Chevy poised for win record at Phoenix.

Tony Stewart's victory at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday tied Chevrolet's modern era single-season win record in NASCAR's top flight at 22 and, with the 'Bowtie brand' on a roll at present, this weekend's trip to Phoenix could see a new mark established.

The 22-victory mark was first set in 1980 and first tied in 2004, but two-time champion Stewart's win at TMS leaves Chevy poised to create a new mark, and possibly extend it at the final round of the year, at Homestead, next weekend. Stewart's win in Texas was the 595th for Chevrolet in Cup Series competition, and the 471st in the 'modern era'.

The Chevrolet posse heads to Phoenix in good heart, having has taken six victories there, including four of the past five. It also has several drivers capable of winning a race, as no fewer than nine have contributed to the 22 claimed so far, including Chase for the Championship leader Jimmie Johnson (five), Stewart (five), Kevin Harvick (four), Jeff Gordon (two), Denny Hamlin (two), and Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brian Vickers, who each have one success apiece.

"This is a great milestone for Chevrolet," said GM Racing's NASCAR programme manager Alba Colon, "Tying this record is impressive knowing how many great drivers there are and with our competition getting more and more difficult each year. This achievement shows the depth of our teams and demonstrates that Chevrolet is aligned with the best teams and drivers."

Stewart, of course, failed to make the Chase this year, and his end-of-season streak is being helped by a 'nothing to lose' mentality. After Sunday's victory, he has three wins during the Chase campaign, and is looking to end the year on a high.

"It's a very good goal to shoot for right now," Stewart said of the possibility of taking four in a row, "Win these last two races and we'll be able to say we've won the last four races of the Chase."

A string of wins wouldn't be new territory for Stewart. In his rookie season, he won back-to-back races at Phoenix and Homestead at the end of the season, and has won consecutive races on six different occasions - including twice within a seven-week span last summer. However, to win four in a row would give Stewart an accomplishment shared by only seven drivers - Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon - since the modern era began in 1972.

Helped by their dominance in terms of numbers, Chevrolet drivers fill seven of the top eight places in the Chase, with Johnson having assumed top spot in Texas and Burton having run at the front for most of the early part of the ten-race post-season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr climbed to third in the standings after rallying from a brush with the wall to finish sixth at Texas. He now sits just 78 points behind Johnson with two races remaining, and has two wins and four top five finishes in eight career starts at PIR.

Fourth position in the Chase standings, 80 points down on the leader, Raybestos Rookie contender Denny Hamlin continues to be the surprise of the 'play-offs', while veteran Gordon is not yet out of the reckoning, lying sixth overall heading to PIR. However, like Texas last weekend, Phoenix is one of only three tracks on the current NNCS circuit where the four-time champion has yet to take a trip to victory lane. Burton, meanwhile, has two previous wins at PIR, but admits that his title chances effectively ended when a front tyre blow saw him make heavy contact with the wall in Texas.