JGR race report - Phoenix

Date: Nov. 12, 2006
Event: Checker Auto Parts 500k (Round 35 of 36)
Series: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Winner: Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing
JGR Finish: Denny Hamlin (3rd - Running, completed 312 of 312 laps); Tony Stewart (14th - Running, completed 312 of 312 laps); J.J. Yeley (20th - Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)

Denny Hamlin led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent by finishing third in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500k NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. For Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Chevrolet, his 19th top-10 finish of 2006 marked the 17th time he has been the highest finishing rookie.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet Chevrolet, finished 14th after battling an ill-handling race car for much of the 312-lap race.

J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Boniva® (ibandronate sodium) Chevrolet, finished 20th to secure his third straight top-20 finish.

Hamlin continues to lead the trio of JGR drivers in the championship point standings, as he is the lone JGR representative in the Chase for the Championship. Hamlin held steady at fourth in points, 90 markers behind series leader Jimmie Johnson with only one race remaining.

Stewart holds a dominating 323-point lead over 12th-place Carl Edwards, thereby securing 11th in the point standings regardless of how Edwards or any other driver finishes in the season's last race.

Yeley maintained his 28th-place point standing and is 177 points outside the top-25.

Hall of Fame Racing, which gets its engines, cars and technical support from JGR, finished 21st with Tony Raines at the wheel of the No. 96 DLP® HDTV Chevrolet. It marked the 21st top-25 finish for the first-year team.

Kevin Harvick scored his 10th career Nextel Cup victory and his fifth of the season by winning the Checker Auto Parts 500k. The win gave him a sweep of this year's Nextel Cup races at Phoenix, as Harvick won the series' first visit to the 1-mile oval in April.

Johnson finished second to further his lead in the championship point standings to 63 over second-place Matt Kenseth.

Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Edwards secured the rest of the top-five, while Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The Nextel Cup season concludes on Sun., Nov. 19 with the running of the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race begins at 2:55 p.m. EST with live, high-definition coverage provided by NBC.