NASCAR Notebook: ‘Bare-Knuckle’ Title Brawl Heads West

For Jimmie Johnson, it’s some serious déjà vu – the good kind.

Johnson leads the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by seven points over Brad Keselowski with two races remaining. Four times in his five championship seasons, Johnson has topped the standings after the season’s 34th race, making title No. 6 a very real possibility.

As the scene shifts to Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway – where Johnson has four victories, three in the Chase – it’s possible the California driver could clinch the championship.

Johnson must out-point Keselowski by 41 if he wins and 42 if he doesn’t while netting an additional 12 on third-place Clint Bowyer. A third consecutive Chase victory while leading the most laps is the clincher if Keselowski finishes 37th or worse and Bowyer eighth or worse if neither challenger leads a lap.

That’s the math. The reality? Considering Keselowski’s worst finish this season was 36th, nothing will be decided in the Valley of the Sun.

Johnson and his No. 48 Chevrolet team have some breathing room but not much – especially in light of last Sunday’s paint-scraping throw-down with Keselowski at Texas Motor Speedway. The pair traded body slams before Johnson executed the winning pass on the final, green-white-checker restart.

“The gloves are off and it’s bare-knuckle fighting,” said Johnson, talking about the race and – most likely – the road to this year’s championship.

Still, Johnson’s camp can point to one set of statistics, Keselowski’s another.

In each of the past two years, the driver ranked second entering the next-to-final race overtook the leader in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson vanquished Denny Hamlin in 2010; Tony Stewart caught Carl Edwards a year ago, prevailing on a most wins tie-breaker.

“I’d say it’s a heads-up match going into Phoenix and probably the same going into Homestead,” said Keselowski following the Texas race. “We just have to win the heads-up matches.”

Sunday’s race will be the third on the one-mile Phoenix layout since repaving and reconfiguring in mid-2011. Johnson finished fourth in the spring with Keselowski fifth. The latter finish is Keselowski’s only top five in six previous Phoenix races.

Johnson’s average Phoenix finish is 5.3 vs. Keselowski’s 22.2. It hardly would seem a fair fight.

But Texas, where Keselowski lacked a top-10 performance, was emblematic of the challenger’s maturation – and Penske Racing’s ability to race head-to-head with Hendrick Motorsports, by far the current era’s most successful organization.

Consider that Hendrick has 10 Sprint Cup titles to Penske’s none. HMS put all four cars in the Chase while Keselowski’s No. 2 Dodge has been a lone wolf. A Dodge driver hasn’t won a championship since Richard Petty in 1975.

Chevrolet, meanwhile, celebrated its 700th victory in Texas and has won 36 Sprint Cup manufacturer titles.

Johnson has qualified for the post season in all nine years of the Chase era, winning 22 times. Keselowski, 28, counts just 18 Chase starts, two wins and is the least experienced among this season’s 12 qualifiers.

A classic case of David vs. Goliath, but certainly not without precedent.

Go back several decades to 1995, when Dale Earnhardt was coming off his seventh championship season and fourth in five years. Earnhardt appeared destined to win an eighth title and break the championship deadlock he shared with Petty, NASCAR’s king.

Enter relatively untested Jeff Gordon, like Keselowski a driver in just his third full Sprint Cup season. Gordon, 26, had finished 14th the previous season and counted just two career victories.

Gordon won seven times to Earnhardt’s five as the two rivals battled down to the final race with Gordon winning his first of four championships by a margin of 34 points. The title also was the first for owner Rick Hendrick, who swept the next three championships, as well, with Terry Labonte and Gordon signaling the beginning of a dynasty.

Bowyer Satisfied To Fight The Good Fight

When the dust finally settles, Clint Bowyer could be crowned 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Although 36 points out of the standings lead with two races remaining, Bowyer – with some help – could rally for what’s become an improbable title.

Realistically, the Kansan probably will settle for a career-best season in terms of wins (three) and top-five (nine) and top-10 (22) finishes. If Bowyer retains his current third position in the standings, he’ll match his 2007 points effort.

To say Bowyer has come out of nowhere is an understatement. With a first-year team, he ignited Michael Waltrip Racing’s first journey to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. There’s no doubt that MWR, Bowyer and the No. 15 Toyota team’s crew chief Brian Pattie will be a stronger presence in 2013.

“I’ve said this all along: It’s fun to be racing for the championship but I’m more proud of where we’re at contending for that championship,” Bowyer said. “We just keep polishing the edges and keep getting better fixing our program week-in and week-out. We’ll (eventually) be there.”

Bowyer probably will be among the final three competitors standing after Sunday’s AdvoCare 500. Keselowski and Bowyer are Johnson’s only rivals currently within a 49-point championship window – outside of which means title elimination after Phoenix.

Three former NASCAR Sprint Cup champions likely must wait for next year to hoist another Sprint Cup. Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon are fifth and sixth, 72 points behind Johnson. Reigning champion Tony Stewart is eighth, 80 points back.

Two Chase qualifiers were eliminated in Texas – Kevin Harvick, 11th, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose two-race hiatus due to injury likely will relegate him to 12th in final points.

Reluctant Onlooker Busch Could Have Say In Phoenix

Kyle Busch had a ringside seat for Sunday’s Texas championship rumble between Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski. He just wished there could have been a third fighter in the ring – himself. Unfortunately for Busch, he missed this year’s Chase but has run as well – or better – than many of the 12 qualifiers who made the cut into the post season. His third-place finish in the AAA Texas 500 was his fifth top-five finish over the eight Chase races.

Two finishes of 28th or worse would have made a title run unlikely but Busch definitely would have been a contender. Still, Busch has scored the fifth-most points in this year’s Chase.

He’ll accept the spoiler’s role – not gladly – but Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is certain to be in the thick of the struggle on Sunday in Phoenix. He finished sixth, just behind Johnson and Keselowski, when the series visited the one-mile track in March. Busch has a victory (2005) and nine top-10 finishes in 15 trips to the Valley of the Sun.

“This last 10 weeks have been pretty good. We’ve run well. We’ve been fast. We’ve shown speed,” said Busch, who holds 13th place in the standings by a whopping 79 points over Ryan Newman. “It’s just a matter of continuing to evolve and get better as a team and communicate because this car is obsolete in two weeks. So we’ll work on all of that stuff in 2013.”

The last time a non-Chase driver won a Chase race was, coincidentally, Phoenix, when Kasey Kahne accomplished the feat last season. Kahne, of course, qualified for this season’s Chase field.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Notes

Milestone Watch: Carl Edwards will make his 300th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday, becoming the 80th driver to reach that milestone. … For the first time in six races, Jeff Gordon failed to lead a lap last weekend at Texas. His next lap led will tie him with Darrell Waltrip for sixth on the all-time list. He currently has 23,133 career laps led. … Chevrolet, which won its first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 1955, reached win No. 700 at Texas. Toyota aims for a victory milestone of its own – its next win will be No. 50. Its first win came in 2008. … Danica Patrick, a Scottsdale, AZ, resident, will make her 10th and final start in the NSCS season at Phoenix on Sunday. She scored her career-best finish (24th) at Texas on Sunday. … Michael McDowell, from Glendale, AZ, will run the No. 98 Ford for Phil Parsons Racing.

Nationwide Series: It’s All About Winning In This Championship

After 31 races packed with close competition, the championship title hunt has resulted in a deadlock at 1,170 points between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler, making only one thing matter – wins.

Sound familiar? That’s because it is. Last season’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup came down to a tie in the points between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.

The championship was ultimately decided by wins (Stewart, five). This season in the NNS championship race, Sadler and Stenhouse could face the same fate, though currently Stenhouse holds the advantage with six victories to Sadler’s four.  Two races remain, Phoenix and Homestead, and it’s still anyone’s title.

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Heading West to Phoenix International Raceway, a track that was repaved last season, the series will make its third go on the new surface and reconfiguration.

While Stenhouse has a better average finish (6.6 in five starts) at Phoenix than Sadler (15.4 in seven starts), Sadler won on the newly reconfigured 1-mile track earlier this season. Stenhouse finished third, but didn’t lead a lap. Bonus points will be big in these final two events. The most a driver can earn in an event is five points: one for leading a lap, one for leading most laps and three for the win. Stenhouse has accumulated 37 bonus points this season compared to Sadler’s 32.

Still on the championship periphery, 21 points behind Stenhouse and Sadler, sits Austin Dillon. Third in the standings and still not mathematically out of contention for the title, Dillon has the opportunity to capitalize on any mistakes Stenhouse and Sadler make over these next two events. Dillon has made two starts at Phoenix posting one top five, a fourth earlier this season.

On The Brink Of History, Patrick Returns Home To Phoenix

As the NASCAR Nationwide Series returns to the city Danica Patrick calls home for the penultimate race of the 2012 season, a strong performance this weekend would go a long way in ensuring she remains on the threshold of history. This Saturday, Phoenix plays host to the NNS Great Clips 200.

With two races remaining, Patrick currently sits in 10th in the points standings, 398 points behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler.

Although she is pretty much out of contention for this season’s title, if Patrick finishes 12th or higher in the final standings, she will become the highest-finishing female in national series history. Sara Christian set the record in 1949 when she finished 13th in the NASCAR premier series’ inaugural season.

In 31 races this season, Patrick has three top-10 finishes. Her best finish was eighth in Texas’ April race. In her last six races, she hasn’t finished lower than 16th. In four trips to Phoenix, she has never finished higher than 17th or on the lead lap. With her recent success, that could all change Saturday.

Former Champion Vickers Set To Return To Nationwide In 2013

Past NNS champion Brian Vickers is returning to the series full-time in 2013. Vickers will pilot the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sponsored by Dollar General, the team and retailer announced Tuesday.

Vickers returns to the series in which he won the 2003 championship as the youngest driver (age 20) to win a national series title. In 117 NNS races, Vickers has three wins – all in 2003, the last season he raced full-time in the series. In eight NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season, he has three top-five and five top-10 finishes.

Vickers will be getting a jump on next season this weekend at Phoenix in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Dollar General Toyota during the Great Clips 200. This weekend, Joey Logano will drive the No. 18 Toyota, in which he’s won six of his series-high eight races.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Notes

Quick Season Recap: In 31 races, there have been 11 different winners, 16 different Coors Light pole winners and five championship point lead changes among two drivers. Most successful driver this season with the most wins (eight) and poles (five) is Joey Logano. … Kyle Busch leads the series in wins all-time with 52. He also has the longest-running winning streak (eight seasons) having won at least one race each season since his sophomore season in 2004. Winning one of these final two races in the NNS would tie Busch with Mark Martin’s series record (nine straight seasons with a win in the NNS – 1992-‘00); plus it would give him his first win in KBM equipment. … The 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope will be attempting to make his 300th NNS career start this weekend at Phoenix.

Camping World Trucks: Phoenix Figures To Be Key To Buescher Title – Again

New season. New track. Different scenario. But James Buescher, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship leader, still must exorcise his demons at Phoenix International Raceway. Buescher missed the field by two-hundredths of a second a year ago, arguably costing the Texan the 2011 series championship.

Ironically, Buescher went on to win three poles but came up 29 points and two positions short of the title, won by Austin Dillon. Had Buescher matched his season’s average finish (8.8) in Phoenix, the championship would have been his by 12 points.

That was then; this is now. Buescher leads Dillon’s younger brother, Ty Dillon, by 15 points entering Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150, the 21st of 22 races. The track itself is new to the series, which competed at Phoenix in February 2011 before the one-mile oval was repaved and reconfigured.

“Last time there we had a rough weekend but his team has put that weekend behind us,” said Buescher, whose No. 31 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet leads the series with four victories in 2012. “I feel that all teams are on an even playing field heading into this weekend with the track going through a reconfiguration and resurface since the last time we raced there.

“We will be unloading a brand new chassis in the hopes to put Exide Batteries Chevrolet back into victory lane and give us more separation” going to the Nov. 16 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The top seven remain mathematically in the title hunt, although it’s realistically a four-way battle with 27 points separating Buescher, Dillon, Timothy Peters and Parker Kligerman. There’s an outside shot that Buescher clinches this weekend – he’ll have to leave Phoenix 48 points ahead of second place.

Paludo’s Paint Scheme Recognizes World Diabetes Day

Miguel Paludo will run a special paint scheme in honor of World Diabetes Day (Wednesday, Nov. 14) at Phoenix. Paludo, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes nine years ago, discovered earlier this season that his son Oliver, only eight months old at the time, is also a type 1 diabetic.

Soon after, the Brazilian driver joined forces with International Diabetes Federation as a Blue Circle Champion, making him the first South American representative of the organization. The truck will feature the blue circle logo for World Diabetes Day, Paludo’s son Oliver’s name above the passenger side door, and a collage of diabetes statistics and resources.

“Nov. 14 is all about the 366 million people worldwide living with diabetes, but for me, it’s just about one person, my son,” Paludo said.

Paludo will be making his 50th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start this weekend. Paludo, still seeking his first top five of the season, ranks 10th in NCWTS standings. He won the Keystone Light Pole for this year’s opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Hornaday, Crafton Among Candidates Chasing Record 15th Victory

With only two previous winners in the Lucas Oil 150 – and none since 2005 – odds are good Friday night’s race will crown a new Phoenix winner. NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors have won the past five races but Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are not among current entries.

Todd Bodine (2005) and Ron Hornaday Jr. (1998-99) are the only entered former winners. Hornaday is among 2011 winners without a victory this year. Another is Matt Crafton. Both have second-place finishes. Crafton’s best at Phoenix is a third in 2004.

Either driver would be the campaign’s 15th different winner, a single-season record. Other entered drivers who have won in NASCAR Camping World Truck competition – but not this year – are Brendan Gaughan, Brian Scott and Dennis Setzer.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Notes

Top 10 qualifiers have won the most recent 10 Phoenix events. The last to win from the pole was Johnny Benson in 2006. … Newly minted NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion Kyle Larson will make his third NCWTS appearance at Phoenix. The driver of the No. 4 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet finished 10th in his debut and sixth the last time out in Atlanta. … Daytona winner John King returns to the No. 5 Wauters Motorsports Ford for the Lucas Oil 150. … Ryan Truex has been tapped to drive the No. 27 Hillman Racing Chevrolet at Phoenix and Homestead. … Florida’s Jeff Choquette, eighth at Iowa Speedway in his last race, will make his first Phoenix appearance in the No. 97 Chevrolet. … Brian Scott will drive the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota that won last year’s Phoenix event. He’ll be joined by three-time NASCAR Toyota Mexico champion German Quiroga.

NASCAR Home Tracks: Larson Captures K&N East Crown

Kyle Larson’s historic NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship has resonated in the highest levels of the sport. The 20-year-old Larson earned the first NASCAR touring championship for Rev Racing and NASCAR Drive for Diversity.

The Elk Grove, Calif., driver also won the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year, joining only Joey Logano and Ryan Truex in the 26-year history of the series to accomplish that feat of earning the championship as a rookie.

A stock-car rookie, Larson came to NASCAR with a pretty impressive open-wheel resume. Not unlike a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

“I’m just impressed,” Stewart said. “There hasn’t been too many people in the last 10 years who have really stood out as somebody with a ton of talent. Kyle is one of those guys. He’s as close to a throwback racer as we have. He’s a guy who can drive anything, and one of the few guys who actually does that now.”

Kwasniewski Can Claim Title

Dylan Kwasniewski, 17, heads into the final race weekend for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Phoenix International Raceway with a slim two-point lead over teammate Greg Pursley. The veteran Pursley is the defending series champion, while Kwasniewski was the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year last season.