Wilder and wilder.

Wilder and wilder.

That’s how Kasey Kahne’s New Hampshire victory, his second of the season, makes the battle for two "wild card" entries into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. Kahne broke apart a four-way deadlock of drivers ranked 11^th through 20^th with one win apiece. Is it enough to lock the Washington driver into the Chase? Kahne isn’t taking any chances. He thinks three wins is an even better insurance policy.

Nothing is certain with seven races remaining until the post-season lineup is set, but drivers currently holding a top-10 position have plenty of breathing room. It’s crowded between fifth and 10^th places – only 15 points separates Denny Hamlin (currently in fifth) and Brad Keselowski (10^th) – but everyone else is virtually one race worth of points or more out of a lock-in.

Junior keeps on rolling. His 19^th lead-lap finish is a record to begin a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. For Carl Edwards, his rocky ride continues. Without a win in more than 50 starts and laps led in just two races this season, Edwards needs some magic – and quickly.

Drivers and team members will scatter to the four winds with this week signaling the final hiatus of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Action picks up July 29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Paul Menard is the defending winner.

Jeff Gordon, however, will make the longest trip; all the way to East Africa. Gordon’s foundation is joining a host of global figures including former U.S. President Bill Clinton in opening Rwanda’s first cancer screening center on Wednesday, July 18.

No rest for the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors, who join for a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader at Chicagoland Speedway on July 21-22. The NASCAR Nationwide race is the first of two races at the track for the series, which returns for the opening Chase weekend Sept. 15-16, along with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Chicagoland marks round No. 2 of the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Dash4Cash that pays a $100,000 bonanza for the top finishing of four who qualified via last weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Austin Dillon collected the first 100K with a third-place finish.

Last year’s June race saw Justin Allgaier run out of fuel on the final lap and carry just enough momentum to edge former NNS champion Edwards, whose tank similarly ran dry. Sunday’s race will be broadcast live by ESPN beginning at 3 p.m. EDT.

A first-time track winner at Saturday night’s (SPEED, 8 p.m. EDT) race is a guarantee as neither Kyle Busch (2009-10) nor Austin Dillon (2011) are expected to compete.

There have been eight different winners in the season’s first nine races with points leader Timothy Peters joining the Victory Lane party over the weekend at Iowa Speedway.

Iowa’s first of two 2012 races saw Ron Hornaday Jr. finish second – his best performance since joining Joe Denette Motorsports. The four-time NASCAR Camping World Truck champion finished third at Chicagoland in 2010 and 10^th last September.