It is the first night race of the 2007 Nextel Cup season, not counting the Budweiser Shootout. Kevin Harvick is the defending champion of this event; in fact, Harvick swept both Nextel Cup races at Phoenix in 2006.
There has been a lot of hubbub regarding a rivalry heating up between Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya after their incident during last weekend’s Samsung 500 at Texas. If you recall, Montoya and Stewart had been battling fiercely for several laps before Montoya’s car broke loose which sent Stewart’s car spinning.
Stewart was critical of Montoya after the race, and Montoya was trying to figure out what he did wrong. Nearly a week has past and it is highly doubtful that last weekend’s fireworks will carry on to this week’s race at Phoenix. In fact, this is what Stewart said about the altercation on his Sirius Satellite Radio Show.
“We had Juan Pablo Montoya behind us on a restart and he tried to go to the outside of me and put me in the middle of three-wide before we even get to the flag stand and I didn't really appreciate that much. So about 15 laps into the run here he comes and instead of just being courteous to him I thought, 'Well, he was going to put me in a bad spot so I'm going to put him in a bad spot.' So I raced him and raced him and raced him and that's where I made my mistake…We'll talk on Friday morning before we go to practice…I've got a lot of respect for Juan. I still stand behind what I said at the beginning of the year. He's got more natural ability than 99% of the guys I've ever raced with."
So they will kiss and make up, but for how long? Just when we thought it was over between Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle, one of the two would tick the other off. It was the same with Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer several years ago.
Who will win the Subway Fresh Fit 500? Denny Hamlin. Joe Gibbs Racing has their act together when it comes to the Car Of Tomorrow. In the first two Car of Tomorrow races at Bristol and Martinsville, Hamlin 302 of the 1004 laps paced. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart was not too shabby either. Look for Hamlin and Stewart to materialize as the two drivers to beat this weekend at Phoenix.
Of course you can never discount the Hendrick Motorsports trio of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch. Hendrick Motorsports honorary driver Dale Earnhardt Jr has two wins at the 1-mile oval, and he led the most laps at Martinsville as couple of weeks ago.
Projected Top Ten
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Tony Stewart
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr
4. Greg Biffle
5. Kyle Busch
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Kurt Busch
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Jeff Burton
Darkhorse picks- Martin Truex Jr, David Stremme, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman
Who could use a good finish? Ryan Newman, Ricky Rudd, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears
Thursday April 19, 2007-
3:45 PM ET NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice, SPEED
8:10 PM ET NASCAR Nextel Cup Bud Pole Qualifying, SPEED
Friday April 20, 2007
4:30 PM ET NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice, SPEED
7:50 PM ET NASCAR Nextel Cup Final Practice (Happy Hour), SPEED
Saturday April 21, 2007
8:00 PM ET Subway Fresh Fit at Phoenix International Raceway, FOX
