Courtesy NASCAR Media Group
The Subway Fresh Fit 500 was the second race of the season and the second at Phoenix International Raceway since the racing surface was repaved and reconfigured. Kevin Harvick, who led the most laps of the race (88), fell short of winning as fuel mileage became the name of the game. Denny Hamlin, with new Crew Chief Darin Grubb atop the pitbox, managed to save just enough gas to claim the win, and the points lead.
There were seven caution periods totaling 37 of the 312 laps, with three of those periods being caused by debris. Also, there was only one mutli-car accident. Engine attrition claimed Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, David Reutimann, and Marcos Ambrose. The final four finishers: Joe Nemecheck, Robby Gordon, Scott Riggs and Michael McDowell were Start and Parks; each saying “brakes” are what forced them out of the race.
Greg Biffle picked up his second third place finish in a row, after finishing third in the Daytona 500 last week.
Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. both lead chunks of the middle part of the race, and brought their machines home in sixth and seventh respectively.
Tony Stewart found himself a bit of a ginnie pig with the new Electronic Fuel Injection system. During a caution, Stewart shut his car off in an effort to save fuel. When he tried to restart the car, the engine would not fire. He had to be pushed back to his pit, where his Stewart-Haas crew were perplexed by the cause of the malfunction. Finally, one crew member discovered that a relay on the EFI box had been tripped and after attending to it, the car cranked as if nothing had ever happened.
