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| Denny Hamlin has some catching up to do. |
Two Championship 4 berths are up for grabs in the final race of the Round of 8 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix this Sunday. Six drivers will be fighting for the two open slots with four of them most likely having to win to advance to next week’s week Championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook opened Kyle Busch as the 3/1 favorite based on him winning the last two races at Phoenix.
“The last couple times we’ve been to Phoenix, we’ve run pretty good. Hopefully, that can translate to this time around again. We were good at Richmond and normally Richmond translates good there. Loudon (N.H.), that translates there. I’m optimistic about it. I think we can do OK. It’s just a matter of running another clean race and not making mistakes.”
I’ve always grouped Phoenix, New Hampshire, and Richmond together when creating weekly ratings because of the similarities in track size and being relatively flat. It’s been a constant trend that if a driver does well at one track they’ll do well on the other.
Busch can clinch a Championship 4 berth with 53 points earned and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Joey Logano) he would clinch a position having earned 34 points.
Logano has a 2016 win at Phoenix but his last five starts there have seen a best of 10th in the spring and accidents in the previous two years resulting in a 37th-place finish last fall and 31st in 2017.
“It’s going to be a good battle for sure,’’ Logano said. “We are racing for that last spot just in case someone behind us outside of the Top-4 wins. It will be a good time. Obviously, the No. 18 team is good and Kyle (Busch) is a good driver, but I think we are a great team and they are beatable just like everybody else.’’
I have no idea why he’s talking about Busch because they’re both inside the top-four and not really racing each other, but there’s always been some tension between the two champions. They don’t like each other.
Logano is 6/1 to win the 2019 Championship while a whopping 25/1 to win Sunday at Phoenix.
Denny Hamlin currently sits fifth in points, 20-points behind Logano for the final slot. His 28th-place finish at Texas put him in a tough spot to win his first championship in what has already been a career year.
“Yeah, just got up in the slippery stuff before it was really broke in, lost control, that’s all there is to it,” Hamlin said of his spinout at Texas. “Proud of the whole FedEx team for putting their best effort forward so we could be there at the end. Did the best we could in Texas and we’re moving forward and focused on Phoenix and hope to lock down a win.”
Hamlin has a 2012 win at Phoenix to his credit along with 12 top-five finishes there, including the race there in March. But it’s in this week’s race package with engines producing 750 horsepower where Hamlin has an edge over Logano and could make up some ground. In the 13 races with this package, Hamlin has 11 top-fives which is by far the most consistent in the series. Logano’s two wins this season both came with the 550 horsepower package, the last coming in June at Michigan.
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