(L-R) Team owner Rick Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
(L-R) Team owner Rick Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
(L-R) Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
(L-R) Amy Reimann celebrates with Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, in victory lane after Earnhardt won the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
A serendipitous sequence of pit stops and a drizzle that turned into a downpour made a winner of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday night’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, with a delayed start moving the race from daytime to under the lights by rain in the afternoon.
But again, halting the race due to rain 93 laps short of its scheduled distance of 312 laps was hardly the satisfying conclusion Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch or Joey Logano had hoped for.
Eliminating those four drivers from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was disappointing, while defending champion Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. joined Jeff Gordon in next Sunday’s Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Continue reading →
