It’s a cold and foggy day so far at Phoenix International Raceway for the NASCAR weekend. The races include the 24th Annual Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the 13th Annual WYPALL 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Casino Arizona 124 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. Friday’s schedule is practice for all three groups. Saturday is qualifying day for the three groups, followed by the NNS 200 lap race and the 125-lap race for NKNPS. Sunday will be the 312-lap Sprint Cup race, starting at 1pm local time (Mountain Zone).
The story line to beat all this weekend is KYLE BUSCH/No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and the fallout since his deliberate wrecking RON HORNADAY last Friday night under caution in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway.
On a more positive note, the word from the track is that earlier this week it was “a hard sellout” for the grandstands. Only tickets left available were for the infield.
A ‘hard’ sellout means tickets sold, not just papered around.
Friday is Veteran’s Day. Many of the teams and drivers are celebrating the day in their own ways with special car graphics, and other activities including various branches of the Armed Services. For those who are into numerology, Friday is also a special day – 11-11-11. For others, it’s the day the latest Harry Potter movie comes out on DVD.
The weather forecast isn’t all that encouraging, but daily it seems to improve. Originally two days of rain were forecast for the weekend. That is slowly changing, now to just chances of rain, more so on Sunday than Saturday – when all the series Qualify.
Stay tuned.