PIR Avoids Changes to its 2011 NASCAR Schedule

August 10th, 2010

57215862As the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule is unveiled, there have been some changes including some tracks hosting one race instead of two. On Tuesday, Phoenix International Raceway announced they will continue to host two annual Sprint Cup races, only with a twist.

As part of the NASCAR’s schedule realignment, Phoenix International Raceway’s SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 will move from April to February 27 – just one week after NASCAR’s largest event, the Daytona 500. PIR will look to capitalize on the season-opening excitement of Daytona with a new Sunday day-race format, allowing fans to take in the 500 km race in Phoenix with a more traditional local start time of 1 p.m. The SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 will be televised nationally on FOX.

Phoenix will continue to host the semi-final race in NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the Sprint Cup – on November 13. The Kobalt Tools 500, a race in which fans have come to expect heavy championship implications, also starts at 1 p.m. locally and will be televised nationally on ESPN. NASCAR will conclude its season the following week at Homestead Miami Speedway in Florida.

“Phoenix will be the first and last stop NASCAR makes in the West,” Sperber said. “It’s a great privilege for us to help celebrate the excitement of a new season in February and to help crown season champions as the year winds down with the Chase in November.”

Phoenix International Raceway is one of just 13 NASCAR facilities to be awarded two Sprint Cup weekends in 2011. Past studies conducted by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business for PIR have indicated that the economic impact of hosting two NASCAR Sprint Cup weekends annually in Phoenix exceeds $400 million.

“The State of Arizona is well aware of the tremendous economic impact that comes along with hosting a NASCAR weekend in the Valley of the Sun,” Sperber said. “The fact that Phoenix International Raceway has been confirmed to host two Sprint Cup events provides a shot-in-the-arm for our local economy at a time when it’s most needed.”

Phoenix International Raceway will release information about its 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series West events at a later date. NASCAR is expected to release the entire 2011 Sprint Cup Series schedule in coming weeks.

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A Brighter Future – Subway Fresh 600

April 10th, 2010

MVP3-2-Subway Fresh photo resizeSpring NASCAR race at PIR lengthened to ensure racing under the lights
By Ron Matejko
MVP Magazine
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

There will be a lot of new features unveiled on April 10 when NASCAR visits Phoenix International Raceway for the first evening event of the season; namely a new distance, new pit-stop schedules, new fuel cycles and a new name.

The brand new Subway Fresh Fit 600 will be the longest Sprint Cup event in track history, featuring 63 more laps (100 km). This race which was formerly known as a Subway Fresh Sit 500, is measured in kilometers, not miles, which is why the race hasn’t increased by 100 laps at the one-mile track.

“Racing is as much about strategy as it is about pure speed,” said PIR President Bryan Sperber. “This new distance ushers in a whole new race at PIR and will likely jumble the conventional wisdom about who can win at Phoenix.”

The addition of 63 laps ensures that PIR’s April race maintains its spot as the first official night race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season again in 2010. For consistency, NASCAR moved to standard race start times in 2010 and PIR’s extra laps will make certain that the Sprint Cup race, which starts at 4:30 p.m., will run well into the night under the desert sky.

The 375-lap race will be the longest scheduled Sprint Cup event in track history, as each of PIR’s 27 Sprint Cup races dating back to 1988 were originally slated for 500k (312 laps) from green flag to checkered flag. PIR’s November NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will maintain its distance of 312 laps – approximately 500 kilometers.

NASCAR also recently announced that the “wing” on the rear deck of Sprint Cup cars would exist no longer and a new, more traditional spoiler will debut on the rear deck of Sprint Cup cars at the Subway Fresh Fit 600.

“The wing wasn’t accepted as widely as we had hoped it would have been by competitors and fans alike,” said Robin Pemberton, Vice President of Competition for NASCAR. “After much effort we started looking and decided to go back to the spoiler.”

The spoiler’s return is just one of many changes NASCAR made to increase excitement this season. Other moves include a decision to allow drivers to self-police each other, which will lead to more aggressive driving, in addition to allowing multiple green-white-checkered finishes to ensure a race ends under a green flag.

For more information, visit www.PhoenixRaceway.com/600UndertheLights.

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Ride of Your Life

April 10th, 2010

MVP3-5-Copperstate 1000-2 resized

By Ron Matejko
MVP Magazine

It’s one thing to jump in the car on a beautiful spring day in Arizona and take a ride with the family. The bar is raised exponentially on the whole experience if you have a chance to cruise around the most picturesque parts of the state in a rare vintage automobile.

The Copperstate 1000 offers that opportunity to the select few each year who participate in one of the premier car road rallies in North America. The Men’s Arts Council created the Copperstate 1000 in 1990 as a fundraiser for the Phoenix Art Museum, where the finest vintage automobiles in the world grace the scenic highways of Arizona during this annual four-day event.

The beauty of the Copperstate 1000 is the shared celebration of the automotive cultural legacy by car owners and enthusiasts who appreciate the finest working examples of vintage, sports, muscle, racing, classic and grand touring automobiles manufactured before the 1973 model year.

Collector car enthusiasts can attend the free Copperstate Field of Dreams from 8 a.m. to noon on April 11 where the cars participating in the rally meet for a public viewing before embarking on the leisurely 1,000-mile journey throughout the state of Arizona.

Get an up close look at a venerable museum of more than 70 of the finest vehicles ever produced from luxury car makers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Bentley and Jaguar to name just a few. The combined value of these automobiles tops $250 million dollars.

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Woman Killed Sunday at NHRA Race at Firebird Raceway

February 21st, 2010

A woman was killed Sunday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals when she was struck by debris from an accident involving Top Fuel driver Antron Brown at Firebird Raceway in Chandler on Sunday. The Gila River Police Department confirmed that an adult female was killed at the Firebird International Raceway during the NHRA races, but they did not release her name.

Brown was racing Troy Buff when Brown’s left rear tire separated from the car and he lost control. The car crossed the center lane and hit the retaining wall as the tire bounded off the track surface.

USA Today reported the woman was a member of a Nostalgia Funny Car team.

The NHRA said Brown was uninjured in the accident.

“We’re racers and we race and I’m ok,” Brown said in a statement released by his team, Don Schumacher Racing. “It all happened so quickly and I want to thank the NHRA Safety Safari for being there so quickly to help get me out of the car and also the track medical team for tending to me so quickly.”

The release said Brown went to Chandler Regional Hospital for further observation.

NHRA officials are investigating the incident.

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PIR Increases Length of Spring NASCAR Race

January 13th, 2010

PIR logoIt will be a whole new race on April 10 when NASCAR visits Phoenix International Raceway for the first evening event of the season – new distance, new pit-stop schedules, new fuel cycles, and a new name. The brand new SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600 will be the longest Sprint Cup event in track history, featuring 63 more laps (100k) of high-octane action at the same affordable cost that NASCAR fans have come to enjoy in the Valley of the Sun.

“Racing is as much about strategy as it is about pure speed,” said PIR President Bryan Sperber, said in a release. “This new distance ushers in a whole new race at PIR and will likely jumble the conventional wisdom about who can win at Phoenix.”

The addition of 63 laps ensures that PIR’s April race maintains its spot as the first official night race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season again in 2010. For consistency, NASCAR moved to standard race start times in 2010 and PIR’s extra laps will make certain that the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600 – which starts at 4:30 p.m. locally – will run well into the night under the desert sky.

As mentioned, the 375-lap April 10 race under bright Saturday night lights will be the longest scheduled Sprint Cup event in track history, as each of Phoenix International Raceway’s 27 Sprint Cup races dating back to 1988 were originally slated for 500k (312 laps) from green flag to checkered flag. PIR’s November NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will maintain its distance of 312 laps – approximately 500 kilometers.

To help celebrate this exciting new development in Phoenix International Raceway’s rich NASCAR history, fans will have the opportunity to turn the first 600 laps of the new season at PIR on Saturday, March 27 – just five short weeks before the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600. How to participate? Just be one of the first 100 people to call 1-866-408-RACE (7223) and purchase a grandstand ticket to the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 600 using the code-phrase “600 Under the Lights” and you can be one of 100 lucky fans to drive six laps on PIR’s one-mile oval. Fans that call in after the first 100, as well as those who have already purchased their tickets, will also have the opportunity to drive the track at PIR. For more details, please visit www.phoenixraceway.com/600underthelights.

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Video: Post-Race Reactions, Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at PIR

November 15th, 2009

Watch post-race reactions from most of the top-10 finishers in Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

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Video: Jimmie Johnson Sprint Cup Celebration at PIR

November 15th, 2009

Watch Jimmie Johnson celebrate his fourth NASCAR victory at Phoenix International Raceway in his last five races.

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Watch Sprint Cup Qualifying at PIR

November 14th, 2009

Watch video highlights from qualifying for Sunday’s Sprint Cup NASCAR race at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=4200d6c4-1800-4795-ab68-05a0d1fff76e&#038;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral" target="_new" title="Highlights: Phoenix qualifying">Video: Highlights: Phoenix qualifying</a>

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PIR NASCAR Sprint Cup Notes

November 12th, 2009

Checker500Logo_REVISE_FINAL

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads to Phoenix International Raceway this week, for Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Presented By Pennzoil – the ninth event in the Chase. Here are some notes leading into the race which begins at 12:30 p.m.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

The Chase, Week 9

• Jimmie Johnson’s chances of a record fourth-straight championship absorbed a body blow at Texas – but by no means was it a knockout. An early-race crash led to a 38th-place finish for Johnson and a seemingly safe lead in the points is down to 73 over second-place Mark Martin, with two races remaining on the schedule. The largest deficit ever overcome with two races remaining is 85 points. In 1992, Alan Kulwicki leapfrogged two drivers – Bill Elliott and Davey Allison – with two races to go to win the championship.

• As the season comes to a close, the championship picture starts to come into focus. To clinch at Homestead, two races away, Johnson needs to average a fourth-place finish over the final two races, or fifth and a lap led in each of the final two races, or sixth and the most laps led in each of the final two races. If he does that, he’ll clinch no matter what any other driver does. He can mathematically clinch at Phoenix, though the task is a tough one. To clinch Sunday, Johnson needs to leave Phoenix with a 195-point lead over second place. Currently up 73 points, he’ll need to gain 122 points in Sunday’s race.

• His suddenly precarious lead aside, Johnson has to like the fact that he’ll be in Phoenix this week. He has won three of the last four PIR races. Johnson won the fall race at Phoenix in 2007, then swept last year’s two races. Johnson also has the top pre-race Driver Rating at Phoenix – by a wide margin. His 120.0 rating is 17.6 points ahead of second-best Kurt Busch’s 102.4.

• Mark Martin, second in the points this week, could be headed toward his fifth series championship runner-up finish. If that happens, his consolation will be a simply outstanding season – his first for Hendrick Motorsports. Martin has five victories this season, second only to Johnson’s six. The first of Martin’s 2009 victories came at Phoenix, in April. So, given the points-tightening developments at Texas, Martin is looming ominously in Johnson’s rear-view mirror.

• Four-time champion Jeff Gordon’s on-again, off-again “drive for five” is back on, thanks to Johnson’s crash at Texas and Gordon’s 13th-place finish. Gordon is third, 112 behind Johnson. Gordon is still looking for that 83rd career victory, which will tie him with Cale Yarborough for fifth on the all-time list.

Spoiler Roles: Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick could be the guys outside the Chase to watch this week. Busch nearly pulled off the ultimate sweep this past weekend at Texas, winning races in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series before falling just short in the NASCAR Sprint Cup event, due to running out of gas.

Busch

Busch is obviously on a roll – he’s closing in on winning the NASCAR Nationwide championship – and he also won the NASCAR Sprint Cup fall race in Phoenix back in 2005.

Harvick swept Phoenix’s two races in 2006; in the latter he posted a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.

Both of these drivers will have plenty of track time at PIR, as they’re scheduled to run in all three events.

Stats: Phoenix A House of Dominance
Phoenix is a place of dominance, so says the statistics. There have been two perfect Driver Ratings of 150.0 scored at Phoenix since the inception of the Loop Data stat in 2005. Only one other track has multiple perfect 150s – Pocono, with two.

Kurt Busch scored a perfect Driver Rating in April of 2005, the first 150.0 ever recorded. Kevin Harvick posted the second 150 at Phoenix, in November of 2006.

Johnson came close to a perfect 150 in his Phoenix win in November of last season, scoring a 149.9.

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McCain Named Grand Marshal for NASCAR Race at PIR

October 29th, 2009

McCain Jeff GordonArizona Senator John McCain will act as the Grand Marshal for the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) on Sunday, November 15.

The role marks a return to PIR for Arizona’s senior Senator, who also appeared as Grand Marshal before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the track in April 2006.

As Grand Marshal, McCain will appear on the pre-race ceremonies stage with PIR President Bryan R. Sperber to welcome NASCAR fans, drivers, and teams to the Valley of the Sun for the Semi-Final Showdown in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Following driver introductions, McCain will deliver the familiar “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!” command to the 43 starters in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field.

For more information about the November NASCAR event weekend at Phoenix International Raceway visit www.PhoenixRaceway.com.

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