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Phoenix Chaser Recap: Who’s In, Who’s Out


A nailbiter of a race at Phoenix International Raceway has been completed—now, here’s Spade Racing’s exclusive interviews with the Chase drivers who are IN for Homestead, and OUT for the season.

IN:
48-Jimmie Johnson: “Well, we got some pretty bad damage there in a wreck, but hey—what else can you expect when you’re racing around Austin Dillon and Greg Biffle.  We’ll go on to Homestead next weekend prepared for battle.  No, we’re not talking about the race itself as a ‘battle’, that would be silly—we’re all going to be carrying weapons to protect ourselves post-race if we tie Dale Sr. and The King’s seven championships.”
19-Carl Edwards: “Thankfully it was an uneventful race today, because I didn’t run it.  That’s right, I was pretty tired after that team hike a few days back so I decided to sneak Drew Herring into the 19 car with a Carl Edwards mask on.  It was a great chance to catch up on some email, check out that nice tapas place across the street, and heck, I was still able to get back by the checkers.”
22-Joey Logano: “WOOOOO!  We did it!  This is for more than just me, this is for everybody who ever drove the yellow-and-red 22 car—Ward Burton, Scott Wimmer, and especially Dave Blaney.  I’m standing on the shoulders of Bill Davis Racing giants today.”
18-Kyle Busch: “I’m just glad that this 18 team will be going for another championship next weekend.  Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, I’d like to introduce my newest addition to the Kyle Busch Motorsports lineup for 2017, Alex Bowman!”

OUT:
11-Denny Hamlin: “What can I say?  We had a shot today and we couldn’t deliver.  N-n-NO, don’t print that I said that!  Say that I said something else like, um, we lost it by a shave and a haircut…no wait, um, this was worse than Michael Jordan playing with the Wizards…no, um…”
20-Matt Kenseth: “Look, I think you all saw what happened out there today—we got screwed royally when we got wrecked.  I can’t believe other drivers would take it into their own hands to determine who would advance in the Chase.”
4-Kevin Harvick: “Huh, so this is what it feels like to be eliminated.  I dunno, kinda thought it would hurt more, or at least would feel different than usual.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, it sucks that we couldn’t advance, but I got the feeling it would be more different than this.”

41-Kurt Busch: “Yeah, well, at least the Cubs won.”