Weekend That Was: PIR

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- There aren't many surprises when it comes down to the next-to-last weekend of a 36-race season and the same two guys, who happen to be from the same organization, have won nearly half of the main events.

But here were five surprising things that happened last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway:

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1. Everyone knows Roger Penske has a penchant for doing everything big and doing it right, with a touch of that gentlemanly class that he so clearly possesses. But who knew he had such an impressive complex out in the desert?

When it was first proposed that Saturday evening be spent at the "Penske Museum" in Scottsdale, Ariz. where Penske was going to officially announce what everybody already knew (that Sam Hornish Jr. was going to be put in a full-time Sprint Cup ride for 2008, sponsored by Mobil 1), the most appealing aspect of the invitation was the offer to be transported there from the Phoenix track via helicopter.

The general reaction in the media center seemed to be, "There's a Penske Museum in Scottsdale?"

There actually is so much more than that out there. The 42-acre complex that is home to the Penske Automotive Group sells 1,000 mostly luxury cars every month, and the museum houses all 14 Penske-owned winning Indy 500 cars, plus lots of other cool stuff in a gleaming facility that had 10 times the wow factor of the helicopter ride to and from the place (this included a return trip with none other than driver Ryan Newman and his lovely wife, Krissie) (complete story).

2. The fact that Hornish qualified for both the Busch race and the Cup race. It marked the first time in seven tries he made the Cup race, which may say something about him performing under pressure, which may bode well for the future.

Can you imagine him failing to make the Sunday race, yet still having to stick around and go through the humiliation of Saturday's big shin-dig at the Penske Automotive Group Mansion? It was bad enough that he had to go out there and graciously answer lots of hard questions (which he handled with a good deal of class himself, by the way) after crashing out of the Busch Series race on Lap 22 only a few hours earlier.

3. The fact that Hornish finished the Cup race. Sure, it was only a 30th-place finish. But you have to start somewhere.

4. Kyle Busch's amazing and almost overlooked weekend, because he finished a respectable but relatively uninteresting eighth in Sunday's Cup race. This guy won the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday and then came back to win the Busch Series race on Saturday before flying to Las Vegas to compete in a Super Late Model event there just five hours later.

He was battling near the front in his Late Model, too, when a side-by-side duel for second place ended up in a wreck. Even though his car sustained no significant damage, race officials ruled that Busch had to restart at the rear of the field. In what was no surprise whatsoever, he then chose instead to drive his car to the pits and hop on a helicopter to fly back to Phoenix to rest up for Sunday's Cup race. His chopper (that's what those of us who fly in the birds like to call 'em) was seen darting overhead with 10 laps still left in the Late Model event.

Hey, you can't blame a guy for knowing when to quit. All in all, it was an outstanding weekend for the young fella who may just win as many or more races for Joe Gibbs Racing next season as Dale Earnhardt Jr. does in his new ride for Hendrick Motorsports.

5. Try as one might, no column about a NASCAR weekend is complete these days without some reference to JimmieandJeff (complete story). (Continued)