Phoenix NASCAR: Kevin Harvick dominates as title contenders set

Second place for Jeff Gordon was not enough to keep him in Chase contention, with Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski also eliminated despite taking third and fourth in Arizona.

Carl Edwards was the other man knocked out, finishing off the pace in 15th.

The result guarantees a first-time champion this season, with all remaining past title-winners in the Chase now out.

Harvick led 264 of the race's 312 laps in his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet and had little trouble extending a lead despite being interrupted by 12 yellow flags and one red flag to clear up debris from a collision between Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.

The win was Harvick's fourth from the last five Cup races at Phoenix.

The three drivers who will join Harvick in the title showdown all had tough days.

Polesitter Denny Hamlin fell to 37th with a cut tyre early on, was briefly a lap down, but eventually made it back to fifth.

Joey Logano also spent a while off the lead lap following a penalty for leaving a pitstop with the fuel can still attached, before recovering to sixth.

He will be the only Penske driver in the shootout as fourth was unsufficient for Brad Keselowski.

Gordon's title hopes ended at the penultimate corner, when Ryan Newman - who had been off the pace all day - moved up to 11th in a collision with Kyle Larson. That gave Newman sufficient points to finish ahead of Gordon in the standings at the final cut-off.

As the identity of the 2014 title showdown participants was settled, outgoing champion Jimmie Johnson had a terrible race.

He was involved in a pitlane tangle with Justin Allgaier then had long-running electrical problems before eventually crashing.

Results - 312 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   3h07m13.000s
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet            +1.637s
 3.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +2.587s
 4.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                   +3.072s
 5.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +5.439s
 6.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                   +5.631s
 7.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +6.222s
 8.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet            +6.428s
 9.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford             +7.422s
10.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                    +7.874s
11.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet           +8.410s
12.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet       +8.652s
13.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet             +9.005s
14.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet             +9.502s
15.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford             +9.605s
16.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet      +10.217s
17.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            +10.855s
18.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   +11.052s
19.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               +11.130s
20.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +11.724s
21.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           +12.268s
22.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +12.624s
23.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          +13.048s
24.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               +13.467s
25.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               +14.691s
26.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet              -1 lap
27.  Ty Dillon           Childress Chevrolet           -2 laps
28.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet             -2 laps
29.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet             -2 laps
30.  JJ Yeley            BK Toyota                     -3 laps
31.  Michael McDowell    Leavine Ford                  -3 laps
32.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                     -4 laps
33.  Joey Gase           Go FAS Ford                   -4 laps
34.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota              -4 laps
35.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             -7 laps
36.  Mike Wallace        Robinson Toyota               -9 laps
37.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet             -10 laps
38.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet          -29 laps

Retirements:

     Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           235 laps
     Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               211 laps
     Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet            204 laps
     Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                  147 laps
     Mike Bliss          Baldwin Chevrolet             16 laps

TITLE CONTENDERS FOR HOMESTEAD:

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman