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Phoenix preview: Hendrick head-to-head

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Lee Spencer

Lee Spencer is the senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. She has provided award-winning coverage of auto racing over the last 15 years. Spencer has lent her expertise to both television and radio and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM Radio and the Performance Racing Network.

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Updated Nov 14, 2009 5:13 PM ET
     
 

PHOENIX

Mark Martin received a one-week reprieve in his chase for the championship following Jimmie Johnson's misfortunes at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend. For Martin, who won the spring race at Phoenix International Raceway, a return trip to the desert couldn't come at a better time. Martin's average finish of ninth at PIR is his best of any oval and the second-best on the Sprint Cup tour. Unfortunately, for the popular veteran, the stat is eclipsed by Johnson's average finish of 5.4.
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Johnson must leave Phoenix with a 195-point advantage over Martin to clinch the title this weekend. With an average finish of fourth or better in the next two events, Johnson will lock down his fourth title no matter where Martin finishes. So what's the tale of the tape for the Hendrick teammates at Phoenix? Martin will drive his winning car (Chassis No. 5-538) from the spring Phoenix and New Hampshire Chase race this weekend. In 25 PIR starts, Martin has scored two wins, 10 top-fives and 16 top 10 finishes. Martin has led 833 laps on the one-miler and has a completion rate of 98 percent. "We can't say that one race changed everything," Martin said. "Did we close in on Jimmie? Yes. But that doesn't mean that the whole Chase has changed. We're going to keep doing what we've done every race week: try to win. That's all I can do, and that's all this team can do. We aren't in control of anything else that happens. "I've said all along that you can't make predictions, and I still say that it's not over. There are a lot more guys in contention than just me and Jimmie. The race is still on for all of us." Johnson leads the series with three wins at Phoenix. He has a completion rate of 100 percent and has never finished worse than 15th. In 12 starts, Johnson has posted seven top-fives and 10 top 10 finishes. Johnson will race chassis 540 at PIR. The car finished second at Martinsville last month. "Looking at the schedule, the best track remaining for us would be PIR," Johnson said. "We had a really fast car in the spring and had some different issues on pit road and some bad luck with the timing of the caution that kept us back in the pack. And (we) still ended up with a reasonable finish but we passed a lot of cars and in our opinion felt like we had the strongest car. "For me it's a great track but it's also a great track for Jeff. He runs very consistent there, and then Mark won in the spring. The two guys I'm trying to stay ahead of in the points have that track as a strong one, as well. At the end of the day I feel very confident. I feel very strong about the performance Hendrick Motorsports will have. I just hope it's the 48 car on top of the heap." Expect Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k to be a race for the ages.

Around the track

  • The dominos continue to fall at Richard Petty Motorsports. When Keith Barnwell was released on Tuesday, that left AJ Allmendinger sans spotter. On Thursday, the decision was made to reunite 'Dinger with former spotter Tony Hirschmann, who had been reassigned to Reed Sorenson in the crew chief swap. Sorenson's crew chief Sammy Johns will spot for him this weekend. Kevin Buskirk, who was Elliott Sadler's crew chief earlier this season, is expected to make the calls on the No. 43 pit box.
  • Pete Rondeau, who served as the director of research and development at RPM since July 2005, was also released on Tuesday. The former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he's ready to become a road warrior again and is interested in any upcoming crew chief openings.
  • David Ragan will run the new FR9 engine at Homestead next weekend.
Tagged: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, David Ragan, Reed Sorenson, A J Allmendinger, Mark Martin

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