AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Phoenix International Raceway is filled with bumps and cracks, has patches on top of patches trying to hold it together for one last race.
It may be falling apart, but one thing it has never lost is speed.
Carl Edwards had the fastest lap on one of the fastest days ever at Phoenix, setting the last in a slew of track records on Saturday during the final qualifying session before the surface undergoes a makeover.
"This track is great," Edwards said. "I talked to (track president Bryan) Sperber earlier and I think the question I asked him seems a lot of people have asked was: 'Why would you even mess with this?"
Raceway officials don't have a lot of choice with the track nearly crumbling.
It's at least going out with flourish.
On a cloudy, relatively cool day in the desert, 15 drivers eclipsed the old qualifying record of 136.389 mph, set by Edwards on his way to winning at Phoenix last fall.
Coming off a second-place finish at the Daytona 500, Edwards had the fastest of 'em all, running a lap of 137.279 mph to barely edge Kurt Busch on the final qualifying session before the track's repaving project starts.
