Chase decided by weather, with 4 drivers advancing to Homestead

The race to the championship round of NASCAR’s Chase ultimately was decided by the weather Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

In a rain-shortened Quicken Loans 500 that was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., four drivers – Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. – advanced to the championship next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Raceway.

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.

Gordon already had clinched his spot in the championship round when he won at Martinsville (Va.) 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 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.

Turning point

Earnhardt came out of a pit stop in first place with 21 laps remaining and led the rest of the way – at least until rain stopped the race.

Chase update

How the NASCAR Chase drivers fared:

1. Kevin Harvick (4,123 points): It took rain (and Earnhardt) to finally stop him at Phoenix, but he’s in a strong position to win a second consecutive championship.

2. Jeff Gordon (2 behind)*: Finished sixth and wasn’t really worried about the rain, since he had already clinched his spot in the final round.

3. Kyle Busch (2 behind): Makes the championship round for the first time in his career. Hasn’t won a race in the Chase, but has been steady since the first round.

4. Martin Truex Jr. (17 behind): Could have been shuffled out of the Chase when he nearly went down after a late pit stop, but his 14th-place finish was enough.

5. Carl Edwards (22 behind): First of the four drivers who didn’t want to see the rain stop the race.

6. Brad Keselowski (30 behind): So close to making the final round before he was overtaken late in last week’s race by Jimmie Johnson.

7. Kurt Busch (38 behind): Penalty at the start of the race moved him from second to rear of the field. Might very well have cost him his shot at advancing, since he had the fastest car in practice all weekend.

8. Joey Logano (69 behind): What might have been. Swept all three races in the second round, but was caught up in wrecks and controversy with Matt Kenseth that put him in a must-win situation at Phoenix. How would he have handled that final restart, in which he would have started fourth, if the race had continued?

*clinched spot in final round with earlier victory

Observations

▪  Truex obviously takes the underdog role into Homestead. As the only driver for Furniture Row Racing, he faces three drivers from much larger teams in Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing).

▪  With so much at stake, Sunday’s ending had an anticlimactic feel to it, with the day-long rain delaying, then bringing the race to a premature halt.

▪  Given how the past few races have gone for Logano, it would have been extremely interesting to see how he handled that final potential restart. He would have made his presence known, that’s for sure.

They said it

“This is a quirky little sport with weird days, and this was one of them.” – Earnhardt.

“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.” – Harvick.

“I’ve got (no championships). I’m playing with house money, so I’ve got the advantage.” – Kyle Busch, on his chances in Homestead.

David Scott

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Chase decided by weather, with 4 drivers advancing to Homestead."