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Checker Auto Parts 500 - Phoenix International Raceway
Junior Wins in the Valley of the Sun
Although there was rain in the Valley of the Sun, Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t let it rain on his parade to victory lane. Under cloudy skies, Earnhardt captured his second consecutive victory at Phoenix International Raceway, winning the Checker Auto Parts 500 on Sunday afternoon. The event featured two red-flag periods, one at lap 114 for rain that lasted 21 minuets and 27 seconds and one at lap 310 to clean up from a late-race accident that sent the race into overtime. Earnhardt pulled away from the competition in only the second Nextel Cup green-white-checkered finish to score his sixth win of the 2004 season. Earnhardt took the checkered flag 1.431 seconds ahead of second place Ryan Newman, claiming his 15th career victory, moving him into a tie with Ernie Irvan for 40th on NASCAR’s all-time win list. Earnhardt had the day’s strongest car, leading three times for a total of 118 laps including the final 12, leading the most laps for the fifth time in 2004. Jeff Gordon led 100 laps but finished in third place, remaining winless at the Arizona track. Kevin Harvick crossed the finish line in fourth, while rookie Kasey Kahne finished fifth. With the win, Earnhardt climbed from fifth to third in the point standings, trailing leader Kurt Busch by 47 points.
Four Poles in a Row for Newman
Ryan Newman won the Nextel Cup Bud Pole for the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Newman qualified in 26.499 seconds, at an average speed of 135.854mph, breaking Rusty Wallace’s track-qualifying record of 26.830 seconds, 134.178 mph, set Nov. 3, 2000. The top starting spot is Newman’s fourth consecutive Bud pole and the 27th of his career, moving him into a tie with Terry Labonte for 23rd on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup all-time Bud Pole winners list. It is also Newman’s third Bud Pole and his fourth top-10 start in five races at Phoenix. He has posted three consecutive Bud Poles at Phoenix and is the only driver to score back-to-back poles here. This is Newman’s ninth pole and 24th top-10 start of the 2004 season, both more than any other driver. Newman has now clinched the 2004 Bud Pole Award, winning the award for the most Bud Poles for the third straight season. He is the first driver to win the most poles in three straight years since Darrell Waltrip (1981-83). Brian Vickers, in his first Cup race at Phoenix, had the second-fastest time with a qualifying lap of 26.890 seconds, at 133.879 mph, and will join Newman on the front row. Joe Nemechek will start third, while Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick round out the top five on the starting grid.
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