NASCAR 2014 at Phoenix II: Winners and Losers from the Race for Heroes 500
The Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 was the semifinal in the race for the Chase. Heading into the second tour of Phoenix, none of the eight remaining Chase drivers had won a race to lock up a bid at Homestead.
Kevin Harvick went and led 85 percent of the laps (264) and muscled his way into the championship. He won the race, but there was any number of races going on behind him.
Queen's "Under Pressure" was a fitting soundtrack to the last race of the Eliminator Round. The melee that ensued following last week's race at Texas created thoughts of some unfinished business that carried over to Phoenix.
Drivers raced with apocalyptic desperation, as all the points shuffled around like a deck of cards.
Phoenix saw a lot of sloppy pit stops and handling and a record number of cautions. That's a result of the Chase.
Now it's on to Homestead for the championship—but first, here are the winners and losers from Phoenix.
Winner: Kevin Harvick Feasting on Clean Air
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Harvick drove like his season depended on it (he wasn't the only one) because, well, it did. He led for 264 laps, and if he didn't win, he wasn't advancing. The drivers shuffling around behind him would have bounced him out of the Chase playoffs.
During much of this year, Harvick found ways to lose races. Harvick fans, no doubt, were waiting for that shoe to drop. But it never did. Now he's one of the favorites to win in Miami.
"Wow, I guess that['s what] it feels like to hit a walk-off [home run] in extra innings," Harvick said during the ESPN broadcast. "Both races here [have] been bad to the bone."
Harvick won at Phoenix earlier in the year. Now he catches lighting going forward at another 1.5-mile track.
"I can tell that we were probably going to have to win," Harvick said on the ESPN broadcast. "That was our goal. I think this says a lot about our team. We've put our backs against the wall. We've put ourselves in Victory Lane."
The No. 4 has the horsepower and the talent. Can he hold it together for one more? The answer is an unequivocal yes, but now he has to win at a track where he's never won before. Well, he doesn't have to win, but he does have to outlast the other three finalists.
Loser: Jeff Gordon's Drive for Five
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If Gordon knows what's good for him, he won't dwell on last week's wreck at Texas when Brad Keselowski cut up his rear tire. That loss of points cost Gordon a shot at the championship.
He finished second at Phoenix, but thanks to Ryan Newman forcing Kyle Larson into the wall on the final lap (and subsequently passing Larson. More on this in the next slide.), Gordon missed the Championship Four by one point. Gordon told ESPN after the race during the broadcast:
"It's disappointing. We've got a lot to hold our heads up high about. The way we raced this race and the whole Chase. We raced hard. I hope we taught somebody that you can race clean and still go out there and give it your best and that you don't have to go out there and wreck people to make it in the Chase. This makes last week hurt that much more. Second just wasn't good enough.
"
He clearly still has a bone to pick with Keselowski.
Gordon led most of the season in points and was one of the favorites coming into the Chase. He was the last Hendrick Motorsports driver standing. He'll go to Homestead, a track where he won two years ago, and try to end this season on a high note.
Winner: Winless Ryan Newman's Bodyslam
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"I have no idea how he continues to march on," Ricky Craven, ESPN's NASCAR analyst, said during a Sports Center broadcast.
With half a lap remaining, Newman was toast, the Sprint Cup no longer in reach. He was side-by-side with the resurgent rookie Kyle Larson and he needed the points. Newman needed to pass Larson to get the points and advance to the Championship Four and there was only one option. Nothing personal, Larson.
So, coming into Turn 3, Newman went low, slid up and bumped Larson, putting the No. 42 into the wall. Newman did what he had to do and now the winless No. 31 is somehow alive at Homestead.
Newman caught up with ESPN after the race:
"I gave it my all. A great team effort today. We had horrible restarts. In the end we fought back hard. We did what we had to. As clean as we possibly could. I wasn't proud of it. That little boy has got a lot of things coming in this sport. He used me up in a truck race a couple years ago. From my standpoint I call it even. I think if he was in my position he would have done the same thing.
"
Newman started 20th—worst of all the Chasers—yet still managed to creep his way through the field. Not only that, he also kept himself in the top four in points. Once there were 16, but now there are four.
Newman, amazingly, hasn't won a race this year. He hasn't been spectacular this year, yet here he is. Newman just kept on being the average of the extremes. And with one more to go, why can't Newman point his way to a Championship?
"I'm not really so much worried about what somebody thinks of me and if I'm a sleeper or an underdog or the odd man out or whatever you want to call me," Newman told Fox Sports.com. "I'm having fun, and that's what it's supposed to be about."
This is in a year where NASCAR stressed winning above everything. Imagine if a non-winner of a race wins the Sprint Cup. It's not ideal by anyone's standards, but should that be the case, Newman's 2014 will give hope to those who struggle to reach Victory Lane.
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Loser: Brad Keselowski
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The No. 2 car couldn't summon the magic it found at Talladega when it needed to win a race to advance. Keselowski finished fourth at Phoenix and never had enough to contend against Harvick.
"We were just a little bit short," Keselowski said during the ESPN broadcast. "Kevin was just strong all day long. We were strong enough to be second or third—we finished fourth—there's a lot to be proud of. It doesn't feel good."
Keselowski was mired by attention in the fallout from the Texas shootout with Gordon. Oddly enough, the fight was prompted by Harvick. Turns out karma took a weekend sojourn somewhere far away from Phoenix.
BK had maybe the best year of any driver, winning six races in total. That matters little, however, given that he's out of the running for a championship.
"At the end of the day we won six races," said Keselowski on ESPN. "That's a lot to be proud of."
Winner: Denny Hamlin Delivering
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Denny Hamlin fell a lap down on two separate occasions watching the Phoenix-loving Harvick cruise around the oval feasting on that clean air.
Hamlin was seemingly set up for a bid at Homestead. He had to finish 11th or better to advance and ended up fifth. Like any great odyssey, there were hurdles to climb, but he cleared them.
When the 11 car pitted around Lap 35, he had to come back to pit road with a flat tire. As a result, he went from fourth to 37th. He was plus-24 on the cut line and was minus-12 after.
"What a crazy day. You just think about everything that went on and you think 'It's just not meant to be.' You keep fighting and fighting. Now we're in it," said Hamlin.
He's the defending winner at Homestead.
"Our tests went really well there," Hamlin said during the ESPN broadcast. "We're going to be the underdogs. I can tell you there's no give up."
Underdogs? Not in the slightest. He's got to be considered the second choice behind Harvick to win this race and the championship.
Loser: Matt Kenseth
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Matt Kenseth had one of his better finishes of the Chase, taking third in at Phoenix. Unlike Newman, who is also winless in 2014, Kenseth will not advance to the Championship Four.
Early this year, Kenseth was one of the favorites to win the Sprint Cup. After winning seven races and leading a ton of laps in 2013, 2014 never measured up.
"We haven't had nearly the fast race cars that we had last year, but these guys never gave up," Kenseth said during the ESPN broadcast. "We just need some more speed out of our car. At the end of the day it wasn't enough. The performance hasn't been as good this year."
It was an odd year for the No. 20, but the team members can't say they weren't competitive in 2014—they just weren't running with the A-plus cars this year. Come 2015, Kenseth could be dangerous. He got this far without a win. Just wait until he finds his speed.
Winner: Joey Logano, Despite His Fuel Can
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The racing gods were not in Logano's corner in Phoenix. Things appeared to be positive when he pitted in second place early in the race. Then he sped off with the gas can sticking out of the car like a thorn. The can popped out but skidded into Hamlin's stall.
NASCAR promptly sent him to the back of the lead lap.
"When those situations come, you have to try and stay calm, which is hard to do," Logano said during the ESPN broadcast. "There's so much on the line. I"m glad to be sitting here and going for it."
Logano cussed and screamed throughout the race after he was forced to trail the field on the lead lap. He flipped up his visor, rubbed his eyes and forehead. You could feel the pressure he was under from the hole he dug for himself.
Then when Kyle Busch wrecked, it put Logano into Danica Patrick, forcing the No. 22 to pit for some repairs.
Logano may not be the favorite he was after the Contender Round, but he needs to be respected going against a winless Newman, a streaky Harvick and a cool-handed Hamlin.
Logano finished sixth on the day and, like Newman and Hamlin, ground his way into Homestead.
Loser: No Backflips for Carl Edwards
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There really isn't much to say about Carl Edwards. He finished 15th at Phoenix and was never really in contention.
He never had the car on this day. He never threatened any of the leaders and was the darkest of dark horses coming into the Chase.
It's impressive he made it as far he did. Perhaps the sun in 2015 will shine brighter as he leaves Roush Fenway Racing.
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