After nine months, 34 races and over 13,000 miles of racing, there is still plenty to discuss in the world of Winston Cup racing. Coming into the Checker Auto Parts 500, Roush Racing had won three consecutive Phoenix events. The streak ended Sunday but Roush still dominated the storylines.

Championship turning point: With his victory Sunday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. inched closer to points leader Matt Kenseth. But more than likely it was too little, too late.

Kenseth lessened the blow by finishing sixth.

"If we would have gotten out of here with a 25th- or 30th-place finish and they would have gained a bunch of points on us, that would have put a lot more pressure on us," said Kenseth. "So this was real good."

Over the past month it appeared Kenseth had gone into point racing mode -- he had finished among the top-10 just once in the previous five races. However, on Sunday he abandoned the conservative approach, which was clear in the closing laps as he raced Michael Waltrip hard for the fifth position.

"I started racing him and ended up getting us farther behind, so I just let him go and followed him until there were two laps to go," Kenseth admitted. "I tried to make a real hard charge at him, but he got such a good run off the corner that I needed all the room to get off the corner. We were gonna wreck if I tried any harder and that was just all I could do."

Kenseth left Phoenix with a healthy 228-point lead. If he can leave Rockingham next week with a 186-point or more advantage, he will clinch the 2003 Winston Cup championship.

"Obviously, it's not over till it's over, but I feel great about where we're at with two races to go," said Kenseth."

If Kenseth finishes seventh or better next week there is nothing Earnhardt Jr. can do to prolong the championship chase.

Wrench swap: Roush Racing's Viagra team and Wood Brothers Racing have essentially traded crew chiefs.

Beginning this week, Ben Leslie and Pat Tryson will exchange positions. Leslie will become Ricky Rudd's crew chief and Tryson will lead Mark Martin's team.

"If anything the reason for (switching) now is to take advantage of the remaining two races," Said Rudd. "(The switch will) give us more insight, so when the winter comes along we can evaluate if I have to have cars built more like I've had built or do they need to be built more like Mark's cars."

Roush Racing and the Wood Brothers operation are involved in a research alliance, exchanging motor and aero information.

"It's all under the same family roof here; It's all under the Roush umbrella," explained Wood Brothers car owner Eddie Wood. "For the next couple of weeks it will be like one race team with two drivers. Everybody is going to be working together."

Martin, who was the championship runner-up a year ago, has experienced a dramatic drop off this season. With two races remaining he is 17th in the standings and hopes Tryson will provide a spark necessary to returning to competitive form.

"We think that (Tryson) will be able to come in and help provide a fresh look, and bring some new and different ideas to the table," said Martin.

Like Martin, Rudd's first season with the Wood Brothers has fallen short of expectations. Rudd is now 21st in the standings.

"Things haven't been as good with the 21 team as they need to be this year, and we haven't run as good as we needed to run," added Tryson. "This will get (The Wood Brothers) tighter with engineering and everything at Roush Racing."

	Earnhardt Jr.

Number of the week: 192. That's the number of laps Earnhardt Jr. has led at Phoenix over the last two seasons. A year ago he led 105 circuits, but a fuel miscalculation arguably cost him the win. A third of the way into the race he ran out of gas four laps short of their estimations. He did finished fifth in that race.

Thumbs up: To Chevrolet for scoring its first Phoenix win since 1994 when Terry Labonte won the Slick 50 500. The win was the 18th for Chevy this season.

To Scott Wimmer who, in just his second start in the 22 car, finished ninth. It was just the fifth time this year that car posted a top-10 finish. It was Wimmer's eighth career Winston Cup start. Previously, his best Cup finish was 17th.

To DEI, for placing two cars, Earnhardt Jr. (first) and Waltrip (fifth), inside the top-five Sunday. Not to be outdone, Roush Racing placed four cars -- Kurt Busch (fourth), Kenseth (sixth), Jeff Burton (eighth) and Martin (tenth) -- inside the top-10.

Thumbs down: To General Motors for surprising PPI Motorsports and MB2/Valvoline Motorsports with the news that they would remove Pontiac from their NASCAR roster in 2004. These two teams will now make the transition to Chevrolet for the upcoming season but both will now be approximately a month behind other teams in their preparation for Speedweeks.

Silly Season notes: Mark Martin is coming out of retirement. After a three-year hiatus from the Busch Series -- where he has a record 45 wins -- he will return next season part time.

Pennzoil, who announced earlier this season that it would not return to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated in 2004, revealed Sunday it has formed a partnership with Roush racing. The brand will be the primary sponsor of a combined Busch series effort involving Martin, Kenseth and Burton. The three will rotate driving responsibilities in nine races next year. Pennzoil will also be an associate sponsor on all Roush Racing's NASCAR entries.

Mike Massaro covers NASCAR for ESPN and ESPN.com.