Drama on the rise as NASCAR Chase winds down

THE CHASE is providing drama on wheels at speeds up to 200 mph. Heading into Sunday's race at Phoenix, only Jeff Gordon is assured of a spot in the final four on Nov. 22 at Homestead, Fla. Gordon won the first race in the Eliminator Round.

Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's second Eliminator race at Texas, but he is not eligible for the final four. Provided they have good finishes at Phoenix, Kyle Busch (second in points) and Kevin Harvick (third) are likely final four racers with Gordon. That leaves (in points order) Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano needing a victory at Phoenix to advance. If Truex doesn't win, but holds his fourth-place position, he'll be in the final four and complete a remarkable Chase run as the only single-car team in the tournament.

With four consecutive wins at Phoenix and five in the last six races (seven total), Harvick can't wait to arrive in the desert.

Harvick isn't resting on all the Phoenix race-winning trophies he has collected. Asked how much of an advantage his history at the track gives him, the reigning Sprint Cup series champion replied: "I feel that can be gone at any point. That's the hardest thing about having success. You have to have an open mind to try new things to keep moving forward. If (not), it will get stagnant.

"As we go to Phoenix, we have to look at the things that we've done well. Obviously, we've done a lot of good things. The hard part about our sport is the conditions are never the same. The tire is constantly changing. You never know if it's going to be 100 degrees or 50 degrees. That makes a big difference on (factors such as) the balance of the car (and) how much downforce it makes."

Then Harvick smiled and said, "It's a racetrack that I get pretty amped up to go there."

Truex seems up for the challenge of performing well at Phoenix.

"The points battle is tight right now, and there are so many scenarios that can still play out this weekend," the Mayetta, N.J., native said. "I guess it's going to be another week of being nervous. That's OK with me. You're just happy to be in a situation to put it all on the line.

"We tested in Phoenix a month or so ago, and we were really fast, so we're looking forward with confidence to the Phoenix race. However, we'll definitely have to step it up, and it's just a matter of really not making mistakes and getting everything we can get out of the day."

While the drama created by the Chase receives generally favorable reviews, there is some grumbling about the format. As previously noted here, it seems unfair when Denny Hamlin wins the Chase opener, is second in points entering the sixth race, has a bad finish (37th) and doesn't advance to the Eliminator Round.

Now, after sweeping all three races in the Contenders Round, Joey Logano is in danger of not making the final four. He was intentionally knocked out of the first Eliminator Round race at Martinsville by Matt Kenseth, who was nine laps down and retaliating for Logano bumping him out of the lead at Kansas. A flat tire on Lap 3 in the Texas race led to a crash that relegated Logano to a 40th-place finish.

The Chase is all about what drivers have done lately, but drivers such as Logano and Hamlin should be rewarded for earlier Chase performances.

Six-time Cup series titlist Jimmie Johnson won four of the season's first 13 races, then leveled off. Still, most observers figured Johnson would advance deep into the Chase. However, a rear-axle seal problem in the third Chase race at Dover, Del., knocked him out of contention.

Addressing Johnson's season after he won at Texas last Sunday, crew chief Chad Knaus said: "Let's be honest, we did it to ourselves. I don't want to say we slacked, but we stunk up the summer, 100 percent. It was horrible, pathetic. Then we come into the Chase, we're running pretty good. We ran well at Chicago, we ran well at New Hampshire.

"It's been a tough last three months. The summer slump the (No.) 48 typically goes through, it's been a bit of a challenge. We'd be in the middle of this championship Chase if it wasn't for a small mechanical problem (at Dover)."

Brad Keselowski's dominance Sunday at Texas, when he led 312 of 334 laps but finished second to Johnson, isn't a record for not winning after leading the most laps. Richard Petty was in front for 442 laps in the July 1964 race at Bristol, Tenn., but Fred Lorenzen won despite leading only one lap. Petty finished second. Talk about frustrating days for Petty and Keselowski . . .

Quicken Loans Race

for Heroes 500

Phoenix International Raceway

Avondale, Ariz.

When: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: NBC10/WNPV (1440-AM), Sirius XM Channel 90

Course: 1-mile oval

Distance: 312 miles

Forecast: sunny, mid-70s

Last year's winner: Kevin Harvick

Last year's pole: Denny Hamlin, 142.113 mph

Track qualifying record: Joey Logano, 142.141 mph (November 2014). Logano's mark was set in the second round of qualifying. Hamlin won the pole in the next round, when the pole is awarded.

Track facts: Kevin Harvick paced 264 laps to win last year's race. Jeff Gordon was runner-up. In this year's spring race, Harvick dominated again, leading 224 laps. Jamie McMurray was second . . . Jimmie Johnson is a four-time winner at Phoenix. Two-time winners are Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon . . . Johnson's victory at Texas was his career 75th, moving him within one of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. for seventh on the all-time list . . . To honor the retiring Jeff Gordon, winner of 93 career races, Phoenix has been renamed Jeff Gordon Raceway for Sunday.

Wins: Joey Logano, 6; Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, 5 each; Kyle Busch, 4 Kevin Harvick, 3; Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, 2 each; Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon, 1 each.

STANDINGS

1. Jeff Gordon. . . 4,082

2. Kyle Busch. . . 4,080

3. Kevin Harvick. . . 4,079

4. Martin Truex Jr.. . . 4,076

5. Carl Edwards. . . 4,069

6. Brad Keselowski. . . 4,057

7. Kurt Busch. . . 4,048

8. Joey Logano. . . 4,013

Up next: Ford EcoBoost 400, Nov. 22, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla., 3 p.m.; TV: NBC10; last year's winner: Kevin Harvick.