| By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
April 22, 2005
03:50 PM EDT (19:50 GMT)
Those fans hoping for an end to Roush Racing's good fortune this week at Phoenix should think twice before betting the farm on it. The Roush bunch has four Cup wins at PIR, including three in a row from 2000-02. They also happen to have who many consider to be the hottest driver in the Nextel Cup Series right now, Greg Biffle.  | | |
| Looking for more |
| Roush Racing at PIR |
| Category |
Stat |
| Starts |
52 |
| Wins |
4 |
| Top-5s |
17 |
| Top-10s |
28 |
| Avg. start |
19.7 |
| Avg. finish |
13.2 |
| Laps Led |
977 |
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Biffle, who completely dominated last weekend's event at Texas, had a rough go of it last time out at PIR in November. He ran in the top 10 for much of the race's first half, but got on a pit cycle that put him on old tires at the end of the race. He finished 13th, two spots better than he finished in his Cup debut there in 2003. However, keep in mind that before last Sunday, Biffle's average finish at Texas Motor Speedway was 30th. Plus, Biffle says he has a liking for PIR's unusual configuration. "I always look forward to racing at Phoenix for a number of reasons," he said. "The track is very technical and it's almost like an oval road course because of the different corners and dogleg on the backstretch. "Phoenix really challenges the driver and those are the tracks that are the most fun. The [team] is really strong right now and we just need to keep the momentum going." FOX lost a bit of momentum in the ratings watch last weekend at Texas. The race earned a 5.0 overnight rating and an 11 share. That's down from the 5.6/13 that last year's race earned. Biffle and Clint Bowyer are among the guests scheduled to drop by "Trackside" Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET) on SPEED. In this week's "Ask the Producer," Bill Presad of Palm Bay, Fla. joins many fans in wondering if some of FOX's lengthy pre-race show can be moved to post-race. NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg says doing that would be a tough needle to thread. |  | | NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg |
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"This is a catch-22," Goldberg said. "First we have to get off the air at a certain time to give the local affiliates the time back for their programming. The affiliates have been great about us wrapping up the shows after the race. "We start the shows when we do because research shows that it allows more people to be home for the start of the race. We have gone to a longer pre-race show in most cases to give the fans a little more of their racing fix. "For the most part, the races are scheduled in a time slot that should accommodate the length of the race and allow time to wrap it up. It just seems that the races have gone long with the caution. This is something you can not predict. "If we started programming for worst-case scenarios, we would likely often have 30 to 40 minutes to fill at the end of the show. Drivers that finish out of the top 5 are usually gone within 5 to 10 minutes after the race." Each week, we'll choose one fan's question to ask a NASCAR on FOX producer. Does something on the broadcast leave you shaking your head? Have you always wondered how or why the TV crew does something? Use the link to the right to e-mail your question and you just might read the answer right here. In this week's version of "The Rant," Dan Rochat thinks SPEED has forgotten about the little guy. |  | EMAIL | |
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"Why is that SPEED always cuts out the underfunded, or 'independent' teams, during qualifying? I can never see Carl Long qualify and its really frustrating. But you always seem to get it when Stewart is on, heaven forbid we forget Stewart! I think qualifying should be commercial-free. Not many people are watching it anyway." I'm sure the folks that work on the qualifying broadcast are going to love reading that no one watches it. I'd imagine that the SPEED accountants are also scooping themselves off the floor after your suggestion that the broadcast be commercial-free. I don't work for SPEED, but I would guess the network picks its spots based on driver popularity. Would you rather deal with complaints from Carl Long's fans or Tony Stewart's fans? Now to this weekend's schedule: Track: Phoenix International Raceway • 1-mile oval
• 11-degree banking in Turns 1-2
• 9-degree banking in Turns 3-4
• 3-degree banking in frontstretch
• 9-degree banking in backstretch
• Length of frontstretch: 2,179 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,551 feet Race length: 312 laps/312 miles (500 kilometers) TV schedule (All times ET) • NASCAR Live: 3 p.m. Thurs., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 5 p.m. Thurs., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 7:30 p.m. Thurs., SPEED
• Final Practice: 9 p.m. Thurs., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: Noon Fri., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 3 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 6 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Trackside: 7:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Pre-race: 7:30 p.m. Sat., FOX
• Race: 7:55 p.m. Sat., FOX One year ago, this race didn't exist. The most recent checkered flag went to Greg Biffle, who dominated the Samsung/RadioShack 500 Sunday at Texas. Keep an eye on Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior has won the past two Cup events at PIR and his No. 8 team is slowing climbing back into contention. Track: Phoenix International Raceway • 1-mile oval
• 11-degree banking in Turns 1-2
• 9-degree banking in Turns 3-4
• 3-degree banking in frofrontstretch 9-degree banking in backstretch
• Length of frontstretch: 2,179 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,551 feet Race length: 200 laps/200 miles TV schedule (All times ET) • Practice: 8 p.m. Thurs., SPEED
• Busch Pole Qualifying: 4:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Race: 9:10 p.m. Fri., FX One year ago, Jamie McMurray hounded Kyle Busch all afternoon, finally stole the lead after a late re-start and held on to win last fall at PIR. The most recent checkered flag went to Kasey Kahne, who got past rookie Reed Sorenson late in the race and held on through a two-lap shootout to win at Texas Motor Speedway. Keep an eye on Johnny Sauter. He'll be without crew chief Joe Shear for the next four races because of a suspension given to him by NASCAR for using an illegal part last week at Texas. Mark Spoor is an interactive producer for NASCAR.COM. The Domino's Viewer's Guide appears each Thursday during race weeks. | 
