Phoenix International Raceway hosted four events this past weekend. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series-West closed out its season on Thursday night at the track. Todd Gilliland won the event and Chris Eggleston was crowned the 2015 NKNPSW Champion. Timothy Peters came away the winner of the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday night. Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch dominated the XFINITY Series race on Saturday. Sunday’s Sprint Cup race was scheduled to run in the afternoon at the Arizona 1-mile oval but a rain-delay of over six hours turned it into a night race. This final race of the Eliminator Round was shortened from 312 laps to 219 laps due to more rain. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the leader when the race was called and declared the race winner. The four drivers moving on to compete for the Sprint Cup championship at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week are Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Time Trials: Jimmie Johnson (#48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet SS) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 with a track qualifying record lap of 25.147 seconds, 143.158 mph. The previous record was set by Joey Logano in November 2014 (25.327 sec/142.141 mph). This is his 34th pole in 506 NSCS races. It is his first pole and 19th top-10 start in 2015. Johnson’s last pole came in May 2014 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 58 races ago. It is his third pole in 25 races at Phoenix. Johnson led 44 laps and finished the 219-lap event in fifth place.
Did Not Qualify: No one; only 43 cars entered for 43 spots in the lineup.
Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS) won the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, his 26th victory in 576 NSCS races. This is his third victory and 22nd top-10 finish in 2015 and his third victory and 13th top-10 finish in 27 races at Phoenix. Earnhardt started the race third in the lineup, led 22 laps and was in the lead when the race was called (due to rain) after 219 laps of the scheduled 312-lap event.
Contingency Awards - (Start, Finish, Points):
Coors Light Pole Award: Jimmie Johnson #48, 143.158 mph (POLE, 5th, 12th)
Duralast Brakes “Brake in the Race": Jimmie Johnson #48
3M Lap Leader: Kevin Harvick #4, 143 Laps (8th, 2nd, LEADER)
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kevin Harvick #4
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder: Hendrick Engines #4
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 (3rd, WINNER, 7th)
Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88, 6 positions
Moog Problem Solver: Aric Almirola #43, Trent Owens, -0.178 seconds (17th, 10th, 17th)
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Carl Edwards #19 (4th, 12th, 5th)
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Matt DiBenedetto #83 (30th, 28th, 35th)
Standings: Kevin Harvick leads the remaining four eligible Chase drivers heading into the season finale. The highest finisher among these four will be the 2015 NSCS Champion.
Top 16 – (G/L):
1. Kevin Harvick +2
2. Jeff Gordon -1
3. Kyle Busch -1
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Carl Edwards
6. Joey Logano +2
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. +2
8. Brad Keselowski -2
9. Kurt Busch -2
10. Denny Hamlin
11. Ryan Newman
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Jamie McMurray
14. Paul Menard
15. Matt Kenseth
16. Clint Bowyer
Next: Sunday, November 22 – Ford EcoBoost 400
Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval in Homestead, FL)
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NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Time Trials: Sprint Cup driver (#18 Toyota Camry) Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the DAV 200 Honoring America’s Veterans with a track qualifying record lap of 25.992 seconds, 138.504 mph. This is the #54 Monster Energy Toyota driver’s 47th pole in 310 NXS races. It is his fourth pole and 11th top-10 NXS start in 2015 and his eighth pole in 19 NXS races at Phoenix.
Did Not Qualify: #89 Morgan Shepherd and # 70Matt Waltz.
Winner: Kyle Busch won the DAV 200 Honoring America’s Veterans, his series record-extending 76th victory in 310 NXS races. This is his sixth victory and 11th top-10 NXS finish in 2015. It is his track-record eighth victory and 15th top-10 finish in 19 NXS races at Phoenix International Raceway. Busch led 190 laps of the 200-lap event.
Contingency Awards - (Start, Finish, Points):
Coors Light Pole Award: Kyle Busch #54, 138.504 mph (POLE, WINNER, NE)
3M Lap Leader: Kyle Busch #54, 190 Laps
Duralast Brakes “Brake in the Race": Kyle Busch #54
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder: Joe Gibbs Racing Engines #54
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Darrell Wallace Jr. #6 (10th, 8th, 7th)
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Daniel Suarez #18 (5th, 4th, 6th)
NE=Not eligible for driver points in this series.
Standings: Chris Buescher leads the point standings by 18 points over Chase Elliott.
Top 10 (G/L):
1. Chris Buescher
2. Chase Elliott
3. Ty Dillon
4. Regan Smith
5. Elliott Sadler
6. Daniel Suarez +1
7. Darrell Wallace Jr. -1
8. Brian Scott
9. Brendan Gaughan
10. Ryan Reed
Next: Saturday, November 21 - Ford EcoBoost 300
Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval in Homestead, FL)
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Time Trials: Erik Jones (#4 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra) won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award for the Lucas Oil 150 with a track-record lap of 26.179 seconds, 137.515 mph. This is the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver’s seventh pole in 39 NCWTS races. It is his fifth pole and 20th top-10 start in 2015 and his second pole in three races at Phoenix. Jones led 106 laps and finished the 150-lap event in ninth place.
Did Not Qualify: #45 Brandon Hightower, #0 Caleb Roark, #6 Norm Benning and #49 Cassie Gannis.
Winner: Timothy Peters (#17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra) won the Lucas Oil 150, his 10th victory in 206 NCWTS races. This is the Red Horse Racing driver’s second victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2015 and his first victory and second top-10 finish in seven races at Phoenix. Peters started the race 10th in the lineup and led 28 laps of the 150-lap event.
Contingency Awards - (Start, Finish, Points):
Keystone Light Pole Award: Erik Jones #4, 137.515 mph (POLE, 9th, LEADER)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder: Joe Gibbs Engines, #4
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Timothy Peters, #17 (10th, WINNER, 5th)
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: John Hunter Nemechek, #8 (11th, 2nd, 13th)
Standings: Erik Jones leads the point standings by 19 points over Tyler Reddick.
Top 10 (G/L):
1. Erik Jones
2. Tyler Reddick +1
3. Matt Crafton -1
4. Johnny Sauter
5. Timothy Peters
6. Cameron Hayley
7. Daniel Hemric
8. John Wes Townley
9. Ben Kennedy
10. Spencer Gallagher
Next: Friday, November 20 - Ford EcoBoost 200
Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval in Homestead, FL)
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ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
2015 K&N Pro Series-East Champion: Grant Enfinger
2015 SCOTT Rookie Challenge Winner: Kyle Weatherman
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NASCAR Home Tracks
K&N Pro Series-East
2015 K&N Pro Series-East Champion: William Byron
2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year: William Byron
K&N Pro Series-West
November 12 - Casino Arizona 100
Phoenix International Raceway
Winner: Todd Gilliland --- Pole: JJ Haley
2015 K&N Pro Series-West Champion: Chris Eggleston
Canadian Tire Series
2015 Canadian Tire Series Champion: Scott Steckly
2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year: Gary Klutt
Whelen Modified Tour
2015 Whelen Modified Tour Champion: Doug Coby
2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year: Chase Dowling
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
2015 Whelen Southern Modified Tour Champion: Andy Seuss
2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year: Trey Hutchens
