2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Explained

The 2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 4, 2012 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps, it was the second race of the 2012 season. The race was won by Denny Hamlin for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Kevin Harvick finished second, followed by Greg Biffle in 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.^[1] The standard track at Phoenix International Raceway is a four-turn short track oval that is 1miles long.^[2] The first two turns are banked from 10 to 11 degrees, while the final two turns are banked from 8 to 9 degrees.^[3] 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, Matt Kenseth led the Drivers' Championship with 47 points, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood in second with 42 points. Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin followed in third and fourth with the same amount, two ahead of Jeff Burton and three ahead of Paul Menard in fifth and sixth. Kevin Harvick with 37 was one point ahead of Carl Edwards, as Joey Logano with 36 points, was one ahead of Mark Martin three ahead of Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr.^[4] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford was leading with nine points, three points ahead of Chevrolet. Toyota, with 4 points, was one point ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.^[5] Jeff Gordon is the race's defending winner.^[6]

Entry list

(R) - Denotes rookie driver.

(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Sponsor
1	Jamie McMurray	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats
2	Brad Keselowski	Penske Racing	Dodge	Miller Lite
5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance
7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Dodge	Speed Energy
9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	Stanley Tools / DeWalt
10	David Reutimann	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	Accell Construction
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	FedEx Office
13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Ford	GEICO
14	Tony Stewart	Stewart–Haas Racing	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Mobil 1
15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	5-hour Energy
16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	3M Commercial Graphics
17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	Best Buy
18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	M&M's Brown
20	Joey Logano	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	The Home Depot
22	A. J. Allmendinger	Penske Racing	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil
23	Scott Riggs	R3 Motorsports	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe
24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger
26	Josh Wise (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	MDS Transport
27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Tarkett / Menards
29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Rheem
30	David Stremme	Inception Motorsports	Toyota	Fesler Built
31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Wheaties
32	Mike Bliss (i)	FAS Lane Racing	Ford	Southern Pride Trucking / U.S. Chrome
33	Brendan Gaughan	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa
34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	Barrett-Jackson
36	Dave Blaney	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	Ollie's Bargain Outlet
37	Timmy Hill (R)	Max Q Motorsports	Ford	Poynt.com
38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	Rick Santorum for President
39	Ryan Newman	Stewart–Haas Racing	Chevrolet	WIX Filters
42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	Target
43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	Smithfield / Allez Cuisine
47	Bobby Labonte	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	Kingsford / Scott Products
48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Lowe's / Kobalt Tools
49	J. J. Yeley	Robinson-Blakeney Racing	Toyota	America Israel Racing
51	Kurt Busch	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction
55	Mark Martin	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine
56	Martin Truex Jr.	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	NAPA Filters
78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / Denver Mattress
83	Landon Cassill	BK Racing	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper
87	Joe Nemechek (i)	NEMCO Motorsports	Toyota	AM/FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew
93	Travis Kvapil	BK Racing	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper
98	Michael McDowell	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	K-Love
99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	Subway
Official entry list

Results

Qualifying

No	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time (in seconds)	Speed (in MPH)	Grid
55				26.313	136.814	1
14				26.446	136.126	2
78			Chevrolet	26.471	135.998	3
48			Chevrolet	26.552	135.583	4
42			Chevrolet	26.559	135.547	5
39		Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	26.570	135.491	6
16				26.652	135.074	7
29			Chevrolet	26.664	135.014	8
20			Toyota	26.667	134.998	9
5		Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	26.712	134.771	10
31		Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	26.743	134.615	11
18		Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	26.753	134.564	12
11		Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	26.766	134.499	13
9			Ford	26.776	134.449	14
22				26.810	134.278	15
15		Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	26.812	134.268	16
47			Toyota	26.854	134.058	17
43		Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	26.856	134.048	18
51			Chevrolet	26.878	133.939	19
27		Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	26.903	133.814	20
1		Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	26.913	133.764	21
83			Toyota	26.933	133.665	22
36			Chevrolet	26.940	133.630	23
99		Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	26.943	133.615	24
56		Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	26.983	133.417	25
17		Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	27.094	132.871	26
23			Chevrolet	27.120	132.743	27
2		Penske Racing	Dodge	27.127	132.709	28
88		Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.150	132.597	29
24		Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.182	132.441	30
13			Ford	27.221	132.251	31
10		Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	27.225	132.231	32
26			Ford	27.256	132.081	33
34		Front Row Motorsports	Ford	27.261	132.057	34
49			Toyota	27.338	131.685	35
38		Front Row Motorsports	Ford	27.373	131.516	36
98			Ford	27.376	131.502	37
87			Toyota	27.566	130.596	38
7			Dodge	27.615	130.364	39
33		Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	27.945	128.824	40
93		BK Racing	Toyota	28.159	127.845	41
32			Ford	30.493	118.060	42
30		Inception Motorsports	Toyota	27.887	129.092	43
37			Ford	27.914	128.967	44

Race results

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps Run	Points
1	13	11				312	47
2	8	29				312	44
3	7	16				312	41
4	4	48			Chevrolet	312	18
5	28	2				312	40
6	12	18		Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	39
7	25	56			Toyota	312	38
8	30	24		Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	37
9	1	55		Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	312	36
10	9	20		Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	34
11	5	42			Chevrolet	312	33
12	18	43			Ford	312	32
13	26	17		Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	312	32
14	29	88		Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	30
15	19	51			Chevrolet	312	30
16	17	47			Toyota	312	28
17	24	99		Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	312	27
18	15	22		Penske Racing	Dodge	311	26
19	41	93			Toyota	311	25
20	3	78			Chevrolet	311	24
21	6	39			Chevrolet	310	23
22	2	14		Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	310	23
23	23	36			Chevrolet	309	21
24	42	32			Ford	309	-
25	34	34			Ford	309	20
26	35	49			Toyota	309	18
27	40	33		Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	308	17
28	36	38		Front Row Motorsports	Ford	308	16
29	43	30		Inception Motorsports	Toyota	306	15
30	16	15		Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	306	14
31	20	27		Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	303	13
32	14	9		Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	295	12
33	11	31		Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	291	12
34	10	5		Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	274	10
35	22	83		BK Racing	Toyota	272	9
36	32	10		Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	248	8
37	21	1		Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	212	8
38	33	26		Front Row Motorsports	Ford	110	6
39	31	13			Ford	109	5
40	38	87			Toyota	62	-
41	39	7			Dodge	33	3
42	27	23			Chevrolet	29	2
43	37	98			Ford	8	1

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Denny Hamlin	89
2	Greg Biffle	83
3	Kevin Harvick	81
4	Matt Kenseth	79
5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	72

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Wins	Points
1	Ford	1	13
2	Toyota	1	13
3	Chevrolet	0	12
4	Dodge	0	6

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tracks . NASCAR . March 3, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130101145548/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/ . January 1, 2013 .
2. Web site: Phoenix International Raceway . NASCAR . March 3, 2012 . December 5, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121205053019/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/pir/index.html . dead .
3. Web site: PIR To Be Repaved after February Race . Phoenix International Raceway . February 9, 2011 . March 3, 2012 . September 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170927155008/http://www.phoenixraceway.com/Articles/2011/02/Track-Repave.aspx . dead .
4. Web site: Pre-race Drivers' Championship Standings . Nascar.Com . March 3, 2012.
5. Web site: Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2012 Manufacturers Championship Standings . Jayski.com . March 3, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121130202821/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2012/manu2012.htm . November 30, 2012 . dead .
6. Web site: 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500 . Racing-Reference.info . February 27, 2011 . March 3, 2012.