In the final race of the Eliminator Chase round, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 27th annual Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
As a result of holding a 52 point lead heading into next weekend's final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Chase Elliott clinched the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship.
Brad Keselowski would take the lead on the white flag lap, before leading the rest of the way en route to scoring the victory in the DAV 200 Honoring American's Veterans at Phoenix International Raceway. It marks Keselowski's 32nd career victory and his fifth win of the 2014 season.
After remembering the passing of racer Jim Sauter with a moment of silence, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 10th annual AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
It was a wild night in the Fort Worth area. Eliminated Jimmie Johnson won a race, thus allowing three drivers to enter the championship winner-take-all race at Homestead and get in on points. Brad Keselowski, fighting for his racing life tried to split Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson but made contact with Gordon. Gordon cut a tire and tires were in short supply.
Jimmie Johnson brought the Lowes Chevrolet through the chaos and mass destruction to claim the six-shooters in victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson, whose car sported a unique red and white paint scheme to honor the employees of Lowes, was strong from the beginning of the weekend.
After swapping the lead back and forth with Joey Logano throughout the day, Kyle Busch would lead the final 13 laps en route to scoring the victory in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. It marks the 70th victory of Busch's career and his seventh victory of the season. More importantly, though, it marks the 100th career victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series.
As Sadler enters the 2015 season, it will be the most important season in his career. There have been some reports that Sadler ultimately would like to get back to the Sprint Cup Series. He will turn 40 years old next season which means the opportunity to move back to the Sprint Cup Series is getting less likely as the years pass by.
Matt Kenseth won the pole for the AAA Texas 500 with a lap of 199.299 mph. It's his second pole of the season, 13th of his Sprint Cup career and the first on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.
The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led nine of 266 over-scheduled laps and became the first Playoff competitor to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12 by winning the 2024 Playoff for the first time ever.
An overtime-inducing caution brought out the yellow with just two laps remaining, as Hemric sat 16th. After one overtime attempt, Hemric finished 11th.
Christopher Bell (fourth) and Tyler Reddick (sixth) both overcame adversity on pit road to lead Toyota with strong top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.
