Joey Logano and Kyle Busch were both winners in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Logano won his 17th career Sprint Cup race while Busch finished second, advancing both drivers into the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano will be seeking his first Sprint Cup championship, while Busch will be going for his second consecutive title.
Also in the Championship 4 will be Jimmie Johnson, who is seeking his seventh Sprint Cup crown — which would tie him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt — as well Carl Edwards. Edwards, like Logano, will be seeking his first championship.
“I’ve never felt this good about a win before,” Logano said of his first career Sprint Cup win at Phoenix. “There was so much on the line and everyone brings their A-game when it comes to winning championships and this team did it. Man, this feels so good.
“I had a good restart there at the end and holding off Kyle (Busch) to try to get this thing into Miami. We’re racing for a championship now. We did exactly what we had to do. We’ve got to go to Homestead and do the same thing. I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
Kyle Larson finished third followed by Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.
MORE: Statistics and results from Phoenix
MORE: Sprint Cup point standings after Phoenix
Just when it appeared that Matt Kenseth would win the race on Lap 318, he made contact with Alex Bowman, causing Kenseth to spin into the wall and see his championship hope come to an abrupt end.
Bowman had been tapped from behind by Kyle Busch, which caused Bowman’s car to wiggle, but it appeared Kenseth came down too soon in front of Bowman and the duo made contact.
Logano was scored as the leader at the previous scoring loop when the caution came out and would hold on during the ensuing restart.
Harvick, who won the first Sprint Cup championship under the new elimination format in 2014 and also reached the final round last season, fell short of his third consecutive appearance in the final round.
“That’s all you can ask, to go down swinging and that’s what we did,” Harvick told NBCSN.
Also falling short of reaching the championship round were Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch. As a result, only two of the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers will be in the final round, while Stewart-Haas Racing will have no representatives.
Sunday’s race was scheduled for 312 laps, but due to a caution on Lap 311 when Michael McDowell crashed, as well as Kenseth’s wreck on Lap 318, the event went an extra 12 laps of overtime for a total of 324 laps.
Substituting for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., pole-sitter Alex Bowman led the first 92 laps. That was quite a contrast as Bowman had led a total of just nine laps overall in his first 79 Sprint Cup career starts. Bowman eventually led a race-high 194 laps in the race.
After being at the front of the field from the green flag, Bowman finally yielded the lead on Lap 93 to Logano. Johnson then took the lead on Lap 120, Bowman regained it for one lap on Lap 133, and then Logano went back ahead when he beat all other cars off pit road during caution on Lap 134.
HOW LOGANO WON: When Matt Kenseth spun on Lap 318, Logano was declared the leader. Logano then held on through the ensuing restart on Lap 323 all the way to the checkered flag to reach the Championship 4 round for the second time in three years.
WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD RACE? Runner-up Kyle Busch did what he needed to do to hold off Kevin Harvick and advance to defend last year’s championship. Also, kudos to Alex Bowman for his effort and Kyle Larson for their strong runs.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE? Kenseth saw his championship bid go up in smoke with his wreck on Lap 316. He finished 20th … Austin Dillon finished 39th, while Martin Truex Jr. finished last.
NOTABLE: Greg Biffle finished 16th in his 500th consecutive Sprint Cup race … Canadian driver D.J. Kennington finished 35th in his first career Sprint Cup race … Tony Stewart finished 15th in the second-to-last race of his Sprint Cup career.
QUOTE OF THE DAY No. 1: “I’m speechless right now. I feel like I just won the Daytona 500 again. What a special day.” — Race winner Joey Logano.
QUOTE OF THE DAY No. 2: “We have to put our arms around Matt and let him know how much we care for him.” – Team owner Joe Gibbs on Matt Kenseth’s late wreck that eliminated him from the last round of the Chase.
WHAT’S NEXT: The season championship will be decided Sunday, Nov. 20, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Green flag is slated to drop shortly after 2:30 pm ET.
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Joey Logano
El piloto de Ford Fusion número 22, Joey Logano obtuvo la victoria en la tercera y última fecha de la Ronda de 8 en Phoenix International Raceway, y de esta forma se mete en la ronda final en Homestead-Miami Speedway. El piloto de Penske, aprovechó un incidente en pista entre Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman y Matt Kenseth en el primer tiempo extra, para llegar a la punta, en el momento de que salió la bandera amarilla. En el segundo y último tiempo extra mantuvo a raya a Kyle, para llegar a su primera victoria en Phoenix y la número 17 en la Copa NASCAR.

Segundo fue Kyle Busch, quién de esta manera es el último clasificado a la final, al ser piloto de esta ronda con más puntos pero sin ninguna victoria, acompañando a Logano, Jimmie Johnson y Carl Edwards como los únicos con opciones al título de la Copa NASCAR. Para la última fecha, se resetean los puntos de los cuatros pilotos, de forma que llegarán con 5000 puntos cada uno.

Completaron los primeros cinco lugares en la carrera Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick y Kurt Busch.

De los pilotos eliminados en esta ronda, Matt Kenseth estuvo más cerca de llegar a la final. Lideró gran parte de la última parte de la carrera, mantenía a raya a su escolta Alex Bowman por tres segundos, y se encaminaba para la victoria. que servía para llegar a Homestead con aspiraciones de título. Sin embargo una bandera amarilla, provocado por Michael McDowell, a dos vueltas para llegar a las 312 vueltas programadas, obligó a que la carrera fuera a tiempo extra. Se reinició en la vuelta 316, siendo el primer intento de tiempo extra para acabar la carrera, sin embargo, Bowman fue tocado por Kyle Busch y posteriormente se chocó con el líder Kenseth, debido a que éste último cerró la linea; chocó contra el muro, provocando la última bandera amarilla. Kenseth terminó en el 21º lugar de la carrera.

Por primera vez bajo el nuevo sistema de eliminación desde 2014, Kevin Harvick queda eliminado de la final. Con este formato, había salido campeón en 2014, y subcampeón en 2015. En tanto que los otros dos eliminados fueron Denny Hamlin (séptimo en la carrera de hoy) y Kurt Busch.

En tanto, Alex Bowman, salió desde la pole position, y lideró 194 vueltas, para finalizar sexto, en lo que es su mejor resultado en 80 participaciones en la categoría.

La próxima y última fecha de la temporada, será el 20 de noviembre en Homestead-Miami Speedway en Homestead, Florida, donde se realizará la ronda final de la Copa NASCAR y donde se decidirá el campeón de la categoría. Dicho óvalo también servirán para definir el título de pilotos de las otras dos series nacionales de NASCAR, que servirán de categorías teloneras para la Copa NASCAR: Xfinity Series y Truck Series.