The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Now chasing ‘The Chase’





 

 

One way to look at NASCAR’s Sprint Cup season is that it is definitely a marathon that runs from February to March, but when you take a closer look it’s a short sprint preceded by regular season that for most teams is not long enough to get the job done. When the checkered flag waved Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, it ratcheted up the pressure on the teams that have yet to win a race and secure their spot in the 10-race Chase that will eventually crown this season’s champion.

Since NASCAR introduced its new method of setting the Chase field last season, the emphasis has definitely been on making it to victory lane but overlooked has been the battle in the point standings for those drivers that have put together good years but have yet to post that first win of the season.

Since Kyle Busch has posted two wins in the last three races including Saturday at Kentucky, the focus has suddenly turned to the point standings.

Winning just one race will all but guarantee you a spot in the Chase, but winning two races definitely punches your ticket. Busch now has only nine races left to break into the top 30 in points that is a requirement for any driver to make the Chase field. He is now 87 points behind Cole Whitt in the 30th position, and his “magic” number is to finish the remaining races 17th or better.

Busch’s Kentucky win was the 31st of his career and if you have watched him throughout his career, then you know that when a race begins the last thing on his mind is to finish 17th or better. He is all about racing for the win and he also knows that when you win you leave the track with the most points.

Besides Busch there have been 10 other drivers that have posted wins this season and they are in the Chase, leaving six spots left to be filled. Unless another driver posts a win or Busch cracks the top 30, those six spots will be filled according to the point standings. Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle and A.J. Allmendinger all made the Chase last season but have yet to clinch a spot with a win, and are in the thick of the points battle to make it in.

Jamie McMurray is the highest non-winning driver in the point standings heading into New Hampshire this weekend as he actually sits in seventh. He is followed by Gordon in 10th and Kahne in 12th. Paul Menard, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer round out the remaining three spots, but these three drives know that for every win posted by a first-time winner this season in the remaining nine races, it cuts the number of drivers to make the Chase by their position in the point standings.

While some drivers are still on the bubble to making the Chase, the results from Kentucky produced the first driver of the season to officially clinch a Chase spot. Kevin Harvick’s eighth-place finish put him 410 points ahead of David Gilliland in 31st, which is enough of a lead to guarantee a finish in the top 30 for the twotime race winner.

PIT NOTES: NASCAR’s new lower downforce package that was used at Kentucky on Saturday night proved to be very popular with both fans and drivers. The new rules produced a track-record 22 green-flag passes for the lead and, maybe more importantly, one of those was in the final 20 laps. The 2,665 total number of overall green-flag passes on Saturday more than doubled last season’s 1,147 passes. These results could have been even better if Goodyear had the time to produce a softer tire to go with the new rules package. The downforce package will also be used at Darlington during its Labor Day weekend race and Goodyear will be bringing the softer tire for that race that will really give the true picture of what kind of racing the new package can produce. If Darlington’s results mirror what took place on Saturday night, look for the rules package to become the norm in 2016.

Race Preview Event: New Hampshire 301 Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval, 12o of banking in the turns) Date: July 19, 1 p.m. TV: NBCSN Radio: PRN Defending Champion: Brad Keselowski


Leave a Reply