September , 2012
The 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ field is set. On to the post season, beginning with Sunday’s GEICO 400 (2 p.m. EST, ESPN live) at Chicagoland Speedway.
The storylines are many: Reigning champion and Chicagoland winner Tony Stewart seeks his fourth title; Denny Hamlin hopes to become just the third top-seeded driver to win a title under the Chase format; and Jimmie Johnson, with 20 Chase victories, is the remaining field’s biggest obstacle to a championship.
This year’s Chase field is studded with veterans – including four former champions with a combined 13 titles – from seven different teams. There are no first-time qualifiers. Hendrick Motorsports qualified all four of its drivers with Jeff Gordon completing a late-summer surge to claim the final Wild Card spot by three points over Kyle Busch.
Danica Patrick, a native of nearby Roscoe, Ill., will make her NSCS Chicagoland Speedway debut as well as competing in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event. She recorded a NNS finish of 10th at Chicagoland a year ago.
One point is the difference between first and second places as NASCAR Nationwide Series teams assemble for Saturday’s Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola. Leader Elliott Sadler won at Chicagoland earlier this year. Reigning champion Stenhouse has finished no worse than second in his past three races and he’s cut into Sadler’s points advantage.
At least seven drivers are expected to do double duty this weekend including former NNS Chicagoland winners Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams travel to Iowa Speedway for their second of two races at the 0.875-mile short track where championship leader Timothy Peters won in July. Peters lead has shrunk to nine points over James Buescher, the series’ only three-time winner this season.
There have been six first-time winners in 2012 – one shy of the series record. A number of part-time and first-time competitors are expecting to make an appearance in the American Ethanol 200 Presented by Hy-Vee including former Iowa Speedway NCWTS Keystone Light Pole Award winner David Mayhew.
No comments:
Post a Comment