Keselowski nabs last championship spot

Matt Kenseth won for the first time this season in what might have been the second-to-last Cup race of his NASCAR career, while Brad Keselowski earned the final spot in the championship on points because a playoff-eligible driver did not win the race.

“Just got one race left and everybody dreams of going out a winner,” a tearful Kenseth said after climbing from his Toyota. Kenseth, 45, does not have a job lined up for next year and said he’ll take a break at the start of the season.

Kenseth passed Chase Elliott with 10 laps remaining to win Sunday at Phoenix Raceway and deny Elliott the final berth in next week’s championship race. Had Elliott hung on for the win, he would have qualified for the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Instead, Keselowski will race Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for the championship next Sunday. The field, two Toyota drivers and two Ford drivers, includes three former series champions and Truex, the most dominant driver of the season.

The Kenseth win salvaged the day for Joe Gibbs Racing, which had a chance to get Denny Hamlin into the championship until his feud with Elliott cost him.

The two were racing for position and Hamlin grazed the wall and immediately began losing positions on the track.

Just a few laps later, his tire blew, Hamlin hit the wall and his race was over. Elliott acknowledged he raced Hamlin aggressively, same as Hamlin did when he wrecked Elliott from the lead at Martinsville.

“A wise man once told me that he’ll race guys how they race him with a smile on his face, so that’s what I did today,” said Elliott, who finished second for the seventh time this season. “I raced him how he raced me.”

Jimmie Johnson also wrecked early in the race, ending his bid to make the championship. The elimination of the seven-time champion means NASCAR will not have a repeat winner.

Marc Marquez cemented his status as the top rider in motorbike racing as the Spaniard won his fourth MotoGP world title in the final race of the season. Starting from pole, Marquez steered his Honda to a third-place finish behind race winner Dani Pedrosa, good enough to seal the season title . ... Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian GP, solidifying his hold on second place in the Formula One standings. Lewis Hamilton, who already clinched the championship, finished fourth.