Regardless of the means he took to get there, Logano has now won back-to-back Chase races and sits pretty as the only driver who knows he’ll still be title-eligible a week from now.
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Joe Gibbs Racing
Hamlin and Co. went into Kansas — a self-admitted bad track for the 11 team — and came away second. It’s hard to picture the Joe Gibbs Racing driver not racing for a championship at Homestead.
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Harvick ran into issues at Kansas and still comes away fifth in points. For a sometimes snake-bitten No. 4 team — they’ll take it.
Busch has come a long way from a suspension to start the season — he’s currently third in points and one of the most comfortable drivers heading into Talladega.
Two straight top-10 finishes in two important races for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver have the No. 19 team in exceptional shape as long they can stay out of trouble at Talladega.
Say what you want about a lack of impressive stats for Gordon in his final year, but guess what? He’s still title-eligible and led 47 laps at Talladega earlier this year.
MORE: Gordon on Kansas finish
Martin Truex Jr. talked a big game before Sunday’s race — something we don’t usually see him do — but he failed to live up to it. Still, he’s a good bet to continue on after Talladega.
Team Penske
We saw Keselowski win at Talladega when his back was against the wall last season. The situation isn’t as dire for the No. 2 driver this year, but expect a primetime performance from the 2012 champ.
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Joe Gibbs Racing
Looking to make up for last year’s disaster at Talladega that saw him lose a Chase spot despite having a comfortable cushion heading into the race, Busch should be a force this weekend at the Alabama track.
MORE: Busch on Chase Bubble
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Newman is currently on the outside looking in, but with the only predictable thing about Talladega being that it’s unpredictable, there’s a good chance he can land a top 15 finish. That is, only if the drivers ahead of him run into issues (which is very possible).
Hendrick Motorsports
Junior knows he likely needs to win at Talladega to continue on in the Chase, but at least the spring winner has this going for him — his six wins at the track are tied for first among current drivers (Jeff Gordon).
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Hendrick Motorsports
Out but not down, the No. 48 team is going to continue to be a force and lead laps — taking opportunity away from other Chase-eligible drivers. He showed this at Kansas.
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Kenseth was this close to making a must-win situation at Talladega an afterthought, but Joey Logano had other plans. Now, Kenseth must pull off what the kids these days are calling a “Keselowski.”
It wasn’t that long ago that McMurray won this race as a non-Chaser. It’s not a stretch to say it could happen again — and imagine if it did under this format?
Menard actually led seven laps at Kansas, but his 19th-place finish was only mediocre. Still, it was better than Clint Bowyer’s finish, so he moves up.
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Stewart-Haas Racing
Bowyer’s last shot at a win at his home track will have to come for another team, as his final shot at the K.C. facility for Michael Waltrip Racing ended after he hit the wall with a force.
MORE: Bowyer hits wall hard