Next Race: Can-Am 500 The Place: ISM Raceway The Date: Sunday, November 11 The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 312 miles/ 500 kilometers (312 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 312) Playoff Leaderboard Shuffled Up A major post-race penalty issued by NASCAR to Sunday’s Texas Motor Speedway winner, Kevin Harvick, on Wednesday has resulted in the loss of 40 owner and driver points and the benefits of the victory, which had given the team an automatic berth into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 in the Nov. 18 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. During routine post-race inspection at the NASCAR R & D Center outside Charlotte this week, officials penalized Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford for violations involving the spoiler. In addition to the loss of points and the automatic Championship 4 slot, the No. 4 team’s crew chief (Rodney Childers) and car chief (Robert “Cheddar” Smith) were suspended for the next two Monster Energy Series races (Phoenix and Miami). Stewart-Haas Racing has announced that former Kurt Busch crew chief Tony Gibson will serve as the interim boss atop the box for the remainder of the season. Instead of securing a bid in the Championship 4 at Miami, Harvick drops to fourth on the Playoff leaderboard – 25 points behind Kyle Busch, who is second only to Martinsville winner Joey Logano. And he now holds only a three-point edge on fifth-place Kurt Busch, who sits just outside the Championship 4 cutoff. With Harvick’s penalty, three of the four Playoff finale positions still remain open and that means seven of the eight current Playoff drivers are still vying for that one-race, winner-takes-all title opportunity the four-driver championship lineup will be decided in the Can-Am 500 this Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the newly renovated ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite the setback, Harvick can take some solace in being the winningest driver in the field at ISM Raceway with nine victories. Kyle Busch and older brother Kurt Busch split the 2005 season wins at the track and Joey Logano, the only driver to have secured a bid in this year’s championship finale, won the 2016 Playoff race. They are the only four drivers among the current Playoff field with wins in the Arizona desert. New-Look ISM Raceway The newly named ISM Raceway will also debut a new look this weekend. Beyond the top-shelf fan amenities as part of the $178 million renovation, the race track layout will be different. And it will be interesting to see how much of a variable that turns into for drivers in such a crucial race. Most significantly, the start-finish line will move to the exit of what was Turn 2 of the one-mile oval. The anticipation of another new-look venue isn’t lost on the teams. “This place has become a real show piece for the race fans,’’ said two-time Phoenix winner Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. “Back in March I got to tour the facility and see what all they were doing in the stands, the midway, a new pedestrian tunnel – all the renovations that will boost the overall fan experience. It’s impressive. We’ve got close to 200 people from Cat Mining who are coming from all over the world and for them to not only see us put on a good race but experience the race in a whole new way will be awesome.” Fun In Phoenix For Harvick This week’s Texas turmoil aside, Kevin Harvick has to feel good heading into ISM Raceway where he’s the track’s all-time winningest Monster Energy Series driver. Harvick is the only competitor to ever win four consecutive races (2013-2015) in Phoenix. He’s scored 20 top-10 finishes in 31 starts and led an all-time best 1,522 laps – nearly twice as many as the next-best laps led total in Sunday’s field (Kyle Busch has led 827 laps). Harvick has only one finish worse than sixth-place in the last 13 races and he is the most recent race winner, taking the win this March by .774-seconds over Kyle Busch. Harvick’s 744 laps led in Playoff races is most all-time. And….. Harvick is the last driver to win at ISM Raceway and go on to win the championship. A Return To Miami Would Be Sweet For Kyle Busch With a regular season championship, a solid points advantage and a good record at ISM Raceway, Kyle Busch has to be considered a favorite to move on into the Championship 4. His 827 laps led at the track is second only to Harvick among the Playoff drivers. He finished runner-up to Harvick earlier this season, and he has five top-five finishes in the last six Phoenix races. His overall work at the track is second only to Harvick’s 14 race win total (nine Monster Energy Series, one NASCAR Xfinity Series and four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series trophies). Busch has 13 victories spanning all three of NASCAR’s major series including a Cup win, a record 10 – yes, T-E-N – Xfinity Series wins and two more wins in the Camping World Truck Series. Twice he won three Xfinity races consecutively (2013-14 and 2015-16). “I’d like to think our odds are pretty good,’’ Busch said of ISM Raceway. “Obviously, anything can happen. Things didn’t go our way at Texas last weekend and we felt we had a good car, but things just didn’t fall our way after having the loose wheel. You still have to have some luck on your side and have everything kind of go your way. “It’s tough to rebound, sometimes, after a difficult start to a day or, even if you have trouble later in the day, it’s really difficult to rebound and get a good finish like you need. We’d love to be able to win and automatically lock ourselves through but, if that’s not the case, then you just have to be smart and mindful of a good points day and try not to hurt yourself – just try and keep what happens to you under your own control if you can.” Handicapping The Contenders Kurt Busch is tops among the contenders ranked in the bottom four on the Playoffs leaderboard. He won the 2005 spring race and has led 757 laps – third-most among the top-eight in the standings. He’s had top-10 finishes in six of his last eight starts at ISM Raceway, including a 10th-place effort this March. Of the four drivers looking for their maiden win at the notoriously tough one-mile oval, Chase Elliott has led the most laps previously (140 laps) and boasts the second-best driver rating (110.3) to Harvick’s (110.9). Elliott has four top-10 finishes in five races, was runner-up in the 2017 Playoff race and finished third this March. And Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson, who is making his 500th career Cup start this week, has three wins at Phoenix, with Kyle Busch (2005), Mark Martin (2009) and Jeff Gordon (2011). Martin Truex Jr., who is ranked just behind Kyle Busch in points – and has a 25-point edge on fifth place Kurt Busch – won the Busch Pole position this spring and finished fifth. He was third in last year’s Playoff race en route to his and his Furniture Row Racing team’s first Monster Energy Series championship. He was the center of big news Wednesday as Joe Gibbs Racing officially announced that he and crew chief Cole Pearn will take over the No. 19 JGR Toyota currently being driven by Daniel Suarez. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer – both of whom pretty much have to win to advance to the Monster Energy Series’ Championship 4 – have had challenging pasts at the track. Almirola has yet to lead a lap in 15 starts but scored two of his three career top-10 finishes there in the last two races. He was ninth last fall and seventh this spring. Bowyer has seven top-10 finishes in 26 starts and scored his first top-10 in the last 10 races this spring – a sixth place showing. “The pressure this time of year is intense,’’ said Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 SHR Ford. “In any weekend, there is always pressure but, inside these Playoffs, it increases. It’s the drivers, the teams you are competing against. “At this time of year, you are going against the best of the best. But we all feed off that. You have to be able to eat that up and enjoy that and somehow make peace with it because it’s there. There’s no getting around the pressure side of that. You have to be able to perform at your best within that pressure.” Best Of The Rest While the title contenders certainly have championship hopes driving them, the other racers in the field remain plenty motivated to win as well. In the last 10 years at Phoenix – among those not still title eligible – Jimmie Johnson has the most wins (four). Ryan Newman has two and Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth each have one. Brad Keselowski is looking for his first Phoenix Monster Energy Series win but has a pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series wins including this March. Erik Jones has won twice in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. And rookie William Byron is the defending winner of the November Xfinity race. He led 15 laps in the spring Cup race here – his first-ever Cup laps out front. Streaks On The Line Both Jimmie Johnson – a four-time winner at ISM Raceway – and Hamlin, the 2012 spring race winner, aren’t simply looking for to add to their statistics. The veterans are hoping to extend impressive season winning streaks. The seven-time Cup champion Johnson has wins over 16 consecutive seasons – every one of his full-time years. In fact, he has won at least twice in each of those years. But the last time he visited Victory Lane was at the spring Dover race last season – 57 races ago. He has three top-10 finishes in the last 10 races in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His best showing of the season is third place at Bristol Motor Speedway in April. It’s been a similarly frustrating year for Hamlin. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has a 12-year winning streak at stake. He has 10 top-five finishes including a season best runner-up showing at Martinsville two weeks ago. His last victory was in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last Fall. He was fourth at ISM Raceway earlier this season and has five top-10 finishes in the last six races there. Next Race: Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 The Place: ISM Raceway The Date: Saturday, November 10 The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 3 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 200 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) Only Thing Certain Is Just Four Playoff Contenders Will Advance After ISM Raceway When the checkered flag soars at the conclusion of the Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 at ISM Raceway this Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), four drivers will advance to the final round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs to compete for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17. Following the wild finish last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer has locked himself into the Championship 4, leaving three spots up for grabs this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. It will be the third consecutive season ISM Raceway has hosted the lead-in event to the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Since the inception of the elimination-style Playoffs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, ISM Raceway has produced some great action leading into the Championship 4. In 2016, the Xfinity Series Playoff race at ISM Raceway was won by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch. The highest finishing NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff driver was Justin Allgaier (fourth). Allgaier entered the ISM Raceway event fifth in the Playoff standings and raced his way into the Championship 4, knocking Blake Koch from the top four in points. Daniel Suarez won the series title in 2016 and finished right behind Allgaier (fourth) at ISM Raceway in fifth. The four drivers to make the Championship 4 in 2016 were Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Daniel Suarez and Justin Allgaier. Last season’s Xfinity Series Playoff race at ISM Raceway was won by Playoff contender and JR Motorsport’s rookie William Byron. Byron’s win guaranteed himself a spot in the Championship 4, from which he ultimately won the title that season. The second-highest finishing NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff driver was Daniel Hemric (fifth). Hemric entered the event at ISM Raceway seventh in the Playoff standings and his fifth-place finish was enough to move him into the fourth and final spot in the Championship 4, bumping Brennan Poole from the top four in points. Hemric went on to finish the season runner-up in the Playoff standings. The four drivers to make the Championship 4 in 2017 were William Byron, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric. Cole Custer Becomes The First To Lock Himself Into The Championship 4 With the enormous pressure to advance in the Playoffs, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer drove a masterful last lap to steal the win from fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contender and JR Motorsports driver Tyler Reddick last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway to secure his spot in the Championship 4 and a chance at the 2018 series title. Custer entered the Texas race last weekend seventh in the Playoff standings; 23 points behind fourth-place Christopher Bell in the final transfer spot for the Championship 4. But Custer needed a win, and he delivered. With his victory, Custer has guaranteed himself a chance at the title this season, and for the first time in his career made the Championship 4. The California kid has been stellar in the Playoffs, amassing one win, two top fives, three top 10s and an average finish of 10.2. Now with the ticket to the championship finale in hand, Custer and the No. 00 SHR Ford Mustang team, led by crew chief Jeff Meendering, can turn their attention to preparing for the finale at Homestead-Miami, but first, they must get through this weekend at ISM Raceway. Custer has made three series starts at ISM Raceway, posting two top 10s. On a macro level, Custer’s sophomore season has been an edifice of success and has already surpassed his impressive rookie campaign last year. Through 31 races this season, Custer has collected one win (Texas-2), 13 top fives, 24 top 10s and an average finish of 9.3. Standings Leader Tyler Reddick Looks To Make Championship 4 In His Rookie Season JR Motorsport’s Tyler Reddick finished runner-up at Texas last weekend and sailed into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff points standings lead as the series heads to the Round of 8 elimination race at ISM Raceway this weekend for the Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 (at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With just one race left to make the Championship 4, Reddick has placed himself in the best possible scenario aside from winning his way into the final round. The California native is the current points standings leader with a 20-point cushion over his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier in the first spot outside the Championship 4 cutoff. Reddick’s performance in the Playoff’s has been championship caliber, posting two top fives, four top 10s and the second-best average finish among Playoff contenders with a 7.4. Heading to ISM Raceway this weekend, Reddick will look to continue his postseason success on the newly renovated one-mile raceway where he has accrued one top 10 and an average finish of 12.0. Reddick can clinch on points this weekend with 46 points and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Elliott Sadler or Daniel Hemric), then Reddick could clinch with 35 points. He could also clinch a Championship 4 spot with a win this weekend. If Tyler Reddick were to make the Championship 4 this season, he would become just the fourth Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to make the final round and have a shot at the title – William Byron and Daniel Hemric accomplished the feat in 2017 and Erik Jones made the final four as a rookie in 2016. Twice a Sunoco rookie has won the series title – William Byron (2017) and Chase Elliott (2014). Veteran Elliott Sadler Embraces Last Chance At A NASCAR Title Since making the announcement earlier this year that he will hang up his fulltime driving gloves at season’s end, JR Motorsport’s veteran Elliott Sadler has positioned himself nicely to ride off into the sunset in Miami. The Virginia native currently holds the third transfer spot in the Playoff standings with a 13-point lead over his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier in the first spot outside the Championship 4 cutoff. Sadler is no stranger to the Playoff’s Championship 4, as he has qualified for the final round the last two seasons. This year, while still looking for his first win of the season, he has been able to make headway in the points by staying out of trouble. In the postseason, Sadler has produced one top five and three top 10s. Plus, his average finish of 8.4 during the Playoffs has been fourth-best among Playoff challengers. With his Playoff hopes on the line Sadler heads to ISM Raceway this weekend knowing his veteran experience will pay dividends. He has 19 series starts at the one-mile raceway amassing one win (2012), five top fives, 10 top 10s and an average finish of 11.9. Sadler could clinch on points with 54 points and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Tyler Reddick or Daniel Hemric), then he could clinch with 43 points. He could also move onto the next round with a win. Next Race: Lucas Oil 150 The Place: ISM Raceway The Date: Friday, November 9 The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 150 miles (150 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 150) Another One Bites The Dust Justin Haley’s victory in Friday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway clinched his spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It didn’t look like a Playoff driver was going to take home the victory, as Todd Gilliland was dominating the front of the pack until he ran out of gas a half a lap away from the checkered flag. This was Haley’s third win of the season and his second in the Playoffs. The win also pushed his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to 12-straight. He joins his GMS Racing teammate Johnny Sauter for a chance to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. It wasn’t as easy of a race for the other Playoff drivers fighting for their spot in the title bout. Brett Moffitt started fourth and finished third but was unable to get enough speed to pass to the front. Matt Crafton started 14th and made his way to ninth, while Noah Gragson started in the second position but finished 10th. Sauter started on the pole in Texas but finished 11th and Grant Enfinger was finished right behind him in 12th. Up until this weekend, Haley was below the Playoff cut-off line, but with his win, Enfinger has been pushed outside of the top four with one race left to decide the Championship 4. Something About Sauter & Shear, Jr. GMS Racing’s Johnny Sauter has been a championship contender since the inception of the elimination-style Playoff format in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2016, the inaugural year of the new format, Sauter took home the championship. Sauter had a strong 2016 season with three wins, 12 top fives, 19 top 10s and one pole. He won the season-opener at Daytona with then-crew chief Marcus Richmond before Joe Shear Jr. took over atop the pit box for the seventh race of the season and since the duo has been hard to beat. The pair went on to capture back-to-back Playoff victories at Martinsville and Texas in 2016 and then at Phoenix, they finished second to make the Championship 4. They then went on to finish third at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win their first championship together. Then last season, Sauter had four wins, 13 top-five finishes and 19 top 10s with Shear calling the shots on the pit box. They went on to make the Playoffs and win at Texas and ISM Raceway to lock themselves into the Championship 4 again. They ultimately finished runner-up to Kyle Busch Motorsport’s driver Christopher Bell though after finishing third at Homestead-Miami. In total, Shear, Jr. has 239 races under his belt as crew chief with 23 wins, 87 top fives, 131 top 10s and nine poles. Twenty of those wins have come with Sauter. The dynamic duo has already won more races this season than ever before (six) and they have their spot in the Championship 4 with the win in the first race of the Round of 6 at Martinsville. Veteran Vs. Youth Movement Only two drivers are locked into the Championship 4, Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley, and they are at very different places in their careers. Haley is 19-years-old and competing in only his second full-time season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This weekend’s race will be his 49th start. Sauter, 40-years old, has competed in 10 full-time Truck Series seasons and his start at ISM Raceway will be his 243rd. But they’re both competing for the exact same thing – the 2018 championship. As Haley approaches his 50th career start, he currently has three wins, 12 top fives, 30 top 10s and one pole. In Sauter’s first 50 career starts, he had two wins, 13 top fives, 20 top 10s and two poles. But their careers at Homestead-Miami are very different from one another. Haley has only been to Homestead once before and that was last season’s finale. He started ninth and finished seventh. Sauter has run at Homestead 11 times and has one win from 2011. He has four top fives and eight top 10s at the track. Sauter finished in the top 10 the last four races in South Florida. If the Playoff scenario were locked in right now, you’d have two other young contenders in the picture in Noah Gragson and Brett Moffitt, who are currently in the Championship 4 on points. Veteran Matt Crafton is below the cut-off line, as well as Grant Enfinger, meaning that Sauter could be the sole veteran in the championship hunt. A Must-Win Situation This weekend’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the Playoff drivers’ last chance to lock themselves into the Championship 4, and for some of them, a win is the only guarantee. Brett Moffitt, who is sitting in third place in the points standings, would clinch with 51 points and a new winner. If there’s a repeat winner like Sauter or Haley, or a win by Noah Gragson or any non-Playoff driver, he would secure his spot with 33 points. This will be Moffitt’s debut at ISM Raceway. Noah Gragson would clinch with 38 points if there is a repeat winner or a win by Moffitt or any non-Playoff drivers. It is a possibility for Gragson to clinch on points with a new Playoff winner, but he would need help to do so. This will be Gragson’s third visit to the 1-mile track. Being 18-points above the cut line, and he has finished 16th and 15th, as well as led 55 laps in his most recent run at the track, even after being involved in a wreck. Grant Enfinger can only guarantee himself a spot in the Championship 4 if he wins. He has the ability to clinch on points, but we need help depending on the winner. Enfinger will head to ISM Raceway for only the second time of his career. He was involved in a crash on lap 75 that resulted in a 24th place finish after starting ninth in his first visit. Matt Crafton is in the same boat as Enfinger. He needs a win to solidify his spot in the Championship. Like Enfinger, if he had some help, depending on the winner of the race, he could clinch on points, but it would be very tough. This will be Crafton’s 18th start at ISM Raceway. He has never won at the one-miler but has six top fives and 11 top 10s. Despite those statistics, Crafton crashed in two of his last three races at Phoenix and has only led 15 laps in 17 starts. source – NASCAR communications
