Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans/U.S. Army Chevrolet, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent at Phoenix International Raceway by finishing fifth in the AdvoCare 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday. It was Newman’s fifth top-five result of 2012 and his eighth top-five in 21 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1-mile oval.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet for SHR, finished 19th.
SHR driver Danica Patrick, who is piloting the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with SHR, finished 17th in her first Sprint Cup race at Phoenix. It was her best career Sprint Cup finish, coming in her 10th start.
Kevin Harvick won the AdvoCare 500k to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his third at Phoenix.
Denny Hamlin finished .580 of a second behind Harvick in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Newman rounded out the top-five. Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with 15 drivers failing to finish the 319-lap race, which was extended seven laps by a green-white-checkered finish.
Stewart is representing SHR in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and came into the ninth race of the 10-race Chase in eighth place among the 12 Chase drivers, 80 points behind Chase leader Jimmie Johnson. Stewart leaves Phoenix ninth in the standings, 87 points behind new Chase leader Keselowski and 25 points behind fifth-place Hamlin.
Newman maintained 14th place in the standings. He has 1,009 points, 82 back of 13th-place Kyle Busch.
Just one race remains before a champion is crowned following the Ford 400 on Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Heading into the season finale, the top-12 Chase drivers rank as follows, with only Keselowski and Johnson eligible for the title.
1. Brad Keselowski (2,371 points) +1 position(s)
2. Jimmie Johnson (2,351 points, -20) -1
3. Kasey Kahne (2,321 points, -50) +1(mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
4. Clint Bowyer (2,319 points, -52) -1(mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
5. Denny Hamlin (2,309 points, -62) +2 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
6. Matt Kenseth (2,297 points, -74) -1 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
7. Greg Biffle (2,293 points, -78) +3 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
8. Kevin Harvick (2,285 points, -86) +3 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
9. Tony Stewart (2,284 points, -87) -1 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
10. Jeff Gordon (2,281 points, -90) -4 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
11. Martin Truex Jr. (2,260 points, -111) -2 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2,211 points, -160) +/-0 (mathematically eliminated from championship contention)
The Ford 400 begins at 3 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 2 p.m.
