Sprint Cup Can-Am 500 at Phoenix: Takeaways and observations
By Ted Fleming
2. Is Joe Gibbs Racing the dominant Cup team?
An argument can be made which Cup team is the best, but stock car racing is a results driven sport and no one has done more in 2016 than Joe Gibbs Racing.
Landing four cars in the Chase is a feat in itself, however, when the Round of 8 rolled around JGR had half of the field and threatened to land the entire stable of cars in the Championship Four.
While that did not happen, they still have two of the four cars that will run for the title next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. But there is a side note to all of this.
Entering the final elimination race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway, JGR was still in a position to get three of their cars in. Matt Kenseth was the race leader and was on his way to winning his way in when a late caution came out forcing overtime.
Starting from the outside lane, the No. 20 came down the track going into turn one and was not clear of Alex Bowman in the No. 88 which spun him into the outside wall. He would finish 21st, but more importantly, it ended his championship hopes.
“Such mixed emotions,” said team owner Joe Gibbs. “With Matt (Kenseth), I felt so bad for him. He drove his heart out all day long and it’s just one of those things that happens. You feel so bad for him, Dollar General, DeWALT is on that car and it’s just a sad day for him. I hate it when something like that happens.”