Kenseth Holds Off Elliott for Phoenix Win and the Final Four is Established

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – In a fitting end to what could be his career, Matt Kenseth took the lead with nine laps to go and held off Chase Elliott to win the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway.  By the time Kenseth crossed over the finish line, he won by 1.207-seconds over Elliott who finished second.

“I wasn’t sure I was ready for this (not competing in 2018 and to move onto to something else next year, but God made the decision for me—He put me here for a reason and he’s taking me out for a reason, Kenseth said.  “It’s been an incredible journey and there’s no way you could write it any better than this.”

It was Kenseth’s 39th victory in the Cup series that includes two Daytona 500 wins, and the 2001 championship..

Martin Truex, Jr., Erik Jones, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five finishers.

The race was the second to last race of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup season.  The top three qualifiers for the championship race at Miami Homestead Speedway next Sunday had already been determined.  Truex, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick were already in due to winning or points accumulations.  That left four drivers fighting for one place in the final four who will run for the championship.  The list was long and included seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney.  In the end, Keselowski made the cut.

The Team Penske driver came into Sunday’s Can-Am 500 race at Phoenix International Speedway leading the remaining NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers in points, and that proved to be enough to get him through to Homestead even without a win.  Keselowski finished 16th, and while Chase Elliott finished second, Keselowski’s points advantage proved enough.

Johnson’s day ended early thanks to a blown tire just before the end of Stage 2. Hamlin also saw his day end early due to a blown tire, which was more unexpected since he led the most laps (193 of 312) in the race.  Kenseth was second with 62.

Kyle Larson was a favorite and won Stage 1 by passing Hamlin at the end.  Unfortunately, he lost an engine with over 200 laps to go and finished 40th or last.

Hamlin dominated Stage 2 and closed the 19-point gap Keselowski had coming into the race.  Keselowski was still running outside the top ten at the Lap 158.

The final run of 154 laps were much different that the first 158.  The only caution during the first two stages was Johnson’s flat tire which finished his day at the end of the second stage.  The final stage saw five cautions, one each for drivers Trevor Bayne, Chris Beuscher, Cole Whitt, and Hamlin.

The caution at Lap 276 was the most damaging.  Whether Elliott was thinking about Hamlin moving him out of the way in Martinsville two weeks ago or just hard racing, is immaterial.  Elliott drove hard into Hamlin’s bumper several times and got around the No.11 Toyota much like Hamlin did to Elliott in the earlier mentioned race.  The result for Hamlin was a cut tire that sent him into the wall and out of the race.

“We got run into the wall twice by the 24,” Hamlin said.  “We made out last pit stop and didn’t make any changes, and the car got a little tight.  That made it sure that our competition would get close to us.  We’ll try to go out and win Homestead and make sure our competition doesn’t.”

Kenseth took over the lead at Lap 232, and Elliott passed him back with single digit laps left to race and Kenseth held on.

Keselowski wasn’t sure what to say about the turn of events.

“I don’t ever want to go through that again,” Keselowski said.

Ford Championship Weekend will take place at Miami Homestead Speedway starting November 17th with championships presented to all three major series’ topo drivers.  In the case of the Cup championship, it will be Truex, Busch, Harvick, and Keselowski.  Three of the four have Monster Energy Cup championships. 

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 35
Unofficial Race Results
Phoenix Raceway - Avondale, AZ - 1 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 312 Laps - 312 Miles

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 7 20 Matt Kenseth Circle K Toyota 312 4 2 56 Running 2 62
2 4 24 Chase Elliott (P) Hooters Chevrolet 312 3 9 45 Running 3 34
3 5 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 312 8 4 44 Running
4 11 77 Erik Jones # 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota 312 7 3 45 Running
5 6 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Busch Light Ford 312 5 6 43 Running
6 13 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 312 7 35 Running
7 8 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M's Caramel Toyota 312 6 5 41 Running
8 27 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Robert Yates Tribute Ford 312 29 Running
9 22 43 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford 312 28 Running
10 14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 312 27 Running
11 29 13 Ty Dillon # GEICO Military Chevrolet 312 26 Running
12 9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 312 25 Running
13 20 14 Clint Bowyer USA Network Damnation Ford 312 10 25 Running
14 21 3 Austin Dillon Realtree Chevrolet 312 23 Running
15 19 27 Paul Menard Duracell/Menards Chevrolet 312 22 Running
16 16 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Miller Lite Ford 312 21 Running
17 1 21 Ryan Blaney (P) SKF/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 312 20 Running 1 11
18 10 19 Daniel Suarez # STANLEY Toyota 312 19 Running
19 17 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 311 18 Running
20 18 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 311 9 8 22 Running
21 15 41 Kurt Busch Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford 310 16 Running
22 28 95 Michael McDowell Rohto Jolt Eyedrops Chevrolet 309 15 Running
23 23 47 AJ Allmendinger Fry's ClickList Chevrolet 309 14 Running
24 32 34 Landon Cassill Love's Travel Stops/Roller Bites Ford 309 13 Running
25 24 10 Danica Patrick Code 3 Associates Ford 309 12 Running
26 37 15 DJ Kennington Northern Provincial Pipelines LTD Chevrolet 307 11 Running
27 30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Can-Am/Kappa Ford 306 10 Running
28 36 66 * David Starr(i) Eureka Toyota 305 0 Running
29 38 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Hulu Chevrolet 305 8 Running
30 35 7 * Joey Gase(i) Eternal Fan Chevrolet 304 0 Running
31 33 23 Corey LaJoie # Fresh Beards/Earthwater Toyota 303 6 Running
32 40 00 * Derrike Cope StarCom Fiber/Ashurst American Honey Chevrolet 302 5 Running
33 26 38 David Ragan 1000Bulbs.com Ford 301 4 Running
34 39 51 * Kyle Weatherman Prevagen Chevrolet 294 3 Running
35 2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Ground Toyota 275 2 1 21 Accident 3 193
36 34 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 258 1 Accident
37 31 37 Chris Buescher Clorox Chevrolet 247 1 Accident
38 25 6 Trevor Bayne Ford EcoBoost Ford 226 1 Accident
39 12 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Lowe's Chevrolet 148 10 2 Accident
40 3 42 Kyle Larson Refresh Your Car! Chevrolet 104 1 11 Engine 1 12
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 57 Mins, 23 Secs. Average Speed: 105.534 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.207 Seconds
42,11,24,20,4,18,77,78,31,48
11,20,77,78,18,4,1,31,24,14


Caution Flags: 7 for 41 laps: Laps: 77-83 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]); 151-158 (#48 Incident Turn 4 / Stage 2 Conclusion [17]); 230-235 (#6 Incident Turn 4 [19]); 240-243 (Debris Turn 2 [88]); 253-258 (#37, 19 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag 5:03] [43]); 262-265 (#72 Incident Turn 3 [5]); 276-281 (#11 Incident Turn 3 [5]).
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers: R. Blaney (P) 1-11; C. Elliott (P) 12-25; D. Hamlin (P) 26; C. Elliott (P) 27; D. Hamlin (P) 28-67; K. Larson 68-79; D. Hamlin (P) 80-231; M. Kenseth 232-283; C. Elliott (P) 284-302; M. Kenseth 303-312.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award : Matt Kenseth, #20 Coors Light Pole Award : Ryan Blaney, #21 137.942 mph
Ingersoll Rand Power Move : Aric Almirola, #43 10 positions Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Toyota Racing Development (TRD), #20
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Matt Kenseth, #20 Moog Go the Extra Mile : Ricky Stenhouse Jr, #17 0.184 secs
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap : Kyle Larson, #42 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Erik Jones, #77
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2017, Issue 11, Posted 8:48 PM, 11.12.2017