A Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry leads the Advocare 500K at the Phoenix International Raceway. That part of the story has not changed. What has changed is that it is no longer Kyle Busch's yellow M&Ms No. 18 out front, but rather the black and green FedEx Ground machine of Denny Hamlin.
A win for car No. 11 on 11/11, perhaps?
Hamlin, who won at PIR on the first weekend of March, shows the way at the midpoint of today's race, with Richard Childress Racing driver Paul Menard running second. Busch sits third after leading 111 laps, with Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon rounding out the top-five.
Kasey Kahne runs sixth, followed by Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Jimmie Johnson, and Clint Bowyer.
The cat-and-mouse games played by Johnson and Keselowski's teams last week have continued this week. Keselowski stretched his fuel on the most recent cycle of pit stops in order to keep Johnson from leading a lap. In Texas last Sunday, it was Johnson who stayed on track a few extra laps to stop Keselowski from getting a bonus point, though Keselowski later did and nearly beat Johnson in the race.