Shortened race in Phoenix determines final 3 Chase spots

The NASCAR Sprint Cup race schedule heads to Phoenix, Arizona today of the Quicken Loans 500 race which sees the top drivers on stock auto racing’s senior circuit trying to get a leg up in the Chase for the Cup standings as the 2015 season comes near to a close.

After that, it was more than ten second back to the rest of the field headed by Richard Childress Racing’s Ty Dillon and JR Motorsports pair Regan Smith and Chase Elliott, the only three drivers still within range of stopping Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher from clinching the 2015 Xfinity Series title.

Kevin Harvick makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup series… Same goes for Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards at Joe Gibbs Racing.

And the maddening issue at Team Penske? Both Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are on the outside desperately looking in. There’s a strong possibility neither advances past Sunday’s race, and if one does, it nearly certainly will be at the expense of his teammate.

So how do the six drivers juggle what it best for their own team with achieving maximum results for their organization on Sunday?

“Once we get out on the racetrack, it’s every man for himself”, Edwards said.

Ditto Busch and six other Chase drivers scrambling to fill three remaining berths for next week’s championship race at Homestead, Fla.

Joey Logano doesn’t maybe need a win today. But Keselowski, who starts 18th today, wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of a storybook ending. After all, he staved off elimination a year ago by winning at Talladega. “We knew that was going to be a tough situation, but it ended up that it bit us and I just hate it for these guys”. “When I first showed up to the tracks and it said “24” in the grass at a few of the mile-and-a-half tracks, or on the walls, it really put a big smile on my face”.

Johnson, 96 points back, needs to have his two rivals lose early and then win the race and set a national record to have any chance at the title.

“He has a keen sense to find more speed than anybody else, whether it’s moving up, (when) the groove moves up in (turns) one and two, or if he’s able to carry more speed through (turns) three and four”, Busch said on Friday morning before opening Cup practice at PIR.

The race got off to an eventful start when Kurt Busch, who started the race seventh in points and qualified second-fastest, was assessed a pass-through penalty for jumping past pole-winner Johnson at the grfeen flag.

His team has been forced to scramble to accommodate a potential championship into the weekend list of celebratory activities at Homestead, already jammed packed with goodbye goodies. “We hope we are in that position”.