7 things we learned on wild and crazy day at Phoenix
It was a wild and crazy Sunday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, where Joey Logano prevailed in the Can-Am 500 and will now race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship against Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.
Here are seven things we learned on a beautiful sunny fall afternoon in the Sonoran desert.
It ain’t over ‘til it’s over
Matt Kenseth was leading on Lap 311 of a 312-lap race when Michael McDowell cut a tire and crashed in Turn 3. That sent the race into overtime, and on the restart, Kenseth thought he was clear of Alex Bowman, who was underneath him. He wasn’t.
The two cars made contact, with Kenseth going into the wall and out of the Chase. He was one lap away from racing for a second title and instead his championship hopes are over. This is a brutal sport at times.
Even champions come up short
Kevin Harvick drove the wheels off the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, advancing from 18th early in the race until fourth at the finish. Given that Harvick had won five of the last six Phoenix races, everyone expected him to win again, but sometimes even the best come up short. No shame in that, certainly.
In balance
It will be a balanced Final 4 at Homestead, with Joey Logano and Team Penske representing Ford, Chevrolet repped by Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports, and Toyota fielding Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. That’s a nice, diverse lineup and a good thing that all three manufacturers are still in it.
Manning up
Matt Kenseth’s spotter Chris Osborne took to Twitter to accept responsibility for the overtime crash that took Kenseth out of the race lead and out of the Chase. It takes courage to do that and it takes class, too. Much respect to Osborne in a heartbreaking situation.
Bowman deserves a shot
Alex Bowman showed a lot this weekend, putting the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole and leading the most laps in the race before tangling with Matt Kenseth at the end and finishing sixth. Bowman doesn’t have a ride for next year, but he absolutely deserves a shot.
Logano is underrated
Joey Logano took a lot of heat last year for his actions in spinning Matt Kenseth for the win at Kansas. Much of that criticism was deserved. But it obscured the fact that he has become a tremendous clutch player and one of the sport’s elite drivers. In each of the last two Chase elimination races at Talladega and Phoenix Logano needed to win and did. It doesn’t get better than that.
Johnson is underappreciated
Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson will race for a record-tying seventh NASCAR Premier Series championship. Win, lose or draw on Sunday, Johnson has far and away been the best driver of this generation.
His six championships are two more than Jeff Gordon has and three more than Tony Stewart has. Among active drivers, Johnson has 79 victories. No. 2 on that list is Stewart with 49. That’s a huge gap and a great indicator of just how good he is.
Apologies to EVERY @mattkenseth fan out there for ending our chase hopes today! Obviously this 1's on me!!
— Chris Osborne (@crazy_spotter) November 13, 2016
