Quick Hits on Phoenix
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After
weeks of hearing about the new package, everyone was excited to finally see
some racing where horsepower mattered. The finish might not have been exciting,
as Kyle Busch ran away with it, but the journey to that finish was tremendous.
The
last thing anyone would've thought of as a topic of conversation heading to
Phoenix was a dustup between Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell. That's all
anyone was talking about after qualifying on Friday. Believing McDowell hurt
his qualifying run, Suarez approached the driver of the 34 Ford to share his
feelings. A lot more than feelings were shared as McDowell met the ground and
Suarez had to be physically restrained. It was refreshing to see drivers show
emotion face to face without tearing up race cars to prove a point.
Kevin
Harvick was the favorite heading into the race based on his success there over
the years. He ran in the top 10 all day but never really was a factor,
eventually finishing 9th. Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin were thought to both
have a chance. Elliott had issues including a penalty for jumping the start.
Hamlin dealt with handling issues but recovered to finish fifth.
It
was refreshing to see Ryan Blaney leading for a long stretch. It looked for a
while like the race was his to win. His handling went away at the same time
Kyle Busch was tracking him down so a third straight Penske win was not to be.
Busch took the win over teammate Martin Truex, Jr. by more than a second.
The
reconfigured track at Phoenix is a hit. Where else can you see cars going
through a turn four and five wide consistently? We saw it all day, especially
after restarts as cars dove down onto the apron. Though the possibility of a superspeedway
type "big one" was there, it never came to fruition and led to some
very exciting viewing.
Jimmie
Johnson fought hard all day after starting 15th. He was in and out of the top
10 throughout the afternoon, eventually earning a much needed top-10 with an
8th place finish. Ryan Newman had a strong run although seeing him finish 12th
might not reflect it. He was another who was running near the front for a lot
of the day.
Kurt
Busch continued his hot start to 2019, earning his third straight top 10 finish
in the 1 car. That's the first time that team has seen that happen since early
in the 2017 season. With Kyle Larson coming in 6th, both Ganassi Chevys were in
the top 10. Speaking of manufacturers, Toyota now has 2 wins on the season and
Ford has the other 2. More specifically, Gibbs has 2 and Penske has 2.
One
of the questions as the series moves to Fontana then, is when will Stewart-Haas
and specifically Kevin Harvick find victory lane? Fontana's another track where
the 4 driver has had success. After his spectacular 2018 run and his hot start
last spring, how much should fans worry if he's not a factor this Sunday? Is it
also time for Ganassi to get a win? This is a place where Larson has run well,
winning this race in 2017.
As
the first few pages of this still fresh season are being written, there are
still plenty of questions left to answer. Let's see what we learn this
weekend.