5 drivers not named Harvick who can win at Phoenix

It’s no secret Kevin Harvick comes into Phoenix International Raceway as the prohibitive favorite to win Sunday’s Can-Am 500, the penultimate race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

With eight victories at PIR, including wins in five of the last six, of course, Harvick is heavily favored. But what if he doesn’t win? What if he has a bad pit stop or a parts failure or blows a tire or gets caught in someone else’s wreck?

If Harvick doesn’t win, here are five guys who could.

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Ten times in 22 starts at PIR, Hamlin has finished in the top 10, including March 2012, when he won here. Right now, Hamlin is outside the cutoff to advance to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week. A win would lock him in.

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Although he is second in points right now, Logano has just a two-point lead over fifth-place Hamlin, so he needs a strong race at PIR if he’s to make the championship. In his last six races here, Logano has two top fives and five finishes of ninth or better.

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While Busch hasn’t won here since his rookie season of 2005, he finished fourth in each of the last two races at PIR. And in his last 10 races here, Busch has four top fives and seven top 10s. Like Hamlin and Logano, a victory is his only guaranteed ticket to Homestead.

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When the NASCAR teams raced at Phoenix earlier this year, Edwards lost to Harvick by just 0.010 seconds in the closest finish at the track ever. Edwards has two victories here and his average finish is 11.833.

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Although Harvick has won everything at PIR lately, Johnson has four victories here, 977 laps led and a sensational average finish of 7.846. Plus, he will be motivated to win, because if he does, it’ll likely keep Harvick out of the championship round.

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