A soggy end to the Eliminator Round at Phoenix

The race was scheduled for early Sunday afternoon, but a rain shower shortly before the start spoiled the day.

The race was stopped when heavy rain arrived again on Lap 219 of a scheduled 312 laps. As Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, they joined Jeff Gordon for the right to drive for the title.

Another major story was Gordon’s impending retirement and consequently, final race as a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup ranks.

Earnhardt was trying to stave off elimination with a win, but when Harvick refused to cede position as his engine failed, he triggered a race-ending accident that bounced NASCAR’s most popular driver from the playoffs. The only other time the race was shortened by rain was in 1998 with St. Louis driver Rusty Wallace in front. “Our vehicle performed really well and we were able to lead a lot of laps”.

Joey Logano has six wins. Kurt Busch looked to take the lead in turn three on the first lap, but NASCAR penalized him for jumping the start and handed the lead back over to Johnson.

Ty Dillon: Ryan Blaney is a good pick among part-time drivers, but he’s been salaried higher recently and the blown engine at Talladega is a cause of concern given the No. 21 team’s penchant for mechanical issues.

Well, we have waited all year and 35 races later we are finally here. He beat Harvick to the line at the start of the race.

Plus, we get our favorite part-time drivers back in the field, as Ty Dillon and Ryan Blaney will both be there. And although he worked his way back to seventh, it wasn’t enough.

The field ran several laps under caution when rain began to fall lightly on the track.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Harvick 2 times for 143 laps; J. Johnson 1 time for 44 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr.

Along with Logano, Chase contenders Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski (ninth) and Carl Edwards (12th) failed to advance. Dale Jr. just happened to be in the right place at the right time. “A lot of guys would love to see this race continue and have an opportunity to race to the Chase”.

Sidelined until late May, he was given a waiver by NASCAR to compete in the Chase.

“The vehicle has been fast, and if you’re fast – we’ve been fast all year, just haven’t qualified well enough to give ourselves the track position and give us the pit selection that we need and give us the advantage we need like tonight”. Logano, the Daytona 500 victor who swept all three races of the second round of the Chase, was headed to the win at Martinsville until he was intentionally wrecked by Matt Kenseth and Keselowski almost won last week at Texas but was chased down in the closing laps by Jimmie Johnson.

When Harvick did win Dover, and damaged his vehicle during the celebration, his competitors cried foul and said he did it on goal to prevent NASCAR from conducting a thorough post-race inspection. He would have made his presence known, that’s for sure. They got the win at Pocono Raceway, but then things seemed to go a little bit off after that.

“I’ve got (no championships)”. “The rules are the way the rules are and we are going to make the most of it. We are playing with house money and we’re rolling into Homestead”.

Kyle Busch has a chance to toss a history of Chase underperforming aside.