The 2011 Kobalt Tools 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on November 13, 2011 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps, it was the thirty-fifth as well as the ninth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Kasey Kahne for the Red Bull Racing Team. Carl Edwards finished second, and Tony Stewart clinched third.
Report Background
Phoenix International Raceway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway. The standard track at Phoenix International Raceway is a four-turn short track oval that is long. After the February race, PIR was significantly reconfigured. The first two turns are now banked from 10 to 11 degrees, while the final two turns are banked from 8 to 9 degrees. The front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at three degrees. The back stretch, nicknamed the 'dogleg', varies from 10 to 11 degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 76,800 spectators.
Before the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 2,316 points, and Tony Stewart stood in second with 2,313 points. Kevin Harvick followed in third with 2,283 points, five ahead of Matt Kenseth and 16 ahead of Brad Keselowski in fourth and fifth. Jimmie Johnson, with 2,261 was 24 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., as Jeff Gordon with 2,235 points, was six ahead of Kurt Busch, and 18 in front of Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman was eleventh and twelfth with 2,216 and 2,213 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 235 points, 52 ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 174 points, was 18 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Edwards is the race's defending champion, after winning the race in 2010.
Practice and qualifying Two 120 minute practice sessions were held before the race on Friday. Jeff Burton was quickest with a time of 25.702 seconds in the first session, more than two-hundredths of a second faster than Kenseth. David Ragan was just off Kenseth's pace, followed by Paul Menard, Newman, and David Reutimann. A. J. Allmendinger was seventh, still within a second of Burton's time. Also in the session, Kyle Busch's team changed his car's engine after engine problems. In the second practice session, Menard was fastest with a time of 25.510 seconds, seven-hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Edwards. Regan Smith took third place, ahead of Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray. Stewart could only manage 36th place.
Afterward, during qualifying, forty-six cars were entered, but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kenseth clinched his third pole position during the season, with a time of 26.258 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Allmendinger. Marcos Ambrose qualified third, Mark Martin took fourth, and Martin Truex Jr. started fifth. Stewart, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified eighth, while Edwards was scored ninth. The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Scott Riggs, David Stremme, and Andy Lally. Once the qualifying session completed, Kenseth commented, "Jimmy Fennig, had a strategy to go fast in the first practice to go out late. Even though we knew the temperature would be hotter he thought the track could be faster with more cars having run on it. A lot of people chose the opposite strategy and worked on race set-up in the first practice and did their qualifying stuff in the second practice to go out early."
Results Qualifying Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer 117Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord26.258137.101 243A. J. AllmendingerRichard Petty MotorsportsFord26.384136.446 39Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord26.411136.307 45Mark MartinHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26.455136.080 556Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota26.455136.080 61Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet26.469136.008 700David ReutimannMichael Waltrip RacingToyota26.473135.988 814Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet26.488135.911 999Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFord26.529135.701 104Kasey KahneRed Bull Racing TeamToyota26.534135.675 1127Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26.547135.609 122Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge26.585135.415 136David RaganRoush Fenway RacingFord26.588135.399 1431Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26.608135.298 1578Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet26.613135.272 1648Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26.618135.247 1722Kurt BuschPenske RacingDodge26.622135.227 1883Brian VickersRed Bull Racing TeamToyota26.624135.216 1984Cole WhittRed Bull Racing TeamToyota26.625135.211 207Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsDodge26.630135.186 2151Landon CassillPhoenix RacingChevrolet26.631135.181 2288Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26.634135.166 2324Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26.689134.887 2446Scott SpeedWhitney MotorsportsFord26.694134.862 2520Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota26.696134.852 2642Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet26.704134.811 2729Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26.715134.756 2833Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet26.751134.574 2916Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord26.756134.549 3039Ryan NewmanStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet26.764134.509 3147Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota26.793134.363 3287Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota26.837134.143 3311Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota26.850134.078 3418Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota26.936133.650 3566Michael McDowellHP RacingToyota26.979133.437 3637Mike SkinnerMax Q MotorsportsFord27.023133.220 3755Travis KvapilFront Row MotorsportsFord27.040133.136 3813Casey MearsGermain RacingToyota27.062133.028 3932Mike BlissFAS Lane RacingFord27.184132.431 4036Geoffrey BodineTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet27.417131.305 4138J. J. YeleyFront Row MotorsportsFord27.911128.981 4234David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord29.252123.068 4335Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet27.157132.562Failed to qualify 4423Scott RiggsR3 MotorsportsToyota27.336131.695 4530David StremmeInception MotorsportsChevrolet27.355131.603 4671Andy LallyTRG MotorsportsFord28.215127.592
Race results
Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points 14Kasey KahneRed Bull Racing TeamToyota31247 299Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFord31243 314Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet31243 431Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31240 539Ryan NewmanStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet31239 643A. J. AllmendingerRichard Petty MotorsportsFord31238 700David ReutimannMichael Waltrip RacingToyota31237 89Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord31236 927Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31235 1033Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31234 1120Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota31233 1211Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota31232 1316Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord31131 1448Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet31130 1542Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet31129 165Mark MartinHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet31128 171Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet31127 182Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge31127 1929Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31125 2056Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota31124 2147Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota31123 2222Kurt BuschPenske RacingDodge31123 2383Brian VickersRed Bull Racing TeamToyota31121 2488Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet31020 2584Cole WhittRed Bull Racing TeamToyota3100 2613Casey MearsGermain RacingToyota30918 2735Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet30917 2838J. J. YeleyFront Row MotorsportsFord30917 2951Landon CassillPhoenix RacingChevrolet3090 3032Mike BlissFAS Lane RacingFord3080 3134David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord30713 3224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30612 336David RaganRoush Fenway RacingFord29811 3417Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord23811 357Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsDodge2189 3618Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1888 3736Geoffrey BodineTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet1537 3878Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet626 3946Scott SpeedWhitney MotorsportsFord600 4066Michael McDowellHP RacingToyota464 4187Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota300 4237Mike SkinnerMax Q MotorsportsFord250 4355Travis KvapilFront Row MotorsportsFord200
Standings after the race
+ Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carl Edwards 2,359 2 Tony Stewart 2,356 (−3) 3 Kevin Harvick 2,308 (−51) 1 4 Brad Keselowski 2,294 (−65) 1 5 Jimmie Johnson 2,291 (−68)
+ Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 239 2 Ford 189 (−50) 3 Toyota 183 (−56) 4 Dodge 159 (−80)
Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.
References