Kevin Harvick Wins, Jimmie Johnson Widens Cup Lead

One race to go in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship and Jimmie Johnson has a solid lead after finishing third in Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway.

Johnson is assured of his sixth title if he finishes 23rd or better next Sunday at Homestand-Miami Speedway.

Matt Kenseth is in second place heading into the finale, 28 points behind. He had a tough day with handling and couldn’t get to the front. And an awful pit stop of 26 seconds dropped him from seventh place to 29th. Kenseth ended up 23rd.

Kevin Harvick won the race when Carl Edwards ran out of gas on the next-to-last lap. Harvick had the best car all day – he led the most laps and was leading when he himself ran out of gas when his team miscalculated his final pit stop. But he drove his way back to the front and was there to take the lead when Edwards slowed. He stands 34 points behind Johnson.

Kasey Khane came in second, followed by Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kurt Busch to complete the Top Five.