Earnhardt Wins Phoenix in Rain-Shortened Race as Final Four is Set

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AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – In the desert, it’s not supposed to rain, but come it did.  So much so that a race scheduled for early afternon didn’t start until much later.  The NASCAR Sprint Cup Quicken Loans 500 at turned out to be only 220 miles long as the rains came to Phoenix International Raceway.   Due to good pit work, Dale Earnhardt got out first on the final caution and was declared the winner.

The race was delayed by an afternoon-long rain that began shortly before the scheduled start time of 2:30 p.m. ET. Finally, after the rain stopped and NASCAR’s Air Titans had dried the track, the green flag waved nearly seven hours later.

The race was stopped when heavy rain arrived again on Lap 219 of a scheduled 312 laps.

Jeff Gordon had already clinched his spot in the championship round when he won at Martinsville Speedway in the first race of the third round. Non-Chase driver Jimmie Johnson’s victory at Texas Motor Speedway last week made the situation even more desperate for the remaining seven Chase drivers going to Phoenix.

Earnhardt’s victory – his third of the season – meant 2014 champion Harvick, Busch and Truex advanced on points. Harvick finished second in the race, Busch fourth and Truex 14th.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” said Harvick, a seven-time winner at Phoenix who led 143 of the 219 laps. “Our car performed really well and we were able to lead a lot of laps. But I feel like I don’t want to be greedy and be disappointed with how it went today when you look at the big picture.”

Joey Logano, who was eighth in points and needed to win to advance, finished third.

The race got off to an interesting and eventful start when Kurt Busch, who started the race seventh in points and qualified second-fastest, was assessed a pass-through penalty for jumping past pole-winner Johnson at the green flag. It’s an issue Gordon asked about during the prerace drivers meeting.

According to NASCAR rules, a second-place car is not allowed to beat the first-place car to the start-finish line at the start of the race. The second-place car can beat the first-place car to the start-finish line on subsequent restarts.

That sent Busch to the rear of the field. And although he worked his way back to seventh, it wasn’t enough.

Then Johnson, who led the first 44 laps, was penalized for speeding on pit road during a competition caution, moving him to the rear of the field. Harvick inherited the lead and Logano, who started 14th, was second.

Along with Logano, Chase contenders Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski (ninth) and Carl Edwards (12th) failed to advance.

The makeup of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship is quite interesting.  The four drivers, Harvick, Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex, Jr. only won nine of the 35 scheduled races in 2015.  In fact, only Harvick was in the top five a lot—22 times, only one more than eliminated Joey Logano.  Kyle Busch had 11 top fives, but Gordon and Truex weren’t in double figures.  Left out were Logano with six wins and 21 top fives, Jimmie Johnson with five wins and 14 top fives and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with three wins and 22 top fives.

Next week the Sprint Cup Series will crown a champion.  Many will think the crown is tainted when the final four was decided at Martinsville when Logano, who looked headed for victory, was taken out in a deliberate act, which resulted in a Gordon victory.  Next Sunday’s race should be entertaining, but not the race many wanted. 

1) 3, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 2, 22, 47, 4, 219, Running
2) 8, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet, 2, 143, 44, 2, 219, Running
3) 14, Joey Logano, No. 22 Pennzoil Ford, , , 41, , 219, Running
4) 10, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Crispy Toyota, 1, 1, 41, 1, 219, Running
5) 1, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet, 1, 44, 40, 1, 219, Running
6) 11, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Pepsi Chevrolet, 1, 4, 39, 1, 219, Running
7) 2, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, , , 37, , 219, Running
8) 13, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, , , 36, , 219, Running
9) 18, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 1, 4, 36, 1, 219, Running
10) 17, Aric Almirola, No. 43 United States Air Force Ford, , , 34, , 219, Running
11) 22, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Global Mining Chevrolet, , , 33, , 219, Running
12) 4, Carl Edwards, No. 19 Stanley Toyota, , , 32, , 219, Running
13) 15, Paul Menard, No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet, , , 31, , 219, Running
14) 5, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet, , , 30, , 219, Running
15) 12, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Sherwin Williams Chevrolet, , , 29, , 218, Running
16) 21, Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, , , 28, , 218, Running
17) 25, Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Brandt Chevrolet, , , 27, , 218, Running
18) 29, David Ragan, No. 55 Aaron's Online Dream Machine Toyota, 1, 1, 27, 1, 218, Running
19) 7, Erik Jones(i), No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, , , 0, , 218, Running
20) 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bad Boy Buggies/Realtree Chevrolet, , , 24, , 218, Running
21) 6, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Camo Chevrolet, , , 23, , 218, Running
22) 24, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, , , 22, , 218, Running
23) 27, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota, , , 21, , 218, Running
24) 23, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Fry's/Clorox Chevrolet, , , 20, , 218, Running
25) 20, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Jardiance Ford, , , 19, , 218, Running
26) 9, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, , , 18, , 217, Running
27) 31, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, , , 17, , 217, Running
28) 30, Matt DiBenedetto #, No. 83 VooDoo Barbeque Toyota, , , 16, , 217, Running
29) 33, JJ Yeley(i), No. 26 Maxim Toyota, , , 0, , 216, Running
30) 34, David Gilliland, No. 38 Love's Travel Stops Ford, , , 14, , 216, Running
31) 28, Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Go Bowling/G1GABLAST Ford, , , 13, , 215, Running
32) 36, Michael Annett, No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, , , 12, , 215, Running
33) 38, Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, , , 11, , 215, Running
34) 26, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, , , 10, , 215, Running
35) 32, Landon Cassill(i), No. 40 Interstate Moving Services Chevrolet, , , 0, , 215, Running
36) 40, Brett Moffitt #, No. 34 Dockside Ford, , , 8, , 215, Running
37) 41, Ryan Preece, No. 98 Xyience Ford, , , 7, , 214, Running
38) 35, Alex Bowman, No. 7 Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet, , , 6, , 214, Running
39) 37, Jeb Burton #, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, , , 5, , 213, Running
40) 42, Ryan Ellis(i), No. 33 Science Logic Chevrolet, , , 4, , 211, Running
41) 19, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Cargill Ford, , , 3, , 194, Accident
42) 39, Joey Gase(i), No. 32 R Factor 2 Ford, , , 0, , 161, Accident
43) 43, Timmy Hill(i), No. 62 Prairie Auto Credit/Financial Concepts Chevrolet, , , 0, , 127, Running

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, # = Rookie
Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led.
Average Speed: 106.512 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 03 Mins, 22 Secs.
Margin of Victory: Caution
Lead Changes: 8 among 7 drivers
Cautions: 2 for 29 laps

Ron Fleshman and John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2015, Issue 11, Posted 1:24 AM, 11.16.2015