NASCAR Cup Series in Phoenix

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Before the penalty, Busch had been 25 points from Martin Truex, Jr. for the final spot.

"I feel pretty good [about it], "Said Busch. This week, with the penalty, it is as if we had won two stages without even turning on the engine of our car. So we are equal and the job now is to get the first step, the second step and see how things are going for the end of the race.

"We finished 10th in the spring, but we stayed to try to win the second stage and then we found ourselves buried, I think, 25 or 26. It took us a long time to get back into the top 10. We we know our work will be hard, but we just have to deal with it. "

The question will be: NASCAR is apparently on the verge of cracking down on spoilers – it has reviewed all spoilers on Friday and a handful of teams have changed their spoilers (penalties are possible but unlikely) – will that change the dynamic of the garage?

"I do not think you'll see a lot here in Phoenix," Busch said. "Yes, aerodynamics is important on every race track – if they removed their rear wing by an inch, it would make a big difference."

"It's one of those fights at school on Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, where you have all these guys in the position to work for the championship round in Miami and that's really what it's all about. "

Brad Keselowski said that he could not make a prediction.

"There are so many things with cars, honestly, I can not keep up," said Keselowski. "I would not be surprised if it did not matter, I would not be surprised if it changed the dynamics a lot.

"I do not know, it's one of those things where the decline will be 20-20, but I do not know if I have a lot of forethought."

Here's how they will align for the Can-Am 500:

1. Kevin Harvick (Ford No. 3 Stewart-Haas Racing): Harvick thought that he would not have to worry about Phoenix when he would win Texas, but a penalty for a spoiler It allows him to stay in last place in the playoffs. He has to win to ensure a place in the series if he does not want to worry about what others are doing. If he does not win and the winner is not Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola or Clint Bowyer, he will have to earn four more points than Kurt Busch (three if Harvick finishes fifth or better) and will not lose 18 points against Elliott (17 if Harvick finish fifth or better) or 35 points in Almirola. If Kurt Busch, Elliott, Almirola or Bowyer wins, Harvick must score 23 points on Truex (22 if Harvick finishes second) or 26 points on Kyle Busch (23 if Harvick finishes third or better) while maintaining his chances of winning. victory. pilots Kurt Busch (-3) and Elliott (-17) behind him. But Harvick fans probably did not want to read all that. He has nine World Cup career wins in Phoenix and, just like Harvick, is focused on getting the 10th position. He proved it by winning pole at a place where he does not usually qualify much. But if he feels like he has to beat Kurt Busch, he may have to choose that path to make sure he moves towards Homestead.

2 Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports # 9 Chevrolet): Elliott must win to secure a spot, and it would make sense to think he has a chance because he has a second and third place in his last two starts in Phoenix. If Kurt Busch wins, he must do two of three: win 17 points on Harvick, 40 points on Truex, 43 points on Kyle Busch. If Harvick, Kyle Busch or Truex wins, he must do two of three: earn 15 points on Kurt, 40 points on Truex, 43 points on Kyle Busch. If anyone else wins, he must do three of the four: earn 15 points on Kurt, 17 points on Harvick, 40 points on Truex, 43 points on Kyle Busch. If he finishes second or third, he might own all the tie breakers and need one point less in these scenarios. He owns the tie-break with Harvick. In all these scenarios, he must also stay ahead of Almirola, who would need to win 19 points on Elliott (18 if Almirola is in the top 5).

3 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing's # 17 Ford): Stenhouse has never led a Phoenix Cup race, but has had two top-10 finishes in the last three races.

4 Ryan Blaney (Team Penske # 12 Ford): Blaney was in the top 10 in his first two starts in the Phoenix Cup, but did not finish better than the 16th in his three starts since then.

5 Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports # 88 Chevrolet): Bowman almost won the November 2016 race in Phoenix. He led 194 laps and finished sixth after a late recovery in which he fought for the lead and contacted Matt Kenseth. The pilot from Arizona finished 13th in March.

6 Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing # 18 Toyota): Busch must win 31 points (out of a maximum of 55 for a second place and a sweep of the two stages) to secure a place. It's a sixth place though he does not win any stage points. If the winner is not Kurt Busch, Elliott, Almirola or Bowyer, he can win the victory by finishing ninth or more, even if he does not win any stage points. If a playoff driver wins, he must finish in front of two of those four, not counting the winners of Phoenix, who are currently behind him by the margins shown: Truex (-3), Harvick (-25), Kurt Busch (- 28), Elliott (-42). He is in good shape – his last six Phoenix finishes are fourth, fourth, second, third, seventh and second. He has 10 career wins at Xfinity in Phoenix and the World Cup in March 2005 and in trucks in 2011.

7. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing # 20 Toyota): Jones won two consecutive races at Phoenix in 2013 and 2014 and enjoyed his Cup races with three top-10s (including a fourth) in his four starts.

8 Kyle Larson (Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing # 42): Larson moved closer to Phoenix with a third and a second place finish in November 2016 and March 2017, but finished off the top 15 in his last two starts with Phoenix.

9 Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): Logano won the November 2016 Cup on the track but did not finish better than the 12th since that time. But he has no worries: his victory at Martinsville has qualified him to be one of four drivers to play the title next week at Homestead.

ten. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing # 11 Toyota): Hamlin won a career Cup victory in Phoenix (March 2012). He has nine top-10s in his last 13 starts. He led 193 laps a year ago and 33 laps in March.

11 Paul Ménard (Ford Wood Brothers Racing No. 21): Menard is among the top 10 in his last 11 starts in the Phoenix Cup, a track on which he has never led a round in 23 starts.

12 Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): Keselowski has eight top-10 finishes in Phoenix but has only one among the top ten in his last five starts.

13 Martin Truex, Jr. (Furniture Row Racing # 78 Toyota): Truex must get 34 points – a third place if no point was won by one step – to secure a place, no matter what other people. If the winner is not Kurt Busch, Elliott, Almirola or Bowyer, he can win his victory by finishing sixth or more, even if he does not win any stage points. If any of them wins, he must finish with 22 points more than Harvick (or 23 if Harvick finishes second) or three points over Kyle Busch (four if Busch finishes second) while retaining the drivers Kurt Busch (-25) and Elliott (-39) behind him do not win. He's running like he did during his last two Phoenix starts – a third and a fifth – he'll be fine.

14 Kurt Busch (Ford No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing): Busch must win to secure a spot in the next round. If Almirola, Elliott or Bowyer wins, he must do two: win three points at Harvick (four points if Harvick finish better than sixth), 26 points at Truex (25 if Kurt Busch finishes second) and / or 29 Kyle points (28 points if Kurt Busch finishes third). If Truex wins, Kurt has to catch Kyle or Harvick. If Harvick wins, Kurt must catch up with Kyle or Truex. If anyone else wins, he must catch Truex or Kyle or Harvick. In all these scenarios, he must stay ahead of Elliott (-14), Almirola (-32) and Bowyer (-48) without a win. Can he do it? That's possible, but it has been inconsistent in Phoenix lately. He had five consecutive fifth, sixth or seventh place finishes up to the most recent three races, where he finished 25th, 21st and 10th.

15 Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing # 3 Chevrolet): Dillon is in the top 10 of Phoenix's nine career starts.

16 Clint Bowyer (Ford No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing): Bowyer must win to secure a spot in the next round. If he does not win, he must win 51 points on Harvick, 48 points on Kurt Busch, 34 points on Elliott and 16 points on Almirola. Bowyer has led 22 laps in his career in Phoenix and has only seven top-10 out of 26 career starts, but one of them arrived in March when he finished sixth.

17 Matt Kenseth (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): Kenseth's last trip to Phoenix ended in a stirring victory a year ago. It was his second career win in Phoenix and it was his last race for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has led 117 laps in his last three starts at Phoenix.

18 Aric Almirola (Ford No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing): Almirola must win to secure a spot in the next round. If he does not win, he will have to earn 35 points on Harvick, 33 on Kurt Busch (32 if Almirola finishes in the top 5) and 19 on Elliott (18 if Almirola finishes in the top 5). He will have to be as good as his last two starts in Phoenix (9th and 7th) and that might not be enough.

19 William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports # 24 Chevrolet): Byron won the Xfinity race in Phoenix last November (and almost won the truck race the year before). He was 12th in Phoenix in March.

20 Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports # 48 Chevrolet): Johnson has four career wins in Phoenix, but only one of the top 5 in his last eight starts.

21 Jamie McMurray (Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing # 1): McMurray was second in the March 2015 race in Phoenix and third in November 2008, but that's not a good track for him. He has only 31 laps topped in his career at Phoenix.

22 Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing, # 31 Chevrolet): Newman's last win (and only win in the last five years) was termed Phoenix's strategy when he stayed on old tires for an extension in March 2017. He is his only top-10 finish in his last six starts from Phoenix.

23 Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): The native of Arizona did not have much fun in Phoenix, where he has 15 starts and never finished in the top 20.

24 AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing # 47): Allmendinger finished sixth in this race seven years ago, but has not been in the top 10 in Phoenix since.

25 Chris Buescher (Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing # 37): Buescher did not finish better than 27th in his five starts in Phoenix. And it was not ranked among the top 10 in four Xfinity starts on the track.

26 Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing # 19 Toyota): Suarez won a truck race in Phoenix in November 2016. He has two top-10 finishes in three career starts on the track.

27 Matt DiBenedetto (Ford No. 32 Go Fas Racing): DiBenedetto did not finish better than the 20th of his seven Cup starts in Phoenix.

28 Ty Dillon (Germain Racing # 13 Chevrolet): Dillon finished ninth in the March 2016 race, but he usually finished 14th to 20th on the track.

29 Regan Smith (Chevrolet Leavine Family Racing # 95): Smith ranks in the top 20 places (20 out of 20) in 11 career starts for Phoenix.

30 Bubba Wallace (Richard Petty Motorsports # 43 Chevrolet): Wallace was 28 in March on his first Phoenix Cup start.

31. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): Ragan has a run of 19 wins outside the top 10 in Phoenix. Only two of these were among the top 20.

32 Landon Cassill (Chevrolet StarCom Racing # 00): Cassill finished between 20th and 28th in his last four starts in Phoenix.

33 Ross Chastain (No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet): Chastain was second in the November 2013 truck race in Phoenix. He was 27th in the cut race in Phoenix in March. The big news: Chip Ganassi Racing announced Friday that Chastain would be full time in the Xfinity car # 42 next year.

34 Cole Whitt (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): This is the 13th (and last) start of the year for the team, as it shared the race with Corey LaJoie this year.

35 J.J. Yeley (BK Racing's # 23 Toyota): Yeley has not started in the Phoenix Cup – his home track – since 2015. He's looking for his first top-10.