In this topsy-turvy second season of NASCAR's new championship format, it was only fitting that the race to set the final four ended in an empty, unsatisfying way. A rain delay of nearly seven hours Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway turned the final elimination race of the playoffs into a water-logged nightmare. There was no frantic jockeying for the final three slots in the title-deciding finale, no opportunity for Joey Logano or Kurt Busch or Carl Edwards to flex any muscle in a push for the checkered flag. More...