Jockeying For The Two Wild Card Spots Is Getting Wild

Jockeying For The Two Wild Card Spots Is Getting Wild

In six weeks the standings will be shuffled as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins the 10-week Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The top-10 drivers in points after the Richmond race will be locked in and receive bonus points for each win during the first 26 races, while drivers between 11th and 20th will need wins to claim the two Wild Card spots.

As the series heads to Pocono for the GoBowling.com 400, Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. hold the provisional spots into the Chase. Stewart and Truex currently rank 11th and 12th, respectively, and both have wins this season. Stewart won at Dover, while Truex triumphed at Sonoma.

Ryan Newman is the only other driver between 11th and 20th with a victory, after winning at Indy on Sunday. He is 16th in the standings, only 20 points behind Truex. Brad Keselowski, who is currently one point behind Truex, is also in the running for a Wild Card spot; however, he first needs to win a race.

Of the four, only Truex has never won at Pocono. He has two top fives and five top 10s and finished 23rd in the June race. Stewart has experienced the most success with two wins (2003, 2009) to go along with 12 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes.  Newman also won in 2003 and has eight top fives and 11 top 10s. Stewart and Newman finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in June. Keselowski won the August 2011 race and has two top 10s. He finished 16th in his last trip to Pocono.