The rain at Phoenix International Raceway came, then went, and then came back again—and its return also brought with it an early end to Brad Keselowski’s run at his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.
Originally scheduled to run around 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 finally went green under the lights approximately 9:30 p.m. ET. After the seven-hour delay, the race lasted just 219 of its scheduled 312 laps before it was red flagged with Brad running in the ninth position. BK had been climbing up from his 18th-place start, and with a little more time, he believed anything could’ve happened, but it just wasn’t meant to be on Sunday night.
“Who knows maybe this run we would’ve had something, but that’s not the way it played out,” Brad said on NBC Sports Network just before the race was officially called by NASCAR. “It’s raining the hardest it’s rained, so… I know it’s a late night for all the fans at home, appreciate you staying tuned and watching. It’s certainly not the day we wanted, but I’m happy for my friend Dale Jr., it looks like he’s going to get him one.”
The race ended just after its second caution of the night, which came in the middle of a run of green-flag pit stops. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had just cycled to the lead under yellow when the rain began to fall once again. NASCAR officials brought the drivers in off the track, and the skies only opened further, signaling the end of a long day in the desert, and a heartbreaking Eliminator Round for BK and the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team.
The White Lite struggled through practice and qualifying to begin the week. Brad qualified 18th—his worst starting position since July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When the race finally began late Sunday night, Brad and his crew began a slow climb up to the front. They made it to 14th before the competition caution at lap 40.
BK listed a litany of issues with the handling of his car around the low-banked turns of the one-mile Arizona track. After pitting from 14th, he gained one spot when Jimmie Johnson was flagged for speeding, and he restarted in the 13th position. He faltered a bit in the early going of the run, but as the race stayed green, his car grew stronger. He passed Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones and Kyle Larson to 10th place by lap 100.
“The first five laps
[of a run], I just couldn’t keep pace. But after that, it would come in really well,” Brad explained. “We’d just slowly climb our way forward and could only get so far.”
Joey Logano sparked the round of green-flag pit stops at lap 119, but Brad elected to stay on track until lap 124. He inherited the lead at lap 120 and held it for four laps before pitting for four fresh tires. With the field now scattered after the green-flag stops, Brad fell back to 12th, where he remained until Logano again brought the beginning of the next pit cycle at lap 194.
Brad had moved up to fifth in the running order before the race’s second caution flag flew at lap 196 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Gase got together. The 2 Crew, which continued its exceptional performance throughout the Chase, fitted Brad with four new tires and a fresh round of adjustments, and the cycled out three spots up to ninth.
The cars went back on the track and were nearly ready for the race to go green again, when a light rain began to fall. BK radioed to his spotter Joey Meier, hoping that NASCAR would keep them on the track, but cars were ordered down pit road. Brad initially stayed in his car, while crew chief Paul Wolfe was interviewed on air about his outlook for the remainder of the race.
“We’re slow and steady but I think we’re going to run out of laps. We’re good on the long run but it takes us too long to get going. We’re not as strong as we want to be but we haven’t given up yet,” Wolfe said. “There’s still time left and we’re not giving up yet.”
As it turned out, there wasn’t any time left in Phoenix. The red flag flew at roughly 11:30 p.m. ET after just about two hours of racing, and nine hours after the event’s scheduled start. Shortly after the cars came to pit road, the rain picked up, and NASCAR called it—an odd end to the season for Brad, Logano, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch.
Brad’s 24th Top 10 finish left him 13 points behind fourth-place driver Martin Truex Jr. BK, Logano and Busch all needed a win as the race was running to advance, but the early end nullified what could’ve been an interesting battle between Edwards and Truex Jr. for the final spot in the points. Only five points separated them in the standings, while just one position stood between them on the track.
“I don’t think it matters what’s fair, it matters what entertains the fans,” Brad said of the unorthodox ending to the Eliminator Round. “If the fans are happy then, that’s what it’s all about.”
The Eliminator Round was one of what-if for Brad. He led 455 laps at Martinsville and Texas. A late-race pass ended his shot at victory at Texas, but he still walked away 44 points. He garnered 36 on Sunday night in Phoenix, and at Martinsville, he looked destined for a Top 5 finish—if not a win or a runner-up result, when a wreck on a restart spoiled an otherwise stellar day. This marks the second straight year where an issue at Martinsville sunk Brad in the Round of 8.
POST-PHOENIX CHASE STANDINGS
- Jeff Gordon – 4,121 (1x Winner)
- Kevin Harvick – 4,123
- Kyle Busch – 4,121
- Martin Truex Jr. – 4,106
— CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND CUTOFF —
- Carl Edwards – 4,101
- Brad Keselowski – 4,093 (-13)
- Kurt Busch – 4,085
- Joey Logano – 4,054
NEXT UP
Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Truex will be the four vying for a championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week.
Brad’s best finish at the 1.5-mile track came last year, when he finished third. He has one other Top 10 finish: sixth place in 2014, and he has started in the Top 5 in each of his last five attempts at Homestead. He also has a great XFINITY Series track record there: two wins and five Top 10 finishes in just eight starts.
NASCAR’s season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 400, will go green shortly after 3 p.m. ET on Sunday and will air on NBC.
