The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion gets one more shot at reaching the Championship Round in Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix worldwide Raceway.
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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: DAV 200 HONORING AMERICA’S VETERANS (200 laps, 300 miles), Phoenix worldwide Raceway; Avondale, Ariz.
“I don’t want to be the spoiler”, Johnson said. He won his first Truck race in 2002 at Phoenix. After Sunday’s race, just one remains, the season-ending and championship-deciding race November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway….
Longshot leads amusing vehicle qualifying: POMONA, Calif. – amusing vehicle championship longshot Tommy Johnson Jr. raced to the qualifying lead in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals. But a victory would prevent three rivals from advancing. Brad Keselowksi and Joey Logano each need to win in order to race with meaning at Homestead. So if either of the Penske drivers makes it to Homestead, he will be a strong contender. While he doesn’t need to win, you only need to look at Talladega where Denny Hamlin entered the race in second place in the Chase standings and, after multiple issues, ended the day eliminated.
Harvick’s circumstances aren’t as dire coming to Phoenix as they were in 2014, when the only way for him to qualify for the final round was by winning – something Harvick was able to do on his way to his first Cup championship. He leads two-time defending champ Matt Crafton by 17 points.
Johnson has five wins this season, but a mechanical failure in the first elimination race of the Chase bounced him from the playoffs. “My motivation comes from wanting to win and go fast”.
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Gordon, though, said he didn’t think it was fair to go back and look at how the old points would have compared because “everybody races differently under each points system and what it takes (varies)”. That’s the hardest thing about having success. You have to have an open mind to try new things to keep moving forward. You’re going to become stale and get left behind. However, a rear-axle seal problem in the third Chase race at Dover, Del., knocked him out of contention. “I want to lead laps”. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has done nothing special at the track and is the only other driver 20/1 or better. Keselowksi and his team were a little too conservative when it came to making adjustments for the changing conditions of the track and got beat as a result. Those are all really nice low numbers and show that Logano can run great at Phoenix. “We’re going to hire the best and most respected people to be part of our steward system, we’re going to provide the best possible tools and regular and consistent training to the officials and the stewards, and we’re also going to create a consistent platform for the infractions with a clear and concise effect that the competitors understand and are aware of”.
