AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jeff Gordon said he thought they were joking.
A 10-race, season-ending playoff to determine the champion? Yeah, right.
Turns out, NASCAR officials weren’t kidding.
“The one thing that I will never forget is the moment that I was standing on the dock in Key West, Florida, on a NASCAR boat trip with (NASCAR Chairman and CEO) Brian France and (Vice Chairman) Mike Helton and they told me what they were planning on doing with the Chase format and I laughed in their faces because I thought that was the most hilarious thing I have ever heard of,” Gordon said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, which will be renamed Jeff Gordon Raceway for Sunday’s race. “Because I thought it was a joke, then I quickly realized that was not a joke and I was pulling the laughs back into my mouth. I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ Of course I didn’t like it. I felt like point system was just fine for me.”
Little wonder. Before the arrival of the Chase for the Sprint Cup format, Gordon had won four championships, and the Hendrick Motorsports driver narrowly missed a fifth by just 37 points. A season-long battle to determine the championship suited his driving style, and his team, just fine.
Since the inception of the format, Gordon has failed to bring home the series’ biggest trophy. He’ll try to remedy that situation next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of the Ford EcoBoost 400 and the championship-determining race. The 44-year-old, who will retire from full-time competition at season’s end, earned one of the four available spots in the finale by virtue of his win at Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway last month.
“There is no doubt in my mind that it suited my driving style,” Gordon said of the pre-2004 format. “The reason I was able to win at so many different tracks was the consistency that our team had and that I had at all the different tracks. That paid off when you were trying to win the championship under a 36-race schedule.
“I didn’t want to see it come down to that final 10, because some of those final 10 were not tracks that suited me. It actually suited others pretty well and so I felt like it was not benefiting me. So of course I wish it hadn’t changed.”
Would he have won more championships had the format remained unchanged? Gordon isn’t sure, but he says it’s not something on which he dwells. Different formats create different circumstances, which often lead to drivers making different decisions.
“Everybody races differently under each point system and does what it takes,” he said. “So I don’t know if we can all sit here and speculate and talk about things and wonder what could have been if the old point system would have stayed the same.”
His success didn’t entirely disappear with the arrival of the Chase – 29 of his 93 career victories have come since 2004. But others have taken advantage of the move, and none more so than Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson, who has won six titles under the format.
Kurt Busch (2004), Tony Stewart (’05, ’11), Brad Keselowski (’12) and reigning champ Kevin Harvick have won championships under the Chase setup, as well.
“When I look at the sport from 10,000 feet I love it and think it is exciting,” Gordon said. “And with this new (elimination) format, I think it is even better.
“I will continue to support it, always have, even when it hasn’t suited me. I think that I try and not be that selfish and think of what is best for the sport. At the end of the day, what is best for the sport is best for me, best for the team, best for all teams.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be an extra sense of satisfaction should he win a fifth title, a final one under a format that seemed to suit others more than the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet.
“That would be the ultimate, most poetic justice ever,” he said.
RELATED: Series standings | Chase Grid | Clinching scenarios for Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. – The last driver not named Kevin Harvick to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway admits the defending series champion has set a pretty high standard here at the 1-mile track.
“Those guys are definitely fast here,” Carl Edwards said Friday after the completion of Sprint Cup Series practice. “We’ll see how it goes tomorrow (when two more practice sessions are scheduled), but it appears that they’re really fast here in this first practice.”
Harvick is the defending series champion and winner of the last four Sprint Cup races at Phoenix. His Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet was sixth fastest in the opening practice; Edwards and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew clocked in fourth overall.
If not for Edwards’ 2013 spring victory at Phoenix, Harvick might be going for a sixth consecutive victory, having won the fall race of ’12 before Edwards found his way to Victory Lane the following spring. Harvick’s run of four straight at Phoenix began in part because Edwards ran out of fuel while leading with two laps remaining in the fall race of ’13.
Is Harvick beatable here?
“This sport changes and everybody works and you never know what’s going to happen,” Edwards said. “The other thing that can happen here is it can become a real strategy race at the end.
“It has been pretty spectacular what that 4 team has been able to get done. It’s such a tough race to win, I can attest to that. And to win I guess five out of the last six? … If we can beat those guys, we’ll be alright.”
Nearly a year removed from a 10-year stint at Roush Fenway Racing, Edwards finds himself just outside the cutline for advancement to Homestead-Miami Speedway and a shot at the Sprint Cup title. Sunday’s race will set the three other teams (Jeff Gordon is already locked in with a win at Martinsville) that will vie for the title while eliminating four others.
He trails fourth-place Martin Truex Jr. by seven points, certainly not an insurmountable deficit, but a deficit just the same.
“If you look at the scenarios, we’ve really got to perform here,” Edwards admitted. “We have to win this race – that’s our mission. We have to qualify well, we have to make good decisions and really we have to have some speed.”
In his mind, Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) is a “must-win race.”
“That’s the only way to guarantee our spot (in the championship race),” he said. “If one of the guys behind us leapfrogs us and wins, it’s going to be a tall order to advance, so we just have to give it all we’ve got.”
Photo courtesy of Richard Childress Racing
AVONDALE, Ariz. — It was a question that’s been asked almost as long as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have been competing in companion events over the course of a weekend.
“So Ryan, did you learn anything out there today that might help you on Sunday?”
“Yes. You definitely don’t want to hit the cone. There’s a pass-through penalty for that,” Newman said.
It was a joke, of course. Ryan Newman had just climbed from behind the “wheel” of a Caterpillar D11 T bulldozer, a mammoth piece of equipment that tips the scales at 230,000 pounds.
His No. 31 Chevrolet, fielded by Richard Childress Racing, carries primary sponsorship from Caterpillar. For this weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway (renamed Jeff Gordon Raceway for Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), the black and yellow paint scheme features Cat Command Autonomous Mining on the rear quarter panels.
So there Newman was, taking the D11 T through its paces, moving around an obstacle course and pushing around a lot of dirt.
Did I mention the dozer, the course and the dirt was located outside Tucson, nearly 150 miles away from Newman and Phoenix?
Caterpillar’s Cat Command is a program that allows heavy equipment to be operated remotely. Thanks to technological advances, the operator can be on site, if not behind the wheel, or more than 100 miles away, as was the case here Friday morning. The benefits, such as safety and increased production, appear to be numerous.
It was a new experience for Newman, 37, and a 17-time winner in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, but not an entirely foreign one.
“I’d say the closest thing to it, something that is somewhat parallel to some of the stuff that we’re doing in the Sprint Cup Series … is the (race car) simulation,” he said.
“This is different in the form that you’re performing a service … getting a job done. Whereas where what we’re doing is about subjective feeling and feedback and trying to base it off a stopwatch.
“But it’s really interesting to see the use of technology and how Caterpillar has adapted all that to the job site.”
Can automated racing be far behind? NASCAR from afar?
“I hope not,” he said. “That kind of takes me out of a job. I might enjoy the air-conditioned office but I like the physical part of (my job).
“For me, it’s all about driving the race car. I like that, to be able to feel that … to take it to that edge and be super competitive.”
And that “feel” wouldn’t exist outside the vehicle, whether it’s in a race car going 180 mph or a piece of heavy equipment with a top speed of 7 mph.
“Here, it’s more about the edge of the (bulldozer’s) blade and not the edge of control,” he said.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — NASCAR whittles its field of championship contenders in half here this weekend, in a manner of speaking, with seven drivers trying to squeeze into three spots and join Jeff Gordon next week at Homestead to race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, which will be renamed Jeff Gordon Raceway for the event, could boost Gordon’s career stats, but the results won’t make or break his chances at a fifth title. It will be Gordon’s last official start as a full-time competitor at PIR, and no doubt he’d like to go out a winner.
For everyone else, Sunday will be a potential train wreck.
RELATED: See the updated Chase Grid
Kyle Busch, second in points, doesn’t need to win, but he can’t afford to stumble either. Think last year’s result at Talladega has been forgotten? Think again. Busch was second in points going into that elimination race as well, before getting swept up in a crash and swept out of the Chase. He also hasn’t forgotten the painful road back from injuries earlier this season that resulted in his missing the first 11 points races.
All Busch did after climbing back in the car was reel off four wins in five starts, and with only one race standing between himself and a shot the title, don’t expect Busch to go quietly into the night.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick sits third and doesn’t need a win. The thing is, Harvick’s done nothing but win at Phoenix since joining Stewart-Haas Racing. He’s unbeaten on the 1-mile track in his last four starts and has won here seven times overall. If there’s a concern in the No. 4 camp, it’s the unknown. Cut tires at Texas? Had ’em. Shifter issues at Kansas? Yep. But no one has been better when backed into a corner.
RELATED: Can anyone dethrone the king of Phoenix?
Looking for a darkhorse? Look no further than Martin Truex Jr. The Furniture Row Racing driver has defied the expectations of others, but in his world he’s simply doing what he knows he and his team are capable of — consistently running in the top 10. Another top-10 finish could be enough; however, since he is fourth in points, he would be the first casualty should one of those behind him wind up in Victory Lane.
Carl Edwards leads those on the outside, sitting six points behind Truex Jr. in fifth. He finished 13th here earlier this season, back when he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team were in their “just getting to know you” phase. Edwards had just two top 10s in his first 17 starts with JGR; he’s managed 13 more in 18 starts since.
Also looking to re-ignite their Chase hopes are Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, as well as SHR’s Kurt Busch.
The good news for Keselowski, the 2012 champ, is that he has led 455 laps in the last two races. The bad news — he failed to win both times. Sure, he’s won only once this year, but he’s finished second five times, including last weekend. Second, though, likely won’t be enough this weekend. Expect Keselowski to swing for the fences.
Logano appeared to be the driver most likely to advance to Homestead when he swept the Contender Round, winning all three races. But his fortunes have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, with finishes of 37th and 40th. He enters Sunday’s race eighth in points, and knowing that a win is the only way he can assure himself of a shot at the championship.
RELATED: Chase-clinching scenarios for Phoenix
Rounding out the Chase contenders is Busch, possibly as much of a darkhorse as Truex. The No. 41 team has been as fast as anyone at times this season, it just hasn’t done it as often as several of those Busch will need to outrun. Seventh in points, a win is all but necessary if the 2004 champion hopes to advance.
It’s the same as any other week, and it’s nothing like any other week — seven drivers battling for three positions and a shot at the championship.
Sunday isn’t about a race, it’s about a season.
RELATED: Cain: We will keep fighting for Elijah
After hearing the news of the passing of 10-year-old Elijah Aschbrenner, several drivers decided to pay tribute to him during the race weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.
Elijah was battling with Epithelioid Sarcoma, a rare type of cancer, since May 2014 and helped spark a movement following his diagnosis. The young boy won the hearts of countless individuals within the NASCAR community, including Furniture Row Racing‘s Martin Truex Jr. and his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, as well as Hendrick Motorsports‘ Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Team Penske duo Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) November 14, 2015
#ElijahStrong pic.twitter.com/tR9kTjbeVX
— Nationwide 88 (@nationwide88) November 14, 2015
Glad to have you along for one final ride Elijah. #ElijahStrong pic.twitter.com/az4qhrcNbw
— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) November 13, 2015
Nothing could be more special than Elijah riding with .@MartinTruex_Jr at Phoenix this weekend ��❤️ pic.twitter.com/hM6YDzXli8
— Sherry Pollex (@SherryPollex) November 13, 2015
Korbin Forrister‘s frustration overflowed at Phoenix International Raceway after his No. 08 Chevrolet spun in the early laps of the Lucas Oil 150.
On his way to the ambulance after spinning into the wall on Lap 16, Forrister threw his HANS device toward Timmy Hill‘s No. 94 Chevrolet.
Forrister, crew chief Christopher Long and the No. 08 team’s spotter were called to the NASCAR hauler for a meeting.
After the race, Hill tweeted an apology to Forrister, who also apologized for his reaction.
@TimmyHillRacer sorry my temper got out of hand, apology excepted, respect you a lot for owning up to it, it’s all good man
— KorbinForrister (@KorbinForrister) November 14, 2015
RELATED: Full lineup
Erik Jones picked up his second consecutive 21 Means 21 Pole at Phoenix International Raceway, and his fifth of 2015, topping the field for all three rounds of qualifying Friday afternoon.
Jones, who has yet to lose in a truck at Phoenix, increased his speed in each round, leading the first one at 135.988 mph, improving to 136.856 mph in the second and settling in on 137.515 mph, a track record.
The current Camping World Truck Series points leader earned his first NASCAR national series win at Phoenix in 2013 and backed that up by winning from the pole in last year’s event.
Tyler Reddick will join Jones on the front row, qualifying with a best speed of 136.934 mph in the final round. JJ Haley (136.778 mph) and two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton (136.622 mph) comprise the second row.
Tune in for Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at 8:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on FS1.
Practice 2 recap | RELATED: Full practice 2 results
Kyle Busch topped the final practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Phoenix International Raceway. Busch paced the 85-minute practice session with a fast lap of 135.491 mph in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Just as he did in the first practice session, Ty Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) came in second for the session (135.466 mph).
Brendan Gaughan (135.298 mph, No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), Chris Buescher (134.897 mph, No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford) and Chase Elliott (134.781 mph, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) made up the top five for final practice.
Buescher, the XFINITY Series points leader, holds a 24-point edge on Elliott for the championship lead. The JR Motorsports driver is the defending series champion and mathematically clinched his title at Phoenix last year.
Austin Dillon, who topped the opening practice session, came in seventh.
Qualifying for the XFINITY Series DAV 200 Honoring America’s Veterans will take place on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN/Live Extra).
Practice 1 recap | RELATED: Full Practice 1 results
The Dillon brothers clocked in the two fastest speeds during Friday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway. The No. 33 of Austin topped the leaderboard (136.018 mph) while the No. 3 of Ty was second (135.542 mph).
Chase Elliott‘s No. 9 Chevrolet had a surge late during the session, rounding out the top three with a fastest lap of 135.105 mph.
One of the busiest drivers of the weekend, Erik Jones was fourth during Friday’s XFINITY Series practice session. Jones, who is racing in all three series at the track, wheeled his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the 1-mile track at 134.690 mph.
Kyle Busch, with 75 series wins, was fifth-fastest as his No. 54 JGR Toyota came in at 134.013 mph.
Daniel Suarez went for a late spin in his No. 18 JGR Toyota, but ended practice with minimal damage to his Toyota. He finished ninth (133.057 mph).
Series points leader, Chris Buescher was 12th with his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford coming in at 132.606 mph.
RELATED: Full practice results
Texas winner Jimmie Johnson surged to the top of the leaderboard late during Friday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, posting a fastest lap of 141.827 mph at Phoenix International Raceway.
Next was the No. 42 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, who circled the 1-mile track at 141.783 mph.
Those two non-Chase drivers soared ahead of Kurt Busch in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, who was third overall at 141.571 mph and the first on the leaderboard out of the eight remaining Chase contenders.
Carl Edwards logged the fourth-fastest speed (141.448 mph). Jamie McMurray was right behind him, taking fifth with a fastest lap of 141.315 mph.
Here’s how the rest of the Chase drivers ranked: Kevin Harvick (sixth), Martin Truex Jr. (eighth), Kyle Busch (10th), Joey Logano (11th), Brad Keselowski (17th) and Jeff Gordon (25th).
Next up at 6:45 p.m. ET is Coors Light Pole qualifying (NBCSN/Live Extra).
RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings
AVONDALE, Ariz. — A hard-edged contest for the lead snared two championship contenders, and a pit-stop misstep hindered the third, as Friday the 13th luck haunted the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title race at Phoenix International Raceway.
While Timothy Peters scooted away with his second victory of the season, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick and Matt Crafton all played damage control Friday night in a topsy-turvy Lucas Oil 150. Once the curtain closed on the next-to-last event of the season, Jones inched closer to his first NASCAR national series crown, Reddick made modest but unfulfilling gains and Crafton’s hopes for extending his title reign to three years grew dimmer.
After a late-race restart, Jones and Crafton collided with 30 laps to go on the exit of Turn 4. Crafton caught the worst of the melee, collecting ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter at speed on the frontstretch. Jones, the pole-starter, emerged with relatively minor damage on the left-rear fender, rallying from a pit stop to finish ninth. Crafton spent significant time behind the wall for repairs, finishing 20 laps down in 23rd place.
Crafton and Jones had raced fiercely earlier in the 150-lapper, and their contact near the end was no different. But the two-time series champ absorbed the blame for the fateful brush.
“It was 100 percent my fault,” said Crafton, who led three times for 15 laps. “We were close and it was tight racing. When you get somebody side-by-side with you, I just got loose and made a mistake. Things happen, we’re all human and we’ll go on to Homestead. I hate it for the guys, we had such a good truck. We’ll just hold our heads up and go to Homestead.”
Jones, who can eliminate Crafton from the title picture with a result of 27th or better in the 32-truck field in next Friday’s season-ending Ford EcoBoost 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Homestead-Miami Speedway, said the contact was simply the byproduct of hard-nosed competition.
“There was definitely some hard racing,” said Jones, who led five times for 106 laps. “He didn’t want us to get the lead obviously and slipped up and made a mistake. It’s going to happen, it’s racing, it’s hard racing and we both had fast trucks. It’s just a shame when you lose a shot at the win. …
“At that moment I wasn’t thinking about the championship. I was thinking about winning a race and that flashed before my eyes. I was somewhat worried about it, I wasn’t too concerned about it, I figured we’d be OK since obviously the 88 (Crafton) was involved as well. Still a 19-point lead and that’s a solid margin to go into Homestead.”
Reddick actually gained a spot in the standings with a fifth-place finish, but failed to capitalize more on the misfortunes of Crafton and Jones. The 19-year-old driver said his Brad Keselowski Racing team would investigate possible trouble on his No. 19 Ford’s right-front, which led to a balky tire change on his final pit stop.
Jones can close out Reddick in the season finale by placing 15th or better, 16th with leading one lap, and 17th with leading the most laps. Though a mathematic chance at taking the title exists, Reddick was despondent in the immediate aftermath of defeat, calling the night “a real shame.”
“We still needed to win the race and that was all I really cared about doing,” Reddick said. “Running fifth is not going to win us a championship.”