LEADERSHIP…sucks. Usually, when you lead a race, when you are the guy kicking ass and taking names, it is a good thing. Not at Phoenix. It turned out to be steering the leading car was very similar to being the moral compass on the Walking Dead. You just wind up being some zombie’s souffle. Just when a boy became the golden child, the man out front, the driver all alone leading the parade, fate kicked him in the teeth.
Kevin Harvick was the man to start. He had the pole, he took the lead, he beat back all challenges from Chase Elliott. Then, with a couple of laps to go in the opening stage, a tire went down, his lead went out the window, and he was forced to pit. Elliott grabbed the points. Harvick wound up with a bucket of something less tasteful than honey.
Off to the second stage. Elliott lost the front to Kurt Busch. He dominated. He was the man. Joey Logano already had his pass to Homestead, so when his left rear let go and wrecked out, no big deal. However, with about 20 laps left, Clint Bowyer’s own left rear departed to end his day as well as his championship hopes.
It was time to pit, to get some fresh rubber. Harvick stayed out after the caution had put him back on the lead lap. A win by Busch would have made that fact meaningless, but he decided to gas it coming to the pits and that pushed him past the pace car. A lap penalty was his reward. Once again, Harvick was back in the top four in the battle to advance, along with Logano, Martin Truex Jr. as well as Kyle Busch, who went on to win the stage.
So, when it came down to the final push, Harvick was just three points ahead of Kurt in points banked, but sitting a lap and more than 20 positions ahead of him on the track. Of course, if Elliott could win it, it would not matter what either of those two boys did. As for Kyle and Truex, they just had to avoid disaster to run against Logano for the championship next week.
It was all Kyle Busch. For a while. Then he gave up the lead to Elliott. Just in time, as it turned out. When Elliott pitted under green, he was a little too speedy. So much for the lead, but on an interesting track, both the action and the intrigue just went up a notch. Who was going to be in and who was going to be left on the outside? All the contenders were back on the lead lap, all had a shot coming down to the final 50 laps.
Some of the mystery went away late in the run. Kurt Busch was not leading, but he was close. When Denny Hamlin got loose and went up the track, he got very close to Busch. Too close. They made contact, Busch caught the fence, then turned down to take out Elliott. Three on the outside were now done, with only one challenger remaining.
Aric Almirola needed to win. He needed to catch Kyle Busch. He looked good for a short time. Too short. There were just not enough ponies under his hood. When they hit the line, Kyle won his 51st career Cup race, with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson between him and Almirola. Harvick finished fifth, Truex was 14th.
Despite the storylines, the quartet for Homestead remained as expected. Logano and the Big Three go in, with the best of the four in Florida in that one race taking home the championship. Next week, leadership will mean everything.
1. Kyle Busch: Busch started sixth at Phoenix and took the checkered flag in the Can-Am 500 to advance to Homestead with a chance to win his second Cup championship.
“Kevin Harvick got in when Denny Hamlin knocked out Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott,” Busch said. “Either Kurt or Chase could have played the spoiler, and the last thing Harvick needed is another troublesome spoiler.”
2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started on the pole at Phoenix and finished fifth after an early flat tire scare.
“Our goal was to start on the pole,” Harvick said, “build a big lead, and pray we didn’t ‘get caught.’ I guess two out of three ain’t bad.”
3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 14th at Phoenix and advanced to Homestead on points.
“I’ll have to go through three other drivers to remain Monster Energy Cup champion,” Truex said. “And if need be, I’ll literally ‘go through’ Joey Logano to get there.”
4. Joey Logano: Logano blew a left rear tire early, leading to a spin. He finished 37th.
“It’s me,” Logano said, “and Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. at Homestead. I’m in trouble because now all three of those guys have vowed not to let me win.”
5. Kurt Busch: Busch was running second late in the race before he was taken out by an overly aggressive move by Denny Hamlin. Busch finished 32nd.
“I’m not sure what Denny was thinking,” Busch said. “But I’m pretty sure who Kevin Harvick was thanking.”
6. Chase Elliott: Elliott started second at Phoenix but was collected in a crash when Denny Hamlin spun Kurt Busch late in the race. Elliott finished 23rd, three laps down.
“It sucks that I don’t have a chance to become the Monster Energy Cup champions,” Elliott said. “But I’m looking forward to just being a spectator at Homestead. And Lord knows NASCAR needs as many of those as possible.”
7. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished fourth at Phoenix.
“I needed a win to get to Homestead with a chance to be NASCAR champion,” Almirola said. “I didn’t get the job done. I came up a little bit ‘short;’ ironically, my championship hopes said ‘so long.’”
8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished second at Phoenix.
“I’m pulling for my Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano to win the championship,” Keselowski said. “Mostly because Roger Penske told me I had to. It’s the closest you’ll get to ‘team orders’ in NASCAR.”
9. Kyle Larson: Larson finished third in the Can-Am 500, posting his 12th top five of the year.
“It’s the ‘Big 3’ and ‘Sliced Bread’ in the finale,” Larson said. “Here’s a little-known fact: a young Tony Stewart was also known as ‘Sliced Bread.’ Then he got heavy and his nickname changed to ‘Doughy.’”
10. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 13th at Phoenix.
“If not for me and my reckless driving,” Hamlin said, “Kevin Harvick wouldn’t be among the Final 4 at Homestead. I drive a Toyota Camry; Harvick now says I drive a Dodge ‘Bullet.’”
Kyle Busch won at ISM Raceway in the Can-Am 500 as the Championship 4 is set for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series. It was his eighth victory of the season and the 51st of his Cup career.
“I’d like to think it gives us a lot (of momentum), but I don’t know – talk is cheap,” said Busch in the newly designed Gatorade Victory Lane, a part of the $178 million renovation project at the 1-mile raceway. “We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial. I didn’t think we were the best car, but we survived and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week and once we were locked in, it was ‘all bets are off and it’s time to go.’”
Adam Stevens, crew chief for the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, and team owner Joe Gibbs addressed the media as they head into the final race of the 2018 season.
“Well, I think it’s important to come into the last race firing on all cylinders,” Stevens said about today’s victory. “And it’s hard to do that when you’re just riding around trying to score points. It’s not like we were throwing caution to the wind by any means. The job that we set out to do is to win the championship, and to do that you’ve got to beat them all.”
Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano will join Busch in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano crashed early in the race and did not join the others in the press conference.
“We just got a little bit of luck, a little bit of ‘right place, right time’ kinda thing,” Truex shared when discussing the various wrecks that happened in front of him. “One last hurrah next week and we’re gonna go give ’em all we got.”
“I think we have a chance every time we show up,” Harvick shared assessing his chances to win his second career Cup championship. “Our guys are doing a great job. Obviously, to accomplish everything we did this weekend was quite the feat without your crew chief and car chief, but Tony Gibson and Nick did a great job filling in. Everybody kept their head about them and we were competitive all weekend.”
William Byron also locked up the Rookie of the Year standings with his ninth-place effort.
“I take away my growth as a person and our growth as a team,” Byron told the media. “I think of road course races were really good. I feel like I’m in a good position for next year.”
Harvick-Chase Battle Creates Early Drama in Stage 1
The first two stages were split by 75 laps each. The remaining 162 laps would be scheduled for the final stage. As the green flag dropped, Harvick would show the way early, but throughout most of the run, Elliott was within a second of him. After the race last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, most of the bottom four drivers were in a must-win situation. But since Wednesday’s announcement of Harvick’s penalty, there was hope for some drivers to possibly sneak in on points.
About 20 laps into the race, Elliott started inching his way closer to the rear bumper of Harvick, but as they started to approach lapped traffic, Harvick looked to claw his way through the field better and was able to put some distance between them. Elliott was completely silent on the radio, presumably happy with the handling of his Napa Chevrolet.
With three laps to go, tragedy struck for Harvick as he had a flat tire and had to come to pit road. Elliott inherited the lead and won Stage 1. Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch also finished in the top-10 and gained valuable bonus points. Elliott won the battle off pit road. Paul Menard stayed on pit road as the team lifted the hood and appeared to begin examining the engine. Harvick ended up going one lap down, and since he pit after pit road was closed (two laps to go in the stage), he was not eligible for the free pass under yellow, or the wave-around. At this point, Harvick and Truex would be knocked out of the Championship 4; Truex and Kurt Busch were tied in points, but Busch wins the tie-breaker with a better finish because he was second at this time, despite Truex finishing third at Martinsville.
Kurt Busch Shows Strength in Stage 2
On the restart, Kurt Busch fought hard on the outside to take over the lead from Chase Elliott. Elliott then had to fight off Ryan Blaney for a couple of laps but eventually settled into the second position.
With about 55 laps to go in the stage, Harvick made his way into the “Lucky Dog” position. One lap later, Joey Logano got a flat left-rear tire and crashed going into Turn 1. He is already locked in with his win at Martinsville, but this helped Harvick get himself back onto the lead lap. However, the carnage was just beginning.
Clint Bowyer crashes at the entrance to Turn 3, then drives away. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
With roughly 30 laps to go, Clint Bowyer crashed to bring out the yellow, ending his championship hopes. On pit road, lots of strategies took place, including a penalty. Roughly eight of the lead lap cars elected not to pit, but most of the other leaders came to pit road. Kurt Busch was caught passing the pace car and served a one-lap penalty.
It was addressed in the driver’s meeting, and we’ve seen similar penalties throughout the year. When entering pit road, the leader usually accelerates to create a gap between their car and the cars behind, a slight advantage that can be huge in certain circumstances. However, the leader is not allowed to pass the pace car before entering pit road. In this case, the nose of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford was just ahead of the pace car before the first yellow line signaling the start of pit road. Even though he was in the lead at the time of the yellow, and won the battle off pit road, he would be served a penalty that would put their team one lap down.
Kyle Busch was one of the first cars out with fresh tires. He easily took over the top spot a couple of laps into the restart, winning Stage 2. Martin Truex Jr. finished third, and Kevin Harvick battled his way back up to the fourth position, making the “Big 3” the big discussion once again. Some of the leaders stayed out, preventing a “free pass” car and keeping Kurt Busch one lap down. Other drivers on older tires came to pit road for either two or four tires.
Championship Contenders Go Wild in the Final Stage
The field races through the new Turns 3 & 4 after one lap taking the green flag for a restart at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
With 160 laps to go, Kyle Busch would keep the lead ahead of Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. At this time, most of the championship contenders were running in the top-11, except for Logano and Bowyer, who was out of the race. Kurt Busch was still stuck one lap down in the “Lucky Dog” position.
Green flag pit stops began as the race approached 85 laps to go. During some of the pit stops, including while Harvick was on pit road, Tanner Berryhill spun at the entrance of pit road. He did a great job of correcting the car to continue on, but not before NASCAR had to throw a yellow flag. The rest of the field came to pit road, but Elliott sped on pit road, forcing his No. 9 car to the rear of the field. Kurt Busch was the “Lucky Dog”, but most of the field elected for the wave-around.
On the restart, the Playoffs started to come into play for every point possible. We saw the field go three, even four wide in the dogleg. Blaney slowed suddenly and came to pit road. Harvick continued to claw his way up along with teammate Kurt Busch. As the two were getting around the lapped car of David Ragan, he appeared to slip entering Turn 3. Harvick misjudged his speed and got into the rear of Ragan and spun him out to bring out the sixth caution flag. A couple of drivers were toward the end of the field, but Kyle Busch visited pit road so his crew could examine some minor damage as he was outside of Harvick during that contact.
The field took the green again for a few laps, and just when the race seemed to mellow for a brief moment, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a hard hit to the outside wall in Turn 1. The rear end of the car was completely destroyed and even a brief fire ensued while he was still spinning. NASCAR displayed the red flag for 10 minutes with so much fluid coming from the No. 17. At this time, Kurt Busch was one point ahead of Harvick for the fourth and final Championship spot. However, that would quickly change.
As the field took the green, Erik Jones started to the inside of Kurt Busch but Jones got loose in the middle of Turns 1 & 2, forcing Busch up the track slightly. No harm was done, but Denny Hamlin made an aggressive move to get by both drivers. He couldn’t clear Busch in time and pinched him in the wall. However, with the championship on the line, Busch didn’t back out and stayed in the throttle. As he bounced off the wall, he continued to collide with Hamlin, eventually spinning him out and collecting Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott along the backstretch. That eventually ended the day for Busch as the damage clock expired, and his brother Kyle Busch officially locked himself into the Championship 4 on points. Elliott rejoined the track and was able to maintain minimum speed, but ran three laps down in the 24th position.
The sun sets behind the grandstands as Kyle Busch pulls away to his 51st career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series win. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
The Cup drivers went racing again with about 30 laps to go. However, with all the nose damage on Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet, he went up in a ball of fire and smoke at the end of the frontstretch, causing him to crash in Turn 2 alongside pit entrance. NASCAR had to throw another red flag to clean up the incident. At this point, Harvick was back in the good on points. Aric Almirola was the only other driver left that could steal a spot in the Championship 4 if he won at ISM Raceway. Almirola was running fourth at the time when the field went back under yellow. Some of the leaders elected for a pit stop, including Kyle Larson, who took four tires and would restart in the eighth position.
This restart would be the first time for the Cup Series facing speedy dry in Turns 1 and 2. On Friday night, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race had a restart with speedy dry in the first set of turns that prevented Grant Enfinger from getting a strong restart against Noah Gragson and Brett Moffitt. However, this wouldn’t faze Kyle Busch as he pulled away from a hard-charging Almirola but he got a second chance as Berryhill crashed to bring out another caution flag on the track.
With about 15 laps to go, the field took the green flag but Almirola appeared to just not have the right setup to run with Kyle Busch on the outside. Brad Keselowski tried to push him through to the front, but that caused Almirola to go wide through Turns 1 and 2. Keselowski was able to get by both him and Harvick to put a late race charge toward the lead, but there just wasn’t enough time to catch Busch.
“It certainly feels really good,” Busch said in the media center after celebrating his win with the fans. “It feels good to go off into next week with a win under our belt and hopefully do it again.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 31St Annual Can-Am 500 – Sunday, November 11, 2018 ISM Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1 Mile Paved
Kevin Harvick sneaks past Chase Elliott to take the pole in the penultimate race of the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Series season at ISM Raceway for the Can-Am 500 with a time of 25.836 seconds at 139.340 mph.
With the penalties from last weekend’s encumbered win at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick’s usual crew chief, Rodney Childers, is serving a two-race suspension. Interim crew chief Tony Gibson is calling the shots for the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team. That didn’t faze Harvick one bit.
“It’s pretty awesome to see a group of people come together — old man Tony Gibson and Nick (DeFazio, interim car chief) — coming out to fill the gaps for the suspensions,” Harvick told NBCSN. “Like I told the radio a second ago, everybody on our Busch Light Ford has been there before and we know what we need to do. This is a great race track for us. I really wasn’t expecting that. Our cars are usually a lot better in race trim than in qualifying trim, and just got fortunate to hit a good lap right there and it came at a good time.”
Throughout the three stages, Harvick wasn’t always up toward the front. In fact, all eight of the Playoff drivers were spread out across the top 21 positions, but still advancing to the second round of qualifying. Matt Kenseth quietly ran fastest and was the only driver in the 138 mph speed bracket. Austin Dillon was second fastest, with Harvick as the first Playoff contender in third.
In Round 2, half of the Playoff drivers were eliminated, including the other three Stewart Haas drivers: Kurt Busch (14th), Clint Bowyer (16th) and Aric Almirola (18th). Martin Truex Jr. missed the final round of qualifying by only three-thousandths of a second. To put it in even further perspective, positions eight through sixteen were only separated by one-tenth of a second, as the fight for the final transfer spots were a tight battle as Elliott ran fastest in the second round.
“It was a battle,” said Truex, who was 20th-fastest in Friday’s practice. “Kind of par for the course for us here lately, so I say 13th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. I really didn’t get a good crack at anything in practice and we didn’t end up having much time and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure. I wish we could’ve ran again. I definitely feel like I could pick up some more. Car was just pretty tight, so we’ll start 13th and get to work tomorrow.”
In the final round, Harvick claimed his 25th career pole by holding off Elliott, who will be clawing for every point possible in Sunday’s race and try to steal a spot in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.
“That’s not bad,” Blaney said with a shrug as he glanced at the speed charts. “We got better each round, which is good, so that was nice, but we just didn’t quite have the speed and obviously not pole speed, but it was good.”
Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard and Brad Keselowski completed the top 12 in the final round of qualifying.
Cody Ware, who crashed during Friday’s lone practice for the series, did not make a qualifying attempt in the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford.
If NASCAR was a certain 1977 hit movie, you could say that Sheriff Buford T. Justice finally got his hands on the Bandit. It might not have derailed the adventure, but there is a danger the Snowman might not be able to deliver that truckload of suds to their destination on time.
That quest could be spoiled by spoilers. Specifically, NASCAR tagged the team of Kevin Harvick with a top drawer penalty violating the rules that explicitly points out that spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer and not altered. Instead of getting that free pass to contend at Homestead, the boys are just three points in.
Gone are all the benefits of the win at Texas. No free pass, though Harvick does keep the guns and the hat. Gone are 40 of the sixty points he picked up in that race. Gone is crew chief Rodney Childers for the rest of the season. Gone is $75,000 from Childers’ pocket. Gone is car chief Robert Smith until the campaign is over. Stewart-Haas Racing will not appeal the penalties, as production manager Tony Gibson returns to the box he last sat atop a year ago, when he directed Kurt Busch to the 2017 Daytona 500 victory. With the decision, Busch now finds himself just three points out of the Homestead final four.
Post-race tear downs at the NASCAR Research and Development Center can be a real bitch. Ryan Blaney lost 20 points from Texas, along with crew chief Jeremy Bullins, who was fined $50,000, and car chief Kirk Almquist for the rest of the season. Same goes for Erik Jones, as crew chief Chris Gayle coughs up the same amount of cash and he joins car chief Jason Overstreet on the sidelines until the smoke clears in Florida.
Of course, neither of those rulings have anywhere close to the same impact as the hit taken by the No. 4 crew. It could all still end the same way most expect, with Logano joined by the Big Three at the big dance. Now, however, it will take a little more action before this movie runs the final credits.
In the words of Sheriff Justice, “What we’re dealing with here is a complete lack of respect for the law.” Well, message delivered.
Now it is time for the Bandit to keep his foot hard on the peddle, son, never mind them brakes. Let it all hang out ’cause you’ve got a run to make. Phoenix just got a lot more interesting.
1. JOEY LOGANO – ROUND VICTORY – 4119 Pts (7 Wins)
Shell Pennzoil is his Phoenix sponsor. At Homestead, maybe it should be Target.
2. KYLE BUSCH – 4128 POINTS (7 Wins)
Nothing has changed for him, other than there are now three opens spots instead of just two.
3. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 4125 POINTS (4 Wins)
Do not expect him to go down this week without having vengeance in his heart for the next.
4. KEVIN HARVICK – 4103 Pts (8 Wins)
A nine-time Phoenix winner suddenly could sure use a 10th about now.
5. KURT BUSCH – 4100 POINTS (1 Win)
Would hate to break his brother’s heart but as for those other two…
6. CHASE ELLIOTT – 4086 POINTS (3 Wins)
Phoenix has been kind to him in the past. She needs to be downright romantic on Sunday.
7. ARIC ALMIROLA – 4068 POINTS (1 Win)
His schedule reads, “Win this week or destroy Logano next week.” Not sure about the word “or.”
8. CLINT BOWYER – 4052 POINTS (2 Wins)
If anyone needed a tinkered spoiler last week, it was him.
9. RYAN BLANEY – 2263 POINTS (1 Win)
I am not sure if being in danger of dropping to 10th in the standings is that big a deal.
10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2259 POINTS (3 Wins)
The Miller Lite Ford will look a lot like a giant pysanka this weekend.
It turns out that Kevin Harvick isn’t locked into Homestead after all.
The No. 4 team was handed an L1 Penalty, after it was discovered that the spoiler on Harvick’s race-winning car from this past Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway violated NASCAR regulations. As outlined in Section 20.4.12 a & b of the NASCAR Rule Book, “Vehicle spoiler must conform to the CAD file and drawing. Spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer.”
As a result, the team has been assessed with the loss of 40 driver points and 40 owner points. The win can’t be used to advance Harvick into the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
He enters Phoenix fourth in points, three points above the cutline.
Crew chief Rodney Childers has been fined $75,000 and suspended from the next two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship points events. Car chief Robert Smith has been suspended from the next two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship points events.
Stewart-Haas Racing won’t appeal the penalty, and Tony Gibson will man the No. 4 war wagon for the final two races of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Tony Gibson will be Harvick’s crew chief for the rest of the season. SHR will *NOT* appeal penalty. Statement from SHR’s Greg Zipadelli: pic.twitter.com/MWoz8qlFmH
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller issued the following statement: “It is not our desire to issue any penalties, but will do so when necessary to ensure each race and championship is contested on a level playing field.”
The No. 12 (Door Front Crush Panel) and No. 20 (Package Tray) team’s were also issued L1 Penalties. Both were assessed 20-point penalties. Both team’s crew chiefs were fined $50,000 and suspended for the next two races. Both team’s car chiefs were suspended for the next two races.
After Texas, then there were two locked into Homestead. One stole the show at Martinsville and then attempted to deny the second his ticket. Joey Logano failed to pull it off as he wound up third. Ryan Blaney had something to showcase and he had his moments. Not enough of them, as he had to settle for second.
No, Texas was all about Kevin Harvick and nothing but Kevin Harvick. He dominated to sweep the stages, to win by four-tenths of a second to claim his eighth victory of the season. Taking the maximum amount of points was nice, but the goal was to advance to Homestead and join Logano among the final championship contenders. Mission accomplished.
It could have been different. The vibrations being felt by the boys on Sunday were not good. Was it a loose wheel or just how the tires were reacting? Harvick almost pulled in but was talked out of it. They could not talk Kyle Busch from doing so, and he was buried in 17th. Martin Truex Jr. did the same, even picked up a penalty on pit road, but at least managed a Top Ten finish. Two of our Big Three are not yet in, but they remain 28 and 30 points, respectively, ahead of the seventh-place finisher, Kurt Busch, as they head to Phoenix.
We saw little of Chase Elliott, who was sixth, but now needs to win next weekend, barring a catastrophe or two to hit his rivals. Aric Almirola is now seventh in the standings, 18th at Texas, and not even the world’s best mathematician can come up with any scenario that does not involve a win to allow him to advance.
Then there was Clint Bowyer. He wiggled and came together with Denny Hamlin on the opening lap. Ten circuits later, both cars were in for deflating rubber. They were gone from the lead lap, going beyond a lap down, and things just got worse all day long. Neither would be seen among the Top 25 on the day. For Bowyer, winning has also become everything.
What can we expect at Phoenix? Harvick has nine wins there. Nine. Jimmie Johnson has four, but no one expects a vintage version of Jimmie to emerge this season. As for the remaining six contenders seeking a win, only the two Busch boys have won at Phoenix, and both of those wins came in the Busch Brother sweep of 2005.
Hope is not all lost. Elliott has finished second and third in the past two events at the venue. Kyle was runner-up earlier this year, and his average over the past six is better than a fourth-place result. Truex was fifth in the spring, and third last autumn. Kurt had a Top Ten in their last visit. Almirola has had a pair of Top Tens in the past two. Bowyer was sixth in March.
Who am I kidding? Harvick will march into Phoenix and do what Harvick often does. Barring very bad tidings for one or two of them at Phoenix, Homestead will feature the Big Three and the Big Logano. Anything else would be considered a major surprise.
1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started third in the AAA Texas 500 and passed Ryan Blaney on an overtime restart to take the win and qualify for the finale at Homestead.
“I’m in along with Joey Logano,” Harvick said. “We may be two of the most disliked drivers on the circuit. But you can’t doubt our talent. We’re so talented, we can make fans pull for Kyle Busch.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano finished third at Texas.
“I realize I have a target on my back,” Logano said, “and I’m in the crosshairs of Martin Truex Jr. And he’s gunning for me. None of that is surprising. What is surprising? The fact that the NRA is not sponsoring this race.”
3. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 17th at Texas.
“Barring a total disaster at Phoenix,” Busch said. “I’m in a good position to advance to Homestead on points. So, in honor of Carl Edwards’ induction into the Texas Motor Sports Hall Of Fame, as long as I don’t ‘choke,’ I’ll make it to Homestead.”
4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex qualified 13th at Texas but had to start at the back of the field after making an engine change. With the pressure on, Truex charged and scored a ninth-place finish.
“If I can finish ninth after an engine change,” Truex said, “just think what I can do with a car that’s gone through a regular setup. I’ll be unstoppable. So, at Phoenix, to all the other drivers, I say, ‘Look out!’ At Homestead, to just Joey Logano, I say, Look out!’”
5. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished sixth at Texas and will almost certainly need a win at Phoenix to advance to Homestead.
“We’ll give it our all at Phoenix,” Elliott said. “We’re gonna let it all hang out, and unfortunately, so will all the wrong people in the Phoenix infield.”
6. Kurt Busch: Busch took seventh in the AAA Texas 500.
“I’m headed to Phoenix with intentions of winning,” Bowyer said. “It’s do or die. Or do or ‘doo-doo.’”
7. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished eighth in the AAA Texas 500 and afterward voiced his displeasure with Joey Logano, who Almirola claimed nearly wrecked him on a late restart.
“Many people don’t think Logano did anything wrong,” Almirola said. “That includes my former car owner, who says I’m being ‘Petty.’”
8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 12th at Texas.
“The race in Texas wasn’t nearly as exciting as Martinsville’s,” Keselowski said. “Yet, television viewers continue to tune out. Like Martin Truex Jr., viewers are saying ‘two thumbs down.’”
9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney started on the pole and took the runner-up spot to Kevin Harvick at Texas.
“Carl Edwards was inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall Of Fame,” Blaney said. “I heard when Carl found out he was going to be honored, he flipped.”
10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer qualified second at Texas but struggled from the get-go after early contact with Denny Hamlin. He finished 26th.
“And it got worse from there,” Bowyer said. “I even got a pit road penalty when I pitted for gas because one of my crew members was sitting on the wall with his feet in the pit stall. He has since been ‘unseated.’”
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Harvick punched his ticket to the Championship Round in Miami by dominating Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 177 laps and outrunning pole winner Ryan Blaney by 0.447 seconds.
Joey Logano finished third, with Erik Jones and Kyle Larson rounding out the top-five. Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-10.
Blaney spoke about his second-place finish, saying. “We got by the 4 on that one restart but I just couldn’t hold him off. He was really good. I kind of missed one and two by an inch and he took advantage of it. We needed to be mistake free and then some and I just couldn’t be that.
“Then we had another shot at it. The last one, he took the top, like I knew he was going to and he motored around me. It was a strong showing by our Carlisle team. I thought we were a second-place car all night really. I thought the 4 was head and shoulders above everyone else but I thought we were second best for sure. That was a fun race for sure.”
Third-place Logano also commented on the dominance of Harvick and the Ford teams.
“We had a top-five car. We got out front where we could lead laps for a little bit and just when the front tires would give up that is when the 4 was just stellar. He was stupid fast. He was able to do a lot. Congrats to them. That is two Fords in and two to go.”
The win was Harvick’s 45th career Cup Series win and his second-straight in the fall event at TMS. With this win, Harvick’s appearance at Miami will be his fourth in five years, since the inception of the playoff system in 2014, the year he won his first championship.
”Really, that’s what we race for,” said Harvick on his run to Miami. “You try to get yourself in position to get into the Playoffs and position yourself to have a chance at getting to Homestead.”
”It’s not easy at this time of year just because of the fact that everybody is throwing everything that they have at it, all the notes and all the things that you’ve done all year all piled into the cars that you have on the race track. But it’s enough to win races at this point of the year and to get to Victory Lane and that’s our goal.”
Harvick celebrated his win on the track with a young fan, celebrating with him by taking a selfie before handing him the checkered flag.
”I thought about taking him to Victory Lane with me, but I realized his parents wouldn’t know where he was at,” said Harvick in the Media Center to a roomful of laughter.
Harvick is also the winningest driver at ISM Raceway, where he’ll be able to take a breath next weekend before racing for his second title at Homestead on November 18.
We have our Big Four. Finally. Joey Logano will join Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. racing for the championship at Homestead. That is, unless someone takes one of those spots away either this weekend or next. To be frank (and who wouldn’t want to be Frank?), unless one of the latter trio decides to give it away, one of those four boys below them in the standings is in adios country without a victory.
Texas will be the first of just two opportunities to do just that. Based on past history, Chase Elliott might have a shot. No wins, but four Top Tens in five attempts must mean something. Busch has won three, Harvick one, while Truex might be winless but like Elliott, he shows up to be one of the best on race day. The sibling, Kurt Busch, can be a threat and even has a win on the track. Maybe it is his time to rise and shine in Texas. Maybe. Clint Bowyer is decent there, but he will need to be more than just a pretty face on Sunday coming in with just three Top Fives in 25 outings. As for Aric Almirola, forget about it. That is not happening.
Maybe none of the principles will win on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson has seven wins on that track. Does the team of Jimmie and Chad have one more magic moment left between them? Denny Hamlin is another driver hoping to keep a yearly win string going, and the two-time Texas troubadour has been strong lately.
Not that any among our Big Four would mind too terribly if Texas was taken by one of those boys. Just as long as they are close and the pretenders are far behind coming to the checkered flag. That would give them all a Yosemite Sam-like moment for celebration.
Now, who wants a set of six-guns?
1. JOEY LOGANO – 1 ROUND WIN (4074 Pts, 2 Wins)
Will he find a championship at Homestead or a Truex inspired heartbreak?
2. KYLE BUSCH – 4104 POINTS (7 Wins)
Just needs a really good day at Texas, not even a great one, to get his ticket punched.
3. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 4083 POINTS (4 Wins)
Do not allow the guy you are racing to do the hitting…do the hitting yourself.
4. KEVIN HARVICK – 4083 POINTS (7 Wins)
When Newman started driving his car as wide as his neck, Harvick could not find room past him.
5. KURT BUSCH – 4058 POINTS (1 Win)
Needs to drive Sunday like it is 2009.
6. CHASE ELLIOTT – 4052 POINTS (3 Wins)
Prior to Watkins Glen, he had not won anywhere. Why not add Texas to his newly growing list?
7. CLINT BOWYER – 4041 POINTS (2 Wins)
Might not have dressed like Rowdy for Halloween, but driving like him at Texas isn’t a bad idea.
8. ARIC ALMIROLA – 4033 POINTS (1 Win)
A win. Anything less is just losing at this point.
9. RYAN BLANEY – 2232 POINTS (1 Win)
Popular driver with a popular NASCAR sanctioned podcast.
10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2227 POINTS (3 Wins)
One unsecured lug nut and Paul Wolfe is $10,000 lighter. As for the tire changer…
11. DENNY HAMLIN – 2213 POINTS
Was wishing Logano and Truex would have hit a lot harder last week.
12. KYLE LARSON – 2179 POINTS
Has Larson replaced Danica and Jeff Gordon as NASCAR’s prettiest Cup driver?
13. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2173 POINTS
Lowe’s is about to leave, but Ally’s Financial is preparing to arrive in a big way.
14. ALEX BOWMAN – 2164 POINTS
Might be soon able to drive the Jimmy himself all the way to Cow Town.
15. ERIK JONES – 2159 POINTS (1 Win)
At Atlanta, while brother was testing, sister Lindsey was taping for a school project.
16. AUSTIN DILLON – 2157 POINTS (1 Win)
The highlight of the season was eight months ago.
17. RYAN NEWMAN – 702 POINTS
A wide neck? I guess he has one. Here I thought he had to wear his ties dangling from his chin.
18. DANIEL SUAREZ – 655 POINTS
Hoy es un gran día para agradecer a los fans !!
19. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 650 POINTS
Like the rest of us, he discovered that a World Series game could turn out to be an all-nighter.
20. PAUL MENARD – 645 POINTS
Had as many Top Fives in 2014 as he has enjoyed since. He does have a reliable sponsor, though.
