NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup begins Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. The field was set Saturday at Richmond International Speedway in a race won by Kevin Harvick, who is tied with Kyle Busch for first place in the Sprint Cup standings. A look at the 12 drivers in the field for the 10-race. season-ending Chase:
Busch
He took over the top spot when the points were reset after Saturday’s regular-season finale. His four victories give him 12 bonus points, but he also appears to be riding a wave of momentum. At Richmond, he raced his way from the back of the pack to score a solid finish. “We had to battle through more adversity than we would have liked to, but that’s what’s going to make us better,” he said.
Harvick
After a mediocre summer, the No. 29 team went back to the set-ups they were running earlier in the year and appear to be poised to challenge for the title. “We went back and looked at the races that we felt like we were the fastest at the beginning of the year, and we put that stuff in at Atlanta and we ran in the top 5 all day and came [to Richmond] and did the things we traditionally do,” he said.
Jeff Gordon (minus-3)
He has been the hottest driver on the circuit the past three weeks and shows no signs of slowing down. “To win three races [so far this season], to run the way we have and just gain the momentum, have a shot at winning [at Richmond]. Man, this team could not be more pumped and excited about getting this Chase started,” he said. “And Chicago is a great track for us.”
Matt Kenseth (minus-6)
Richmond was, in his words, “a disaster,” but he has been fast in recent weeks and has momentum entering the Chase. “We didn’t finish all those races up there, but we had three kind of different tracks, and I thought we had a top-three or -four car at all three of those tracks,” he said. “I know we got top 10s, but I knew we needed to do a little better than that.”
Carl Edwards (minus-9)
He said he’s poised to make a run for the championship after a strong run at Richmond. He also has taken care of any possible distractions by getting his contract negotiations out of the way. “We really turned things around [at Richmond],” he said. “That’s the best we’ve run on the short track in years, so that was huge.”
Jimmie Johnson (minus -9)
As he prepares to make a run for a record sixth consecutive title, he’s in a high-profile feud with fellow Chase driver Kurt Busch. Fans and fellow drivers enjoy the conflict, but Johnson needs to put the feud aside as quickly as possible or risk letting it spoil his Chase hopes. “I think it’s going to be a great Chase for the fans, exciting ones for the drivers this year,” he said. “I think it’s real difficult to pick a clear favorite.”
Kurt Busch (minus-9)
He seems to enjoy trying to play mind games with Johnson, and his Penske Dodge team, including teammate Brad Keselowski, has come on strong this season. “We always get to answer questions that maybe we’re behind the eight ball by only having two Dodges out there, but we put both of them in the Chase,” he said. “Both guys now have a shot at the championship.”
Ryan Newman (minus-9)
After missing the Chase last year, he and his veteran crew chief Tony Gibson been rock solid this season. Of Gibson and his crew, he said “Pit stops have been much better, communication has been much better. We just really have to shine up everything and sharpen our pencils and make sure we’ve got everything ready to go for the next 10 races.”
Tony Stewart (minus-12)
With just three top-five finishes this season, he’s had a subpar season, but he has picked up the pace in the past few weeks. He said he likes his underdog position. “It’s the least amount of pressure for us than any other teams out there right now,” he said. “I feel like the last two weeks it’s kind of shown what this team is capable of and the strength behind it to be in this kind of a clutch situation and get ourselves in [the Chase].”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (minus-12)
His three top-five and nine top-10 finishes are the fewest of any Chase driver. He barely made the cut, and his team at this point does not look like a title contender. “We had a pretty good run at it going the first 15 races, and for whatever reason we sort of fell off and forgot some things or over-engineered something,” he said.
Keselowski (minus-12)
He has been the surprise story of the season, with three wins, two of them coming after he broke an ankle in a crash while testing at Road Atlanta. He’s one of the two wild-card drivers, so he gets no bonus points as the standings are reset. He said he and his team still have some work to do. “If we can find a little bit more speed I feel like we can be a serious contender in the championship,” he said. “We’re doing a good job executing. I feel like we’re out-finishing what we’ve got for speed, and that’s what good teams do.”
Denny Hamlin (minus-12)
After coming so close to winning the title in 2010, he has stumbled through the regular season and barely squeaked into the Chase by way of the final wild-card spot. “There’s only one place to go from where we’re at right now, and that’s forward,” he said. “We’re very fortunate to be here, obviously, with the tough season that we’ve had.”
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