NASCAR at Phoenix 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

After almost seven hours of rain delays at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag at the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, which was called after 219 laps.

The race was slated to begin at 2:41 p.m. ET, according to USA Today. It wasn't until 9:27 p.m. ET that the Sprint Cup elimination race finally got underway.

Place	Driver	Laps Led
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	22
2	Kevin Harvick	143
3	Joey Logano	0
4	Kyle Busch	1
5	Jimmie Johnson	44
6	Jeff Gordon	4
7	Kurt Busch	0
8	Denny Hamlin	0
9	Brad Keselowski	4
10	Aric Almirola	0

Motor Racing Network provided a shot of the ongoing downpour, per Kyle Rickey:

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. advanced to the final round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, joining Jeff Gordon, who advanced after the race at Martinsville Speedway. NASCAR's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will determine the 2015 champion—but not without some major questions.

With the race being called because of the rain, some drivers will be left thinking about what could have been. Carl Edwards, who finished 12th, saw his season come to an end because of the constant downpour. He ended up five points out of fourth place in the standings.

Aaron Bearden of Front Stretch noted how crushing it was for Edwards:

Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski also missed out on a chance to race for the championship. 

Earnhardt said that while the goal is to get the win next Sunday in Miami, it's also important to help his teammate Gordon win a championship in his last race, per the Nationwide 88 Team:

Harvick came in second for the 13th time this year, albeit in a shortened race. He was disappointed by his finish but proud of his team for making a charge and giving him a chance to repeat as the Sprint Cup champion, per Motor Racing Digest:

"

It’s kind of bittersweet. The car just really performed well today and we were able to lead a lot of laps and just really proud of the guys for the decisions that they made overnight to get that last little bit out of the car today and how it performed was really good. 

Just caution came out at the wrong time, and we didn’t get to make up the ground on the racetrack under green, where Dale was pitted and the way that they came out of the pits just didn’t time out well.

"

Post-Race Reaction

So, who's the favorite heading into Miami? That's the tough question. It's anybody's race and anybody's championship, and the four racers involved in the Chase each think the other person is the favorite, per Jeff Gluck of USA Today:

“The past champion, probably,” Gordon said of Harvick.

“He’s got four championships, so I think he’s got the advantage,” Harvick replied.

“I’ve got none,” Kyle Busch said. “I’m playing with house money, so I’ve got the advantage.”

“I’m playing with house money, too,” Gordon said.

The case could also be made for Earnhardt Jr. to be one of the four remaining drivers, especially with how well he raced in the third round, per Gluck:

It was still a fantastic set of races for Earnhardt Jr., who won for the third time this year and his first since July 5 at Daytona. Earnhardt Jr. credited a solid qualifying session as the reason this win was possible:

Joey Logano's championship hopes come to an abrupt end Sunday, but the case can be made his hopes were dashed when he and Matt Kenseth got into a wreck at Martinsville on Nov. 1. Logano told Mike Hembree of USA Today that despite the rain washing away any chances he had at a chance to win a championship, he cannot complain about his success this season: “Our heads are still high, and it’s been a great season. I don’t have much to say bad about anything. I just want another shot at it, and when you’re this close to seeing the lead you want just one more restart. I was hoping they got that wreck cleaned up fast enough to just try to get one more shot at it.”

NASCAR did not want the race to go on all night, but many will question the fact that Mother Nature is the reason why drivers such Edwards are not racing for the championship next Sunday. There's not much that NASCAR can do about it, but that won't stop those involved from bringing up the controversy.

Nevertheless, the stage is set for Gordon to drive the No. 24 car off into the sunset, possibly with the championship.