NASCAR At Phoenix: Kasey Kahne Wins; Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart Break Even

The following are some selected quotes from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers following Sunday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway (if you landed here looking for the NASCAR Phoenix results, click here).

Kasey Kahne (won): “It’s tough...(Red Bull) is shutting down in eight days. Over the last three months, you have one of the top-five cars in NASCAR, (and it’s) shutting down. That’s crazy.”

Matt Kenseth was certain Brian Vickers retaliated against him during Sunday’s race, and said the contact between the two drivers – which put Kenseth in the wall – was intentional. But Vickers said otherwise, and NASCAR considers the matter closed.

“Obviously, it is retaliation for retaliation (at Martinsville), I guess,” Kenseth said. “I was out of brakes and I was up on everybody and I saw him coming and I lifted at least 10 car lengths before where I would normally lift, and he drove in there at 165 miles per hour and cleaned us out.”

As the sun set over Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday night, it did so as well on Jimmie Johnson’s five-year reign as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

Johnson will not win a sixth consecutive championship. He was officially eliminated from the Chase on Sunday when he finished 14th in the Kobalt Tools 500.

Kasey Kahne continued his late-season charge Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, earning his first win since 2009 and first as a Red Bull Racing driver. With a fast car and a fast pit crew, Kahne was able to emerge with the lead after a quick late-race pit stop.

Tony Stewart was the dominant car on the day, leading 160 of the 313 laps. Despite his strong run, Stewart lost the handling of the No. 14 Chevrolet late in the race and finished the day in third, one spot behind championship contender Carl Edwards.

Rain showers have spread farther north than anticipated which could have an impact on Phoenix International Raceway and this afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Storm system has tracked farther north than what many models and forecasters had expected. This more northerly path has spread more rain showers farther north into the Phoenix metro area.

As of 12pm ET, showers were streaming northward just south of Phoenix International Raceway. It appears on radar loop that many of these showers were falling apart as they moved over some of the mountains south of the track. This is good news keeping the bulk of the rain south, but a few showers could make it over and put down a shower or two.

It can be argued that although Denny Hamlin had the Chase points lead heading into Homestead last season, he actually lost the championship at Phoenix.

One year ago, Hamlin was dominating Phoenix with a chance to end Jimmie Johnson’s reign if he had a solid finish. Instead, Hamlin’s team messed up the fuel strategy, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver lost valuable points.

Scattered showers remain in the forecast for Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday. Storm system is expected to move through northwest Mexico on Sunday. Most of the showers will be south of the Phoenix area along the Arizona, Mexico border. There will be a few scattered rain showers during Sunday morning but I expect most of the afternoon to be dry as the morning activity moves east and south of the race track. Worst case scenario for Sunday afternoon is if a isolated shower moves over the track causing a yellow-flag caution or maybe a brief red flag. Skies will be cloudy, and temperatures will be cooler as highs only reach the upper 60s to near 70.

SUNDAY:

3 p.m ET

Sprint Cup Race – Mostly cloudy, cooler, possible shower – temp: 66

It’s NASCAR race day at Phoenix International Raceway and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s Chase race for you below.

What time does the race start today? The Phoenix start time is a bit later than most Chase races have been, because NASCAR and ESPN want the final three races of the season to finish closer to prime time on the East Coast. The command to start engines will be given by veteran race car driver Adrian Fernandez at 3:09 p.m. Eastern time. The green flag will then wave at 3:17 p.m. Eastern. So if you want to tune in for the actual race itself and skip the pre-race show, just tune in at 3:17.

The Nationwide Series garage was nearly empty, but the series’ likely new champion lingered along with the twilight.

Sporting a black cowboy hat and boots, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. reflected on a day that virtually wrapped up his first NASCAR championship – albeit by a stroke of misfortune for one of his competitors.

Sam Hornish Jr. admits there have been many times when he shook his head at himself and said, “Why did I do this?”

The three-time IndyCar Series champion had left the open-wheel world, where he was ultra-successful, for the new challenge of NASCAR.

Tony Stewart trumped Carl Edwards by one spot in the most important qualifying session of the season, but neither of the top two Chase contenders could best Edwards’ teammate Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth took the pole position for Sunday’s penultimate Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, posting an average speed of 137.101 mph to take his third pole of the season.

Rain is in the forecast Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, but the threat is for isolated-to-scattered light rain. A storm system will pass by to the south through northern Mexico. The bulk of the rain is expected to fall along the Mexico/Arizona border, but a few showers could develop and fall over the track during the afternoon Sunday.

I don’t expect the rain to be a problem on Sunday. If a shower does occur, it may cause a yellow flag caution or worst case a brief delay – but I don’t see this being postponed until Monday.

For a moment on Friday, albeit a brief one, Kyle Busch appeared to get choked up.

After a week in which Busch was punished with the modern-day equivalent of being tarred and feathered following his intentional wreck of Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Texas trucks race, one person may have saved him from the lowest point of his career.

Juan Pablo Montoya has struck a deal with car owner Chip Ganassi to return to Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 car next season.

And the Colombia native even says he’s signed a new contract. Or has he?

Denny Hamlin said he sees no point in lecturing his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate or dispensing advice about Busch’s actions over the past week because Busch has already been through so much.

Hamlin said he turns to team owner Joe Gibbs when there’s an issue, and expects Busch would do the same instead of coming to a teammate for advice.

It’s been noted by some that NASCAR’s ‘Boys, Have At It’ policy is murkier than ever after officials came down hard on Kyle Busch last week at Texas but didn’t react in a similar fashion to other instances of retaliation.

The line between acceptable and unacceptable, some drivers have said, is difficult to find.

Kyle Busch didn’t rape or murder anyone. Nor did he molest children or rob someone at gunpoint. He didn’t fail a drug test or get caught drunk driving.

But based on the reaction to his intentional crash of Ron Hornaday Jr. at Texas, you would have thought Busch was right up there with Jerry Sandusky.

The weather looks like it will cooperate for NASCAR this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

Early in the week, I was getting a lot of tweets from worried fans who had looked at some of the weather forecasts for Phoenix back on Monday when it was calling for rain. I try to tell these fans not to get all worked up six-to-seven days out.

Kyle Busch has lost sponsor M&M’s for the last two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races of this season due to his actions at Texas, but will still race at Phoenix and Homestead thanks to sponsorship from Interstate Batteries.

M&M’s isn’t breaking up with Busch for good, though. The company will return to sponsor Busch next season after sending what it believes is a strong message to Busch not to screw up again.

Phoenix International Raceway is not taking the concerns of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series drivers lightly.

In response to drivers’ worries about whether the newly repaved Phoenix track will put on a good race, the track has attempted to expand the racing groove through several recent steps.

Like an approaching haboob, this weekend’s NASCAR race at Phoenix International Raceway has loomed ominously in the distance for quite some time.

And whether anyone likes it or not, the storm is finally upon us.