By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
November 11, 2002
10:37 AM EST (1537 GMT)
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- The top 10 in points looked very different after the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Five of the top 10 drivers changed positions -- three moved up, two moved down. Heading into the 2002 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, there is a lot on the line for all of them.
 | Checker Auto Parts 500 |  | Matt Kenseth uses a two-tire stop to win at PIR.
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|  | Junior rules the early stages until he runs out of gas.
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|  | Rusty falls one lap short of his first win of the year.
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With his eighth-place finish, Tony Stewart maintains an 89-point lead over Mark Martin, who finished fourth and led once for two laps. That enabled him to pick up five bonus points on Stewart, who did not lead a lap.
If Stewart finishes 22nd or better next week at Homestead, he will win the title, no matter what Martin does. If Stewart leads one lap and finishes 24th or better, or leads the most laps and finishes 25th or better, Stewart will take Pontiac's second title in three years.
The weight of Winston Cup title weighs solely on Stewart to win. He was asked if can see the hardware on the horizon heading into Homestead.
"Nope, don't want to talk about it," Stewart said. "I think we can win the race in Homestead. We tested good there and I'm real excited about going there."
A week after being docked 25 championship points for an illegal left-front spring last week at Rockingham, Martin said the day at Phoenix was a good one.
"We had a car that could contend," Martin said. "We just didn't get the track position. Maybe we should have taken two (tires) there at the end. I was really thinking about it, but we also didn't want anything to go wrong there.
"That was a fantastic race car. There weren't any cars on the track faster than us, it's just that we weren't faster than the top five there either.
"We started off the year pretty darn good, too. We had a lot of bad luck in the summer and that dropped us back, but I'm very pleased with where we're at right now.
"You could certainly say we didn't fall off at the end. We've been fighting back hard."
Kurt Busch continued his strong second half by finishing sixth for his seventh top-10 performance in the last nine races. Two of those were back-to-back victories.
Busch moved from fifth to third in the points chase, but only eight points seperate him from fourth-place Jimmie Johnson, fifth-place Rusty Wallace and sixth-place Jeff Gordon.
"It's almost scary because we're only nine out of sixth," Busch said. "We're going to keep running like we have. We had a great car today, but it just didn't match up with that last set of tires.
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| Tony Stewart hasn't clinched the Winston Cup title just yet. Credit: Autostock |
"It's like a perfect blend of chemistry everywhere -- whether it's on pit road or at the shop. I'm just so impressed with the way these guys have been able to adapt to me and the way Jimmy Fennig (crew chief) controls the situation."
Gordon scored his best finish since his victory at Kansas in September.
"My pride is crushed for not winning today," said Gordon, who led twice for 16 laps. "Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short. All in all, it was a great day for us to come up third.
"That is our best finish here. We're going to take this car to Homestead next weekend and hopefully have some great things there too and maybe get up to third (in points)."
Ryan Newman was on the wrong end of the points battle, as he fell from fourth to seventh. Newman, who started from the Bud Pole, finished one lap down in the 18th position and is now 14 points behind Gordon.
Even with his series-high fifth win, Matt Kenseth remained eighth in points. Kenseth is only 49 points behind Newman.
Robert Yates Racing teammates Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd remain ninth and 10th spots, respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished fifth in the race, is trails Rudd by only 52 points.
Newman, who finished three spots behind Johnson at Phoenix, remains 20 points ahead of Johnson in the Rookie of the Year battle.
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