Championship 4 Clinch Scenarios for Phoenix International Raceway
Jeff Gordon has already clinched a spot in the Championship 4.
Regardless of the finish of any other driver…
Kyle Busch will clinch with a finish of 3rd or better; 4th and at least one lap led; or 5th and most laps led.
Kevin Harvick will clinch with a finish of 2nd or better; 3rd and at least one lap led; or 4th and most laps led.
Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano only control their own destiny with a victory. Logano can ONLY make it to the Championship Round with a win at Phoenix.
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Photo – Tim Bradbury/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 Photo – Tim Bradbury/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
For Jimmie Johnson, it was business as usual in Cowtown.
On Sunday, the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion completed a sweep of this year’s Texas Motor Speedway races, powering past hapless Brad Keselowski with three laps left to win the AAA Texas 500 for the fourth straight year.
Johnson kept his record perfect, winning a race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the 12th consecutive season. His fifth victory of the year was also his record sixth at Texas—including the last three in a row—and the 75th of his career, leaving him one win behind Dale Earnhardt, who is seventh on the all-time list. Continue reading →
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet, and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, lead Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 Photo – Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Moore/Getty Images
Yes, Jeff Gordon celebrated his 93rd career victory in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Yes, Gordon will compete for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Yes, there were tears of joy in Victory Lane for Gordon, who’s at the tail end of his last season in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
But Sunday’s race at Martinsville had so much more — most notably, ‘Matt Kenseth’s Revenge.’ Continue reading →
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, crosses the finish line under caution to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2015 Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2015 Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2015 Photo – Daniel Shirey/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, poses with the winner’s decal in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Through no fault of his own, Joey Logano may have achieved the most unpopular sweep in NASCAR history on Sunday afternoon.
Why? Because his victory in the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway knocked Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup—by a matter of inches.
When NASCAR threw the third caution of the race moments after the first bona fide attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag restart on lap 195—with Kevin Harvick’s engine turning sour and cars wrecking behind him—Logano was inches ahead Earnhardt. Continue reading →
