Johnson, Martin should lead the way at Phoenix

The race at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend promises to hold much more intrigue that we would have imagined just one week ago. The almost insurmountable lead that Jimmie Johnson had in the Chase coming out of Talladega evaporated in an instant during a Lap 3 mishap with Sam Hornish Jr. at Texas last weekend.

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Johnson effectively lost more than 100 points of his cushion in the championship standings and now leads teammate Mark Martin by a much less safe margin of 73 points. This bodes well for Martin heading to PIR. The veteran driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet has feasted on flat tracks this season and he won the race earlier this year at Phoenix in convincing fashion. So in a sense, the championship is still up for grabs heading into the season's next-to-last race.

The interesting flat oval just outside of Phoenix will set the stage for high drama Sunday afternoon as Johnson will fight hard to defend his turf and take another step toward making history, while the long quest for a championship now seems possible for the grizzled veteran Martin. The following is our weekly power ranking for the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Top Fantasy Racing Drivers for Phoenix

1. Jimmie Johnson
Now that the pressure is on expect the No. 48 team to respond. Phoenix has been Johnson's turf in recent seasons. He has won three of the past four events at the flat Arizona oval and he's finished in the top five in the past five. We've come to expect Johnson and the Lowe's Racing team to be resilient after performances like last week's at Texas and Sunday should be no exception.

2. Mark Martin
With Martin now trailing Johnson by just 73 points with two races to go, the door of opportunity has been kicked open for the No. 5 Chevy team. Martin will need Johnson to have some bad luck in these final two events, but expect the veteran driver to be on top of his game in order to make a possible upset happen. Martin led 157 laps and won from the pole at PIR in April, so the black book should come in very handy for this pivotal event.

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3. Denny Hamlin
Outside of the championship chase, Hamlin could steal the spot light this weekend at Phoenix International Speedway. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota has been just awesome on flat tracks this season, and PIR is among his favorites on the circuit. Although Hamlin has never won at Phoenix he has cracked the top five in four of his past five races at the flat Arizona oval.

4. Tony Stewart
Despite Johnson's bad luck at Texas last week, Stewart still finds himself 178 markers outside of championship contention. That shouldn't deter the owner/driver from turning in a stellar performance at Phoenix. Smoke comes to PIR with a bit of momentum and a good history at this flat oval to his credit. Stewart owns three top-fives in his past five starts at PIR and that includes his runner-up finish at the track in April.

5. Greg Biffle
Biffle has shown some real consistency in recent weeks, so roll him with confidence in your fantasy lineups Sunday at PIR. This is a track that has become a recent favorite of the driver of the No. 16 Ford. While Biffle didn't enjoy much success at Phoenix earlier in his career, he's really turned it on at the small D-shaped oval of late. Three of his past five starts at Phoenix have netted top-10 finishes and he has no finish worse than 17th during that span.

6. Kyle Busch
Busch has begun to put the disappointing 2009 season behind him by gearing up for next season and another run at the championship. The No. 18 team recently changed crew chiefs and Busch has responded positively to the move by racing well in the past four events. Phoenix International Raceway has held some recent success for the Joe Gibbs Racing star. Busch has four top-10s in his past five visits.

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7. Kurt Busch
Busch's win at Texas last weekend should usher him into this week's race at PIR with a huge wave of momentum. The No. 2 Dodge team has been very good this season and Busch is looking forward to a top five standings finish if he can perform well at both Phoenix and Homestead. He has led more than 120 laps in his past two visits to Phoenix and Busch collected top-five finishes in both of those events. Busch could easily surprise his way to Victory Lane in this event.

8. Kevin Harvick
The recent personnel shakeups at Richard Childress Racing are bearing some fruits for all the drivers in that stable. Most noticeably Harvick has come to life in recent weeks. He has top-10 finishes in three of the past five races entering this event. It's no secret that Harvick loves to race at PIR, so he's visiting the Arizona oval at a great time. Three of his past five visits to PIR have yielded top-10 results.

9. Jeff Burton
Not to be outdone by Harvick, Burton is also enjoying a revival of sorts in the past few weeks. The driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet suddenly came to life with a top-five finish at Talladega a couple weeks ago and then he followed it up with an impressive top-10 at Texas last weekend. Burton has a long history of success at Phoenix -- he's a two-time winner at the flat oval. He should use that experience to pilot the team's Chevrolet to a top-10 finish in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500.

10. Jeff Gordon
While Gordon is thick in the championship picture, he has to be considered a lower-tier fantasy driver at PIR this weekend. This track has plagued Gordon through the years, but he's enjoyed some moderate success at the facility. He collected his first career win at the track in the spring of 2007, but it has been hit-or-miss for most of his career at the Arizona track. We expect Gordon's urgency in the championship picture and his 71 percent career top-10 rate at PIR to spur him to a top-10 finish Sunday afternoon.