Harvick gets the win in Phoenix
Jimmie Johnson moved one step closer to his first NASCAR championship at the Checker 500 on Sunday, using yet another smooth run to leave Phoenix International Speedway in Avondale, Ariz., with a firm hold of the points standings.
Johnson smartly settled for second place, racing winner Kevin Harvick just hard enough over a final three-lap sprint to the finish to maintain his track position and keep the Nextel Cup title within his reach.
He heads into next week’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 63-point lead over Matt Kenseth, needing just one more trouble-free race to grab the title that has so cruelly eluded him the past two seasons. He needs to finish 12th or better to clinch the title.
Harvick, who won for the fifth time this year and swept the season at Phoenix, led 252 of the 312 laps and was out front for a series of late restarts. A short stoppage allowed both drivers to map out their final strategy, which called for Johnson to make a brief run at Harvick over the closing laps.
But Harvick twice held off any charge, and Johnson fell in line behind him as they crossed the finish line.
“Jimmie got a good run on me,” Harvick said. “But I wasn’t going to lose this race.”
Denny Hamlin finished third, Jeff Gordon was fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five.
Harvick and rookie Denny Hamlin go to Homestead 90 points back. Dale Earnhardt Jr., ninth on Sunday, also still has the merest glimmer of hope at 115 points back.
“There’s going to be a lot of pressure, there’s a lot on the line,” Harvick said about the week ahead for Johnson. “It seems like everything we’ve done all year comes down to one race. It’ll probably be a long week for him, he’ll probably try to stay busy and keep his mind off things. That’s what I would do.”
Champ Car series
Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais capped his third straight Champ Car season championship with a victory in the season finale.
Bourdais edged Justin Wilson by 3.528 seconds after passing the British driver in the final lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix in Mexico City.
Wilson, who started from the pole on the 2.786-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez course, had limited use of his right hand after breaking a bone in his wrist during qualifying runs last month in Australia.
Will Power finished third, and Bruno Junqueira was fourth.
NHRA
Tony Schumacher completed the biggest comeback in NHRA history, winning his third straight Top Fuel season title with a world record final-round run in the season finale.
Entering the final round in the Auto Club NHRA Finals needing to win the race with a performance quicker than 4.437 seconds, Schumacher and crew chief Alan Johnson delivered with a stunning 4.428 at 327.98 mph to edge Doug Kalitta by 14 points.
Schumacher won his fourth season title and raised his victory total to 35, tying drag racing icon “Big Daddy” Don Garlits on the career list.
In Funny Car, John Force used a holeshot to win his 122nd race just two rounds after clinching his 14th title. Greg Anderson bettered new champ and teammate Jason Line by three-hundredths of a second in Pro Stock, while Craig Treble got his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win in more than two years on a day that featured Andrew Hines winning his third straight motorcycle championship.