NASCAR Recap: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Declared victor at Phoenix

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 event at Phoenix worldwide Raceway when the red flag was displayed early because of inclement weather.

“The past champion probably has – if anybody has an advantage”, Gordon said last weekend after finishing sixth at Phoenix in a rain-shortened race. But like the other drivers eliminated from championship consideration, Busch was also left to wonder what could have been when the race was called due to rain with 92 laps remaining.

“I don’t think it matters what’s fair”, Keselowski said.

But by the time another batch of rain forced NASCAR’s hand more than 200 miles into the race, Chase drivers needing a high finish pleaded on their teams’ radios. “Sometimes you don’t”, he concluded. “But, in the end, the big picture is what it’s all about”.

Logano has won three of the nine Chase races to date.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has reached its 2015 finale.

Staying home – or at least passenger-side drivers – at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be Joey Logano, with six victories. Busch did more than that.

“You win a few, you lose a few like that”, said Harvick. “I’m playing with house money, so I’ve got the advantage”. In his 10-year career, his best points finish is a pair of 11th places in 2007 and 2012.

The season finale at Homestead may not have the Penske team, but will have the sport’s other three strongest teams represented. “I think it’s definitely been a Chase that’s been a little bit up and down for us, but the guys have battled through, and we’ve survived a lot of situations to be in contention for next week”. The final four who will race for the championship at Homestead-Miami will consist of Jeff Gordon, Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr.

Certainly for me, my final race. “We’re excited about the opportunity to go down there”. That was encouraging just as a team and the way we analyzed everything. “We’ll go do the same thing next week”.

” Just caution came out at the wrong time, and we didn’t get to make up the ground on the racetrack under green, where Dale was pitted and the way that they came out of the pits just didn’t time out well”. “We had many opportunities to try to get ourselves to the font, we just weren’t as fast (as Harvick)”. When asked about the ongoing weirdness for him during this year’s Chase – including the Phoenix round – Logano stuck to a positive spin. Earnhardt Jr. said it came down to the leadership of team owner Rick Hendrick. This time he’ll be up against four-time champion Gordon, who will try to win the title in his final race before retirement, and Busch and Truex, who will both be racing for the championship for the first time in their career. “I can’t say until we get the green flag or the checkered flag, but I feel pretty good about it right now”.

Rosberg wins from pole for 2nd straight win: SAO PAULO – Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Grand Prix, leading from start to finish to beat Mercedes teammate and already-crowned season champion Lewis Hamilton.

The race was delayed almost seven hours by a series of storms, forcing the penultimate race in the Chase to start under the lights at the mile oval.

The race was stopped when heavy rain arrived again on Lap 219 of a scheduled 312 laps.

Earnhardt came to pit road for fuel and tires one lap before Joey Gase and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed in Turn 3 to bring out the second caution of the race on Lap 196.