Sprint Cup Chase Standings 2014: NASCAR Grid, Reaction After Ford EcoBoost 400
Kevin Harvick needed a win at Phoenix to make the Chase's championship round. He got it. On Sunday, with Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin in contention, Harvick needed another win to take his first title. And he did it again.
Harvick pulled away after a late-race restart to take the 2014 Ford EcoBoost 400 and with it win the Sprint Cup championship. The No. 4 car finished a half-second ahead of Newman, who will have to settle for bridesmaid status.
The race turned when Harvick pitted for four tires after a caution with 15 laps remaining. Newman chose to take only two tires and Hamlin, who finished seventh, did not pit, but the risky decision to take all four paid off for Harvick. His car, which led 54 laps, had a relatively breezy trip up the pack after starting in 12th. Harvick was also helped by cautions for debris, which kept the leaders close to the pack.
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"That came down to a pit call, and thought oh man, we're in big trouble here," Harvick said, per Nate Ryan of USA Today. "(Crew chief) Rodney Childers and all these guys have just done an amazing job."
Joey Logano, the other driver in the Chase, was mostly a non-factor and finished 16th. Here is a look at how the final standings played out:
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 5043 | 5 |
| 2 | Ryan Newman | 5042 | 0 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 5037 | 1 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | 5028 | 5 |
Harvick, in his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing, turned in by far the best season of his career. The longtime Richard Childress Racing golden child won five races, including the last two, and was a consistent fixture atop the leaderboard. As noted by SportsCenter's Twitter feed, he's the second driver since the inception of the Chase format to lead 2,000 laps in a single season.
"Tony Stewart was obviously a huge part of the decision that I made, personally, to change jobs, just for the fact that he had won three championships," Harvick said, per Tom Jensen of Fox Sports. "They had won a championship already at SHR."
Newman, Harvick's de facto replacement at Richard Childress Racing, was also rejuvenated in 2014. He hadn't finished higher than ninth in the point standings since 2005, and his second-place run this season is the best of his career. Despite not winning a race—Newman's season earnings are more than a million less than any other top-eight driver—his consistency kept him near the top of the pack.
The No. 31 car had only one did-not-finish all season, second behind only teammate Austin Dillon among regular drivers. He also had the fifth-best average finish of any driver.
"It's been an amazing year," Newman said, per Ryan. "They say you have to lose one before you can win one, I'm ready to win one now. Says a lot about the organization and how quick we grew. We won a lot of battles. We sure came close to winning the war."
None of the four drivers who made this week's championship round had won a championship before. Logano was attempting to become one of the youngest drivers in NASCAR's top circuit to win a title, but he never had much of a chance. His car fell off the jack during a late-race pit stop and put him behind the 8-ball. He was as far back as 29th with under 20 laps to go before moving near respectability.
Hamlin, meanwhile, finishes just shy of a title for the second time in his career. In 2010, Hamlin was the runner-up to Jimmie Johnson as part of his five-year run atop the sport. The No. 11 car led 50 laps and was undone by his team's decision to avoid pitting late in the race. It's a decision that all parties involved will no doubt go over in their heads in the coming weeks.
In the end, Harvick took the riskiest possible strategy, and it paid off. Not too bad for a team that is still less than 12 months into its run together. If this season was any indication, it's almost scary to think what they'll have in store for 2015.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
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