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AVONDALE, Ariz. — It’s one of NASCAR’s age old questions — would a driver intentionally move a teammate for a win?
How about for an extra point or two?
A handful of drivers may (likely?) find themselves in such a tantalizing position this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, site of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Round of 8 finale, where the points margin is thin and the potential for beefs coming out of the race is thick.
Joe Gibbs Racing already has one driver locked into the Championship 4 — Carl Edwards, via his Texas win — with three more vying for advancement in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Only problem? There are only two spots available, as Hendrick Motorsports‘ Jimmie Johnson claimed one of the four berths at Martinsville.
Think back to Ryan Newman bruising his way through then-rookie Kyle Larson here to advance to the finale in the current Chase format’s inaugural season in 2014. We already know that won’t be an issue.
Flashback: Newman moves Larson to edge into Championship 4
“If it’s not a teammate, I’m hoping their spotter is going to give them a heads up that the 11 is coming,” Denny Hamlin said Friday at Phoenix. “I would have no issues doing something like that. That was a little aggressive, but moving somebody to get that final spot to get in the final four, I’m not sure anybody would really fault you for that.”
Great, now picture a scenario in which it’s the No. 11 Toyota trailing the No. 18 – separated by two points heading into Sunday — because we could certainly be looking at a situation in which one of the JGR drivers is a point below the cutoff on the last lap, with his teammate directly in front of him.
Hamlin said that he “would not” move a teammate to advance to Homestead, but added that “that’s (his) answer today,” implying he may feel a little differently about it on Lap 312 on Sunday.
When told of Hamlin’s feelings on the potential issue shortly after, his JGR teammate and reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch summed up his thoughts on if he’d move a teammate to advance quite succinctly.
“Absolutely.”