2014 Finale Preview

Review: NASCAR's Final Four Drivers of 2014

By Richard Tix

It seems like just like the 2014 season just started and Dale Earnhardt Jr was winning his second Daytona 500. Yet, we find ourselves with only one race left in the season. NASCAR's finale in its new Chase format heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Four drivers remain after an exciting 9 race Chase to get to the championship race at Miami where the highest finisher of the four wins the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship. Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman all will fight it out for the chance to become a first time Sprint Cup Champion. Each driver made it to this point differently, making there stories all the more interesting. So, lets take a look at each driver's path to the Championship and how they have done at Homestead in there careers.

If you want to check out the full race preview (not just the Chase drivers), check out Week 36 Preview: Homestead.

Kevin Harvick and his #4 team has been one of the fastest car's throughout the entire 2014 season. Harvick, entering his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, has turned the table in his career with his new team. Harvick got to the final four on speed and wins. In 2014 Harvick won 5 races before Miami, including last week at Phoenix where he has won four of the last five races. Even more important, the win was the thing that locked him into this last race. Another huge key to his season that can't be overlooked is the swapping of pit crews to start the Chase with Tony Stewart. His crew hasn't has as many hiccups as his original team did throughout the regular season. 

Homestead Stats:

Races: 13

Wins: 0

Top 5: 5

Top 10: 11

Pole: 0

Avg Finish: 8.1

Harvick doesn't have a win at Miami in his 13 starts here, but he does have the second best average finish of any current Cup driver (only Carl Edwards is better). So, add that with the fact that Harvick has been fast all season and he has a good shot at leaving the 2014 Sprint Cup Champion. Of course, it may come down to who wins the race, but if a Chase racer doesn't win the race Harvicks high finish may help him out. He does have straight top 10's going right now at Miami.

Joey won the 7th race of the season (Texas) and then won again two races later, which pretty much locked him into the Chase no matter what crazy outcome happened along the way. Logano didn't stop there as he put up 5 wins before this weeks race at Miami, which is second only to Penske teammate Brad Keselowski. 2013 was Joey's first year with Penske and he started to turn a corner, well 2014 was that corner and he truly made himself into a title contender. Joey started the Chase off with 5 straight top 4's including two wins. He had to fight his way back into the Chase final at Phoenix, but he did it and now has a chance to mark his spot as a Champion.

Homestead Stats:

Races: 5

Wins: 0

Top 5: 0

Top 10: 1

Pole: 1

Avg Finish: 20.8

When it comes to Logano's short career you may have to look past his career stats at Miami. Whats important to look at is how fast he has been this year and that his finishes here have been getting better (2011-19th, 2012-14th, and 2013-8th). So, just because he doesn't have a long history here, I wouldn't count him out just yet.

Coming into 2014 I thought Denny Hamlin would have a bounce back year (heck, I thought JGR would be strong in general). Most of the season my prediction didn't look promising, but then the Chase rolled around and Denny did just enough to keep advancing. Looking at his stats for the season you would say, no way Denny should be here, but the new system is open to making it to the final in many different ways. If you think back to 2012, Denny was a rising star in NASCAR, so I think even in his down year, it is good to see him here in Miami with a chance.

Homestead Stats:

Races: 9

Wins: 2

Top 5: 4

Top 10: 5

Pole: 0

Avg Finish: 11.2

Denny Hamlin is the only driver remaining in the Chase to have a win at Miami (two wins to be exact). That has to give him a great mental edge heading into the final race of 2014. Heck, in 2013 when he was trying to recover from an early season injury he left Miami the last winner of the season. Could he do it again? If he does, he will leave a first time Sprint Cup Champion.

To the majority of NASCAR fans, Newman is the most controversial Chase Finalist. That's because he enters Miami without a single win in 2014. I am not going to use this spot to hold my stance that NASCAR wanted wins to mean more (and they do), but win's dont mean everything. This Chase makes certain you can make the finals in many other ways. One of those ways? Being consistent like Newman without many devastating finishes. 22nd, 24th, 31st, and 41st are the only finishes Newman had out of the top 20. 25  He may only have 5 top 5's on the season, but he has 25 top 15's (meaning not many terrible finishes) in 35 races, plus 15 top 10's. If anything, this Chase system is showing that not only is winning more valuable (Harvick made it in by winning, BK made it to the Eliminator round by a win at Talladega, and most the Chasers got into the Chase because of a win), but also that consistency and points days can still be used to a drivers advantage. Is he more deserving than Havrick, Logano, Gordon (out), Keselowski (out)? Maybe not, but when has life and sports always been fair? It's all about taking advantage of the opportunity in front of you. This has been Newman's opportunity, can he take full advantage?

Homestead Stats:
Races: 12
Wins: 0
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 4
Pole: 0
Avg Finish: 17

Homestead hasn't been Newman's best track over his career. Most of this is due to a rough stretch from 2006-2009. In the last four years he has gone every other race having a quality finish (7, 12, 3, and 17). If you go by that theory then Newman might have a shot at another good finish. Newman is not only the long shot because he doesn't have a win in 2014, but also because the other three drivers seem to have a brighter outlook for Miami. However, he has made it this far, will the Cinderella slipper continue to fit?


There you have it NASCAR fans. Four drivers, one title, and all it takes is just one race. You can imagine every team will be laying it out on the line. For these four drivers, every lap, every pit stop, every strategic call could mean the difference in being the Champion or finishing 2-4th in points.

Thanks again for checking out NASCAR Behind the Wall. Check back in for the review and all offseason for NASCAR news!

Chasing History

By Richard Tix

Richard "The King" Petty. Dale "The Intimidator " Earnhardt. Two names that come to mind when you think NASCAR Champions, and for good reason because both have won a NASCAR record 7 Championships. Now for the first time since the start of the 1994 season when Dale won his last Championship, we have a driver in NASCAR looking to join the 7-Time club.

Jimmie Johnson will forever be a driver remembered for dominating the 2000's but will he also be remembered as a 7-Time Champion, or dare I say (sorry Dale and Petty fans, close your eyes) the all time NASCAR Champion leader?

Whether you love or hate Jimmie Johnson all it takes is one look at his career and notice he has been a force since he started driving. Jimmie Johnson may have come into NASCAR and been given a key to a Ferrari (or a Hendrick car) but he has done just about as much as you can do with that. Many other drivers have come and gone as part of the Hendrick team and not have near the success that Jimmie has, which says one thing, he can win. Haters will still hate, but year after year he proves once again that when he is done in NASCAR you will have to remember his name.

Every year he has run a full schedule he has at least 3 wins (except 2011 when he had 2). In those same years he has averaged 5.5 wins a season. Jimmie Johnson is into a crazy category of Champions where it is hard to pick his best season as a Cup driver. Most fans may look to 2007 (his second Championship) because he won 10 races, had 20 top 5's, and 24 top 10's, but past that you can argue a handful of years. The sad thing after you try to pick one, you realize you are picking from a bunch of Championship years and not just some really good seasons that ended up in a second place finish.

So now its 2014 and Jimmie Johnson is once again on top, but can he win another one right away? Tony Stewart will be coming back from his injury and wanted to regain his 2011 form when he stole a Championship from JJ after JJ had won 5 straight (NASCAR record 5 straight). Brad Keselowski had a roller coaster season in 2013 after winning a Championship in 2012 and is as close to a "rival" to Johnson as anyone. Add into the mix that it seems parity is starting to hit NASCAR and it might be a tough feat just to get to 7.

In the coming years NASCAR's landscape will change and in perfect time to see how JJ will handle it. He has handled everything that has come his way so how will a bunch of veterans entering there prime (Carl Edwards, Brad K, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, etc, etc) and new young guns (Ricky Steinhouse, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaire, Kyle Larson, Parker Kligerman, etc, etc) hungry to take him down affect how easy it is for JJ to dominate? I think that JJ faces a tough task trying to get to number 7 and 8, but that is what will make it even better for him. If he can get at least two more Championships fans will have to start recognizing him whether they like it or not.

Let me know on Twitter what you think! Will he get/pass Dale and Petty? Are you a JJ Follower or hater? Do you think its all Hendrick or there has to be more to him?

(Note: As a fan I am not a follower of JJ, nor am I a hater. I do respect what he has done so far in his career and am interested to see how it continues to shape up)

Take a look at these NASCAR Behind the Wall Articles as well:

• Driver Spotlight: Joey Logano
• Driver Spotlight: Denny Hamlin
• Driver Spotlight: Kevin Harvick
• Driver Spotlight: Dale Earnhardt Jr
• Happy New Year: NASCAR Addition
• NASCAR World Top Stories: December
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Headlines 2014

Week 27 Preview (Chase Race One)

Chase Race One: Chicagoland Speedway

Well this week has been a world wind of allegations and information that has left the Nascar community with spinning heads. With the dust settling and fans finding out that Martin Truex Jr was out and Ryan Newman is in we head to Chicagoland for the Chases first race.

Lucky for the Chase drivers Tony Stewart is not running, he has 10 top tens in 12 career starts at Chicagoland.  Also, the most recent winner here is not in the chase this year, that would be last years Champion Brad Keselowski.

So the question is, who has the upper hand in the first Chase race?  Lets take a look at that question in Good, Middle, and Bad this week (Only guys in the Chase). You can also check out last years Chase race at Chicagoland here.

The Good:

• Jimmie Johnson- He has 9 career top 10's in 11 career starts here and 6 top 5's, but JJ has yet to win at this track. Will this be the year he gets a win here, or will his Championship quest start out like all the rest have?
• Kevin Harvick- Well you could say Harvick is good here, he does have 2 wins, 6 top 5's, and 7 top 10's in his 12 race career here. I would say he has a great shot at getting a hot start to the Chase.
• Ryan Newman- Newman has won a Pole here, Won a race here, finished in the top 10, and top 10. He has done it all and has a career average finish of 14.9 in 11 starts.

The Middle:

• Clint Bowyer-Bowyer (Mr. Intentional Spin) has 6 top 10's in his 7 starts here, yet only one time has he finished inside the top 5. He is consistent, but he will need to push for the front if he wants to push for a title again.

The Bad:

• Greg Biffle- The Biff has 1 top 10 in his 10 starts at Chicagoland. That isn't good news to the one guy most fans are writing off as a non contender. To his defense, he does have 3 11th place finishes and a 13th place finish, so it isn't out of sight to get a top 10.

The Unlucky: (Best driver's at Chicagoland that did not make the Chase)

• Jeff Gordon- As of this article Gordon is not in the Chase (right now you never know). Jeff has 12 starts here, 7 of them being top 10's, 6 top 5's, and 1 win (plus a Pole). I can see Gordon making a big run this year during the Chase and showing Nascar fans what theyre missing out on with the #24 team missing the Chase.

Who I like here for the top 5

• Ryan Newman
• Jeff Gordon
• Kasey Kahne
• Clint Bowyer
• Jimmie Johnson

Dark Horse I like for a run at the top 10?

• Brain Vickers- Maybe even a top 5

Well after this week we will get our first taste of how the Chase will break down. This is not a make or break race but it will help mold the field. Nascar Behind the Wall's review most likely will not be up until late next week as I will be out of town on a fishing trip in Northern Minnesota.