Carl Edwards

After a 66 race absence the 24 went back in victory lane Sunday in Phoenix. Jeff Gordon avoided a crash filled Subway Fresh Fit 500, leading the most laps to pick up his 83rd career Sprint Cup victory. The win moves Gordon into a tie for 5th all-time on the Sprint Cup victory list, tied with Cale Yabrough. One more will move him into a tie with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for third. For his team Hendrick Motorsports its the 7th win in 9 races at Phoenix. "It feels so amazing," said Gordon.

Move over Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards might just be the hottest driver in the Sprint Cup Series. Edwards won the final two races of the 2010 season and was second at the Daytona 500. On Saturday his hot streak continued as he grabbed the pole for Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500. His second straight at the Phoenix International Raceway. Edwards lap of 137.279 mph was just enough to best fellow front row starter Kurt Busch, who laid down a lap of 137.111 mph. It's Edwards 8th career pole.

Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne has won the Daytona 500 in only his second Sprint Cup start. Bayne won NASCAR's biggest race Sunday - just one day after his birthday - by holding off Carl Edwards by 0.118 seconds. The kid gave the historic Wood Brothers team its first victory since 2001 and became the youngest Daytona 500 winner. Bayne was pushed by Bobby Labonte and had just enough fuel to get across the line ahead of a hard-charging Edwards. David Gilliland was third and Labonte settled for fourth.

When I sat down to think about who might be able to beat Jimmie Johnson (and I wasn't going to pick JJ to win cause that's just boring) momentum was a really big thing for me. And no one was hotter at the end of the season then Carl Edwards. Cousin Carl won the final three races of the year. Not to mention, Roush Fenway Racing is due. They have all the ingredients and Carl Edwards is the only driver in the group really who can win 6 to 9 races in a season. And that is what it is going to take to be Cup Champion.

Carl Edwards has snapped a 70-race losing streak with a win at Phoenix International Raceway. But the attention Sunday was on the three-driver championship race, and a dominating performance by Denny Hamlin that was derailed by poor fuel mileage in his Toyota. Emporia native Clint Bowyer finished 21st. Hamlin led a race-high 190 laps but didn't have the gas to make it to the finish. He gave up second place with 14 laps left for a fuel stop, and finished 12th. Jimmie Johnson conserved enough gas to make it to the end and finished fifth.

Tony Stewart raced to his first victory of the year, pulling away from Carl Edwards off the final restart at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Emporia's Clint Bowyer finished 7th in his #12 Chevy car after starting in 14th place. Stewart beat Edwards by 1.316 seconds Saturday night for his first victory since Oct. 4, 2009, at Kansas, leaving Edwards winless since the 2008 season finale. Jimmie Johnson was third, followed by Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch.