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Catch up quickly before Sunday’s Sprint Cup race (3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

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What: 27th annual Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500
Where: Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona
When: Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014
TV/Radio: ESPN, Motor Racing Network
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles)

Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph

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On the front row | Full lineup
1. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota (142.113 mph)
2. Brad Keselowski, Team Penske No. 2 Ford (142.079 mph)

Yet another track record
Joey Logano established a track qualifying record during the opening round with his lap of 142.141 mph, breaking the mark set by Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski (139.384 mph) earlier this year. It was the 23rd track qualifying record this season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Logano also set track qualifying marks this year at Las Vegas and Martinsville.

Failed to qualify
Clay Rogers, Beard Motorsports No. 75 Chevrolet

Fastest in practice
First practice: Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet (141.521 mph)
Second practice: Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet (138.403 mph)
Final practice: Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 1 Chevrolet (137.106 mph)

No regrets
"Certainly I’m not perfect. I’ve made some bad (decisions), but I didn’t make any bad ones last week, and I still feel that way." — Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, on late-race contact with Jeff Gordon at Texas.

The need for speed
"I hate to admit it, but I’m very happy with 13th. We were about a 25th-place car in practice and I was nervous about this and it went well, so that’s good." — Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing, on his qualifying run.

No better place
"I think if we had to pick a track that we had to come to, and come to race, we’d come here expecting to win every time that we come to this race track. Or at least be in the mix." — Kevin Harvick, after qualifying third.

Defending Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 champion
Kevin Harvick

Driver rating
Best driver rating average at Phoenix International Raceway based on past nine years:
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet (116.5)
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet (103.9)
Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet (99.9)

Former Phoenix International Raceway winners in the field
Kevin Harvick 5; Jimmie Johnson 4; Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon 2; Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart.

Fantasy sleeper (powered by Rotowire) | Set your Fantasy Live lineup
Tony Stewart. "Smoke" has largely gone through this season as a complete fantasy afterthought. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Stewart has shown that most of this season’s troubles are now in the rearview mirror with finishes of fourth- and 11th-place the last two weeks at Martinsville and Texas, and Phoenix has always been kind to the owner/driver.

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Fast facts, history on NASCAR’s youngest national series champion

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Driver: Chase Elliott
Team: JR Motorsports
Crew chief: Greg Ives
Owners: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (listed owner for the No. 9 team), Rick Hendrick, Kelley Earnhardt Miller
Primary Sponsor: NAPA AUTO PARTS
Associate Sponsors: Great Clips, Rocky Ridge Custom Trucks, Valvoline, Sage Fruit, Axalta

Chase Elliott, the driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet, clinched the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship after scoring a fifth-place finish today at Phoenix International Raceway. The rookie driver from Dawsonville, Georgia, will carry an insurmountable 52-point lead into next week’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This marks the first national touring series championship for JR Motorsports, the company owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

A FRATERNITY OF CHAMPIONS: Elliott becomes the 24th driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship in this, the 33rd year of the series.

NASCAR’S YOUNGEST CHAMPION: At the age of 18 years, 11 months and 18 days, Elliott will officially become the youngest driver to win a championship in any of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series next Saturday. He will break the record previously held by Brian Vickers, the 2003 Nationwide Series champion at the age of 20 years, 0 months and 22 days.

ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY: If Elliott is named 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, he would become the first driver in any NASCAR national series to win the championship and rookie of the year in the same season. The award’s winner is not determined until the end of the season because its format factors off-track merit as well as on-track performance. Elliott entered the Phoenix race weekend with a 52-point lead in the ROY standings. Three former rookie-of-the-year winners who came close to winning series championships were James Hylton (Sprint Cup in 1966), Kurt Busch (Camping World Truck in 2000) and Kyle Busch (Nationwide in 2004).

CHAMPIONSHIP ‘KNOW HOW’: This marks NAPA AUTO PARTS’ third championship since becoming a NASCAR team sponsor in 1996. NAPA won championships with Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) and driver Ron Hornaday, Jr., in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 1996 and 1998. This is NAPA’s first season as a sponsorship partner of JR Motorsports.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Bill Elliott, the 1988 Sprint Cup champion, and Chase Elliott, the 2014 Nationwide Series champion, become the fifth father/son duo to win NASCAR national series championships. They join an esteemed list that includes Lee Petty (Sprint Cup in 1954, 1958 and 1959) and Richard Petty (Sprint Cup in 1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1979), Ned Jarrett (Sprint Cup in 1961 and 1965) and Dale Jarrett (Sprint Cup in 1999), David Pearson (Sprint Cup in 1966, 1968 and 1969) and Larry Pearson (Nationwide in 1986 and 1987), and Dale Earnhardt (Sprint Cup in 1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Nationwide in 1998 and 1999).

A LONG TIME COMING: JR Motorsports’ first Nationwide championship comes in its ninth season in the series. The company started competing full time in the NNS in 2006 (it entered one race in 2005). Mark Martin delivered JRM its first victory on March 1, 2008, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Since then JR Motorsports has earned 21 victories. The 2014 season has featured nine victories from four drivers – Kevin Harvick (4), Chase Elliott (3), Regan Smith (1), and Kasey Kahne (1). Elliott’s top-finishing points position supplants the company’s previous best of third (achieved three times by Brad Keselowski in 2008 and 2009 and Regan Smith in 2013).

DECORATED DRIVERS: While this is JR Motorsports’ first championship, the company’s current stable of drivers has five Nationwide Series titles among them – Earnhardt Jr. with two (1998, 1999), Harvick with two (2001, 2006) and Elliott with one (2014).

OWNERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES: Elliott’s championship marks the third for Earnhardt Jr. as an owner. His first company, Chance 2, won Nationwide Series championships with driver Martin Truex Jr., in 2004 and 2005 in partnership with Dale Earnhardt Inc.

THE HENDRICK CONNECTION: Elliott is the fifth driver to win his first career championship with Rick Hendrick, co-owner of JR Motorsports. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers and Jack Sprague were the others. This is Hendrick’s 16th overall championship and second in the Nationwide Series.

STORYBOOK SEASON: Elliott’s championship-winning campaign has featured three victories – the Texas 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 4, the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on April 11, and EnjoyIllinois.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 19. His Texas win came in only his sixth career start, making him the second-youngest winner in Nationwide Series history behind Joey Logano, who in 2008 was three months younger than Elliott was in 2014 when scoring his first victory. However, Elliott became the youngest multiple-race winner with his victory the following week at Darlington.

BOWTIE BRIGADE: This marks the 18th time that a Chevrolet driver has won the Nationwide Series championship. Chevrolet is close to winning the Bill France Performance Cup, which is awarded to the Nationwide Series’ top manufacturer, for the 16th time. Chevrolet entered the Phoenix race weekend with a 34-point lead in the manufacturers’ standings.

POWER SOURCE: This will be the 15th NASCAR championship and second Nationwide Series championship for Hendrick Motorsports engines, which supplies the motors for all JR Motorsports teams. Hendrick Motorsports engines won its first NNS championship in 2003 with Brian Vickers.

PEACH STATE CHAMPIONS: Elliott becomes only the second Georgia-born NASCAR champion. His father and 1988 Sprint Cup champion, Bill Elliott, was the first. There are three others who were not born in Georgia but were longtime state residents and considered "from Georgia." Red Byron (born in Anniston, Alabama, but resident of Georgia most of his life) was the first NASCAR modified champion in 1948 and first strictly stock champion in 1949. Tim Flock (born in Fort Payne, Alabama, but resident of Atlanta) won Sprint Cup titles in 1952 and 1955. Rex White (born in Taylorsville, North Carolina, but later moved to Georgia and still resides in Fayetteville, Georgia) won the 1960 Sprint Cup championship. Before the formation of NASCAR in 1948, there were other drivers from the peach state considered "national champion" drivers, including Roy Hall (Dawsonville, Georgia) in 1940, 1941 and 1946, and Lloyd Seay (Dawsonville, Georgia) in 1938 and 1941. Ed Samples (Atlanta, Georgia) won stock car championships in 1946 and 1949.

DAWSONVILLE DIAMONDS: Bill and Chase Elliott aren’t the first racers to come from the town of Dawsonville, Ga. In fact, the small Georgia community has given stock car racing a long line of successful racers not named Elliott. The list includes:
• Ted Chester, car owner – Sprint Cup champion in 1952 with driver Tim Flock.
• Gober Sosebee, driver – winner of two Sprint Cup races; two-time winner on Daytona’s beach and road course prior to NASCAR’s inception in 1948.
• Bernard Long, driver – Daytona’s beach and road course winner in 1941.
• Roy Hall, driver – national champion in 1939.
• Lloyd Seay, driver – winner of more than 40 races; inaugural class of Georgia Racing Hall of Fame (2002).
• Harry Melling, owner – NASCAR champion owner in 1988 with driver Bill Elliott; won Daytona with Elliott in 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1991.
• Raymond Parks, owner – won the first two NASCAR championships as Red Byron’s car owner in 1948 (modified class) and 1949 (strictly stock class, now known as Sprint Cup); inaugural class of Georgia Racing Hall of Fame (2002); inducted into International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009.

RING MASTER: Greg Ives has won championships in six of his 11 years in the sport of NASCAR. Joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2004 as a mechanic in the 24/48 shop, Ives quickly elevated to an engineering role on the No. 48 team. He was part of Jimmie Johnson‘s historic run of five Sprint Cup championships from 2006-10. The Bark River, Mich.-native came to JR Motorsports as a rookie crew chief in 2013. Following the season, Ives will return to Hendrick Motorsports to begin his new role as Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief on the No. 88 Nationwide Insurance / Diet Mountain Dew team.

QUICK WORK: Chase Elliott is the first driver since Brad Keselowski in 2010 to clinch the Nationwide Series championship before the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The last non-Sprint Cup Series driver to secure the title early was Martin Truex Jr., in 2004.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: With Elliott clinching the top spot, the quest now for JR Motorsports is for Regan Smith to finish second. If Smith holds on to the runner-up position after next week’s season-finale at Homestead-Miami, JR Motorsports would become the first team in 14 years to finish first and second in the series point standings. The Greg Pollex-owned ppc Racing did it in 2000 with drivers Jeff Green and Jason Keller.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS: If Smith finishes second in the 2014 Nationwide Series standings, JR Motorsports will have successfully finished first and second in each of its racing divisions this year – the Nationwide Series with Elliott and Smith, and the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at Hickory Motor Speedway with late model drivers Josh Berry and William Byron.

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Late caution allows veteran to pass Kyle Busch for victory

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AVONDALE, Ariz. – Brad Keselowski took advantage of a late-race caution to edge Kyle Busch for a Nationwide Series victory at Phoenix International Raceway, but Chase Elliott was the day’s big winner at Saturday’s DAV 200 – Honoring America’s Veterans.

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Elliott, the 18-year-old son of 1988 Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott, finished fifth to clinch the NASCAR Nationwide Series title, becoming the first rookie to accomplish the feat. The Elliott family joined the Pettys, Pearsons, Jarretts and Earnhardts in becoming families with father-son national touring series champions.

Elliott, who won races at Texas, Darlington and Chicagoland this season, did what he needed to, finishing ahead of JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith, who entered the race 48 points behind Elliott in the series standings and ran 10th.

Elliott said he wasn’t sure how to celebrate his series triumph. "I wasn’t sure if it was OK to do a burnout lap or not," he said. "But I did one anyway because I was too excited not to.

"I never would have even believed this was in my future. At the beginning of this season I had only run a couple of truck races. I feel lot of this is just due to the group of guys I was able to work with. Those guys were bringing me super-fast cars every week."

Elliott’s NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet did what Busch’s Toyota could not do — survive a green-white-checkered finish after Alex Bowman was slow on the track, bringing out a race-changing caution flag with slightly more than a lap to go.

To that point, Busch had been dominant, seemingly on his way to his eighth win in 25 starts this season by leading 187 of the race’s 206 laps.

But Keselowski had other ideas, swooping to the inside and driving past Busch in Turn 1 of the final lap to prevent Busch from winning his fourth consecutive Nationwide start at Phoenix.

"We didn’t give up," Keselowski said. "Kyle was really fast – probably a 10th (of a second) or two faster than everybody. Then, that yellow came out and I really don’t know what happened. I think we grabbed a gear and he slipped.

"It was a little bit surreal. I really didn’t even know the race was over. We were low on gas in that whole (end-of-race) situation."

Busch was similarly at a loss for words.

"The Monster Energy Camry was faster than everyone else – just not at the right time," said Busch, who said he knew he was in trouble when Keselowski’s car "cut better than mine in Turns 3 and 4.

"I tried to let him go into (Turn) 1 and cut back underneath, but my (car) wouldn’t turn," Busch said. "(Right there) his stuff doesn’t turn but it still turned better than ours ‘cuz he still got me."

Neither Keselowski nor Busch are eligible for the series title because they are full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers.

For much of the race, Smith appeared primed to put his teammate’s title hopes on hold. But Smith struggled after leaving the pits with 29 laps to go after taking left side tires on a yellow-flag pit stop. Elliott leaped from ninth to sixth in the running order and held serve the rest of the way.

Busch took fresh tires during that same caution and restarted fifth. The strategy seemed to pay off as he easily got around Keselowski, Elliott Sadler and Bowman, each of whom elected to forego the pits on that final stop.

But Keselowski made it happen in the final two laps of his Nationwide Series campaign.

"We have a great team," said Keselowski, who did not finish worse than fourth in any of his 10 Nationwide starts this season. "I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s been a phenomenal year and I’m going to remember this one for a long time."

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Haunting memories of 2010 are put aside for now

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AVONDALE, Ariz. — Unless and until Denny Hamlin wins his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, the legacy of Phoenix International Raceway and the 2010 season will haunt one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers.

But failure to seize opportunity had to be the furthest thing from Hamlin’s mind when dusk turned to darkness in the desert on Saturday.

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His eyes were fixed on his not-quite-2-year-old daughter Taylor as the toddler wandered toward the media center stage. At the microphone, Daddy was discussing winning his third pole of the season and leading all drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with two races to go.

It was a chance for Hamlin to exhale, embrace the moment and think about all the future might hold.

Capturing his 20th career pole had come as a pleasant surprise. His car had been far from terrific in practice. He attributed his fast lap, in part, to knowing the track and hitting his marks precisely.

Oh, yes, he’s been here before, literally and figuratively.

But he tries not to think about 2010 and what might have been.

Hamlin not only came to Arizona leading the Chase standings by 33 points, but he also led 190 laps at Phoenix that November Sunday and would have likely cruised to victory if not for an ill-fated fuel strategy that forced him to pit with 14 laps to go. That relegated him to a 12th-place finish and reduced his lead to 15 points over reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who took command from the outset when the chips were on the table the following week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"You know, I don’t think about it actually that often unless we’re watching a highlight film or something like that," said Hamlin, who earlier this week admitted to the hangover effect when he got to Homestead. "In 2010, I feel like at Homestead I was still kind of bummed about what happened at Phoenix. I think every now and then about what we could have done differently. But you can’t really second-guess."

Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) could go a long way toward exorcising those demons, and Hamlin, once again, knows that he controls his own destiny, even though his path to the championship is not nearly as clear-cut.

Although he is tied with Joey Logano for the lead in points, six other drivers are still very much in contention for the crown. Only the top four will advance to next week’s Championship Weekend with those title hopes still intact.

"We were racing less guys, for sure," says Hamlin, recalling the final races of the 2010 season, including his victory at Texas Motor Speedway, his career-high eighth win of the season that propelled him to the edge of glory. "There was a point in the year where myself, Jimmie and Kevin (Harvick) had kind of broken ourselves away from the pack. Now, there are obviously more players in the game."

And, with just one victory under his belt in 2014 (Talladega), Hamlin is hardly brimming with the supreme confidence bred by repeated trips to Victory Lane four years ago.

"I don’t feel like our performance is (at) as high of a level as it was then," Hamlin said. "So, that’s more of an obstacle."

That’s why Saturday’s pole-winning performance was so important from a mental standpoint in addition to gaining the physical advantages of leading the field and pit stall selection.

"It definitely came out of the blue from my perspective," Hamlin said. "I didn’t think we had a pole-winning car. I thought (starting in) the top eight would have been a huge bonus. But this showed that we have speed in the car. We just have to figure out how to get it optimized for 312 laps around this race track on Sunday."

In part, Hamlin thanks the new Chase format for keeping his team in contention. "The best thing that happened (to this sport) in a long time," he said.

"Even though some of the better teams throughout the entire year will probably get eliminated this weekend, other teams will be moving on. You still have to go through the due process of making it all the way to the end. The best record in any other sport does not guarantee you to be in the championship matchup."

It’s not as though Hamlin has not experienced success at Phoenix. He won at PIR in March 2012, one of five wins that season and 14 top-five finishes.

But the rewards have been slim the last two seasons, particularly last year when he was sidelined early by a fractured vertebra.

This season has not been without incident. In fact, having missed the fifth points race of the season at Auto Club Speedway due to a sliver of metal in his eye, Hamlin has the chance to become the first driver since Richard Petty in 1971 to win a Cup title without competing in every race.

But first things, first. With the eight Cup contenders separated by just 18 points, Hamlin must survive Sunday at Phoenix before he can even begin thinking about a trophy run at Homestead. A finish of 11th or better will assure him a spot in the final four, but Hamlin isn’t thinking that way.

"I think the competition level is just too close and tight to be able to think that you’re going to be able to coast to an 11th place," he said. "Nowadays, the difference between 11th and third and 20th is not that much. You’ve got to go all out every single lap and fight for every position on restarts. There is no backing into this thing and coasting our way to Homestead.

"Our team has done a good job of grinding our way through this. We haven’t beaten ourselves with bad finishes. Now, we have an opportunity."

That opportunity begins with a second chance at Phoenix — a chance for Hamlin to permanently leave those demons in the rearview mirror.

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RCR driver: ‘Anything can happen, without a doubt’

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AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Newman is hoping for a calm race on Sunday — but he doesn’t expect it.

With one race left to determine the four drivers who will qualify to run for the championship on Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Newman won’t be surprised at all if Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET) turns into the sort of wild affair that has typified this season’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

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Newman needs to finish ninth or better to lock up one of the four spots at Homestead, and he acknowledges that Sunday’s race, the final event in the Chase’s Eliminator Round could become a powder keg.

"Absolutely," Newman said. "I think there is huge potential. Especially with the extra racing room that we have back there in the dogleg on restarts, I think is going to be quite crazy.

"And I hope that everybody is respectful, and we don’t have a situation that jeopardizes somebody’s chances; and I will keep that in mind."

Naturally, Newman would prefer not to have to deal with any of the craziness.

"I hope to have it in my mirror," Newman said. "That’s the best place to be. We were in that position in Talladega and knew what guys had to do to get themselves in, and we were somewhat in that position even at Martinsville, and saw some of the craziness at Charlotte.

"Anything can happen, without a doubt. At some point, you just have to do your job and expect a little bit of racing luck and the racing gods to be on your side."

Kenseth makes the most of second chances

The Champions Tour, for golfers age 50 and over, has been called the biggest mulligan in professional sports, but Matt Kenseth thinks he’s found the NASCAR equivalent.

Though he’s still looking for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory this season, Kenseth has used the new Chase format to his advantage in staying alive in the quest for a second series title.

Interestingly, Kenseth’s 2003 championship season, accomplished with a single victory, is generally credited as the impetus for the Chase, a 10-race playoff where winning typically has been of paramount importance.

And though Kenseth has survived the first two rounds of the Chase without a victory, he understands that he may well have to win Sunday at Phoenix to advance past the Eliminator Round. Kenseth currently is tied with Carl Edwards for fifth in the Chase standings, 13 points out of first place and one point behind Jeff Gordon in fourth.

To Kenseth, this year’s Chase, under a new elimination format, has a substantially different feel from last year’s. In 2013 Kenseth won seven times in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing and fought eventual champion Jimmie Johnson for the title.

"It’s a night-and-day difference to be honest with you," Kenseth said. "Last year, I felt like we were maybe not the favorite — I always felt Jimmie was kind of the favorite — but yet we had the most wins, the most laps led. We had a 10-week championship race where you kind of fret over every point and every position. It was a lot more stressful.

"This year, it has a really different feeling. I feel like we’ve been knocked down on the mat every round at some point or another. I think every round we’ve got in a wreck or had a terrible finish or something. We’ve been able to advance. This one (the Eliminator Round) is obviously tougher, but even running sixth (at Martinsville) and 25th last week (at Texas) — I don’t know how we managed that and still being close to the top four is surprising.

"It feels a lot different. It feels like we’ve had some mulligans."

Without a victory on Sunday, however, Kenseth may find he’s exhausted his supply of second chances.

Harvick makes a statement

Kevin Harvick may be last in the standings among the eight title aspirants entering Sunday’s race at Phoenix, but on Saturday morning, he was first in the morning Sprint Cup practice session, running a lap at 138.403 mph.

What’s more, Harvick was fastest in 10-lap average, running 10 consecutive laps (Nos. 2 through 11) at an average speed of 137.836 mph, more than a full mile per hour faster than the 136.571 mph posted by Brad Keselowski, who was second quickest.

Harvick, who can punch his ticket to the Chase finale at Homestead with a victory on Sunday, has ample reason for confidence. He dominated the spring race at Phoenix this year and has won three of the last four events at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert.

The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was second fastest in final practice at 137.065 mph, just .008 seconds slower than Jamie McMurray (137.106 mph).

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See where drivers will pit for the DAV 200 – Honoring America’s Veterans (4 p.m. ET, ESPN)

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The NASCAR Nationwide Series pit stall assignments are out for Saturday’s DAV 200 – Honoring America’s Veterans at Phoenix International Raceway.

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Coors Light Pole Award winner Kyle Busch chose the first pit stall off pit road with an empty space in front of him for an easy departure.

Busch’s teammate Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, James Buescher and Brendan Gaughan also chose pit stalls with an empty space in front of them.

Regan Smith, who’s second in the Nationwide Series championship run, chose the first pit stall onto pit road for an easy entrance.

The Nationwide Series will take the track at Phoenix at 4 p.m. ET with TV coverage on ESPN.

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Sets track record in Round 1 of knockout qualifying

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MORE: Qualifying results

Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Award in knockout qualifying on Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway with a lap of 133.963 mph in the final round. Busch edged Brad Keselowski, who finished second at 133.924 mph. Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

The pole makes Busch’s seventh Nationwide Series pole at Phoenix, his seventh this season and the 43rd of his Nationwide Series career.

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Busch set a series track record of 134.414 mph on his opening lap in Round 1 of 2, eclipsing his own mark of 134.298 mph from February of 2011. Busch beat out Keselowski, who posted a speed of 133.983 mph on his second lap of Round 1 and finished second. Keselowski is driving the No. 22 car for Team Penske, which leads the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing car by 26 points in the owners standings.

Trevor Bayne was the last one to advance out of the first round, finishing 12th at 132.528 mph. Chris Buescher was the first one out, finishing 13th at 131.762 mph.

Chase Elliott, who has a 48-point lead over JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith in the Nationwide Series standings and can become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR national series title as early as today, qualified 10th after posting a speed of 132.592 mph in the second round. Smith will start sixth.

The Nationwide Series’ DAV 200 Honoring America’s Veterans gets underway at 4 p.m. ET with TV coverage on ESPN.

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Six of eight Chase drivers in top 15

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Sprint Cup Series Practice 3 | (RESULTS)

Jamie McMurray kept Kevin Harvick from a three-practice sweep, running the fastest lap in the third and final session ahead of Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500. McMurray’s No. 1 Chevrolet turned a lap of 137.106 mph in 26.257 seconds. Harvick, who was fastest in the first two sessions at Phoenix International Raceway, fell just .008 seconds off of the leader’s pace, putting him in the second position on the leaderboard. Matt Kenseth was .017 seconds off the leader’s pace in third, running a lap of 137.007 mph.

Harvick, currently last in the Chase standings, is in need of a win to advance to the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He’ll have fierce competition from other drivers trying to make the cut this week, however, with six Chase drivers in the top 15 in the last practice. Joey Logano, currently leading the standings, was fourth-fastest, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was eliminated from the Chase following the Talladega race.

Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and pole-sitter Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10.

After placing in the top 10 in both earlier sessions, Kyle Larson fell to 13th-fastest in the final session.

The rest of the Chase field finished as follows: Brad Keselowski, 12th; Ryan Newman, 19th; Carl Edwards, 21st.

The Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage on ESPN.

Sprint Cup Series Practice 2 | (RESULTS)

Kevin Harvick topped Sprint Cup Series practice for the second time this weekend despite having a slightly slower speed. Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet took a fastest lap of 138.403 mph, with his best lap on his sixth of 31 turns around the track. His best lap in the opening session was 141.521 mph. Harvick is currently eighth in the Chase standings, and needs a win to guarantee advancement into next week’s Championship Round.

Brad Keselowski, one point ahead of Harvick in the Chase standings, was second-fastest with a lap at 138.387 mph. Keselowski is five points behind Jeff Gordon in fourth, the final transfer spot to Homestead. Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart completed the top-five fastest; Gordon finished sixth-fastest.

Kyle Larson was the fastest rookie in the session, with a lap of 137.295 mph. He finished second-fastest in the opening practice. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin didn’t bring the same speed to practice, finishing in the final position of the top 20. Casey Mears ran the most laps in the session with 46, an effort that put him in ninth on the leaderboard.

The other Chase contenders finished as follows: Matt Kenseth, 10th; Joey Logano, 12th; Denny Hamlin, 20th; Ryan Newman, 25th; Carl Edwards, 29th.

The final practice session for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET, with coverage one FOX Sports 2.

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Posted on by Zack Albert

NASCAR Next graduate sets new standards in 2014

MORE: Full race results | Look back at Chase’s Sunoco Rookie Report | JR Motorsports championship fast facts

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Proving that stock-car racing talent hasn’t skipped a generation, 18-year-old Chase Elliott continued a family tradition Saturday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, becoming the youngest champion in NASCAR national series history.

Elliott, son of 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bill Elliott, entered Saturday’s DAV 200 – Honoring America’s Veterans needing only to lose none of his 48-point lead over JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith. He did, finishing fifth to sew up his Nationwide Series title pursuit with one race remaining.

"Are you kidding me?! Yes!" Elliott said over his in-car radio at the checkered flag before running through a list of thank-yous.

"You know what they say," his radio crackled back, "you can chase Elliott, but you can’t catch him."

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The siren at the Dawsonville Pool Room — nearly 2,000 miles east in the Elliotts’ Georgia hometown — sounded loud and proud after the teenager’s latest accomplishment, just as it frequently did in his father’s heyday. Saturday, the shrill signal celebrated the teenager’s impressive body of work throughout 2014, with the Dawsonville institution tweeting, "Call the fire department we might let the "Si-REEN" blare until she catches on fire!!!" and then providing proof.

— Dawsonville PoolRoom (@DawsonPoolRoom) November 8, 2014

Elliott became the first rookie to wear the Nationwide Series crown since the circuit’s infancy, landing the first championship for his JRM team — co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. — in the process. He also became the first product of the NASCAR Next youth initiative to claim a season-long title at the national series level. And he also followed his father’s footsteps to become part of just the fifth father-son duo to claim a NASCAR national series title.

"This certainly has not set in for me, and I don’t know when it’s going to," Elliott said. "I want to enjoy every bit of it. I’m going to enjoy it all the way till the green flag at Daytona because this is just such a cool honor to have. To be able to come and drive the race cars I’ve been able to this season, and to be able to do this every week, this is a dream come true. I get to go race cars on the weekend; it doesn’t get much better than that."

The elder Elliott’s list of stock-car achievements has few peers with multiple Daytona 500 victories and the Cup championship in 1988. Saturday, though, was a special moment of a different sort for the proud pop.

"I think this is above everything. I’m serious," Bill Elliott said. "I think this is above everything that I’ve accomplished because that’s kind of in the past, and this is him living for his future. He’s a good kid, he’s done a great job and he’s kind of got the world by the tail. He’s got to keep his head screwed on straight and headed in the right direction, but I feel like he can do that."

Elliott broke through for his first NASCAR national series victory last season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during his partial schedule in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His progress in trucks and other forms of stock-car racing was enough to attract the attention of Earnhardt, who tapped Elliott in January for a full-time ride with his Nationwide Series team.

In making the jump, Elliott’s car bore the No. 9 that his father made famous, scoring 38 of his 44 career victories in NASCAR’s premier series with the car number. NAPA, making its return to NASCAR after departing the Michael Waltrip Racing team weeks earlier, signed on as a full-time sponsor.

Though he currently drives for JRM, he remains under contract through the team’s association with Rick Hendrick and his Hendrick Motorsports operation — Earnhardt’s team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 65-year-old car owner, whose eye for budding young racers is credited with developing the championship-caliber careers of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, said he noticed Elliott’s poise and maturity early on.

"He is so mature beyond his years, how he can be fast but not wreck the car," said team partner Rick Hendrick. "It’s just unbelievable how talented he is, but how smart he is. I think he’s got the whole package and that’s what impressed me from the very beginning."

While Bill Elliott‘s career began as a Ford loyalist, Chase Elliott‘s big break came in Chevrolets. Success came early, in just his sixth Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Elliott passed Kevin Harvick with 16 laps to go and led five Sprint Cup regulars — including Earnhardt — to take the checkered flag.

The following week, he was back in Victory Lane at Darlington Raceway, the treacherous South Carolina track where his father captured the Winston Million triple crown bonus in 1985. Though a crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway at May knocked him out of the lead in standings, he snatched the top spot back with a win in July at Chicagoland Speedway and never relinquished his perch.

The Nationwide Series season wraps up next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). After a historic Saturday in the desert, Elliott’s race will serve as a 300-mile victory lap.

Elliott’s coronation had just one moment of uncertainty. The rookie-turned-champ had been fast all day, but when it came to doing a post-race burnout, he paused.

"Do I go burn ’em down right now?" Elliott said. "Is that acceptable?"

Spotter Earl Barban passed the buck over the radio: "You’ll have to ask your crew chief."

The affirmative reply came from Greg Ives, "Do what you need to do."

Elliott complied like a kid at heart, but one accomplished beyond his years.

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Points leader looks to advance to Championship Round at Homestead

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AVONDALE, Ariz. — Brad Keselowski may have thinned the ranks of his buddies in the garage with his hard-edged driving in the past few races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, but he still has a prominent on-track ally among the eight drivers still in title contention.
 
Team Penske teammate Joey Logano has his own designs on the championship with two races left in the season, entering this Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Phoenix International Raceway as the current points leader. But he also has the best interests of the organization — which includes a two-car contingent battling for the crown at Homestead-Miami Speedway — at heart.
 
Logano said there’s no doubting his teammate’s tenacity, but that he’s there for Keselowski should he need an assist.

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"Obviously, everybody is gonna play the games and everyone is gonna try to take you down, but I think Brad is pretty strong to be able to handle that stuff," Logano said Friday before opening practice for the Eliminator Round finale, the last cut-off point before the championship field of four is determined. "For me, I’ll be the best teammate I can to him. We support each other. We try to work with each other and make our cars the fastest and that doesn’t mean just talking about our race cars. That means talking about other things that go on on the race track.
 
"Obviously, it’s a tough situation to be in, for sure, but, at the same time, we try to help each other as much as we can."
 
Logano was well back of the collision between Keselowski and Jeff Gordon that sparked the post-race melee between their two crews. His hands were full on a day of survival, salvaging a 12th-place finish after a pit stop gone awry and a spin in the last 40 laps.
 
While it would be natural for Logano to side with his teammate, he admitted that finding a clear-cut answer in assigning blame would likely be a fool’s errand.
 
"We can all watch the film as much as we want and say, ‘Oh, it looks like this happened or it looks like that happened,’ " Logano said. "We’re all going to have different opinions and most likely both drivers are not gonna have the same opinion either because we all have big egos here and we’re all right. That’s how we think, but deep down inside they probably know what happened. They may not admit it, but it’s not my place to judge. I think when you’re in the situation and you’re driving the car you know what’s going on and you know what you’re doing, and it’s just kind of how you deal with it afterwards."
 
Team Penske isn’t the only organization with multiple drivers still alive in the championship race — Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth are also vying for a spot among the last quartet standing post-Phoenix. Penske, however, doesn’t have a full-time driver outside of Chase contention who could potentially run interference for a title-contending teammate, either at Phoenix or in the championship finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
Logano said he doesn’t see that as a disadvantage in the least. While both sets of stablemates plan to cooperate — within reason — in the spirit of team unity, there will be an element of every man for himself as this year’s new-look Chase enters the closing stages.
 
"… I think for the most part everyone is going to race hard," Logano said. "It’s the last race of the year. Everyone is gonna want to go out there and win the race and end on a good note no matter what. Yes, there are four cars racing for a championship and a lot can go down into that, but really you just have to stay focused on your own car and what you can control and then whatever happens from there happens."

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