Earnhardt Hopes Third Straight Chase Is The Charm

Earnhardt Hopes Third Straight Chase Is The Charm

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will compete in three consecutive Chases for the first time. He no doubt hopes what might have been a year ago will have a happier ending this time around.

In 2012, after scoring a drought-busting victory and leading the regular-season points standings, Earnhardt suffered concussion-related injuries that forced him to sit out two Chase races. Junior finished 12th in final rankings.

Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte must figure out how to replicate the season’s red-hot start - a pair of second-place finishes among consecutive top 10s that carried Earnhardt to the top of the standings after race No. 5 at Auto Club Speedway.

“Mistakes I've made, crashes I've gotten myself into, engine failures, things like that that have taken away from our ability to show how strong we are to get consistent finishes like we did last year,” said Earnhardt. “I feel like we belong in the Chase, feel like if we can put 10 races together, I think we can do it as good as anybody when it comes down to it. Hopefully we can make it happen.”

Earnhardt won at Chicagoland Speedway in 2007. Since joining his current team the following season, Earnhardt’s best finish is third in 2011.

 

First Timer: Logano Looks To Continue Regular Season Success In His First Chase

A blistering final seven races put Joey Logano in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the first time, and now he has a chance to become the youngest champion in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history. That distinction is currently held by Bill Rexford, who was 23 years, 7 months and 15 days old when he won the title in 1950. Come Homestead, Logano would be 23 years, 5 months and 24 days.

If he can string together a series of races like he did to close the regular season, a championship is certainly within reason. Over the final seven regular season races – six of which were top 10s – Logano scored more points than any other driver (264).

Now, he enters the Chase as a first-timer, becoming the 24th different Chase driver, and looking to shock the NASCAR world. He certainly will have plenty of advice coming from owner Roger Penske and teammate Brad Keselowski.

Keselowski, of course, won the championship last year. He missed the Chase this season; much in part due to the 10 finishes outside the top 20 he suffered (he had four finishes outside the top 20 all of last season).

Still, he and Penske have that playoff pedigree – and will surely impart some of that wisdom on the Logano and the No. 22 team (this is Logano’s first season with Penske Racing). A member of the Penske Racing stable has made the Chase in each of the past five seasons.

 

Harvick’s Not Alone In The Chase

When the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway with the GEICO 400, Kevin Harvick will be the lone representative in NASCAR’s postseason from Richard Childress Racing. His teammates at RCR, Jeff Burton and Paul Menard, both failed to make the playoffs.

Harvick, however, won’t be completely alone.

Harvick and Kurt Busch, who drove Furniture Row Racing’s No. 78 Chevrolet into a Chase berth – the first time for a single-car team – will help each other out over the season’s final 10 races.

 “They’ve always been helpful. I would say it’s going to be business as usual. We’ll expect to be there to do our part, to help the 29,” answered Busch when asked about how Furniture Row Racing’s alliance with RCR will benefit him in the Chase. “Right now it’s the 29 and the 78 coming out of that situation.”

Not only has Harvick worked with Busch because of their teams’ partnership, the two veteran drivers are both leaving their respective teams at the end of the season to join Stewart-Haas Racing.

With the points reset, Harvick sits fourth in the standings on the strength of two regular-season wins (Richmond and Charlotte, which is in the Chase). In 205 starts at tracks in this year’s Chase, he has 10 wins, 41 top fives and 95 top 10s. 

In six previous appearances in the postseason, Harvick has compiled three wins, 13 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes in the final 10 races of the season as a Chase contender. His highest position in the final standings is third place in 2010 and 2011. 

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Etc.  

Justin Allgaier will make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend, driving the No. 51 Brandt Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing. Currently fifth in NASCAR Nationwide Series points, Allgaier is the 10th different driver to pilot the No. 51 car in 2013. He has three career wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. … In Richmond, Jeff Gordon won his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season. In doing so, he has now won at least one pole in 21 consecutive seasons, a NASCAR Sprint Cup record. He also became the 16th different pole winner this season.