MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Can-Am 500
Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, Arizona
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Race Winner: Matt Kenseth
Age: 45
Team: No. 20 – Circle K Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew Chief: Jason Ratcliff
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER -- “It couldn’t be any sweeter. I just don’t know how else to explain it, you know? You always feel like you can get the job done, but, you know, if you’ve got a big enough sample size of numbers, numbers don’t really lie, so we needed to go out and get the job done and get us a win and we were able to do that today. So we’ve got one more race left and, like I said, great way to go out.”
- Matt Kenseth
----------------
· Matt Kenseth won the 30th annual Can-Am 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Phoenix Raceway Sunday afternoon. It was the third and final race in the Round of 8 of the MENCS playoffs. It is Kenseth’s 39th win in 649 career MENCS races and his initial victory in 35 races this year.
· It was Kenseth’s first win since July 17, 2016 at New Hampshire. For Kenseth, it was his 17th top-10 and 10th top-5 in 2017.
· Kenseth’s win allowed Brad Keselowski to claim the fourth and final spot in the Ford EcoBoost 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series championship race on Sunday, November 19.
· The following are the four drivers who will compete for the championship of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, amongst a full field, in the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday, November 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2:30 p.m., NBC):
Driver Team Manufacturer 2017 Wins-Top10-Top5
Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5-21-13
Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2-22-13
Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3-20-15
Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 7-25-18
· Kenseth’s win snapped a string of 19 straight races that had been won by a driver still in the playoffs. Prior to today, the last driver who was not in the playoffs and won a playoff race was Dale Earnhardt Jr. on November 15, 2015 at Phoenix.
· Chase Elliott (2nd) posted his 20th top-10 finish in 35 MENCS races this year and his 11th in the top-5. Of his 11 top-5s, five saw him come in second, including four times in the playoffs.
· Martin Truex Jr. (3rd) accounted for his 25th top-10 finish in 35 races this year and 18th top-5.
· Erik Jones (4th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Kyle Larson won Stage 1 of today’s race while Denny Hamlin took Stage 2.
· In 17 career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Matt Kenseth has collected one win, nine top-10 finishes and four top-5 showings. His win came in the 2007 Ford 400. He also was crowned the 2003 Cup champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· Rookie William Byron won the 19th annual Ticket Galaxy 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday. The race marked the third and final in the Round of 8 in the XFINITY Series playoffs.
· It is Byron’s fourth victory in 32 career XFINITY Series starts. It also was his 21st top-10 and 11th top-5 finish in 32 races this year.
· With the win, Byron claimed one of the four spots in the Championship 4 in the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
· The following are the four drivers who will compete for the championship of the NASCAR XFINITY Series, amongst a full field, in the Ford EcoBoost 300 on Saturday, November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3:30 p.m., NBCSN):
Driver Team Manufacturer 2017 Wins-Top10-Top5
Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 2-17-10
William Byron JR Motorsports Chevrolet 4-21-11
Daniel Hemric Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 0-16-7
Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 0-24-12
· Ryan Blaney (2nd) posted his 12th top-10 and top-5 finish in 13 NXS races this year.
· Erik Jones (3rd) amassed his 10th top-10 and ninth top-5 showing in 18 NXS races this year
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· Johnny Sauter won the 23rd annual Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday. The race was the third and final in the Round of 6 of the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs.
· For Sauter it is his seventh victory in 220 career NCWTS starts and his fourth in 22 races this year as he compiled his 18th top-10 finish and 12th top-5. It was his second straight win as he took the checkered flag in last week’s race at Texas.
· The following are the four drivers who will compete for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, amongst a full field, in the Ford EcoBoost 200 on Friday, November 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (8:00 p.m., FS1):
Driver Team Manufacturer 2017 Wins-Top10-Top5
Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5-20-14
Austin Cindric Brad Keselowski Racing Ford 1-15-7
Matt Crafton ThorSport Racing Toyota 1-15-5
Johnny Sauter GMS Racing Chevrolet 4-18-12
· John Hunter Nemechek (2nd) accounted for his 12th top-10 finish and ninth top-5 showing in 22 NCWTS races this year.
· Rookie Cody Coughlin (3rd) posted his third top-10 finish and first top-5 showing in 22 NCWTS races this year.
