Wild Things: Chase Wrinkle Spikes IntrigueWell, what do we have here?
Brad Keselowski’s veteran-like fuel conservation earned him a win last Sunday, inching him closer to the top 20. He now sits 21st, seven points out.
His victory shines a massive spotlight on the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup eligibility wrinkle put in place at the start of 2011 – the Wild Card.
After race No. 26 at Richmond International Raceway, the top-10 drivers in points earn berths into the 12-driver Chase field. Spots 11 and 12 – the Wild Cards – go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20.
The Wild Card widens the focus throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, with interest reaching all the way to 29th place. Some stories worth watching …
If Keselowski can creep into the top 20, watch out: Keselowski can shake up the championship picture. Keselowski’s two career wins both took place at Chase tracks – Talladega and Kansas. Last year, his first in full-time series competition, Keselowski had two top 10s. Both came during the Chase.
Chase regulars may need it: Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon have all made multiple Chases. They also share this problematic stature: A points position outside the top 10. All three have won at Pocono Raceway (Hamlin and Gordon have four victories apiece at the Tricky Triangle), so an immediate win doesn’t seem too out-of-the-question. Said Biffle, who was a guest on this week’s NASCAR video teleconference, “A win would certainly secure you a fairly comfortable spot as a Wild Card, although we have [three] guys with wins now. So it may, in fact, take two wins. Two wins would probably guarantee you a spot if you stay in that top 20 in points.” To listen to the complete audio from Biffle’s teleconference, click here.
Road-course races approaching: Between now and the Chase, there are two road-course races – at Infineon Raceway (June 26) and Watkins Glen International (Aug. 14). That’s a juicy proposition for two road-course experts – Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose – who are winless, but inside the top 20.
Don’t forget about Regan Smith: Smith’s win at Darlington Raceway immediately puts him in the Wild Card discussion. There’s ground to cover – 29th in points, he sits 49 points outside the top 20. If only he could finish as well as he starts. Smith’s average starting position of 9.9 ranks second in the series (behind Carl Edwards’ 9.6).
Brad Keselowski’s veteran-like fuel conservation earned him a win last Sunday, inching him closer to the top 20. He now sits 21st, seven points out.
His victory shines a massive spotlight on the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup eligibility wrinkle put in place at the start of 2011 – the Wild Card.
After race No. 26 at Richmond International Raceway, the top-10 drivers in points earn berths into the 12-driver Chase field. Spots 11 and 12 – the Wild Cards – go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20.
The Wild Card widens the focus throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, with interest reaching all the way to 29th place. Some stories worth watching …
If Keselowski can creep into the top 20, watch out: Keselowski can shake up the championship picture. Keselowski’s two career wins both took place at Chase tracks – Talladega and Kansas. Last year, his first in full-time series competition, Keselowski had two top 10s. Both came during the Chase.
Chase regulars may need it: Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon have all made multiple Chases. They also share this problematic stature: A points position outside the top 10. All three have won at Pocono Raceway (Hamlin and Gordon have four victories apiece at the Tricky Triangle), so an immediate win doesn’t seem too out-of-the-question. Said Biffle, who was a guest on this week’s NASCAR video teleconference, “A win would certainly secure you a fairly comfortable spot as a Wild Card, although we have [three] guys with wins now. So it may, in fact, take two wins. Two wins would probably guarantee you a spot if you stay in that top 20 in points.” To listen to the complete audio from Biffle’s teleconference, click here.
Road-course races approaching: Between now and the Chase, there are two road-course races – at Infineon Raceway (June 26) and Watkins Glen International (Aug. 14). That’s a juicy proposition for two road-course experts – Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose – who are winless, but inside the top 20.
Don’t forget about Regan Smith: Smith’s win at Darlington Raceway immediately puts him in the Wild Card discussion. There’s ground to cover – 29th in points, he sits 49 points outside the top 20. If only he could finish as well as he starts. Smith’s average starting position of 9.9 ranks second in the series (behind Carl Edwards’ 9.6).
First Half Highlighted By New Faces, Competitive Balance – And Dale Jr.Halfway home, only 13 races remain in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ regular season. A perfect setup to the Chase run, the first 13 races featured two first-time winners (Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith), records in lead changes and leaders, and the resurgence of the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
With his second runner-up finish of the season, at Kansas, Earnhardt moved within one point of second-place. The last time Earnhardt was second this late in the season was after the second Pocono race in 2008.
Here are some of the competitive highlights of the first 13 races:
• 13.7 leaders per race, most through 13 races in history.
• 32.4 lead changes per race, most through 13 races in history.
• 9 different winners in the first 12 races, most since 2003.
• 10 different Coors Light Pole winners in the first 13 races.
• Average of 3,807 passes per race, most through 13 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.
• Average of 41 passes for the lead per race (all along the track), second-most through 13 races since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.
• 30 different drivers have scored at least one top 10.
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Summer Stewart’s Time; Biffle, Hamlin Surge Toward Potential Chase SpotsMaking it into the top 10 and potentially qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is one thing.
Staying there for another 13 races is another.
Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 500 at Pocono Raceway could be a case study in both opportunities.
Tony Stewart currently ranks eighth but his hold on a Chase spot is tenuous. He’s only 12 points ahead of a surging Denny Hamlin.
But when the calendar flips into June, it’s been Stewart’s time. The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, winless in 2011, doesn’t figure to show a zero in the “W” column come September.
• Stewart boasts 21 of his 39 victories in June, July and August.
• He’s also a multiple winner in summer stops at Pocono, Daytona International Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International.
Hamlin, who led last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup until faltering in the Homestead-Miami Speedway finale, also has yet to win. Pocono, where the Virginia native has won four times – including last year – is an obvious place to jump start Hamlin’s season. A victory would match Bill Elliott’s win record at the 2.5-mile, triangular-shaped speedway – and potentially give Hamlin a wild card entry into the Chase.
Considering Hamlin’s strength of late, it’s unlikely he’ll need that wild card.
• The 30-year-old moved to 12th after a 10th-place finish in last month’s Coca-Cola 600. He picked up one more spot with a finish of third (and fourth top 10 in five starts) at Kansas Speedway to stand a single point behind 10th-ranked Ryan Newman.
• Newman, a former Pocono winner, hopes to end a two-month slide from second to 10th, fueled by finishes of 20th or worse in five of his last eight races.
• Greg Biffle is another Chase veteran who started slowly but has picked up steam over the last couple of months.
• Biffle won Pocono’s August event last year and has posted four top 10s in his last seven races. The string has cut his deficit from the top 10 from 41 points after the season’s third race to just five.
Summer Stewart’s Time; Biffle, Hamlin Surge Toward Potential Chase SpotsMaking it into the top 10 and potentially qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is one thing.
Staying there for another 13 races is another.
Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 500 at Pocono Raceway could be a case study in both opportunities.
Tony Stewart currently ranks eighth but his hold on a Chase spot is tenuous. He’s only 12 points ahead of a surging Denny Hamlin.
But when the calendar flips into June, it’s been Stewart’s time. The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, winless in 2011, doesn’t figure to show a zero in the “W” column come September.
• Stewart boasts 21 of his 39 victories in June, July and August.
• He’s also a multiple winner in summer stops at Pocono, Daytona International Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International.
Hamlin, who led last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup until faltering in the Homestead-Miami Speedway finale, also has yet to win. Pocono, where the Virginia native has won four times – including last year – is an obvious place to jump start Hamlin’s season. A victory would match Bill Elliott’s win record at the 2.5-mile, triangular-shaped speedway – and potentially give Hamlin a wild card entry into the Chase.
Considering Hamlin’s strength of late, it’s unlikely he’ll need that wild card.
• The 30-year-old moved to 12th after a 10th-place finish in last month’s Coca-Cola 600. He picked up one more spot with a finish of third (and fourth top 10 in five starts) at Kansas Speedway to stand a single point behind 10th-ranked Ryan Newman.
• Newman, a former Pocono winner, hopes to end a two-month slide from second to 10th, fueled by finishes of 20th or worse in five of his last eight races.
• Greg Biffle is another Chase veteran who started slowly but has picked up steam over the last couple of months.
• Biffle won Pocono’s August event last year and has posted four top 10s in his last seven races. The string has cut his deficit from the top 10 from 41 points after the season’s third race to just five.
Martin’s Pocono Agenda Includes Some Historical RearrangementMark Martin could double up in the record book this week at Pocono Raceway adding one achievement and erasing a more dubious achievement.
Martin can become the eighth driver to win 50 poles, a plateau he’s been pursuing since the second week of the 2010 season following his Daytona 500 top qualifier performance.
Three of those 49 Coors Light poles have come at the 2.5-mile triangular shaped track, most recently in 1996.
On the opposite side of the ledger, a Martin victory in the 5-Hour Energy 500 would remove a record for futility he shares with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison. Martin and Allison have six runner-up finishes apiece without a victory at Pocono and Martinsville, respectively; most at a single track.
Martin’s record at Pocono is more than respectable, suggesting a win isn’t out of the question: most top fives (19), most top 10s (33) and most lead lap finishes (39). He finished seventh last August in his last trip to the track.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series –
Starting this weekend at Pocono Raceway, there will be a slight change in the qualifying procedure for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Qualifying order will still be determined based upon practice speeds – from slowest to fastest – with those times now coming from the first practice session (as opposed to the combined practice sessions). In addition, the qualifying order will no longer be separated between those teams that are locked into the race and those teams that must qualify on speed. … A crew chief’s dream – or nightmare – awaits at Pocono Raceway. There are three different corners and three straightaways of varying lengths, forcing teams to set up for a specific portion of the track. That fact could – and has – led to big passing numbers, as cars set up for one corner pass competitors set up for another – and vice versa. Last year, this race had 2,381 green flag passes, according to NASCAR Loop Data. With Travis Kvapil racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway, Sam Hornish Jr. will attempt to make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start of the season this weekend at Pocono for Front Row Motorsports in the No. 38 Ford. … Voting Day for the 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame class will take place next Tuesday, June 14 in Charlotte, N.C. Fans have the opportunity to vote for their five Hall of Fame inductees at www.nascar.com/promos/hof. Voting ends Sunday night (Monday morning) at midnight … The “Official Motor Oil Of NASCAR,” Mobil 1 is bringing together two-time series champion Tony Stewart and Formula 1 champion driver Lewis Hamilton. The two will swap cars at Watkins Glen International next Tuesday. Hamilton will take laps in Stewart’s No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala and Stewart will climb into the cockpit of the team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23. The drivers will drive each other’s car on the long course at The Glen, experiencing the 3.4-mile, 11-turn lap course. SPEED’s one-hour special on the “Mobil 1 Car Swap” airs at 8 p.m. ET that evening.
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