Monday, August 11, 2014

2014 Week 22 Chase Standings

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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