Cross' Words: Phoenix (cont'd)

Random ruminations after Phoenix ...

• There were four green-flag passes for the lead Saturday night:
1. Lap 29: Denny Hamlin passed Jeff Gordon
2. Lap 155: Tony Stewart passed Kevin Harvick
3. Lap 299: Stewart passed Gordon
4. Lap 300: Gordon passed Stewart

Kyle Petty, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek all led during cautions; Harvick took the lead when Hamlin was penalized.

• I can see both sides of the argument:

Jeff Gordon will never be Dale Earnhardt, so why wave the "3" flag and stoke the embers?

Gordon paid a solemn tribute to a fellow competitor and friend.

Either way, it was a good move by Dale Jr. to take the time to publicly congratulate No. 24. (Classy act -- and you know who you are -- throwing water bottles and trash during the victory lap; English soccer fans in training, I assume.)

• Mark Martin's magic carpet ride continues: finishes 12th (his worst run of the year) and still moves up to 10th in points. And good move skipping Talladega; a bad finish would hurt his Chase chances.

It's been 10 years since Martin last won at 'Dega. His average finish in the past 19 races at the superspeedway: 20.2 with seven top-10s and seven finishes of 30th or worse.

• Matt Kenseth came home fifth at Phoenix. His average finish since Daytona: 5.1. And the guy gets less air time than Millard Fillmore.

• Congrats, Ricky Rudd. Saturday night's race was his 883rd Cup start, tied with Dave Marcis for second on the all-time list. Richard Petty tops the chart with 1,185. Among active drivers, the closest to Rudd is Kyle Petty (793, sixth on the all-time list).

Rudd made his series debut on March 2, 1975, at Rockingham.

Say what?

"We checked it after the very first run and we were 2.2 miles an hour to the good, came back in the second run with the same exact rpm, no exaggeration, no lie, and I was speeding. I don't know. I was tonight's entertainment, I guess."
-- Denny Hamlin, on the penalty that put the No. 11 team in a hole from which it never fully recovered

Figuratively Speaking

7 -- Consecutive races in which Michael Waltrip has failed to qualify. Waltrip Racing's three drivers -- Mikey, Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann -- have combined to make 14 starts with zero top-five or top-10 finishes. In fact, the team's average finish is 32.3. Even worse: The team has one lead-lap finish (DJ at Daytona). Worst of all: Jarrett has used five of his six past champion provisionals.

Up Next

Aaron's 499 | Talladega | 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX
Race No. 9 of 36 | Get your tickets | Book your travel

• Defending race winner: Jimmie Johnson
• Most victories at the track: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5)
• Best average finish (minimum five starts): Kurt Busch (10.8 in 12 starts)
Active drivers only (Continued)