Rain. Rain again. Why is it always rain!?  Yet again rain delayed a Nascar race. The Phoenix race was scheduled to start at 2:30 ET, but rain delayed the race until 9:30 in the evening. Even once the race began, the threat of rain was a constant factor.

Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch started on the front row, but Kurt jumped the start of the race and was forced to do a drive through penalty. Not long after that, Johnson sped on pit road, and was also penalized. So basically, they both ruined their own days.

As was expected by many, Kevin Harvick quickly made his way to the front, and stayed there. However, he had some determined drivers behind him. Kurt Busch was rallying through the field, and Joey Logano was constantly chasing Kevin. Both Kurt and Joey entered the race needing a win to advance to the final round of the Chase, and both seemed to have pretty good cars.

At about lap forty a competition caution waved, and several drivers came to pit road. No one realized that this was going to be one of just two cautions in the whole race.

As the race continued, it became clear that no one was going to catch Harvick. The only way to beat him was to use strategy. The chance came after the lap 200 mark.

The threat of rain was growing, and drivers were trying to see if they could avoid pitting for tires and fuel until the rain came. However, eventually the drivers ran out of time, and began to make green flag pit stops.

Suddenly, right in the middle of the cycle of stops, two drivers wrecked. And hard. The caution flew, and this scrambled the running order. As it turned out, Harvick was now second, behind fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Earnhardt had been exiting his pit box as the caution flew, and he beat Harvick to the scoring monitor, thus leaving him in the lead, since a caution freezes the field.

As the drivers prepared to restart, a rain drop hit the track. Then another. And another. Eventually, a steady rain was falling. IN THE DESERT! Nascar called the drivers down pit road, and the red flag was brought out.

As drivers exited their cars, it was clear that many wanted to wait out the rain and finish the race. For several minutes, people stood, waiting for officials to either say they would wait out the rain or call the race official.

Suddenly, a cheer came from the fans. Several hearts probably stopped. Because Nascar had called the race official. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the race winner, and the final four drivers were officially decided for Homestead. Here they are:

1: Jeff Gordon              Wins: 1

2: Kevin Harvick         Wins: 3

3: Kyle Busch               Wins: 4

4: Martin Truex Jr.      Wins: 1

Eliminated:

5: Carl Edwards           Wins: 2

6: Brad Keslowski       Wins: 1

7: Kurt Busch                Wins: 2

8: Joey Logano:             Wins: 6

Well, those are the final four, and the four who have fallen. Now it’s on to Homestead-Miami Speedway, to determine the 2015 Nascar Sprint Cup Series Champion.