NASCAR at Phoenix 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction
Make it four straight for the No. 4 car in Phoenix. The King of Phoenix remained firmly atop his throne.
Kevin Harvick is seemingly unstoppable early this season, and that trend continued on Sunday as he captured his second consecutive victory. It was also his seventh overall in Phoenix and his seventh straight top-two finish dating back to last year.
Starting from the pole, Harvick led 225 of the 312 laps to become the first repeat winner of the season. It was a fitting performance from the points leader as he kept a stranglehold over the track with seven wins overall, the most at the track, and fifth in his last six attempts.
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Harvick's streak of top-two finishes also puts him behind only Richard Petty's 11-straight top-two finishes. Alan Cavanna of Fox Sports notes he'll now enter his name in the record books:
He also stretched out his own record of laps led in Phoenix, via Fox Sports: NASCAR:
Following Sunday, Harvick has now led 1,203 laps in Phoenix. The blazing sun has nothing on the way Harvick has been torching the field at Avondale.
Just behind Harvick were Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch. It was a huge comeback for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver, who missed the first three races of the season.
Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson were also in the top 10. A great start to the year just continues to get more impressive for Truex, who endured a trying 2014 season.
Here is a look at the results and standings following the fourth race of the season. Complete finishing order can be found at NASCAR.com.
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 225 |
| 2 | Jamie McMurray | 1 |
| 3 | Ryan Newman | 0 |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | 0 |
| 5 | Kurt Busch | 0 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 52 |
| 7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 0 |
| 8 | Joey Logano | 35 |
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 0 |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | 0 |
| 11 | Jimmie Johnson | 0 |
| 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 0 |
| 13 | Carl Edwards | 0 |
| 14 | Paul Menard | 0 |
| 15 | Austin Dillon | 0 |
| 16 | Matt Kenseth | 0 |
| 17 | A.J. Allmendinger | 0 |
| 18 | Justin Allgaier | 0 |
| 19 | Aric Almirola | 0 |
| 20 | Casey Mears | 0 |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 182 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Joey Logano | 160 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 124 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | 155 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | 132 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | AJ Allmendinger | 127 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 126 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | 123 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | 116 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Matt Kenseth | 113 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Paul Menard | 112 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Casey Mears | 111 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | 108 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Aric Almirola | 105 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 101 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | 101 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
All eyes were on the No. 41 car that had its regular driver behind the wheel.
Busch's suspension from NASCAR was lifted earlier this week and he was allowed to return with Stewart-Haas Racing in Phoenix. Heading into his first race since the conclusion of the 2014 season in Homestead-Miami, Busch was starting eighth after a great round of qualifying on Friday night.
For Busch, simply being back in the car was a gratifying feeling.
"Everything feels good," Busch said Friday, per Brandon Schlager of Sporting News. "The seat, the belts and just the love from the crew guys has been pretty cool [with] the way that the garage feels like a fraternity, and it's nice to see good friends. ...
"I'm thankful to be back and to have this competitive car that I can put in the top 10 on the first day out."
Thanks to that starting position, Busch ran up in the top 10 throughout much of the afternoon. By the end of the race, Busch put together a quality finish with a fifth-place result to slowly climb his way back into the Chase discussion.
Busch's first race back was an encouraging one for the SHR team. However, not every driver had a great run in Phoenix due to penalties and issues on the track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not spared from the problems on the track as he was dealt a speeding penalty in the pits near the midway point. Junior spoke about the penalty with crew chief Greg Ives over his radio, via Richard Allen of RacingWithRich.com:
That pit stop would be the least of Junior's concerns after he returned to the track. Despite taking four tires during that pit stop he was penalized on, Earnhardt had a right-rear tire go down on Lap 179 that sent him careening into the wall.
The No. 88 car's damage was mostly to the rear end with the entire back bumper nearly ripped off.
Earnhardt headed straight to the garage and his streak of top-five finishes to start the season would come to an end. Beginning the afternoon at second in the points, it was a tough pill to swallow for the Hendrick driver.
Another massive crash late in the afternoon involved Tony Stewart. Unlike Earhardt, Stewart has not gotten off to a great start this season and it only got worse in Phoenix. Nick Brincks of Q102 points out how strange the year has been for Stewart thus far:
Shortly after Stewart went down, another SHR driver Danica Patrick spun out to lose position. While both Harvick and Busch had standout days, their teammates were not so fortunate.
Luckily, the season is still brand new with 22 races remaining to catch back up. Both Earnhardt and Busch will be looking to run well next week to solidify themselves as championship contenders moving forward.
Next week, the final race out west will take place at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Without Kyle Busch on the track—the winner of the last two races in Fontana—there will be an opportunity for several drivers to take their first checkered flag.
Kyle Larson, who finished second at the track last year, has a chance to win the first race of his career. In a year where Harvick has looked dominant at every track, the entire field will have to catch the No. 4 to win on any given weekend.
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