Elliott clinches Nationwide title at Phoenix, Keselowski wins

Avondale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Eighteen-year-old Chase Elliott became the youngest champion in NASCAR national touring series history by clinching the Nationwide Series title with a fifth-place finish in Saturday's DAV 200 Honoring America's Veterans at Phoenix International Raceway.

Elliott, the son of 1988 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bill Elliott and a rookie in Nationwide this year, holds a 52-point lead over second-place and JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith, allowing Elliott to clinch the championship one week before the season-ending race at Homestead. Smith finished 10th.

Brian Vickers previously held the record as the youngest champion in national series history, winning the Nationwide title in 2003 when he was 20 years old.

Elliott also became the first driver in any one of NASCAR's top-three series to claim a series title and rookie-of-the-year honors in the same season.

"I'm just in disbelief. I don't know what to think," said Elliott, who became the 24th different driver to win a championship in the 33-year history of NASCAR's second-tier series. "I've never been a part of anything like this. Just to have the opportunity to work with a group of guys like we have (at JR Motorsports) this year has been a blessing for me to just be here."

In January, Elliott signed with JR Motorsports to drive the No. 9 NAPA- sponsored Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Nationwide. He had competed in nine Camping World Truck Series races in 2013 and scored his first victory in that series in Canada. Elliott turned 18 years old nearly one year ago, which made him eligible for competition in Nationwide.

JRM is co-owned by Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick.

"He's unbelievable," Hendrick said of Elliott. "What a young man and great racer he is. It's just really neat to be a part of this."

Elliott, who graduated from high school in May, has won three Nationwide races this season. His first career victory in the series occurred on April 4 at Texas, and then one week later, he won at Darlington. Elliott's most recent victory happened on July 19 at Chicagoland.

"This has just been a heck of a year, and we would like to have another win next week at Homestead," Elliott added.

Chase and Bill Elliott became the fifth father/son combo to win NASCAR national series championships; joining the Jarretts (Ned and Dale), Pettys (Lee and Richard), Pearsons (David and Larry) and Earnhardts (Dale and Dale Jr.).

Elliott's No. 9 in Nationwide is the same number his father had throughout most of his storied career in NASCAR's premier series.

"To come into this season and have the incredible year this kid has had, it's been totally beyond belief," Bill Elliott said of his son. "I just hope he keeps his head screwed on good and straight. He's a very smart driver and individual, and he really knows what he wants out of a race car. I think that's 90 percent of the game, and if he can keep going in that direction, he'll be as good as they come."

Elliott will officially be crowned as the 2014 Nationwide Series champion at Homestead. It will be the last race with Nationwide Insurance as title sponsor of the series. Comcast's Xfinity is taking over title sponsorship next year.

Kyle Busch started on the pole and dominated this race by leading 187 of 206 laps, but Brad Keselowski passed Busch on the final lap and then beat him to the finish line by 0.14 seconds for his fifth Nationwide win of the season and the 32nd of his career.

"That was kind of a shame because (Busch) had the race won until that yellow came out, so I can understand if he was upset about that," Keselowski said. "We didn't give up. Kyle was really fast. But that yellow came out, and I don't know what happened. It was like we grabbed a gear or he slipped down. I don't know which one happened. Either way, we were able to get to victory lane."

Busch, the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, appeared to be on his way to victory in the closing laps, as he held a sizeable lead over second- place Keselowski, but Alex Bowman ran out of fuel and slowed on the track, forcing a caution and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

"We had a really good car, and we were faster than everybody else, but just not at the right time," Busch said. "Unfortunately, all of the adjustments that we made throughout the day made our car really good in the long run, but it wasn't good for the short run there."

Keselowski, driving the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, has finished fourth or better in all 10 of his Nationwide starts this season. Joey Logano is scheduled to drive that car at Homestead. Penske's No. 22 team currently holds a 29-point lead over JGR's No. 54 team in the owner's championship standings.

Elliott Sadler finished third, and rookie Ty Dillon took the fourth spot.

Erik Jones, who won Friday night's truck race at Phoenix, placed sixth, followed by Brian Scott, Brendan Gaughan and Trevor Bayne.