Phoenix International Raceway is a jewel of a racetrack hidden way back on a corner of the Estrella Mountains, and usually, Sprint Cup Series teams find it tough sledding to get their cars to handle on the 1-mile oval.

Like Darlington and Pocono, the reason is because it is oddly shaped, with tighter Turns 1 and 2 and a more sweeping Turns 3 and 4. Each end of the track being different, it's a challenge for crew chiefs to hit the middle.

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Brakes are pretty important. We run our short-track package there, the same we would run at Martinsville and Richmond, because you do use so much of them.

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TODD PARROTT

"Phoenix is a very unique track in that you have a long straightaway similar to Loudon going into Turn 1 and it has 10 degrees of banking," said Todd Parrott, crew chief for driver Travis Kvapil at Yates Racing. "You're able to run multiple grooves there during the race -- the bottom, the middle and then after your tires get hot you seem to move up to the high side a little bit to keep your momentum down the backstretch."

The backstretch at Phoenix, especially since the track was redone to eliminate the entrance off Turn 2 a couple years back, is still one of the most different in the sport, Parrott said.

"The backstretch is pretty unique too, because it has a dogleg in the middle of it," Parrott said. "The track seems to be about 400 feet longer on the back side than the front side. When you enter Turn 3, you're kind of turning left the whole way down the backstretch, so you tend to get loose into Turn 3 moreso than in Turn 1. Up off Turn 4, you're carrying so much speed that you need a really well-balanced car to try to keep the drive. You get freer off Turn 4 than you do off Turn 1, because Turn 1 is a tighter-radius corner, and Turn 3-4 is a more sweeping corner, and you carry a lot more speed."

Given that PIR is a 1-mile oval that races more like a Martinsville or Richmond, brakes are very important to the overall success of the day.

"Brakes are pretty important," Parrott said. "We run our short-track package there, the same we would run at Martinsville and Richmond, because you do use so much of them. You carry so much speed into the corners that you're on the brakes pretty hard."

Heating up the brakes is a bad thing if it goes too far, and being on the brakes a lot tends to build heat quickly. That can contribute to tire problems by melting the bead off the rim. Parrott said any tire problems at PIR are usually from camber, not excessive heat.

"It's more just getting on the inside edge of the tire itself and damaging it," Parrott said of the rash of popped right-fronts the teams have experienced with the new car. "That usually happens when you put new tires on and you've got a lot of camber in it in the center of the corner. It happens at low air pressure, and you'll damage the tire, then run almost a full fuel stop. You'll see guys start having right-fronts go down."

Phoenix presents a different tire challenge from most tracks, now that Rockingham is off the schedule. Being flatter than most, and in the middle of the desert, sand has a tendency to find its way into everything.

"Phoenix can be hard on tires," Parrott said. "You can get caught up in trying to make your car turn, and camber is a good fix for making it turn in the center of the corner. Phoenix has a history of a lot of guys trying to get too aggressive with right-front camber settings and popping right-front tires. The track is pretty old and abrasive, and it's in the middle of the desert, so you'll have wind storms that make it kind of sandy."

The engine guys earn their money at Phoenix too, Parrott said.

"It puts the engines to the test because on the straights you're turning pretty good RPM, especially into Turn 3," he noted. "A lot of guys will put a rev limiter in their car. If the driver's on the chip entering Turn 3, it kind of gives them an idea that they're driving too hard into the corner. It helps the driver to know to get off the gas."

Getting off the gas can be important at Phoenix, especially at the end of the race, as fuel mileage is crucial.

"Phoenix is a place that will make you or break you on track position," Parrott said. "Being up front is definitely the key to winning the race there. The lead car just seems to get up and get out ahead of everyone, and being in clean air is very important there. Fuel mileage is very important there too. The race that Jimmie Johnson won the first of the year was very similar to the one Carl Edwards won at Texas last week. At the end of the race, he slowed the pace way down while everyone else was pitting for fuel and he was able to make it."

One aspect that is on Parrott's mind these days is the super-tight race for the manufacturer's championship. Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota are separated by a scant three points heading into Phoenix.

"I'd love to see Ford win the manufacturer's championship," he said. "It's going to be tough, but anything is possible."