NASCAR at Phoenix 2015: Winners and Losers from the CampingWorld.com 500
Is there different fuel in Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Chevy? Whatever it is, he used it to win his second race in a row in the CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix.
This win marks Harvick’s fourth consecutive win at Phoenix.
Leading up to the race, Joey Logano told NASCAR.com:
"He knows something running here. He just knows what he needs in his race car. Whether he's figuring that out in practice and making his car good for the race that way or if its a setup thing. I doubt it's a setup thing because he's been fast in both cars he has driven here. … I think it's something that he looks for and a feel that he's able to maintain his tires for that long run.
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Harvick was laughably dominant. It’s time to get on with the rest of the show. Read on for this week’s winners and losers.
Loser: Lap 1
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There’s heading to the garage early and there’s heading to the garage early.
On Lap 1, Brian Vickers got kicked into the wall after Turn 4, inverting his right front wheel and sending him to the garage and ending his day.
“I have no idea [what happened],” Vickers said during the Fox broadcast. “That’s a shame. The first lap seems early to be using the bumper.”
That bumper was Jimmie Johnson tapping Vickers’ left rear. Johnson pitted, but he didn’t have nearly the damage Vickers had. Having to come from behind at Phoenix is a penalty in its own right, and this little slip at the conclusion of Lap 1 took two cars out of the race. Johnson would finish 11th, while Vickers finished 41st.
Winner: Kurt Busch's Return
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Whether you agree with it or not, Kurt Busch is back in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Chevy, and he started eighth in the CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix.
Allegations over domestic abuse kept Busch from racing in the first three races of the season. NASCAR reinstated Busch after the Delaware Attorney General’s office decided not to file charges against him.
"I'm really glad to have him back as a teammate," Danica Patrick, Busch’s teammate, said, via RJ Kraft of NASCAR.com. “Kurt's obviously a great driver. He's very fast. He's really technical. ... Just having the intended group together is good in and of itself."
For Busch, his fifth-place result at Phoenix was encouraging. It proved that he can shoulder the distraction of this predicament and keep it off the track.
"It means I’ve got a strong team, and personally, it feels good to get back to them," Busch said on the Fox broadcast. "It’s a quality car. The way that we raced today was with heart. I was just too loose on restarts."
NASCAR did grant Busch Chase eligibility should he qualify. The 2004 champion showed he’s got the chops to do it, and getting back on the track is a positive for this driver given that his off-the-track issues have growled louder than his No. 41 engine.
Loser: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Right Rear Tire
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In one of the more violently loud collisions of the day, Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew a right rear tire in Turn 2 that sounded like a fork getting stuck in a garbage disposal.
It was loud. It was grating. And it took Junior straight out of the No. 88 Chevy.
“We’ve been really, really loose today,” he said during the Fox broadcast. “We’ll try and get it fixed up and get back out there.”
The entire tail end peeled off like a strand of string cheese.
A few laps before the crash, Earnhardt pitted for two tires, but he was flagged for a speeding penalty. When he came back around to serve his penalty, he pitted for another set of tires in an effort to get more grip.
The streak of three top-fives ended with his car being towed to the garage. Flames cooked under this battered car, proving crew chief Greg Ives’ strategy didn’t pay off. So the team now heads to Fontana, a track where Junior is winless in 22 starts.
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Winner: Jeff Gordon
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Sure, Jeff Gordon hasn’t won a race so far this season, but given the wrecks he’s absorbed since Daytona, Sunday’s ninth-place finish at Phoenix was a win.
In the first three races of the season, he finished 33rd, 41st and 18th. For the first time all season at Phoenix, Gordon consistently ran toward the front of the field. He ran as high as third, which these days is about as good as it gets the way Harvick has been driving.
Gordon, at last, has a taste of running well in 2015. The sheen from his farewell tour is wearing off, and now he can focus on getting a win and, more importantly, qualifying for the Chase and his Drive for Five.
Gordon has three wins at Fontana, the last stage on this West Coast swing. He's that much closer to his 93rd career win.
Loser: Tony Stewart and His 'Chrome Horn'
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Tony Stewart’s 2015 season has been frustrating, and it remained as such in Phoenix when Stewart spun out and crashed with about 75 laps to go. He hasn't finished better than 30th and finished 39th at Phoenix.
The day was promising early. He gave a couple of sophomores a taste of the old chrome horn with the business end of his No. 14 car. He nudged past Kyle Larson, then hit Austin Dillon with an equally forceful bump that gave Stewart the advantage of better track position.
Perhaps this means Stewart is ready to be a leader on the track again. Harvick has been a monster, and the return of Busch showed how powerful he can be. So why has Stewart been struggling? FanSided.com’s Christopher Olmstead made a good point. He writes:
"I believe that Stewart’s struggles are based on what he is no longer doing and that is racing Sprint Cars.
Stewart has one passion in this world and that is racing. Stewart’s passion to race and be around tracks is evident in the fact that he used to race three or four times a week depending on his schedule. He has even begun purchasing race tracks to further feed his passion for racing. Since the leg injury and then the Kevin Ward Jr. incident, Stewart has slowed and now completely stopped racing outside of NASCAR. For a driver with the passion and love of racing that Stewart has it would only make sense for such a change to impact him on the track.
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Without focusing on pure racing, Stewart has lost his edge behind the wheel. He seems more owner than driver now, especially with Harvick driving with dominance.
Pending further incidents, this should be Stewart’s first full season in three years, and his finish in Phoenix was a step in that winning direction.
Winner: Ryan Newman
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Ryan Newman is yet again driving super steady. He finished third at Phoenix and made it his second top -five in three races.
"We’re knocking on the door," Newman said after the race on the Fox broadcast. "That’s two top-threes in a row. It was a good points day nonetheless. It took us till June last year to get our first [top-five]."
A good points day is hilarious, because it was Newman who nearly won the Chase last year by pointing his way to No. 2 in the Chase standings. He lost to the seemingly invincible Harvick.
Here's Newman again driving without any sense of urgency. If he keeps this up, it's only a matter of time before he sees Victory Lane. Unfortunately for Newman, he has no wins at Fontana, but if there was ever a driver who doesn't need to win, it's Newman. He'll be there in the end.
Somehow.
Loser: Jamie McMurray Failing to Slide Up
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Jamie McMurray did the safe thing, the smart thing, but it wasn’t the winning thing.
On the final restart of the race, McMurray had the jump on Harvick on the inside after Turn 1. Heading into Turn 2, he still had the lead as Harvick made a move on the outside path. McMurray had a chance to slam the door but elected not to, and Harvick powered off the turn and into Victory Lane.
McMurray told Fox on the television broadcast:
"We ran fifth, eighth all day long; that was a fun battle with Kevin. Those are the kinds you wish you could do again. I would have slipped up earlier. It’s similar to plate racing with the engine package we have now, where if you don’t get the guy cleared he can stall you out a little bit. I saw Kevin coming, and I thought I could slide up in front of him, but I also knew it was for the win and we would probably wreck.
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Very true. McMurray would not have finished second, and Harvick would not have won for the second straight time this year.
Does McMurray win if he closes off the lane on Harvick? The world may never know.
Winner: Kevin Harvick
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For the second week in a row, Harvick and his crew made Victory Lane look like a frat house on Friday night. Budweiser showers do that.
Harvick was the heavy favorite coming in since he and Phoenix go together like peanut butter and chocolate.
It got to the point where teams took two tires to his four in an effort to get better track position. It worked, but only for a short time. Harvick picked his way through and got to the front.
A killer restart late in the race against McMurray sealed the win.
Harvick said on the Fox television broadcast:
"I think when you look at the start of this year, we just know each other better. We have a lot of things different than what we had last year. I feel like the bond with this team is really special. It’s almost scary how well things are going. You don’t want to talk about it too much because you want to keep it going.
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The only concern for the No. 4 team has to be peaking too soon. Harvick and Co. are so good right now. This level of performance is unsustainable, so it will be interesting to see if they have any lulls.
If they don’t, they could be heading for one of the historically great seasons. It’s too early to tell, but right now, it’s Harvick’s world. Take four tires at your own risk.
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