Sunday Phoenix Notebook

Sunday Phoenix Notebook

Notebook Items:

•           Kenseth is philosophical about elimination

•           Hamlin's pit crew has redeeming stop

•           Keselowski's Chase ends at Phoenix

Nov. 9, 2014

Matt Kenseth is philosophical about elimination from the Chase

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

AVONDALE, Ariz.— It was difficult for Matt Kenseth to be too disappointed about his elimination from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Kenseth doesn’t have a victory this season, and his No. 20 Toyota hasn’t been consistently as fast as the front-running cars of Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon.

When his third-place finish in Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway left him three points shy of the total he would have needed to advance to the final four-driver championship shootout next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kenseth was philosophical about the result.

“We were no match for the 4 (race winner Kevin Harvick),” Kenseth said. “He's been lights-out here the last couple years or the last few years--whatever. But other than that, we were pretty good, so we had good short run speed, good restarts. I thought we did everything right, good strategy, good pit stops, all that stuff. 

“Best we've ran here in a while. So overall, it was a great day for us. It wasn't good enough to get us to the next round, but after last week (a 25th-place finish at Texas), I knew that that was going to be tough. We were probably going to have to come here and win, and we just didn't have enough speed to do that.”

In reality that was the story of Kenseth’s season, one where his entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization spent much of the year searching for speed.

“From my side of it, I feel like we haven't necessarily performed at a championship level,” Kenseth said. “I think my team has, in the pit stops and the strategy and the car prep and the morale--all that has been there, but we haven't had the speed in our race cars. 

“To still be in it all the way to the second to last race was a good feeling, to keep getting another shot. I wish we had one more.”

HAMLIN’S PIT CREW HAS REDEEMING STOP

Denny Hamlin’s championship hopes were in dire jeopardy early in Sunday’s race, when the rear tire changer’s air gun knocked off the valve stem and flattened the tire, forcing Hamlin to return to the pits.

Hamlin twice went a lap down to race winner Kevin Harvick, only to get the laps back as the “lucky dog,” the highest-scored lapped car.

But when Hamlin needed a strong performance from his crew late in the race, the over-the-wall gang was up to the challenge.

On Hamlin’s final pit stop, Hamlin’s pit crew gained three positions for the driver of the No. 11 Toyota, boosting him from eighth to 11th in the running order and giving Hamlin the working margin he needed to advance to the season finale at Homestead with championship eligibility.

Ultimately, Hamlin came home fifth and had nothing but praise for his crew in the aftermath of a stressful race.

“They're probably the reason that we're in this position anyway,” Hamlin said. “I've been riding their coattails for most of the year. What they do for me on pit road, and obviously law of averages, every now and then, that stone is going to hit you, and it hit you that first pit stop, and luckily it was the first one. If it was later in the day, we were not going to overcome it.

“But you know, yeah, it's crazy that that mistake is what put us back there, but they made up for it tenfold throughout the entire day with great stops. It's great to have them on your side, knowing that you've got the fastest pit crew on pit lane going into a one race shootout. I like my chances.”

KESELOWSKI’S CHAMPIONSHIP RUN ENDS

On Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, Brad Keselowski ran out of magic.

The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, who survived the Contender Round with an 11th-hour win at Talladega, finished fourth in the final race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Eliminator Round, but as it turned out, only a victory would have given Keselowski a shot at a second series title.

Despite the fourth-place run, Keselowski finished the Phoenix race seventh in the Chase standings, eight points behind Ryan Newman, the last of the four qualifiers.

“We were a little bit short,” Keselowski said. “I’m obviously a little disappointed. I’m not disappointed with the effort, just disappointed it didn’t work out. We just couldn’t overcome the Martinsville hurdle

“We had a decent day, but we needed a win to overcome the week we had at Martinsville, where we broke the gear. We just weren’t quite fast enough to pull that off the last two weeks, and that’s what it was going to take. It’s been a good effort. It’s been a great year.  It’s nothing to hang our head on. We controlled the things we could control for the most part and that’s just how this deal works.” 

With Keselowski’s exit, the driver with the most victories in the series is on the sidelines, as far as the championship is concerned.