Chase Standings After 22 Races
By Richard Tix
Well, the last few weeks I have started this standings article off with stating "another repeat winner in 2014." After Watkins Glen I can not say the same. AJ Allmendinger punched his ticket to the Chase and threw some extra incentive towards the drivers trying to get in on points.
Race to the Chase Standings
|
|||||
Rank
|
Driver
|
Wins
|
Points
|
Pts Back
|
Last Week
|
1
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr
|
3
|
773
|
1
|
|
2
|
Brad Keselowski
|
3
|
696
|
2
|
|
3
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
3
|
650
|
3
|
|
4
|
Jeff Gordon
|
2
|
768
|
4
|
|
5
|
Joey Logano
|
2
|
671
|
5
|
|
6
|
Carl Edwards
|
2
|
658
|
6
|
|
7
|
Kevin Harvick
|
2
|
645
|
7
|
|
8
|
Kyle Busch
|
1
|
615
|
8
|
|
9
|
Denny Hamlin
|
1
|
552
|
9
|
|
10
|
Kurt Busch
|
1
|
539
|
11
|
|
11
|
Aric Almirola
|
1
|
532
|
10
|
|
12
|
AJ Allmendinger
|
1
|
525
|
26
|
|
13
|
Matt Kenseth
|
0
|
703
|
12
|
|
14
|
Ryan Newman
|
0
|
645
|
13
|
|
15
|
Kyle Larson
|
0
|
635
|
15
|
|
16
|
Clint Bowyer
|
0
|
634
|
14
|
|
17
|
Greg Biffle
|
0
|
626
|
-8
|
16
|
18
|
Kasey Kahne
|
0
|
622
|
-12
|
17
|
19
|
Austin Dillon
|
0
|
616
|
-18
|
18
|
20
|
Marcus Ambrose
|
0
|
584
|
-50
|
20
|
21
|
Paul Menard
|
0
|
574
|
-60
|
19
|
22
|
Brian Vickers
|
0
|
573
|
-61
|
21
|
23
|
Jamie McMurray
|
0
|
566
|
-68
|
23
|
24
|
Tony Stewart
|
0
|
537
|
-97
|
22
|
25
|
Casey Mears
|
0
|
516
|
-118
|
24
|
Its easy to see and widely known that the big winner this week was AJ Allmendinger after he got his first ever Sprint Cup win. With his first win it also means it will be the first time he makes the Chase. So no one can take the big winner or big mover award from AJ this week.
However, guys like Kyle Larson and Greg Biffle had very productive Sundays. Larson's late run left him finishing 4th and better yet keeping his spot in the Chase standings. He now has a small 9 point lead over Biffle. Biffle on the other hand had a good run after finishing 8th at WGI. NASCAR now moves onto Michigan International Speedway where Biffle and Roush Fenway Racing are usually dominate (first time at MIS this year that was not the case).
The biggest looser? I would say Paul Menard. Menard really doesn't have a great shot at winning the rest of the way, and he fell behind early. His struggles have left him falling out of the points position and looking up at a tough task (60 points).
All the non winners took a huge hit this week with AJ jumping them and leaving them fighting for one less spot. The intensity should continue to ramp up every time one of these guys has a shot at a win or a quality finish and they will no doubt take some extra risks.
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