Jimmie Johnson will leave Phoenix International Raceway with a 28 point lead over Matt Kenseth following the running of the Advocare 500.
With the competition of 312 laps at Phoenix the driver of the No. 48 has all but locked up his sixth series championship.
Johnson entered Sunday’s race at Phoenix with a seven point lead over Kenseth and began the race on the pole. He ultimately finished third while Kenseth finished 23rd nearly eliminating him from title contention.
WINNER: Harvick wins at Phoenix, full results for Advocare 500
The lead by Johnson all but assures him of winning his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title entering Homestead. Johnson simply needs a 23rd or better fnish. (If Kenseth wins and earns all bonus points)
Sprint Cup Series standings following Advocare 500 at Phoenix
| RK | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | MONEY | WINS | POLES | TOP 5 | TOP 10 |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 2384 | — | $8,670,203 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 23 |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 2356 | -28 | $6,613,344 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 19 |
| 3 | Kevin Harvick | 2350 | -34 | $6,213,286 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 20 |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 2327 | -57 | $6,639,324 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 21 |
| 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 2321 | -63 | $5,568,438 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 21 |
| 6 | Jeff Gordon | 2304 | -80 | $5,637,897 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 17 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | 2301 | -83 | $4,675,769 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 2297 | -87 | $5,254,715 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 18 |
| 9 | Joey Logano | 2287 | -97 | $5,435,031 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 18 |
| 10 | Kurt Busch | 2285 | -99 | $4,950,328 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 16 |
| 11 | Ryan Newman | 2259 | -125 | $5,362,305 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 18 |
| 12 | Kasey Kahne | 2252 | -132 | $5,106,454 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 14 |
| 13 | Carl Edwards | 2250 | -134 | $5,626,250 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 16 |
| 14 | Brad Keselowski | 1002 | -1382 | $6,156,893 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 15 |
| 15 | Jamie McMurray | 993 | -1391 | $4,758,903 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 16 | Martin Truex Jr. | 958 | -1426 | $5,188,934 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 14 |
| 17 | Paul Menard | 944 | -1440 | $4,592,017 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 887 | -1497 | $5,167,352 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 19 | Jeff Burton | 885 | -1499 | $3,764,013 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 20 | Aric Almirola | 885 | -1499 | $4,809,869 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 21 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 868 | -1516 | $4,609,710 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 22 | Marcos Ambrose | 854 | -1530 | $4,481,304 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 23 | Denny Hamlin | 706 | -1678 | $3,949,874 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 24 | Casey Mears | 703 | -1681 | $3,944,179 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | David Gilliland | 631 | -1753 | $3,654,686 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 26 | Mark Martin | 624 | -1760 | $3,850,419 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 27 | Danica Patrick | 622 | -1762 | $3,375,030 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | David Ragan | 617 | -1767 | $4,101,988 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 29 | Tony Stewart | 594 | -1790 | $3,710,624 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 30 | Dave Blaney | 520 | -1864 | $3,283,919 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Travis Kvapil | 489 | -1895 | $3,644,897 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | J.J. Yeley | 460 | -1924 | $3,071,053 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | David Reutimann | 452 | -1932 | $3,296,100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Bobby Labonte | 412 | -1972 | $2,928,477 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | AJ Allmendinger | 402 | -1982 | $1,946,387 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 | David Stremme | 362 | -2022 | $2,306,964 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Michael McDowell | 209 | -2175 | $2,497,398 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 38 | Timmy Hill | 190 | -2194 | $1,558,678 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Michael Waltrip | 114 | -2270 | $694,209 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 40 | Ken Schrader | 108 | -2276 | $749,047 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Scott Speed | 99 | -2285 | $1,113,344 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 42 | Terry Labonte | 87 | -2297 | $718,975 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Boris Said | 48 | -2336 | $193,881 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Ron Fellows | 31 | -2353 | $171,348 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Alex Kennedy | 21 | -2363 | $190,405 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Justin Marks | 14 | -2370 | $86,705 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Scott Riggs | 11 | -2373 | $421,355 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Victor Gonzalez Jr. | 10 | -2374 | $134,602 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Brian Keselowski | 9 | -2375 | $149,840 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Tomy Drissi | 8 | -2376 | $125,095 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
