Keselowski barely made it into the round of four, Matt Kenseth beating fellow playoff contender Chase Elliott to the line at Phoenix drastically helped the driver of the #2. Keselowski ran a good race by all standards but could not make it back up to the front when it counted. While he fell short of his 2012 championship run, this year was an improvement over 2016 when he was knocked out of the playoffs after the second round.
Logano ends season with Top-10
Joey Logano advanced 13 positions to finish sixth in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This was his third top-10 finish at Homestead, he came in fourth in 2016 and 2015.
Logano completed the 2017 season without a non-encumbered win. In what was a shaky season for the once playoff contender, Logano finished on a three race top-15 streak. The #22 Penske team will have to use the off-season to access the program and see how they can approve and become a championship contender again.
Kenseth ends full-time career with 8th-place run
The Ford 400 was Matt Kenseth's final race as a full-time NASCAR driver. His eighth place finish was his seventh top-10 at the track in his last eight attempts making him the second best finishing current driver behind Kyle Busch.
After not advancing to the round of eight, Kenseth has recorded a win, two top-fives and three top-10 proving that there was still a lot of racing left outside of the playoff structure. Kenseth was among the two oldest drivers; the other being also retiring Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the field this season but his age did not show fatigue but instead experience. Kenseth was one of the few drivers to make it into the playoffs on points without a win. Clearly, that was not enough for the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, Kenseth put the cherry on top his final season by winning at Phoenix in the penultimate race last weekend.
Hamlin slips to ninth in finale
After starting on the pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway Denny Hamlin fell back to a ninth place finish. Martin Truex Jr. started beside Hamlin and would take the lead on the first lap as the #11 driver slowly fell out of contention. This was Hamlin's fifth top-10 in a row at Homestead stretching back to his 2013 win. Hamlin's car improved as the night came and the track cooled during qualifying, leading many to think Hamlin could put himself in the position to battle for the win late.
Last week, Hamlin was close to grabbing the final transfer spot into the round of four before his multiple race rivalry with fellow round of eight contender Chase Elliott ruined his chances when the young driver crashed Hamlin at Phoenix. With all the drama around the final four races, Hamlin will enter the early races of 2018 with a vengeance to prove that he can rise about the drama, that he races clean, and most importantly that he can continue to win.
Newman ends season with Top-10
Ryan Newman took home his first top-10 since his second place finish at Talladega. Newman advanced 11 positions for his starting spot of 21 to complete the top-10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Newman fell out of playoff contention after the first round and outside of his Talladega finish did not finish better 13th during the playoff run before tonight, which was a sharp fall in finishing position after his four race run of sixth or better in the final four regular season events. This will force the Richard Childress racing to hone in on his 'bull-dog' like personality to try to find early success in 2018.
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