TRACK NEWS
- Track Specifications:
Track/Race Length: 1.0 mile oval, 312 laps, 312 miles/500km
Degree of Banking: Turns 1-2: 11 degrees; Turns 3-4: 9 degrees
Front stretch: Length: 1,179 feet, Banking: 3 degrees
Back stretch: Length: 1,551 feet, Banking: 9 degrees
Pit Road: Length: 1,140
Pit Road Speed: 45mph
Grandstand seating: 55,000 [was 76,812] Opened: 1964 (first NASCAR Sprint Cup event was 1988)
Last Repave: 2011 - Race Festivities/Officials:
Grand Marshal: TBA
Command to start engines: TBA
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Honorary Pace Car Driver: Olympian and current UFC star Dan Henderson
Color Guard: TBA
Invocation: TBA
National Anthem: TBA
Flyover: TBA - 2014 March Race Winner: #4-Kevin Harvick, 109.229mph, started 13th
- 2014 November Winner: #4-Kevin Harvick, 99.991mph, started 3rd
- Race Record: Tony Stewart, Nov 1999, 118.132mph
- Slowest Race Record: Alan Kulwicki, 1988, 90.457mph
- Oldest Race Winner: Mark Martin, 50 years, 3 months, 9 days, 4/18/2009
- Youngest Race Winner: Kyle Busch, 20 years, 5 months, 11 days, 11/13/2005
- 2014 March Pole Winner: #2-Brad Keselowski, 139.384mph, finished 3rd
- 2014 November Pole Winner: #11-Denny Hamlin, 142.113mph, finished 5th
- Track Qualifying Record: Joey Logano, 11/7/2014, 142.141mph (set in round 1 of qualifying)
- Oldest Pole Winner: Mark Martin, 54 years, 1 month, 23 days, 3/1/2013
- Youngest Pole Winner: Kyle Busch, 20 years, 11 months, 20 days, 4/22/2006
- Top 10 Driver Ratings at Phoenix
#48-Jimmie Johnson…………………… 114.0
#4-Kevin Harvick………………………. 106.2
#24-Jeff Gordon………………………… 100.5
#19-Carl Edwards………………………… 99.2
#11-Denny Hamlin……………………….. 96.6
#14-Tony Stewart…………………………. 96.4
#2-Brad Keselowski……………………. 91.5
#16-Greg Biffle……………………………. 90.1
#31-Ryan Newman……………………….. 87.9
#20-Matt Kenseth………………………… 87.9
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2014 races (20 total) among active drivers at Phoenix International Raceway.
Phoenix Notes & Facts – Thursday – 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 in 2011. The construction began in March and concluded in September of that year.
· The following changes were made during the construction period (March – Sept., 2011):
· Widened the frontstretch from 52 to 62 feet
· Reconfigured pit road with the installation of concrete pit stalls
· Pushed the dog-leg curve between Turn 2 and Turn 3 out 95 feet
· Tightened the turn radius of the dog-leg from 800 to 500 feet
· 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
TELEVISION COVERAGE
- NASCAR Pre-Race: FOX – 3:00pm/et
- Television Race Coverage: FOX, 3:30pm/et
- In the Booth: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds
- Pit Reporters: Chris Neville, Jamie Little, Matt Yocum
- Hollywood Hotel/Host: Chris Myers, Michael Waltrip, Darrell Waltrip
- Rules Analyst: Andy Petree
- NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: at 12:00pm/et on FoxSports1 (FS1)
EVENT SCHEDULE
Times are local to the Track (Mountain Time)
Thursday, March 12
6:00 PM NSCS HAULERS ENTER
Friday, March 13
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM NSCS GARAGE OPEN & INSPECTION BEGINS
11:00 AM NSCS ROOKIE & SPOTTER MEETINGS & RANDOM DRAWING
12:00 – 1:15 PM NSCS PRACTICE (FoxSports 1)
4:50 PM NSCS QUALIFYING (FoxSports 2)
Saturday, March 14
7:00 AM – 3:30 PM NSCS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPEN
8:30 – 9:25 AM NSCS PRACTICE (FoxSports 1)
11:30 AM – 12:20 PM NSCS FINAL PRACTICE (FoxSports 1)
Sunday, March 15
7:00 AM NSCS GARAGE OPENS
10:30 AM NSCS DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MEETING
12:00 PM NSCS DRIVERS INTRODUCTION
12:30 PM NSCS RACE (Fox)
NSCS = Sprint Cup Series
TIRE NOTES
- Tire: Goodyear Eagle Intermediate Radials
- Set limits:
Sprint Cup: 5 sets for practice/qualifying and 10 sets for the race; - Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4612; Right-side — D-4626
- Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 87.64 in. (2,226 mm);
Right-side — 88.35 in (2,244 mm) - Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 14 psi; Left Rear — 14 psi;
Right Front — 34 psi; Right Rear — 32 psi - Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same Goodyear tire set-up at Phoenix this week . . . while this is the first time these teams have run this right-side tire code (D-4626), they have run this left-side code (D-4612) at this track since November 2013 . . . compared to what was run at Phoenix last year, this right-side tire features a compound change to enhance grip and help rubber-in the track, and a construction change to bring this track in line with what is run at Richmond . . . Goodyear held a tire test at Phoenix last October . . . drivers participating in that test were Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Michael McDowell . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Phoenix.
Weather:
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Entry List | |||||
| Campingworld.com 500(k) | |||||
| Phoenix International Raceway – 3/15/2015 | |||||
| Entry | Car # | Driver | Make | Sponsor | 2015 Owner Points Rank |
| 1 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | Cessna | 28 |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | Alliance Truck Parts | 18 |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevy | Dow | 25 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevy | Jimmy John’s | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevy | Farmers Insurance | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Advocare | 27 |
| 7 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevy | Toy State / Nikko | 41 |
| 8 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Ford | Medallion Bank / Camping World | 20 |
| 9 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevy | GoDaddy.com | 22 |
| 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 8 |
| 11 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevy | GEICO | 9 |
| 12 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevy | Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 | 38 |
| 13 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy | 16 |
| 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Ortho | 12 |
| 15 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | Fastenal | 34 |
| 16 | 18 | David Ragan | Toyota | Snickers Extreme | 21 |
| 17 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | Stanley | 26 |
| 18 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | Dollar General | 10 |
| 19 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | 3 |
| 20 | 23 | J.J. Yeley (i) | Toyota | Dr. Pepper | 40 |
| 21 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevy | Drive to End Hunger | 32 |
| 22 | 26 | Jeb Burton # | Toyota | Maxim.com | 44 |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevy | Menards / Serta | 15 |
| 24 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevy | Quicken Loans | 14 |
| 25 | 32 | Mike Bliss(i) | Ford | Draftdemons.com | 36 |
| 26 | 33 | Alex Kennedy | Chevy | TBA | 24 |
| 27 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | Dockside Logistics | 29 |
| 28 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | Sprouts Farmer’s Market – Harvest Meats | 33 |
| 29 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | MDS Transport | 19 |
| 30 | 40 | Landon Cassill* (i) | Chevy | CRC 1 – Tank Renew | 46 |
| 31 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevy | Haas Automation | 13 |
| 32 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevy | Target | 23 |
| 33 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Eckrich | 17 |
| 34 | 44 | Travis Kvapil (i) | Chevy | TBA | 45 |
| 35 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevy | Pilot Flying J | 35 |
| 36 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevy | Kingsford Charcoal | 5 |
| 37 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | Lowes | 7 |
| 38 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevy | Brandt | 30 |
| 39 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 11 |
| 40 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan (i) | Chevy | TBA | 42 |
| 41 | 66 | Tanner Berryhill* (i) | Chevy | TBA | 47 |
| 42 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevy | Furnitrue Row | 4 |
| 43 | 83 | Matt Dibenedetto | Toyota | Burger King | 39 |
| 44 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevy | Nationwide | 2 |
| 45 | 98 | Josh Wise | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 43 |
* – Required to qualify by speed
# – Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate
(i) – driver not running for 2015 Sprint Cup Series Championship Drivers Points
