When the 10-race Chase began, it was a field of 16 drivers entering the Challenger Round of competition. Once Dover concluded, that field was reduced to 12.
Those drivers entered the Contender Round, which would reduce the field to just eight after Talladega. Those remaining drivers went through the next three races as part of the Eliminator Round, which at the conclusion of last weekend’s race at Phoenix reduced the field down to four.
It was down to just one race, and one opportunity. The previous 35 races did not matter, not even the previous nine that were in the Chase.
It was an all-out battle, first to the finish wins the championship. There was a team that was dominant all year, just had trouble on occasion closing the deal. Another was victorious on many occasions, considered to be the favorite. Another looked for redemption, and one last driver hadn’t won a race, but was going for a title.
Every driver was able to run strong all night long, not getting out of the top-10 for a majority of the race. One driver, Joey Logano, had misfortune on pit road, ending his run at a championship.
It came down to the other three, and not just one but two restarts.
After a caution on lap 256, Denny Hamlin stayed on track, while both Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick came to pit road. Newman’s team elected for right side tires only, while Harvick’s crew went with new rubber all around. On the restart, Hamlin and Newman both went for the lead, which was held by Jeff Gordon, however Harvick was making major headway, going from 12th to seventh in just a few laps, as a caution with four laps remaining bunched the field up.
Harvick moved into sixth when Gordon pitted, possibly due to running over debris, and he had one final opportunity to go for the win, and went for it. Out of the second turn he was right in the middle, and made it right to where he needed to be.
He would take the lead on lap 260, taking the restart on lap 265 with the control of the restart, and he made the car stick.
Off the final corner, on the final lap, of the final race, Harvick would make sure to close the deal on the biggest race of his life. He’s been called “Mr. Where’d He Come From” on occasion, but recently became known as the “Closer” for his ability to make it count in big moments. There was no bigger moment in his entire career, as for a driver that came into the Sprint Cup Series in 2001 to replace Dale Earnhardt, in his car, with his sponsor, he finally became his own man.
Your 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy Johns/Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick.
What a season it has been across the board for NASCAR, from the opening weekend at Daytona to the finale on Sunday at Homestead. What were the biggest moments?
Find out next weekend as I bring you my look back at the stories that had the sport in the headlines, and my eyes glued to coverage in my final Pit Report for the season.
RESULTS: 1-Harvick 2-Newman 3-Keselowski 4-Menard 5-McMurray 6-Kenseth 7-Bowyer 8-Hamlin 9-Johnson 10-Gordon
NOTABLE FINISHES: 12-Kahne 14-Earnhardt Jr. 16-Logano 39-Kyle Busch 43-Stewart
CAUTIONS: 13 for 52 laps. Lap 12-14 (Debris-FS), 59-63 (#66 Accident-BS), 87-90 (#66 Accident-T2), 117-120 (#23 Accident-T2), 156-160 (#47 Accident-T3 and 4), 163-165 (#16 Accident-T3), 195-198 (#9 Accident-BS), 208-212 (Debris-T3), 222-225 (Debris-BS), 237-242 (#47 Accident-T1), 249-252 (Debris-T2), 256-258 (#32, 83 Accident-T4), 263-264 (Debris-T1).
LEAD CHANGES: 18 among 5 drivers. Gordon 1-12, Koch 13, Kurt Busch 14, Harvick 15-25, Gordon 26-63, Hamlin 64-65, Gordon 66-120, Harvick 121, Gordon 122-123, Harvick 124-157, Gordon 158-159, Hamlin 160, Gordon 161-165, Hamlin 166-195, Gordon 196-212, Hamlin 213-222, Gordon 223-252, Hamlin 253-259, Harvick 260-267.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 16 Mins, 31 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 122.280 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.500 Seconds
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP: 1. Harvick, 5043 points; 2. Newman, -1; 3. Hamlin, -6; 4. Logano, -15; 5. Keselowski, -2682; 6. Gordon, -2695; 7. Kenseth, -2709; 8. Earnhardt Jr, -2742; 9. Edwards, -2755; 10. Kyle Busch, -2758; 11. Johnson, -2769; 12. Kurt Busch, -2780; 13. Allmendinger, -2783; 14. Biffle, -2796; 15. Kahne, -2809; 16. Almirola, -2848.