Phoenix International Raceway History

Phoenix International Raceway History

·         Construction was completed in January 1964. The facility consisted of a one-mile oval and a 2.5-mile road course.

·         Alan Kulwicki won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix on Nov. 6, 1988.

·         The first spring race was held on April 23, 2005 and also the first night race, which was won by Kurt Busch.

·         The track underwent its first repave last year. The construction began in March and concluded in September of 2011.

·         The following changes were made during the construction period (March – Sept., 2011):

o    Widened the frontstretch from 52 to 62 feet

o    Reconfigured pit road with the installation of concrete pit stalls

o    Pushed the dog-leg curve between Turn 2 and Turn 3 out 95 feet

o    Tightened the turn radius of the dog-leg from 800 to 500 feet

o    Implemented variable banking to ensure the immediate use of two racing grooves, including 10-11 degree banking between Turn 1 and Turn 2; 10-11 degree banking in the apex of the dog-leg; and 8-9 degree banking in Turn 4

Notebook

·         There have been 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Phoenix International Raceway, one per season from 1988-2004 and two each season since.

·         Geoffrey Bodine won the first pole in 1988.

·         There have been 19 different pole winners, led by Ryan Newman with four.

·         Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards are the only drivers to win consecutive poles. Newman won three straight (2002-04), while Gordon won the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007, and Edwards won the fall of 2010 and spring of 2011.

·         There have been 22 different race winners, led by Jimmie Johnson, with four.

·         The race has been won from the pole four times: Jeff Gordon (spring 2007), Jimmie Johnson (fall 2008), Mark Martin (spring 2009) and Carl Edwards (fall 2010).

·         The race has been won from a top-10 starting position in 16 of 31 events.

·         Denny Hamlin (November, 2005) and AJ Allmendinger (April, 2010) won their first career poles at Phoenix International Raceway.

·         Ricky Rudd won the 1995 race from the 29th-place starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.

·         Matt Kenseth won the 2002 race from the 28th-place starting position, the furthest back an active race winner has started.

·         Mark Martin has 12 top-five finishes, more than any other driver. Martin (9.0 average finish) is one of two active drivers who average a top-10 finish. Jimmie Johnson (5.3) is the other.

·         Jeff Gordon has the lowest average start amongst active drivers with a 10.4; followed by AJ Allmendinger (10.5) and Carl Edwards (10.8).

·         Two perfect Driver Ratings of 150.0 have been recorded at Phoenix. Kurt Busch did it with his win in April of 2005, and Kevin Harvick did it in November of 2006.

·         Five drivers have won consecutive races at Phoenix: Davey Allison (1991,1992); Jeff Burton (2000, 2001); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003, 2004); Kevin Harvick (swept 2006); Jimmie Johnson is the only one of the five to win three consecutive races (fall 2007, swept 2008).

·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Phoenix International Raceway winner: Kyle Busch (11/13/2005 – 20 years, 6 months, 11 days)

·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Phoenix International Raceway winner: Mark Martin (04/18/2009 – 50 years, 3 months, 9 days)

·         Of the seven drivers with multiple wins at Phoenix International Raceway, Mark Martin is the only driver to win in two different manufacturers: Ford (1993) and Chevrolet (2009).

Phoenix International Raceway Data

Race: 2 of 36 (3-4-12)

Track Size: 1 mile

·     Banking/1 and 2: 10 - 11 degrees

·     Banking/3 and 4: 8 - 9 degrees

·     Banking/Frontstretch: 3 degrees

·     Banking/Backstretch:9 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 1,179 feet

·     Backstretch: 1,551 feet

Driver Rating at PhoenixJimmie Johnson             118.6
Carl Edwards                 101.3
Tony Stewart                 100.9

Kurt Busch                    100.4

Jeff Gordon                     99.8

Mark Martin                    97.8

Denny Hamlin                 96.3

Kyle Busch                     95.5

Kevin Harvick                  94.8

Greg Biffle                      93.1

Ryan Newman                90.1

Martin Truex Jr.              88.9

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (14 total) at Phoenix.

Qualifying/Race Data

2011 pole winner: Carl Edwards (137.279 mph, 26.244 seconds)

2011 race winner: Jeff Gordon

(102.961 mph, 2-27-11)

Track qualifying record: Carl Edwards (137.279 mph, 26.244 seconds, 2-26-11)

Track race record: Tony Stewart (118.132 mph, 11-7-99)

Driver Ratings for Winners 

Driver	Year	Driver Rating	Series Driver Rating Rank
Jeff Gordon	2011	98.3	5th
Ryan Newman	2010	78.5	19th
Mark Martin	2009	98.1	8th
Jimmie Johnson	2008	104.3	4th
Jeff Gordon	2007	115.2	1st
Kevin Harvick	2006	91.2	8th

* Pre-Race Subway Fresh Fit 500 Driver Ratings of the year the driver won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 (the past 6 spring races).

NASCAR in Arizona

·         There have been 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Arizona.

·         30 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Arizona.

·         There have been no race winners from Arizona in NASCAR’s three national series.

GREAT CLIPS NAMED TITLE SPONSOR OF PHOENIX

GREAT CLIPS NAMED TITLE SPONSOR OF PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY’S

NOVEMBER NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE

Inaugural Great Clips 200 Scheduled for Saturday, November 10 at PIR

PHOENIX – Winning by a hair will be the name of the game the fall at Phoenix International Raceway after it was announced today that Great Clips will be the title sponsor of the track’s November NASCAR Nationwide race. The Great Clips 200 will take place Saturday, November 10 at PIR, during the next to last weekend of the 2012 NASCAR season.

“We are pleased to welcome Great Clips as our title sponsor for our November 10^th NASCAR Nationwide Series race,” said Phoenix International Raceway President, Bryan R. Sperber. “That event always plays a pivotal role in determining the championship and we are so delighted to have a wonderful company like Great Clips sponsoring this key race.”

Great Clips is currently the longest-running sponsor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, dating back to 2000. The team’s No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet will be primarily driven this year by Kasey Kahne, one of NASCAR’s top young drivers. Brad Sweet, who will vie for Nationwide Series rookie of the year honors, will round out the balance of the NNS schedule when Kahne is not behind the wheel. The Great Clips Racing team finished in sixth-place in the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series standings.

“Great Clips is pleased to partner with Phoenix International Raceway to sponsor the Great Clips 200 on November 10^th, 2012.  We are bringing the success of our Atlanta sponsorship to the west coast,” said Terri Miller, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Great Clips, Inc. “We look forward to this partnership delivering Great Clips a tremendous amount of system wide branding for our over 3,000 salons and to creating some great excitement for our 127 salons in Phoenix and Tucson areas.

The Great Clips 200 will be one of four races scheduled for the weekend of November 9-11 at Phoenix International Raceway, the final weekend of West Coast racing in the 2012 NASCAR season.

About Phoenix International Raceway

Since 1964, Phoenix International Raceway has served race fans as the premier motorsports venue in the Southwest. Watch the brightest stars in NASCAR take on PIR’s one-mile oval on March 4, 2012 in the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500™. Tickets for the entire SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500™ NASCAR weekend at Phoenix International Raceway can be purchased online at PhoenixRaceway.com/Tickets or by calling 1-866-408-RACE (7223). For more information, visit PhoenixRaceway.com, Facebook.com/PhoenixRaceway and Twitter.com/PhoenixRaceway.

Jet dryer operators to wear firesuits, helmets

Jet dryer operators to wear firesuits, helmets: Jet dryer operators will wear firesuits and helmets this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway as part of a safety move following Juan Pablo Montoya's fiery crash in the Daytona 500. Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said his track will take action as well. Jet dryer operators, whose job entails blowing debris from the track following wrecks as well as drying the racing surface, do not wear firesuits because they typically are not around fires. "My guys will [wear them] because, if nothing else, I like them and they're good guys," Gossage said. "I want firesuits and helmets for those guys. I want at least four-point [seat-belt] harnesses. I want to look at roll bars. I want to look at the right kind of fire extinguishers in the truck.(Scene Daily)(3-2-2012)