Three Eliminators In Clinching Drivers’ Seat

Three Eliminators In Clinching Drivers’ Seat

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Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman are the only drivers who can clinch Championship berths at Homestead in Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (3 p.m. ET on ESPN) regardless of how others finish.

Logano and Hamlin can both advance to Homestead with finishes of 11th or better, 12th with one lap led, or 13th with the most laps led.

Newman can qualify for Homestead by finishing ninth or better, 10th with one lap led, or 11th with the most laps led.

Of the three drivers, Hamlin has had the most success at Phoenix with one victory and eight top fives in 18 starts. He is coming off consecutive top 10 finishes in his last two races, the only Eliminator 8 driver to score top 10s in each of the two Eliminator Round races.

Newman is not far behind Hamlin’s pace with one win, eight top-five and 10 top-10 showings in 24 starts at the one-mile tri-oval. The Richard Childress Racing driver had his streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes snapped after a 15th-place showing at Texas.

Logano finished fourth at Phoenix in March and claims five top-10 finishes in 11 career starts there. He boasts the highest average finish in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season (5.3).

Despite not needing a win or even a top-five finish to advance to Homestead, Hamlin claims not being aggressive would hurt the three drivers’ chances of reaching Championship Round.

“I think as tense as eight drivers are going to be this weekend, cautious is going to make you finish about 17th,” Hamlin said. “There's a lot of factors that track does not allow you to be conservative at.”

Kenseth, Edwards Eye Miami

Under the radar, yet looming just one point behind Jeff Gordon for the final spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Round race at Homestead are Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.

The two drivers have yet to win a Chase race, but have survived up to this point by avoiding disastrous finishes and posting timely strong showings. Edwards may have saved his championship hopes last week at Texas when he rallied from 30th to ninth over the last 81 laps. Kenseth’s defining moment in NASCAR’s playoffs so far was his decision to draft off rival Brad Keselowski to a second-place finish at Talladega, a move that clinched him a spot in the Eliminator Round.

Kenseth and Edwards head to Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (3 p.m. ET on ESPN) where each has had varying success. Kenseth owns a win at the one-mile tri-oval, but has only claimed one top-10 finish since the track was repaved for the 2011 fall race. On the other hand, Edwards claims a win and a runner-up finish in the six races since the track was repaved.

Both drivers should be considered serious championship contenders if they get to Homestead. Edwards has two victories and boasts an average finish of 6.6 at the Miami course, while Kenseth finished runner-up there last year and won its race in 2007.