The Sprint Cup Series will head to Phoenix for the final race of the Eliminator 8 round and after the race, we will know who will be joining Jeff Gordon in the Championship 4.
Last week at Texas, Jimmie Johnson passed Brad Keselowski late and denied him a spot in the next round. Joey Logano spun just 9 laps into the race and eventually went back to the garage, ultimately ending his chances for a win. He will enter Phoenix 63 points below the cut-off meaning he will need a win to move onto the next round. Other notable drivers in trouble are Kurt Busch (-28) and Brad Keselowski (-19). These drivers will also need a win to move on.
Heading into this weekend in the BTF Chase game, staff writer Cole Mentzel leads the way with 297 total points. Behind him is staff writer Mike Hutton (286 points), BTF editor Christopher Olmstead (233 points), staff writer Michael Finley (219 points) and staff writer Joseph Shelton (192 points).
For the BTF fans game, Chris Losurdo leads everyone with 304 total points followed by Tammy Hemminger (272 points), Linda Lopez Gearst Gerhardt (267 points), Rita Stout (265 points) and Mary Jo Korp (228 points).
Here are the BTF staff predictions for Phoenix:
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Cole Mentzel – Joey Logano – He has been faced with two very unfortunate situations in the past few weeks but he hasn’t won 6 races this season on pure luck. He’s shown his ability to dominate at times which led to him sweeping the Contender 12 round. Logano has the drive and the car to get a key victory this weekend and that’s exactly what he will do.
Mike Hutton – Kurt Busch – The SHR magic at this track will shift to the No. 41 car this weekend. Also, Kurt has had very strong runs here, including the end of 2014 and earlier this season, since being paired with crew chief Tony Gibson. The team’s confidence is also at a season-high.
Joseph Shelton – Martin Truex Jr. – He’s had an excellent 2015 and has had a fair amount of success on the 1.0 and 1.5-mile tracks this season. He did well here earlier this season so look for him to back up that performance.
Michael Finley – Kurt Busch – I’m going to go with Busch here even though I’m not confident in his chances. I have to make sure I secure a driver for Homestead. It should be noted that Kurt was pretty fast here in the spring.
This race is very important for a lot of drivers since Kevin Harvick has dominated it recently. If he has another good car, it is going to be hard for the rest of the pack to get past him. Also, Carl Edwards, who currently sits 7 points below the cut-off line, will need to stay near the front or try to win to avoid being eliminated.
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Overall, this race will be one of the best this season. It was last year in the first year of this new Chase format and we saw everything from dominating wins to last-turn wrecks that led to driver eliminations. Expect nothing different this time around.
Who do you think will win at Phoenix? Let us know in the comments below!