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• This is the 35th race of 36 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008, and the ninth race of the Chase for the Championship.
• This is the 20th of 21 intermediate track races of the season.
• This is the 25th time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has competed at Phoenix International Raceway since 1988.
• Phoenix is a 1-mile oval and with 11-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2 and 9-degree banking in Turns 3 and 4.
• There are 44 drivers on the pre-entry list to compete for one of the 43 starting slots in Sunday's 312-lap, 312-mile race. Of those 44, nine must get into Sunday's field based on qualifying times: AJ Allmendinger, Sterling Marlin, Bill Elliott, Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Petty, Johnny Sauter, Sam Hornish Jr., Ken Schrader and Joe Nemechek.
• Bill Elliott has access to a past champion's provisional if needed.
• These teams are NOT locked in past the next race, as the owners' points change after each race:
33. Dave Blaney/Bill Davis Racing: 2,682, 136 points ahead of 36th
34. Robby Gordon/RGM: 2,606, +60
35. Scott Speed/Red Bull Racing: 2,590, +44
These teams/drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top 35:
36. Marcos Ambrose/Waltrip Racing: 2,546, 44 points out of 35th
37. Sam Hornish Jr./Penske Racing: 2,490, -100
• Of the drivers starting Sunday's event, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick have multiple wins here, with two apiece. Johnson has the best average finish (6.0). Every multiple winner, including the late Davey Allison, has earned his victories over consecutive races.
• Johnson has also finished every one of his starts on the lead lap and has only finished outside the top-10 twice (and both of those were 15th-place finishes).
• Other drivers besides Johnson with average finishes under 10 are Jeff Gordon (8.5), Mark Martin (9.2) and Tony Stewart (9.8). All three have wins here and have combined for more than 1,000 laps led.
• Mark Martin has the most starts of anyone at Phoenix (23) and has led the most laps by far, with 676 to Kurt Busch's 448. Martin has only one DNF and three finishes off the lead lap. He is tied with Jeff Gordon with the most top-10s here (15) and leads all drivers in top-5s (nine).
• Despite his two wins here, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has just an average finish of 18.0 with three DNFs.
• In the past two races here, Johnson has earned the most points (385), followed by Greg Biffle (308). In the past five races here, Johnson has the most points (866), followed by Kevin Harvick (770). In 10 races at Phoenix, Johnson continues to have earned the most possible points (1,578) with teammate Jeff Gordon following close behind with 1,535.
• Of the Chase racers, Matt Kenseth has the worst average finish here (18.8). Of the go-or-go-homers with 10 or more starts, Robby Gordon has the worst average finish (28.2). Ken Schrader has the best average finish of the go-or-go-homers at 21.0.

There are 11 previous Phoenix winners entered this weekend, with 15 victories among them:

Driver	Phoenix wins
Jeff Burton	2: 11/00, 10/01
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2: 11/03, 11/04
Kevin Harvick	2: 4/06, 11/06
Jimmie Johnson	2: 11/07, 4/08
Kurt Busch	1: 4/05
Kyle Busch	1: 11/05
Bill Elliott	1: 11/89
Jeff Gordon	1: 4/07
Matt Kenseth	1: 11/02
Mark Martin	1: 10/93

Pos	Spring 2008	Fall 2007	Spring 2007	Fall 2006
1	Jimmie Johnson	Jimmie Johnson	Jeff Gordon	Kevin Harvick
2	Clint Bowyer	Greg Biffle	Tony Stewart	Jimmie Johnson
3	Denny Hamlin	Matt Kenseth	Denny Hamlin	Denny Hamlin
4	Carl Edwards	Tony Stewart	Jimmie Johnson	Jeff Gordon
5	Mark Martin	Ryan Newman	Matt Kenseth	Carl Edwards
6	Jeff Burton	Kevin Harvick	Jeff Green	Mark Martin
7	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Martin Truex Jr.	Kyle Busch	Kasey Kahne
8	Martin Truex Jr.	Kyle Busch	Bobby Labonte	Kurt Busch
9	Greg Biffle	Jeff Burton	Johnny Sauter	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10	Kyle Busch	Jeff Gordon	Kevin Harvick	Jeff Burton
11	Casey Mears	Clint Bowyer	Carl Edwards	Brian Vickers
12	Bobby Labonte	Kurt Busch	Mark Martin	Martin Truex Jr.
13	Jeff Gordon	Casey Mears	Jeff Burton	Matt Kenseth
14	Tony Stewart	J.J. Yeley	Tony Raines	Tony Stewart
15	David Gilliland	Johnny Sauter	Reed Sorenson	Ryan Newman
16	Juan Pablo Montoya	Denny Hamlin	Joe Nemechek	David Gilliland
17	Jamie McMurray	Juan Pablo Montoya	Greg Biffle	Elliott Sadler
18	David Reutimann	Bobby Labonte	Kurt Busch	David Stremme
19	Kevin Harvick	Reed Sorenson	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Joe Nemechek
20	Sam Hornish Jr.	David Stremme	Martin Truex Jr.	J.J. Yeley
21	Paul Menard	Brian Vickers	J.J. Yeley	Tony Raines
22	Travis Kvapil	Paul Menard	Johnny Sauter	Mark Martin
23	Kurt Busch	Jamie McMurray	Casey Mears	Mike Bliss
24	Michael Waltrip	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon	David Stremme
25	Brian Vickers	Sterling Marlin	Paul Menard	Ward Burton

1. Jimmie Johnson (6,366) finished 15th at Texas and remains first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. In 10 starts here, Johnson has eight top-10s, five top-5s, two wins and an average finish of 6.0.
2. Carl Edwards (-106) was the winner Sunday and maintains his hold on second in the Cup Series standings. Edwards has eight starts at PIR with five top-10s, three top-5s and an average finish of 14.5.
3. Greg Biffle (-143) finished fifth at Texas and remains third in the Cup Series standings. In nine starts here, Biffle has three top-10s, two top-5s and an average finish of 16.4.
4. Jeff Burton (-212) was 12th on Sunday and remains fourth in the Cup Series standings. In 18 starts here, Burton has 10 top-10s, five top-5s, two wins and an average finish of 11.1.
5. Jeff Gordon (-255) was runner-up at Texas and moves up one place in the Cup Series standings to fifth. Gordon has 19 starts here with 15 top-10s, eight top-5s, a win and an average finish of 8.5.
6. Clint Bowyer (-267) was the fourth Sunday and moves up one place to sixth in the Cup Series standings. Bowyer has six starts here with two top-5s and an average finish of 15.8.
7. Kevin Harvick (-279) finished seventh at Texas and falls two places in the Cup Series standings to seventh. In 11 starts at PIR, Harvick has five top-10s, three top-5s, two wins and an average finish of 13.7.
8. Matt Kenseth (-393) was ninth Sunday and moves up one place in the Cup Series standings to eighth. Kenseth has 12 starts here with six top-10s, five top-5s, a win and an average finish of 18.8.
9. Tony Stewart (-404) was the 16th at Texas and falls one place to ninth in the Cup Series standings. In 13 starts here, Stewart has eight top-10s, six top-5s, a win and an average finish of 9.8.
10. Kyle Busch (-428) finished sixth Sunday and moves up two places in the Cup Series standings to 10th. In seven starts here, Busch has five top-10s and a win, with an average finish of 15.4.

Mark Garrow covers fantasy racing for ESPN.com.