AVONDALE, ARIZ. – The three most dominant drivers of this NASCAR season fittingly will race each other for the championship, a chance for Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to settle which team is truly the best.
Busch won for the eighth time this year Sunday to tie Harvick for the most Cup victories. His win at ISM Raceway outside of Phoenix was the final qualifying event for next week's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where it will be winner-take-all for NASCAR's so-called Big Three of Busch, Harvick and reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. along with Joey Logano, nicknamed "Sliced Bread" before his NASCAR debut at age 18 because he was predicted to be "the best thing since ..."
"I don't know how you could pick a favorite necessarily," Busch said. "I would predict this is the best four, the closest four that have been in our sport in a long time."
Harvick started from the pole, but an early flat tire made Sunday's race more eventful than Harvick expected. He found himself racing late against Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola for the fourth transfer spot to Homestead, but Busch was wrecked late and Almirola had to win the race to snatch the berth away from Harvick.
"We kept ourselves in position all day, and there at the end, it was just like everybody wrecking and all over the place," Harvick said. "We just needed to stay out of trouble and try to find a safe spot there."
Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson, both eliminated from the playoffs, finished second and third. Almirola was fourth and Harvick fifth.
