Kevin Harvick locked himself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup decider with a dominant victory at Phoenix International Raceway.
The Stewart-Haas Chevrolet driver automatically transferred into the final four for the finale with victory, while Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman secured their spots on points.
Hamlin and Logano survived fraught days in order to advance, both rallying from back in the pack after early dramas.
Hamlin's Gibbs Toyota dropped to the rear with a flat tyre, while Logano endured a drive-through penalty after a fuel can remained lodged in his Penske Ford after an early pitstop.
Newman's result was however the most dramatic as the Childress Chevrolet driver shouldered Kyle Larson out of the way on the final corner in order to gain the final point he needed to advance.
“It was a great team effort,” said Newman post-race.
“We didn't have the race car, we had horrible restarts and didn't have track position when we needed it.
“But in the end we fought back and did what we had to as clean as we possibly could. I wasn't proud of it but I did what I had to to make it to the next round.”
Second-place finisher Jeff Gordon was the loser out of that exchange as he dropped from third in the standings to fifth courtesy of Newman's move and Harvick's win.
Gordon had led the Chase heading into last week's race at Texas, where he looked on course for victory before a late scuffle with Brad Keselowski that triggered a flat tyre and a post-race brawl.
“This makes last week hurt that much more, but we did everything we could at Martinsville and here,” reflected Gordon.
“Second just wasn't good enough, (but) Harvick was in another ZIP code, there was no way anyone was going to get him today.”
Matt Kenseth and Keselowski were also eliminated from the Chase despite strong runs to third and fourth place respectively.
The final Chase contender, Carl Edwards, also failed to progress after coming home in 15th.
Australian Marcos Ambrose scored a strong 10th in his penultimate race as a full-time NASCAR driver.
Ambrose had found himself amongst the late Chase battle, passing Newman in the closing stages to temporarily demote the former Daytona 500 winner from the decider.
“The track changed a lot, but Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) did a great job of making adjustments,” said Ambrose of his race.
“We really made the car a lot better all race. It was super-tight in the middle, but we made the right calls.
“It's nice to get a good finish. The last few weeks have been a struggle and it's nice to get back on track. It was a good day for our team.”
Under the new-for-2014 Chase format, the Sprint Cup will be awarded to the driver who finishes highest out of Hamlin, Logano, Harvick and Newman at Homestead next weekend.
VIDEO: Newman races in as Harvick wins
VIDEO: Newman, Gordon reflect on Chase cut-off
VIDEO: Harvick celebrates in Victory Lane
VIDEO: Keselowski and Logano reflect on mixed day for Penske
Result: NASCAR Sprint Cup, Phoenix
POS. |
# |
DRIVER |
MANUFACTURER |
STARTING POS. |
LAPS |
LAPS LED |
FINAL STATUS |
POINTS |
BONUS POINTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
4 |
Kevin Harvick |
3 |
312 |
264 |
Running |
48 |
5 |
|
2 |
24 |
Jeff Gordon |
7 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
42 |
0 |
|
3 |
20 |
Matt Kenseth |
5 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
41 |
0 |
|
4 |
2 |
Brad Keselowski |
2 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
40 |
0 |
|
5 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
1 |
312 |
24 |
Running |
40 |
1 |
|
6 |
22 |
Joey Logano |
4 |
312 |
17 |
Running |
39 |
1 |
|
7 |
41 |
Kurt Busch |
10 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
37 |
0 |
|
8 |
88 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr |
16 |
312 |
4 |
Running |
37 |
1 |
|
9 |
16 |
Greg Biffle |
28 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
35 |
0 |
|
10 |
9 |
Marcos Ambrose |
21 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
34 |
0 |
|
11 |
31 |
Ryan Newman |
20 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
33 |
0 |
|
12 |
78 |
Martin Truex Jr |
14 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
32 |
0 |
|
13 |
42 |
Kyle Larson |
8 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
31 |
0 |
|
14 |
1 |
Jamie McMurray |
19 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
30 |
0 |
|
15 |
99 |
Carl Edwards |
13 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
29 |
0 |
|
16 |
47 |
AJ Allmendinger |
24 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
28 |
0 |
|
17 |
17 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr |
18 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
27 |
0 |
|
18 |
43 |
Aric Almirola |
23 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
26 |
0 |
|
19 |
55 |
Brian Vickers |
9 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
25 |
0 |
|
20 |
14 |
Tony Stewart |
29 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
24 |
0 |
|
21 |
5 |
Kasey Kahne |
22 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
23 |
0 |
|
22 |
10 |
Danica Patrick |
32 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
22 |
0 |
|
23 |
27 |
Paul Menard |
11 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
21 |
0 |
|
24 |
38 |
David Gilliland |
34 |
312 |
0 |
Running |
20 |
0 |
|
25 |
34 |
David Ragan |
35 |
312 |
2 |
Running |
20 |
1 |
|
26 |
7 |
Michael Annett |
30 |
311 |
1 |
Running |
19 |
1 |
|
27 |
33 |
Ty Dillon |
26 |
310 |
0 |
Running |
0 |
0 |
|
28 |
36 |
Reed Sorenson |
33 |
310 |
0 |
Running |
16 |
0 |
|
29 |
40 |
Landon Cassill |
38 |
310 |
0 |
Running |
0 |
0 |
|
30 |
83 |
J.J. Yeley |
41 |
309 |
0 |
Running |
0 |
0 |
|
31 |
95 |
Michael McDowell |
31 |
309 |
0 |
Running |
13 |
0 |
|
32 |
23 |
Alex Bowman |
37 |
308 |
0 |
Running |
12 |
0 |
|
33 |
32 |
Joey Gase |
42 |
308 |
0 |
Running |
0 |
0 |
|
34 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
6 |
308 |
0 |
Running |
10 |
0 |
|
35 |
13 |
Casey Mears |
12 |
305 |
0 |
Running |
9 |
0 |
|
36 |
66 |
Mike Wallace |
43 |
303 |
0 |
Running |
0 |
0 |
|
37 |
51 |
Justin Allgaier |
27 |
302 |
0 |
Running |
7 |
0 |
|
38 |
3 |
Austin Dillon |
25 |
283 |
0 |
Running |
6 |
0 |
|
39 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
15 |
235 |
0 |
Accident |
5 |
0 |
|
40 |
15 |
Clint Bowyer |
17 |
211 |
0 |
Accident |
4 |
0 |
|
41 |
98 |
Josh Wise |
36 |
204 |
0 |
Accident |
3 |
0 |
|
42 |
26 |
Cole Whitt |
40 |
147 |
0 |
Accident |
2 |
0 |
|
43 |
37 |
Mike Bliss |
39 |
16 |
0 |
Brakes |
0 |
0 |
Updated championship standings
Pos |
Driver |
Points |
1 |
Kevin Harvick |
5000 |
2 |
Joey Logano |
5000 |
3 |
Denny Hamlin |
5000 |
4 |
Ryan Newman |
5000 |
5 |
Brad Keselowski |
2320 |
6 |
Jeff Gordon |
2312 |
7 |
Matt Kenseth |
2300 |
8 |
Kyle Busch |
2280 |
9 |
Carl Edwards |
2278 |
10 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
2271 |
11 |
A.J. Allmendinger |
2256 |
12 |
Greg Biffle |
2244 |
13 |
Jimmie Johnson |
2239 |
14 |
Kurt Busch |
2229 |
15 |
Kasey Kahne |
2202 |
16 |
Aric Almirola |
2170 |
17 |
Kyle Larson |
1049 |
18 |
Jamie McMurray |
975 |
19 |
Clint Bowyer |
943 |
20 |
Austin Dillon |
939 |
21 |
Paul Menard |
904 |
22 |
Brian Vickers |
900 |
23 |
Marcos Ambrose |
853 |
24 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
830 |
25 |
Tony Stewart |
798 |
26 |
Casey Mears |
758 |
27 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
735 |
28 |
Danica Patrick |
709 |
29 |
Justin Allgaier |
607 |
30 |
David Gilliland |
541 |
31 |
Michael Annett |
522 |
32 |
David Ragan |
517 |
33 |
Cole Whitt |
514 |
34 |
Reed Sorenson |
496 |
35 |
Alex Bowman |
401 |
36 |
Josh Wise |
393 |
37 |
Michael McDowell |
232 |
38 |
Travis Kvapil |
214 |
39 |
Ryan Truex |
193 |
40 |
Terry Labonte |
88 |
41 |
Jeff Burton |
87 |
42 |
Michael Waltrip |
76 |
43 |
David Stremme |
75 |
44 |
Timmy Hill |
62 |
45 |
Bobby Labonte |
54 |
46 |
Parker Kligerman |
54 |
47 |
Brett Moffitt |
52 |
48 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
47 |
49 |
Alex Kennedy |
47 |
50 |
Dave Blaney |
46 |
51 |
David Reutimann |
37 |
52 |
Boris Said |
28 |
53 |
Nelsinho Piquet |
18 |
54 |
Eddie MacDonald |
9 |
55 |
Tomy Drissi |
6 |
56 |
Clay Rogers |
2 |