Duel in the Desert, or Fuel in the Desert?
The Subway Fresh 500 was billed as a “duel” between the Busch Bros. Kurt as the defending race champion and brother Kyle winner of last November’s PIR event and pole sitter. It turned into a Kevin Harvick weekend sweep, a “duel” of fuel and a “duel” between Kyle Busch and Casey Mears.
Harvick broke his 38 Cup race winless streak by passing then leader Greg Biffle with 10 circuits to go. Biffle promptly ran out of fuel and was quickly followed to pitroad by Mark Martin who also came up dry. Martin, who led three times for 111 laps, wound up 11th and Biffle ended up 16th. In a case of irony never sleeps, a year ago, Harvick’s car ran out of gas, and he finished fourth.
Kyle Busch’s duel with Casey Mears earned him a 5 lap penalty, an after race trip to the NASCAR trailer and most likely more to follow in the form of a “NASCAR tax” levy. He finished 36th. His brother, Kurt was 24th after he had to finish the race using one hand to hold his window net up after it fell with about 25 laps to go. It also safe to assume the Arizona Republic can bury the headline on this weekend piece: Busches winning fans, restoring image.
Tony Stewart recovered from a pre-race foul-up (read: Homer Simpson, DOHHH…) to finish 2nd followed by Matt Kenseth in third, followed by Carl Edwards, who had his best effort of the season, and rookie Clint Bowyer.
Kenseth took over the points lead, surpassing Jimmie Johnson by nine points.
Despite all the in race “duels,” the best quote of the day wasn’t the result crashes, fume filled tanks or idiotic race commentators. It occured pre-race and was spoken by Arizona Senator John McCain.
“Trying to get the words right,” McCain answered when asked what the most difficult part of the day would be. “And not drool when the television cameras are on me.”
PIR, NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Phoenix International Raceway, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle
