Matt Kenseth may be without a ride anywhere in NASCAR in 2018, but that didn’t stop him from taking the victory at the penultimate round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup.
His victory, which denied Chase Elliott a spot in the Championship 4 next week at Homestead-Miami also mean that only Ford and Toyota, not Chevrolet, can win the title.
The drivers fighting for the championship will be Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. Only Truex is yet to win a title and will be the firm favouite after his dominant season in 2017.
Kenseth led 60 of the 312 laps, breaking through for his first win of the year, second victory at the Arizona track and the 39th of his career. The 45-year-old driver got by Elliott with 10 laps left.
Along with Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Jimmie Johnson were eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs in the cut-off race.
Hamlin’s exit was the most dramatic as his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota crashed into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 275, just a few laps after repeated contact with Elliott.
“We had a fast car all day. … We put ourselves in good position, things just didn’t work out there at the end,” said Hamlin.
The two had differences in the Round of 8 opener two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin made contact that sent Elliott spinning from the lead.
That crash opened the championship window for Keselowski, who was 19 points above the cut-off line at the chequered flag.
“It feels a little bit like Christmas,” Keselowski said. “Sometimes you have to have a little luck on your side.”
Johnson was the first to fall from contention, scraping the Turn 3 wall with a right-front tyre down and bringing out the race’s second caution period on Lap 149.
VIDEO: Race recap
RESULTS: Can-Am 500 – Phoenix Raceway
Pos
#
Driver
Make
Laps
Laps Led
1
20
Matt Kenseth
Toyota
312
60
2
24
Chase Elliott
Chevrolet
312
32
3
78
Martin Truex Jr.
Toyota
312
4
77
Erik Jones
Toyota
312
5
4
Kevin Harvick
Ford
312
6
1
Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet
312
7
18
Kyle Busch
Toyota
312
8
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ford
312
9
43
Aric Almirola
Ford
312
10
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Chevrolet
312
11
13
Ty Dillon
Chevrolet
312
12
22
Joey Logano
Ford
312
13
14
Clint Bowyer
Ford
312
14
3
Austin Dillon
Chevrolet
312
15
27
Paul Menard
Chevrolet
312
16
2
Brad Keselowski
Ford
312
17
21
Ryan Blaney
Ford
312
10
18
19
Daniel Suarez
Toyota
312
19
5
Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet
311
20
31
Ryan Newman
Chevrolet
311
21
41
Kurt Busch
Ford
310
22
95
Michael McDowell
Chevrolet
309
23
47
A.J. Allmendinger
Chevrolet
309
24
34
Landon Cassill
Ford
309
25
10
Danica Patrick
Ford
309
26
15
D.J. Kennington
Chevrolet
307
27
32
Matt DiBenedetto
Ford
306
28
66
David Starr
Chevrolet
305
29
33
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Chevrolet
305
30
7
Joey Gase
Chevrolet
304
31
23
Corey Lajoie
Toyota
303
32
00
Derrike Cope
Chevrolet
302
33
38
David Ragan
Ford
301
34
51
Kyle Weatherman
Chevrolet
294
35
11
Denny Hamlin
Toyota
275
191
36
72
Cole Whitt
Chevrolet
258
37
37
Chris Buescher
Chevrolet
247
38
6
Trevor Bayne
Ford
226
39
48
Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet
148
40
42
Kyle Larson
Chevrolet
104
11
STANDINGS
Pos
Driver
Pts
Behind
Wins
Starts
Top 5’s
Top 10’s
Poles
1
Kevin Harvick
5,000
Leader
2
35
13
22
4
2
Kyle Busch
5,000
Leader
5
35
13
21
8
3
Martin Truex Jr.
5,000
Leader
7
35
18
25
3
4
Brad Keselowski
5,000
Leader
3
35
15
20
2
5
Chase Elliott
2,338
-2,662
0
35
11
20
1
6
Denny Hamlin
2,320
-2,680
2
35
15
21
1
7
Matt Kenseth
2,311
-2,689
1
35
10
17
2
8
Ryan Blaney
2,296
-2,704
1
35
4
14
2
9
Kyle Larson
2,266
-2,734
4
35
14
19
3
10
Jimmie Johnson
2,250
-2,750
3
35
4
11
0
11
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2,200
-2,800
2
35
4
9
1
12
Jamie McMurray
2,200
-2,800
0
35
3
17
0
13
Austin Dillon
2,198
-2,802
1
35
3
4
0
14
Kasey Kahne
2,194
-2,806
1
35
3
6
0
15
Kurt Busch
2,193
-2,807
1
35
6
15
1
16
Ryan Newman
2,169
-2,831
1
35
7
12
0
17
Joey Logano
894
-4,106
1
35
10
16
2
18
Erik Jones
847
-4,153
0
35
5
14
1
19
Clint Bowyer
845
-4,155
0
35
6
13
0
20
Daniel Suarez
774
-4,226
0
35
1
12
0
21
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
656
-4,344
0
35
1
8
2
22
Trevor Bayne
642
-4,358
0
35
2
6
0
23
Paul Menard
610
-4,390
0
35
2
3
0
24
Ty Dillon
582
-4,418
0
35
0
0
0
25
Chris Buescher
547
-4,453
0
35
0
4
0
26
Michael McDowell
529
-4,471
0
35
1
1
0
27
Danica Patrick
510
-4,490
0
35
0
1
0
28
AJ Allmendinger
508
-4,492
0
35
1
5
0
29
Aric Almirola
483
-4,517
0
28
3
6
0
30
David Ragan
427
-4,573
0
35
0
3
0
31
Landon Cassill
368
-4,632
0
35
0
0
0
32
Matt DiBenedetto
356
-4,644
0
35
0
2
0
33
Cole Whitt
313
-4,687
0
35
0
0
0
34
Corey LaJoie
223
-4,777
0
31
0
0
0
35
Gray Gaulding
164
-4,836
0
27
0
1
0
36
Reed Sorenson
148
-4,852
0
27
0
0
0
37
Jeffrey Earnhardt
140
-4,860
0
33
0
0
0
38
Derrike Cope
42
-4,958
0
15
0
0
0
39
Michael Waltrip
29
-4,971
0
1
0
1
0
40
D.J. Kennington
17
-4,983
0
4
0
0
0
41
Billy Johnson
15
-4,985
0
1
0
0
0
42
Boris Said
15
-4,985
0
2
0
0
0
43
Gary Klutt
6
-4,994
0
1
0
0
0
44
Cody Ware
6
-4,994
0
5
0
0
0
45
Alon Day
5
-4,995
0
1
0
0
0
46
Stephen Leicht
5
-4,995
0
1
0
0
0
47
Kyle Weatherman
5
-4,995
0
2
0
0
0
48
Kevin O’Connell
4
-4,996
0
1
0
0
0
49
Hermie Sadler
3
-4,997
0
1
0
0
0
50
Tommy Regan
3
-4,997
0
1
0
0
0
51
Brendan Gaughan
0
-5,000
0
4
0
1
0
52
Darrell Wallace Jr.
0
-5,000
0
4
0
0
0
53
Timmy Hill
0
-5,000
0
15
0
0
0
54
Elliott Sadler
0
-5,000
0
3
0
0
0
55
Ross Chastain
0
-5,000
0
2
0
0
0
56
Joey Gase
0
-5,000
0
8
0
0
0
57
Regan Smith
0
-5,000
0
2
0
0
0
58
JJ Yeley
0
-5,000
0
4
0
0
0
59
Ryan Sieg
0
-5,000
0
5
0
0
0
60
David Starr
0
-5,000
0
2
0
0
0
61
B.J. McLeod
0
-5,000
0
8
0
0
0
62
Brett Moffitt
0
-5,000
0
7
0
0
0
63
Carl Long
0
-5,000
0
3
0
0
0
64
Ray Black II
0
-5,000
0
2
0
0
0
65
Josh Bilicki
0
-5,000
0
2
0
0
0
66
Mark Thompson
0
-5,000
0
1
0
0
0
67
Justin Marks
0
-5,000
0
1
0
0
0
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