had his bounce, bouncing out of the car, across the track, and off into the infield. It appears he was done with automotive transportation for one day. Team mate Danica Patrick rode around outside the Top 25, blew her tire, and took a hard hit off the wall while getting hit even harder when David Ragan sheared off much of her driver’s side. As for Tony and Kevin, Smoke was 8th, Happy finished 13th.
Different pit strategy and changes between sunshine and shadow kept us guessing who would be where at the end. A late caution brought us a green, white, checker finish, with Carl Edwards running off to take the flag. Behind him, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin went fender to fender as Johnson was the runner-up. Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr rounded out the Top Five.
Oh, Mike Bliss parked first among our predetermined suspects, finishing 42nd. Brake problems was the official reason given, as the team collected over $50,000 for running just over 10% of the race. Joe Nemechek ran over 98% of the laps, wound up 31st, and earned almost $73,000. That was a very pleasant and very welcome surprise. You have to respect that.
Rating the race (8.5/10) — The final outcome was left in doubt until the final couple of laps, fate and right front tires provided some unexpected moments, a strong announcing staff, great scenery, and the first Edwards’ Cup back flip in 70 races made this a pleasure to watch. The fact Subway sponsored both his car and the race itself, and it all wrapped up in time for supper was just a bonus. As for myself, I went with soup.
