Jeff Gordon, left, & Kyle Busch, will compete for the 2015 Sprint Cup Collection championship together with Kevin Harvick & Martin Truex Jr.
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Saturday morning at Phoenix global Raceway, Gordon was given the Kentucky trophy by Kenny Bruce of NASCAR.com, Mike Hembree of USA Today and a larger throng of reporters and photographers. Rain initially delayed the start nearly seven hours and turned a day race into a showcase under the lights, and Earnhardt inherited the lead when Kevin Harvick made a routine pit stop. By lap 18, Johnson was catching the back of the field. When the green flag finally waved, Kurt Busch got a penalty from NASCAR for starting too early.
Harvick finished second Sunday. Kurt Busch was up to 29th.
The Chase pressure ratcheted up with about 120 laps left when Joey Gase, in his seventh series start, slid up into the wall, causing a caution. In an effort to dry pit road, the field was brought through the pits without being allowed to stop. Knowing he was a lap down when the caution came out was the most nerve-racking part of his day. Busch has a slot in the Sprint Cup Series championship finale within reach for the first time in his career.
The group with the most momentum is Hendrick Motorsports, which has won three consecutive races with three drivers – Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt.
Earnhardt’s victory – his third of the season – meant 2014 champion Harvick, Busch and Truex advanced on points.
Eliminated Sunday were Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski, as well as Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch.
“I thought this was the best auto we’ve had and it probably was overall, but something about this place doesn’t work for us very well”, he said.
Logano took the disappointment with grace. She scored 12 of her 20 points after halftime, including 6 in the last two minutes of overtime. Earnhardt went back to second on lap 113 as Harvick’s lead was 5.1 seconds. All took four tires and fuel. Harvick finished second in the race, Busch fourth and Truex 14th.
Kyle Busch, 30, would become the most unlikely champion after he missed the first 11 races of the season because of leg and foot injuries suffered in the Xfinity Series season opener.
Truex was caught a lap down on that late pit cycle and got the wave-around to be on the tail end of the lead lap.
Keselowski also had a troubled Eliminator Round, his crash on a restart with Kenseth at Martinsville playing a role in Kenseth’s decision to take out Logano a few laps later.
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Today at Phoenix global Raceway it was “ready, set, rain”, but through a sea of ponchos and umbrellas, fans spirits weren’t dampened.
