NASCAR Motto: Let There Be Lights
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Phoenix International Raceway will join the growing number of NASCAR tracks turning to night racing when it hosts the Subway Fresh 500-kilometer race tonight, eighth in the 36-race Nextel Cup series.
It will be the first test for a $5-million lighting system installed around the odd-shaped mile track -- it looks like a lopsided D -- and will also be the first for Cup drivers to drive after dark this year, with nine more to come.
Emphasizing the trend toward night racing, NASCAR has announced that its season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in which the champion will be crowned, will be a daylight-into-darkness event.
Greg Biffle, winner last week at Texas and earlier in the season at California Speedway, both in daylight, is enthusiastic about racing under the lights.
“That’s the way I learned to drive a race car up in the Northwest, racing Friday nights, and Saturdays too,†said the driver of Jack Roush’s No. 16 National Guard Ford. “What I like best about it is that it gives the guys in the crew a day off.
“Normally, when we race Sunday, Monday is either travel day or they’re back in the garage. This way, they’ll be off Sunday to spend the day with their families.â€
Biffle also said the cooler night air made his time in the car more livable.
“Inside the car, it can get awfully hot on a sunny day, so night races give me more of a comfort zone.â€
Tonight’s race, like the Sept. 4 California 500 at Fontana, poses an unusual problem, however, as drivers start in daylight and race into darkness, making for dramatic changes in track and racing conditions.
“The worst is about a 15- or 20-minute period when the sun is close to setting and when you come off the fourth turn and head toward the first turn, it’s right in your eyes,†Biffle said. “The track surface also changes, so we get a lot more grip after the sun goes down.â€
Under overcast skies Friday that eliminated glare, Biffle qualified third with a lap of 133.161 mph for the 312-mile race.
“Considering that we worked exclusively on our race setup and didn’t pay much attention to qualifying, we’re very pleased,†said Biffle, second in Cup standings to Jimmie Johnson, who will start 12th in a Chevy.
Jeff Gordon, after complaining all week that he couldn’t find the right combination for his Chevrolet, found it for one lap and won his first Phoenix pole after lapping the mile at 133.675 mph. Since the first Cup race here in 1988, no pole winner has won the main event.
Defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch will start alongside Gordon in another Roush Ford. Ryan Newman, pole-sitter in the last three Phoenix races, posted 132.915 mph on his first lap -- good for the seventh starting spot -- but his Dodge slipped and wobbled in the second turn his second time around, although he kept the car off the wall.
“I’m proud of saving the car, but I’m not proud of what I did,†Newman said.
Biffle, 35, is a latecomer in NASCAR after toiling for years in late-model races near his home in Vancouver, Wash. He might still be there, if not for former Cup champion and TV announcer Benny Parsons.
Parsons will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame this year, but he has been in Biffle’s hall of fame since 1995, when Parsons saw him driving in the Winter Heat late-model series in Tucson.
“I couldn’t believe how good this kid was ... he was just blowing away the competition,†Parsons recalled Friday. “I talked him up to four or five teams, but couldn’t get anyone to listen.... “A couple of years later, Jack Roush told me he was starting a third Craftsman truck team and needed a driver. I reminded him of what I had told him about Greg Biffle and he called him up and hired him.â€
In 1998, Biffle was rookie of the year in the truck series, then the next season brought Roush his first NASCAR championship. He followed the same pattern after moving to the Busch series, winning rookie honors in 2001 and the championship in 2002.
“Right now I’m obsessed with getting ahead of Jimmie Johnson in the points,†Biffle said. “I think about it when I wake up, when I get to the garage. I’m thinking about it right now. I know it’s not important because the championship is decided in the last 10 races, but I just want to lead the standings. Jimmie has been the most consistent driver out there, but I’m focused on getting ahead of him.â€
Go beyond the scoreboard
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