By Ryan - Posted on November 16, 2011

Kasey Kahne claimed his first victory of the 2011 Sprint Cup season at Phoenix International Raceway. And hardly anyone noticed. It was difficult to focus on Kahne’s win when there was a toe-to-toe prizefight going on right behind him.

Carl Edwards entered the race leading the Sprint Cup series championship by a mere four points. Edwards finished second and Tony Stewart finished third, and by virtue of leading the most laps, Stewart closed the gap to three points.

Following the race, both drivers seemed confident and looked forward to the final race of the season.

"We couldn't ask for anything more," Edwards said. "It's going to be fun. It's neat to be able to go to Homestead and race it out. I'm sure those guys are going to be good down there -- they're fast on the mile-and-a-halfs. I'm just proud of my guys. They did a great job on pit road. Tony was really fast, and we got our car tuned in, and we were able to go up there and race with them and compete. It was just a good hard-fought day, and I'm really pumped about Homestead."

Tony echoed Edwards’ enthusiasm.

"Every point counts right now, and that's why we raced Carl so hard and Kasey so hard to make sure we led enough laps. We are going for every single point we can get. Just keep doing what we're doing. We're going to keep the pressure on him, and we're going to make him sweat it out."

Kahne’s finish at Phoenix gave a win to Red Bull Racing, who is withdrawing as the owner-sponsor of Kahne’s car at the end of the season. Kahne made good use of an early stop on the last round of pits stops, and gained the lead on Lap 299 of 312.  He finished nearly a second ahead of Edwards at the checkered flag. Other than Stewart and Edwards, Kahne has had the best performance in the Chase for the Championship.

Jeff Burton and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five. A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Menard, and Clint Bowyer made top ten runs.

Seven drivers were mathematically eliminated from championship contention. So, with Edwards and Stewart being the only drivers who have a chance at the championship, the spotlight will be shining brightly on them all week long leading up to the Homestead race.