Ryan Newman took the lead from Jeff Gordon on another green-white-checkered flag finish and held on to win the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway which was extended 63 laps to 375, causing modifications in pit-stop planning.
This win was the first for Newman since the 2008 Daytona 500 breaking a 77-race Sprint Cup winless streak and was his first for Stewart-Haas Racing.
It’s been a long time coming to get back in victory lane. It’s the most emotional victory I’ve had in my entire career just because it’s been so long. I wasn’t sure if Jeff couldn’t get going or what, but I held my line and got going off turn two.”
Kyle Busch was cruising to a Phoenix dominance after wining Bashas' Supermarkets 200 Nationwide race and leading the Cup race when a caution flag came out with 3 laps remaining. When the lead-lap cars pitted, Busch took four tires and came out eighth -- behind six cars that took only two tires and Jimmie Johnson, who was chasing him down in the final stage of the race. Johnson lost his 113 laps lead due to an uncharacteristic bad restart on Lap 262 allowing Kyle Busch to take the lead and almost a comfortable victory.
Although Gordon beat everybody out of the pits, it was Newman in the restart that went inside and took over the lead, holding Gordon behind. Gordon tried to challenge off the final turn on the last lap but couldn’t advance finishing second.
After the race he claimed that he spun his tires on the restart, costing him momentum and, ultimately, the win. For the second straight race, Gordon, who now has a 36-race winless streak, lost the lead in the event’s final lap.
Jimmie Johnson, who won four of the previous five races at Phoenix, was finally third extending his Cup lead to Mat Kenseth, veteran Mark Martin was fourth and Juan Pablo Montoya fifth although was the primary leader of the race.
Despite recently undergoing reconstructive surgery for a torn knee ligament, Denny Hamlin managed to finish the race. Casey Mears was standing by in Hamlin’s pit as a substitute driver, but Hamlin stayed in his Toyota to take the checkered flag. Hamlin finished 30th, however, mainly because of an early-race battery problem and a stall on pit road that dropped him two laps down.
