Crunch time for Chase top 12
There are seven more races until the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship begins and drivers outside of the top 12 are starting to feel the pressure. With only 116 point separating the 13th from the 16th spots everyone has begun speculating which drivers currently on the outside of the 12 have a shot at making it into the elite club.
There are never any guarantees on these fast speedways and a favourite can easily be swept away to finish last, missing out on the 10-race showcase at the end of the season. There has been enough heartbreak for fans in seasons past for them to know not to get their hopes up too high; a lot can happen in 26 races, particularly in the last one – the cut off race before the post season Chase begins.
This year Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne is one of four drivers in reach of the final 12. He is 120 away from making the post season race, and realistically any driver behind Kahne shouldn’t get their hopes up for the 2010 Chase. Seeing as Kahne, 30, will be moving to Hendrick Motorsports next season, getting into the Chase would be a fitting way to say goodbye to Richard Petty Motorsports.
Kahne has only one top-five and one top-10 finish, while he has lead 12 out of the 1,340 laps he has run. The Chicagoland Speedway race marked the halfway point for the season, now during the break in the race schedule this week Kahne will be resting and gearing up for the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track that he has won on, but also a track that has given him trouble in the past.
Ryan Newman is also hoping to drive his #39 Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala into the final Chase 12. He finished the 2009 season in ninth place for points with his first year team Stewart Haas Racing. Newman has won the Chase in the past; in 2003 when driving for Penske Motorsports in a Dodge. He finished in 26th place at Daytona’s “Big One” during the Coke Zero 400, and did at little better at Chicagoland finishing in 22nd place, but Newman is going to have to push the pedal to the floor if he wants a spot.
This week at Indianapolis is his best shot at securing some much needed points. He doesn’t have a great track record here; Newman finished in fourth place back in 2004 but hasn’t placed better than that since.
Clint Bowyer missed the Chase last year but the Richard Childress Racing driver doesn’t want to let another year go by without his name in the top 12. It has become his personal goal to get into the post season race, and considering he is only 49 points away from 12th place, Bowyer needs a couple more good finishes to cement his place in the Chase.
Bowyer had a great run at Chicagoland last weekend, finishing in fourth place to add an 11th top-10 finish to his record. He boasts of a 15th place average start and a 12.5 average finish. He has completed all laps contested in the 1.5 mile Indianapolis track so it shouldn’t be hard for Bowyer to drive his way into the final.
Mark Martin couldn’t defend his title in the victory lane from the 2009 Chicagoland race. He came in 15th last Saturday driving the No.5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. Martin won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series last year but currently ranks 13th in the standings, a mere 39 points behind 12 place Carl Edwards.
Martin has scored five top-five and six top-10 finishes during the first half of the season. He hasn’t had a lap on victory lane yet, compared to last year when he had three. The 2.5 mile Indianapolis track isn’t Martin’s favourite, and he will have to work up some kind of game plan to unseat Edwards.
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