NASCAR: 5 drivers who can win at Phoenix
By T. Walker
NASCAR’s Round of 8 is coming to a close. It’s now all about the Championship 4. Who will get the final spot to compete for the NASCAR Cup championship? Will a NASCAR driver in the Round of 8 win or will a non-playoff driver come away with a victory?
NASCAR’s Round of 8 is coming to a close. It’s now all about the Championship 4. With three spots filled and five drivers seeking to advance, the race at Phoenix International Speedway will produce the final driver who will compete for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship. There are many viable scenarios to help predict which of the remaining five drivers in the playoff hunt can advance. The question remains, do all five drivers have a chance to win the Can-Am 500 race at Phoenix?
The five drivers seeking the lone playoff spot are fundamentally in must-win situations, but who can win at Phoenix? Will one of these drivers win? Can one of the three drivers who have already secured a spot in the next round win? Will we see a non-playoff driver win? Below are five drivers who are in the best position to win.
Ryan Blaney
The 23-year-old Wood Brothers Racing driver of the Ford No. 21 captured the pole at Phoenix, putting himself in the best position to win and advance to the Championship 4. Heading into Phoenix, Ryan Blaney has one win and two Cup poles on his resume for 2017.
As the season draws to a close, he has already accumulated four top 5 finishes and 14 top 10 finishes. The only win Blaney has at the Phoenix International Speedway came in 2011 while he was still racing in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series. The future Penske driver and third-generation racer has come a long way and is primed to win on the big stage.
Jimmie Johnson
No one wants to count this guy out — and neither will I. With an eighth championship title practically in sight, Jimmie Johnson has to win to keep his hopes alive. Johnson is a four-time winner at Phoenix, but each of those wins dated back to a two-year span covering 2007 to 2009. This time last year, Jimmie Johnson, along with Carl Edwards rolled into Phoenix already locked into Homestead-Miami.
Brad Keselowski
If the Championship 4 was set today, Keselowski would be locked in based on points. Last year, teammate Joey Logano advanced while he was on the outside looking in. With Logano not even making the playoffs, we could witness Keselowski keep the team’s championship hopes alive by winning at Phoenix and advancing to the final race, which will determine the 2017 champion.
The 10-year NASCAR Cup driver has three wins this season. His latest win of the season was at Talladega less than a month ago. Since Talladega, Keselowski has finished 13th at Kansas, 4th at Martinsville, and 5th at Texas. He is peaking at the right time.
Denny Hamlin
The boos may follow Denny Hamlin into Phoenix, but he is rolling in on a high with five top 10 finishes in the last five races. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver appears to be in the fight every single race, and judging by the way he wrecked the No. 24 at Martinsville, Hamlin will do whatever is necessary to win this race.
Kevin Harvick
Next: Using Phoenix track averages to predict fourth driver
Kevin Harvick’s Texas win secured his place as one of the four drivers who will race for the championship at Homestead-Miami. Harvick makes this list not because he needs to win, but because he has proven nine times that he can win at the Phoenix International Raceway. To date, Harvick has eight Cup Series wins and one Xfinity Series win at Phoenix. In 2014, the year that Harvick won the championship, he won at Phoenix before going on to win the season finale at Homestead-Miami. There is no pressure for him to win the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix, but the Stewart-Haas Racing driver is one race away from securing his second championship. Consistency may prove to be his biggest asset.