FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: PHOENIX PLAYOFF NOTES
The final two weekends of the NASCAR season will feature back-to-back triple-headers beginning Friday at ISM Raceway with the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. That will be followed by the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event on Sunday.
Kevin Harvick ensured there will be at least one Ford Cup driver in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway after winning on Sunday. Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are still in the hunt and will be vying for the two remaining spots.
Here’s a look at where all of the Ford drivers in each series stand going into this weekend.
ROUND OF 8 MENCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Phoenix)
2nd – Kevin Harvick (Clinched spot in Championship 4 with Texas win)
4th – Joey Logan (+20 above cutoff)
6th – Ryan Blaney (-23 from final transfer spot)
ROUND OF 8 NXS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Phoenix)
2nd – Cole Custer (+52 above cutoff)
5th – Chase Briscoe (-18 from final transfer spot)
7th – Austin Cindric (-31 from final transfer spot)
ROUND OF 6 NCWTS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Phoenix)
5th – Matt Crafton (-9 from final transfer spot)
FORD IN THE MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES AT ISM
· Ford has 16 series wins at ISM Raceway.
· Alan Kulwicki won the first series race at ISM Raceway in 1988.
· Current Ford drivers Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman have series wins.
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT ISM
· Ford leads all manufacturers with 13 series wins at ISM Raceway.
· Jack Roush is second for most owner wins in the series with eight.
· Carl Edwards won four times in the series, most among Ford drivers.
FORD IN THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SERIES AT ISM
· Ford has 3 series wins at ISM Raceway.
· Joe Ruttman (1997), Mike Bliss (1998) and Greg Biffle (2001) have won with Ford.
· Kevin Harvick has won the most series races at the speedway with four.
MUSTANG HITS DOUBLE DIGIT WINS
Kevin Harvick’s win on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway was the 10th for Mustang, which is in its inaugural Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series campaign. Harvick leads the way with four victories this season while Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski (3), Joey Logano (2) and Ryan Blaney (1) have combined for the other six.
LOGANO QUALIFIES FOR 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE
Joey Logano needed a victory at ISM in 2016 in order to assure he would be one of the four drivers eligible for the series championship, and he got it in dramatic fashion as he beat Kyle Busch on a green-white-checker finish. The dramatic restart came about after an incident involving Alex Bowman, Busch and Matt Kenseth on the first overtime attempt. Kenseth was the leader, but he got collected in an accident when Bowman tried to block Busch from passing on the inside lane going into turn one. The resulting yellow enabled Logano to take advantage and win for the third time in 2016.
EDWARDS ENDS DROUGHT
When Ford went to victory lane at ISM in the second race of 2013, it snapped a 70-race winless drought for Carl Edwards, whose previous victory came in Las Vegas in 2011. Edwards led 122 of 312 laps, including the final 78, to win the, but there were anxious moments, particularly at the end when a green-white-checker finish had most of the leaders wondering if they had enough gas in the tank to reach the end. Edwards did and managed to beat Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the finish line.
BUSCH WINS DEBUT NIGHT RACE
Kurt Busch made ISM Raceway history when he drove his No. 97 Irwin/Sharpie Ford Taurus to victory in the first MENCS night race held at the track on Apr. 23, 2005. Busch dominated from the start as he led 132 of the first 133 laps, and while others like Brian Vickers and Michael Waltrip led multiple laps at different stages of the event, it was Busch who proved to be too strong down the stretch. He passed Waltrip with 44 laps to go and was never threatened again as he won by 2.315 seconds. Busch led 219 of the 312 laps as ISM hosted the first of two annual Cup dates each season for the first time.
KULWICKI WINS FIRST CUP RACE IN ISM OPENER
Alan Kulwicki, driving the No. 7 Zerex Ford, won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in the debut event at ISM Raceway on Nov. 6, 1988. Kulwicki, who celebrated by taking a Polish Victory Lap for which he is still remembered for today, passed leader Ricky Rudd with 16 laps to go and ended up taking the checkered flag in his 85th start by 18 seconds over runner-up Terry Labonte. Fellow Ford drivers Davey Allison and Bill Elliott finished third and fourth, respectively. Kulwicki, who ended up leading four times for 41 laps in taking the next-to-last event of the season, went on to win four more Cup races during his career.
WALLACE RAINS IN 1998
Rusty Wallace had only three more chances to keep his streak of winning at least one race a season alive when he rolled into ISM Raceway in 1998. He had gone to victory lane in each of the previous 12 seasons and didn’t want to see it come to an end, so that’s why what he did on Oct. 25 was so impressive. Wallace, who started sixth, made a beeline to the front and pretty much stayed there all afternoon until rain came and halted the race after 257 laps. The event was eventually called, marking the first rain-shortened race in the track’s NASCAR history, but there was no doubt Wallace deserved the win. He led 196 of the 257 laps, including the final 73. Wallace’s streak eventually reached 16 seasons before it was snapped in 2002.
FORD MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT ISM RACEWAY
1988 – Alan Kulwicki
1989 – Bill Elliott
1991 – Davey Allison
1992 – Davey Allison
1993 – Mark Martin
1995 – Ricky Rudd
1997 – Dale Jarrett
1998 – Rusty Wallace
2000 – Jeff Burton
2001 – Jeff Burton
2002 – Matt Kenseth
2005 – Kurt Busch (1)
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2013 – Carl Edwards (1)
2016 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT ISM RACEWAY
2000 – Jeff Burton
2001 – Greg Biffle
2003 – Bobby Hamilton Jr.
2005 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2006 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2009 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)
2018 – Brad Keselowski (1)
FORD NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT ISM RACEWAY
1997 – Joe Ruttman (2)
1998 – Mike Bliss (2)
2001 – Greg Biffle
