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Sprint Cup Chase Race Week 1
Week 27
By Richard Tix
Well the 2014 regular season is over. NASCAR saw 13 different winners during a 26 race stretch including a NASCAR leading four by Brad Keselowski. None of that matters anymore (other then the fact drivers get bonus points to start the Chase for having wins) now that the slate is clean.
The first three races will decide the top 12 for the remaining 7 races where it will start to get interesting. Unfortunately guys like Almirola and Allmendinger may need to pull of a crazy win to move onto races 4-6 of the Chase.
Drama should get ramped up each and every round as guys fight to move on to the next stage. Will Jeff Gordon get his 5th Championship? Will Jimmie Johnson dominate again? Could Dale Earnhardt Jr win his first? Can Matt Kenseth finally win in 2014? Will a young Joey Logano compete for a title just two years after being cast off from JGR? Will BK win his second title in 3 years? This is just the tip of the iceberg of all the questions that could be asked and will be answered during the next 10 races.
The first three races will decide the top 12 for the remaining 7 races where it will start to get interesting. Unfortunately guys like Almirola and Allmendinger may need to pull of a crazy win to move onto races 4-6 of the Chase.
Drama should get ramped up each and every round as guys fight to move on to the next stage. Will Jeff Gordon get his 5th Championship? Will Jimmie Johnson dominate again? Could Dale Earnhardt Jr win his first? Can Matt Kenseth finally win in 2014? Will a young Joey Logano compete for a title just two years after being cast off from JGR? Will BK win his second title in 3 years? This is just the tip of the iceberg of all the questions that could be asked and will be answered during the next 10 races.
The Good, Middle, and Bad
(This week, stats are included from all Chicago races. 13 races since 2001)
The Good
- Kevin Harvick- Harvick won the first two Cup races at Chicago (2001 and 2002). Since, he has 6 top 10's and 5 top 5's on his way to a career average finish position of 9.9 in the 13 career Chicago races.
- Jimmie Johnson- He has yet to win at Chicago in 12 tries, but he does have 10 top 10's and 7 top 5's in that time. Unless he is caught up in a crash he is pretty much a lock for the top 10 in his career.
- Brad Keselowski- He has a short track record here, but in 5 attempts he has a win, 2 top 5's, and 3 top 10's. All of those stats came in the #2 and while with Penske. He also is coming off a win at Richmond and would love a hot start to the Chase.
The Middle
- Clint Bowyer- Bowyer has only run 8 races at Chicago but has 7 top 10's already to his name. He has yet to finish of the lead lap in all 8 races. At the same time he only has 1 top 5 and has only lead 8 total laps in 8 races. Unfortunately he will not be apart of the Chase talks as he missed out to Newman and Biffle.
The Bad
- Jamie McMurray- Two top 10's in 11 career races at Chicago for McMurray. He hasn't run well here lately either with finishes of 19, 21, and 38th in his last 3.
- Marcus Ambrose- Ambrose hasn't finished worse then 28th in his 5 starts at Chicago, but he also hasn't finished top 10. In those 5 races he has only two top 15 finishes.
- Greg Biffle- Biffle has started in the top 10 6 times in 11 races here, but only has 1 top 10. So, the big issue here is actually finishing, maybe he should call up the "closer" for this race? Biffle just needs to avoid a terrible finish so he doesn't kill his chances of moving on.
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