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.

Standings last week

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. 

2014 Week 21 Chase Standings

Chase Standings After 21 Races

By Richard Tix

Another repeat winner in 2014, this time is Dale Earnhardt Jr bringing home his third win of the 2014 season. Every race that goes by and a new driver doesn't win just means the points race heats up.

Race to the Chase Standings
Rank	Driver	Wins	Points	Pts Back	Last Week
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr	3	740		4
2	Brad Keselowski	3	687		1
3	Jimmie Johnson	3	633		2
4	Jeff Gordon	2	757		3
5	Joey Logano	2	633		6
6	Carl Edwards	2	618		5
7	Kevin Harvick	2	608		7
8	Kyle Busch	1	611		8
9	Denny Hamlin	1	532		9
10	Aric Almirola	1	506		10
11	Kurt Busch	1	488		11
12	Matt Kenseth	0	668		12
13	Ryan Newman	0	642		13
14	Clint Bowyer	0	617		14
15	Kyle Larson	0	595		15
16	Greg Biffle	0	590		19
17	Kasey Kahne	0	589	-1	17
18	Austin Dillon	0	588	-2	16
19	Paul Menard	0	562	-28	18
20	Marcus Ambrose	0	541	-49	22
21	Brian Vickers	0	539	-51	20
22	Tony Stewart	0	537	-53	21
23	Jamie McMurray	0	536	-54	23
24	Casey Mears	0	487	-103	26
25	Martin Truex Jr	0	477	-113	25
26	AJ Allmendinger	0	477	-113	24
27	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	0	423	-167	27

*Pts Back= Points back from the last Chase spot

*Last Week= Where they were in the standings last week.

Greg Biffle was the big mover in the standings this week. This came after the #16 team chose to gamble and stay out. They were right on the edge of there fuel window but cautions came out and assured them they could make it. The caution's also meant that there gamble for the win would come short because on the restart Jr took back the lead. Even though the gamble didn't get them the win it did give them a "very good points day" (yes, that was said) which moved them into the Chase if the season ended today (16th). 

Since we already are talking about 16th in points, check out the fight for the last spots. 15th through 18th in the standings are separated by just 7 points. Remember when people said points no longer matter? Yeah, tell that to these guys.

When Paul Menard got caught up in the late wreck (when Denny Hamlin saved it) his day was not only all but over but it took a huge hit on his Chase hopes. He is only 28 points out, but climbing back just became harder.

Time is ticking for Tony Stewart. Its looking more and more like he will need a win to get into the Chase this season. If he doesn't, time will still be ticking for him to get a win in his 16th straight season (has at least one in every season in his career. 15 years). If he fails at both it will be tough to swallow.