NASCAR Cup Series | Results and 3 takeaways from Sunday’s race at Phoenix International

Matt Kenseth won Sunday’s playoff cutdown race at Phoenix International Raceway, his first win in 51 races, but there are other implications from the race as well. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Sunday’s Can-Am 500 race:

1. The championship four are finally set

We already knew three of the drivers who would compete for the Cup Series championship next weekend in Homestead – Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick – but now we know who will join them. Brad Keselowski, welcome to the party. Keselowski didn’t have a terrific showing, finishing 16th at Phoenix, but his points advantage coming into the race was enough to put him through. That was helped by the fact that Denny Hamlin didn’t finish the race, but still. Keselowski has been good this season, but not great consistently. His last win was at Talladega in the playoffs, and he came fourth and fifth in the two races before Phoenix, meaning the potential is there, but he’ll need to improve significantly to have a shot at a championship next weekend in Homestead.

2. Young guns are good, but still have room to go

Hard to come up with more words for Chase Elliott, who finished second for the seventh time in his career without ever having won a race. At some point or another he’ll close out a race and get into Victory Lane, but this wasn’t that time, and so he won’t advance to compete for a championship at Homestead. Same for Ryan Blaney, who does have a win but hasn’t been able to get to that consistently excellent level yet. Blaney finished 17th at Phoenix after coming in the Top 10 each of the last three races. Blaney and Elliott clearly represent the future of the sport, and those futures are bright with the way they’ve performed early in their careers, but neither is yet at the uppermost echelon of the sport.

3. Momentum going into Homestead belongs to...

Tough to pick anyone in particular, but let’s go with Truex, whose third-place finish was his worst in the last four races (yes, really). Truex has been the fastest car in the Cup Series all season, and although it’s somewhat funny that he didn’t win this round, he still has to be the favorite to win his first championship at Homestead next weekend. Keselowski is backing into the playoffs thanks to his 16th-place finish at Phoenix, while Kyle Busch rebounded from a fairly average day to come in seventh. Kevin Harvick also has some momentum, as he sandwiched his win at Texas between two fifth-place runs. Still, Truex has to be the early favorite based on his history this season and his recent form, not that that should come as a huge surprise to anyone who follows the sport.

Can-Am 500

1. (7) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 312 laps, 0 rating, 56 points.

2. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 312, 0, 45.

3. (5) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 312, 0, 44.

4. (11) Erik Jones, Toyota, 312, 0, 45.

5. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 312, 0, 43.

6. (13) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 312, 0, 35.

7. (8) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 312, 0, 41.

8. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 312, 0, 29.

9. (22) Aric Almirola, Ford, 312, 0, 28.

10. (14) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 312, 0, 27.

11. (29) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 312, 0, 26.

12. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 312, 0, 25.

13. (20) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 312, 0, 25.

14. (21) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 312, 0, 23.

15. (19) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 312, 0, 22.

16. (16) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 312, 0, 21.

17. (1) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 312, 0, 20.

18. (10) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 312, 0, 19.

19. (17) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 311, 0, 18.

20. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 311, 0, 22.

21. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, 310, 0, 16.

22. (28) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 309, 0, 15.

23. (23) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 309, 0, 14.

24. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 309, 0, 13.

25. (24) Danica Patrick, Ford, 309, 0, 12.

26. (37) D.J. Kennington, Chevrolet, 307, 0, 11.

27. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 306, 0, 10.

28. (36) David Starr, Chevrolet, 306, 0, 0.

29. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 305, 0, 8.

30. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 304, 0, 0.

31. (33) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 303, 0, 6.

32. (40) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 302, 0, 5.

33. (26) David Ragan, Ford, 301, 0, 4.

34. (39) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 294, 0, 3.

35. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 275, 0, 21.

36. (34) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 0, 1.

37. (31) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, accident, 247, 0, 1.

38. (25) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 226, 0, 1.

39. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, accident, 148, 0, 2.

40. (3) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, engine, 104, 0, 11.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 105.538 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 57 minutes, 23 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 1.207 seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 41 laps.

Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: R.Blaney 1-11; C.Elliott 12-25; D.Hamlin 26; C.Elliott 27; D.Hamlin 28-67; K.Larson 68-79; D.Hamlin 80-231; M.Kenseth 232-283; C.Elliott 284-302; M.Kenseth 303-312

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Hamlin, 3 times for 190 laps; M.Kenseth, 2 times for 60 laps; C.Elliott, 3 times for 31 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 11 laps; R.Blaney, 1 time for 10 laps.

Wins: M.Truex, 7; Ky.Busch, 5; K.Larson, 4; J.Johnson, 3; B.Keselowski, 3; D.Hamlin, 2; K.Harvick, 2; R.Stenhouse, 2; R.Blaney, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; A.Dillon, 1; K.Kahne, 1; M.Kenseth, 1; J.Logano, 1; R.Newman, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. M.Truex, 4212; 2. Ky.Busch, 4159; 3. K.Harvick, 4155; 4. B.Keselowski, 4132; 5. D.Hamlin, 4114; 6. R.Blaney, 4109; 7. C.Elliott, 4107; 8. J.Johnson, 4062; 9. M.Kenseth, 2311; 10. K.Larson, 2266; 11. J.McMurray, 2200; 12. R.Stenhouse, 2200; 13. A.Dillon, 2198; 14. K.Kahne, 2194; 15. Ku.Busch, 2193; 16. R.Newman, 2169.

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

This story was originally published November 12, 2017 at 6:50 PM with the headline "NASCAR Cup Series | Results and 3 takeaways from Sunday’s race at Phoenix International."