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Joey Logano wins at Phoenix ahead of Kyle Busch who has chance to win 2nd-straight title
Matt Kenseth’s misfortune was Joey Logano and Kyle Busch’s gain.
Kenseth crashed from the lead on what was the race’s next-to-last restart, opening a path for Logano to win Sunday’s race at Phoenix and Busch to finish second. Logano and Busch will join Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson as the four drivers with a chance to win the 2016 Sprint Cup Series title at Homestead.
Kenseth was leading when Michael McDowell’s car blew a tire and went careening across the track with two laps to go. On the subsequent restart with two laps to go, Kenseth started on the outside with Alex Bowman on the inside.
Bowman protected his position vs. Busch, who tagged him in the bumper. As Bowman went to take the inside line in turn 1, Kenseth’s spotter said Kenseth was clear and the No. 20 dove to the bottom of the track.
Kenseth wasn’t clear. Bowman tagged Kenseth in the left rear and Kenseth’s car went spinning around and into the wall. His title chances were doomed.
Logano and Busch restarted on the front row on the final restart and held serve as Kevin Harvick, who started directly behind them, finished fourth. Harvick needed to win the race to make the final four because of his points standing entering the race.
Because Johnson (Martinsville) and Edwards (Texas) won races over the past two weeks, two positions in the final four were up for grabs on Sunday. Busch and Logano entered the race atop the points standings while Harvick was 18 points back.
Kenseth was a point back of Busch and Logano and didn’t need to win the race. But the crash ruined his hopes of making it into the final four on points. Denny Hamlin was caught up in the aftermath of Kenseth’s crash as well. He entered Sunday’s race two points behind Busch and Logano.
Hamlin and team tried a no-tire strategy with about 50 laps to go to take the lead during a caution. But the track-position play backfired as Logano, Busch and Kenseth all went past Hamlin as he skated around on older tires.
In addition to Kenseth, Hamlin and Harvick missing out of the Chase, Kurt Busch also fails to advance.
Kenseth’s crash is a bit of championship karma for Logano, who saw his title hopes dented significantly last year at Martinsville because of Kenseth’s actions. The 2003 champion used his car as a battering ram to piledrive Logano — leading the race at the time — into the wall as retribution for contact as the two raced for the lead at Kansas two weeks earlier.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
