McDowell is heading home |
They’re both from the
Phoenix area. Yeley’s hometown is Phoenix; McDowell hails from nearby Glendale.
They’re both driving for teams
with two or fewer cars. Yeley drives for Tommy Baldwin Racing, McDowell for
Phil Parsons Racing.
They both scored Top-10
finishes in the Daytona 500 and ride into Phoenix International Raceway this
weekend on a wave of momentum.
McDowell finished a
career-best ninth in The Great American Race. That effort far exceeded his previous
best finish, a 20th at Richmond International Raceway in 2008. Yeley’s 10th-place
Daytona 500 showing was the eighth Top-10 of his career and first since June of
2008.
Danica
Patrick is an honorary Phoenix native, as well. Though born in
Roscoe, Ill., Patrick maintains dual residences in Phoenix and Chicago. And
clearly, she enjoys the home-track advantage. A 17th-place finish in
last November’s race was her career best at the time, trumped just last Sunday
with an eighth in the Daytona 500. Last year’s PIR race remains her best Cup Series
performance on a non-plate track.
Yeley 10th at Daytona |
Patrick made plenty of
history Sunday, becoming the first female to leads laps in the Daytona 500, the
first female to score a Top-10 in the 500 and the 13th driver to lead both the
Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. Patrick led five laps Sunday, becoming one of
only six drivers who have led five laps in both races. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti,
Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart are the others.
While Yeley, McDowell and
Patrick come to the Valley of the Sun on high notes, Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit
500 offers several other drivers an opportunity to regain momentum that vanished
abruptly at Daytona.
Kevin
Harvick,
Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth were all fast enough to
win the “Great American Race” before misfortune – accident or engine failure –
dictated otherwise.
Each has tasted success at
Phoenix International Raceway in the past.
Harvick (29) was out early Sunday |
On the verge of going
winless last season after two championship “near misses,” Harvick drove his No.
29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to victory at PIR in November. He has now
won three times on the one-mile oval, posting six Top-five and 10 Top-10
finishes.
Busch set a one-lap
qualifying record (138.766 mph, 25.943 seconds) when the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series visited Phoenix last fall. Busch, whose Phoenix victory came in 2005,
owns the track’s third-best Driver Rating (99.9).
Stewart is also a former
Phoenix winner, but a third-place finish in the fall of 2011 was crucial in his
third NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. He has a second-best average running
position of 10.2, but failed to record a Top-15 finish at Phoenix last season.
Kenseth led the most laps in
the Daytona 500 (86) before being sidelined by engine failure. He’ll make his
first Phoenix start in a Joe Gibbs Toyota as teammate to last spring’s Subway
Fresh Fit 500 winner, Denny Hamlin.
Kenseth’s lone Phoenix victory came in 2002.
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