The Contender Round of the NASCAR Race for the Chase ended amid controversy. Joey Logano won again, taking all three of the Contender Round races, but the way the race finished left a sour taste in the mouths of many drivers.
The field was under yellow near the end of the race, so they attempted a Green-White-Checker finish. Kevin Harvick was running in 10th place, but his motor was failing. When the cars came around, his car would not accelerate and ended up causing a wreck. NASCAR ruled that the wreck happened before the green flag came out, so they reset the field and tried again. This time, Harvick allowed Trevor Bayne to start to pass, then drifted up and tagged him to cause another wreck. This time, the green flag had come out, so NASCAR froze the field when the yellow came back out, and Harvick finished the race in 15th place, just good enough to make it into the Eliminator Round.
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Other drivers were understandably upset. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in second, but he needed a win and thought he could have had it if they finished under green. Denny Hamlin was eliminated by just a few points and would have been in the next round if Harvick had slid back as far as he would have had there been no wreck, and he pulled no punches on Twitter.
What a joke we have a car with no motor wreck the field to end the race. Complete crap. Sorry to anyone who spent $ coming to this circus
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) October 25, 2015
It is impossible to prove that Harvick intentionally caused the wreck, but the circumstantial evidence sure does point that way. NASCAR, for its part, maintained that what Harvick did could not be punished.
“There is no evidence right now that there was anything (Harvick) did that was questionable other than moving out of line,” NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton said.
On to the Eliminator Round
Joey Logano won all three of the Contender Round races in his 22 car. He made sure that he was in and every other driver had to make it on points.
Carl Edwards finished the race in fifth place in the 19 car, which was good enough to finish second in points and move on to the Eliminator Round.
Jeff Gordon used a third place finish to ensure that the 24 car would make it to the next round.
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Kurt Busch and the 41 car finished tenth, which was good enough to keep him in the top eight and move up to the Eliminator Round.
Brad Keselowski and the 2 car took a top 5 finish in order to move up and advance to the Eliminator Round.
Martin Truex Jr. was on the bubble, but the 78 finished in seventh to solidify his hold onto a spot in the Eliminator Round.
Kevin Harvick barely stayed in contention when his number 4 car caused a wreck that froze the field with him in 15th place. As it was, he did slip two spots to seventh, and he would have fallen out of the top eight if the race had finished under green.
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Kyle Busch and the 18 car barely slipped into the Eliminator Round with an 11th place finish that moved him from ninth to eighth in the standings.
Out of the Chase
Denny Hamlin and the 11 car fell seven spots in the standings after getting caught up in the wreck on the first attempt at a Green-White-Checker finish. He finished just a few points out of the top eighth.
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Ryan Newman started the race 10th in the standings, and his 12th place finish in the 31 car was not enough to move him up at all.
Matt Kenseth managed to avoid the wrecks, but the 20 car needed a win in order to secure a spot in the Eliminator Round and a 26th place finish was not even close to being enough.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed a win and he had the 88 in a good spot, but the wreck on the Green-White-Checker froze the field with him in second and no chance to attempt the pass.
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What’s Next?
The top eight drivers in the standings will now compete in the three races of the Eliminator Round. All of their points are reset and once again, a winner in any of the races moves on to the next round. This round will take the field from eight drivers down to four. The first race of the Eliminator Round is Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1.