Almirola, Allmendinger: 2014 Chase underdogs?

While Jim Carrey’s character in the 1994 comedy classic was given a million-to-one shot, Allmendinger and Almirola hope their chances at postseason glory rate much better when the 11th Chase opens with Sunday’s MyAFibStory.com 400 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Chicagoland Speedway.

Both drivers took full advantage of the new Chase eligibility rules in place for 2014, converting regular-season wins into playoff berths. But the breakthrough was even more momentous, as both Allmendinger and Almirola sashayed into the Chase with their first career victories in NASCAR’s premier series.

For Allmendinger, his path to the Chase came through a thrilling duel with Marcos Ambrose a month ago at Watkins Glen International, marking the first victory and first postseason appearance for the JTG-Daugherty No. 47 team. Now that the Chase is here, Allmendinger insists the team is loose, with nothing to lose over the next 10 races.

“We’ll just go out there, and it’s no different than any other weekend,” Allmendinger said. “There’s no pressure on us. You know, people talk about pressure to win a championship. No one expected us to be in the Chase, so we’re playing with house money. We’re just going to go out there and try to do our best, and maybe shock some people.”

Almirola vaulted into the playoff picture with a rain-plagued victory in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July. Last weekend at Richmond, Almirola lauded his Richard Petty Motorsports crew for turning what he called a 20th-place car into a 10th-place result, setting the tone for what he hopes is a productive postseason.

“Hopefully, we can keep this consistency going and we’re going to just let it all rip when we get to the Chase,” Almirola said. “We don’t have a lot of pressure on us. I don’t think anybody expected us to be in the Chase, and I feel like we’re pretty big underdogs so it’s going to be fun for us the next 10 weeks. We’re excited about the opportunity and are just going to try to make the most of it.”

With both first-time winners bracing for their first Chase, the first order of business is the opening stage of eliminations, coming after the three races — Chicagoland, New Hampshire, Dover — that compose the Challenger Round. In looking ahead, Allmendinger expressed a penchant for Dover, even though his career statistics (average finish, 22.8) might seem to refute the fondness. Either way, Allmendinger said his soft spot for Dover won’t matter if he opens the Chase with a thud.

“Ultimately, we’ve got to unload good at Chicago and we’ve got to have a good weekend,” said Allmendinger, who added that the JTG-Daugherty team has leaned on its alliance with Richard Childress Racing to help get its three best cars ready for the next three battles. “I feel like if we go to Chicago, have a strong weekend, run in the top 15, get a top-10 maybe, that’s just going to kick-start us for the next two races. Chicago right now is the only race on my schedule and the most important race. Then we’ll go from there.”

For Almirola’s RPM No. 43 team, the approach is to be as methodical and error-free as possible to advance to the Contender Round.

“I think the big thing for us is we can’t go into the next three races throwing Hail Marys,” Almirola said. “We’ve got to go in there and be consistent, run as competitively as we possibly can and execute flawlessly. We’ve got to try to get out of the next three races with the absolute best finish that we can, whether that’s a 12th, a fifth, a 10th … but we’ve got to run competitively, run up front, and we’ve got to be perfect to be able to advance from round to round.”

While the top seeds and multiple winners have garnered their share of the headlines as the Chase looms, Allmendinger said he’s preferred to fly under the radar in hopes that a Cinderella surprise is around the corner.

“The way I look at it, the less people talk about me and mention me and the less I’m known, it’s way easier to go shock them when we do it,” Allmendinger said. “They didn’t expect us to go to Watkins Glen and win the race; they didn’t expect us to be in the Chase, so to be an underdog is right where I want to be.

“I don’t care what other people say. It’s all about what we believe in, and we believe we can go there and do some good things in this Chase.”

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