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RELATED: See the Chase Grid


Story lines abound, and NASCAR.com’s Holly Cain and Zack Albert tackle three pressing topics as the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup enters the Round of 12 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

1.  What surprised you most from Dover weekend in terms of who advanced in the Chase elimination race and who did not?

Cain: I was surprised by the results in several areas, but more so by drivers who did not advance as expected. Like many, I believed Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson would advance well beyond the Round of 16. In fact, I had him in my Championship 4. I do believe he will win another race before the season is over. And perhaps I was being sentimental in expecting Tony Stewart to advance, but I still remember the amazing Chase charge in 2011 and saw the motivation in the three-time champion’s eyes after he won at Sonoma this summer.

Albert: Austin Dillon‘s advancement on the basis of pure consistency didn’t send shock waves through the ol’ surprise meter, but fate’s cruel hand for Chip Ganassi Racing did. To see both Larson and teammate Jamie McMurray ejected from the Chase field at least qualified as a mild stunner. It’s a solid dozen that remain, but Dover showed again how exacting this postseason format can be.


RELATED: Larson, McMurray ousted from Chase after Dover woes

2. With the points standings reset for the Chase Round of 12, all drivers resume with a clean slate. Are there any incentives you would add to enhance the current format?

Cain: A case could be made to give drivers who have won in the Chase a small points bonus in the ensuing round. But the equal reset given to all 12 drivers in the current format certainly increases the drama in a very different way from the Chase start, when regular-season wins are factored in. It’s the first time since the Daytona 500 green flag that the top-tier drivers are ranked evenly, and it should make the next three races even more dramatic.

Albert: It may not rate highly on the drama scale, but I’ve always maintained that the top points-earner during the regular season should be rewarded — nominally if not handsomely. A first-round bye might be a stretch, but a bigger bounty of points would offer a larger incentive for consistent performance over the opening 26 events. Offering bonus points through each elimination round would be an inviting enhancement, but keeping them out of the championship race — leaving the calculators at home — has valuable merits.

RELATED: Are added incentives for regular-season winners on horizon?

3. Among the remaining 12 Chase drivers, who’s your pick to win this weekend at Charlotte and lock in early in the Round of 8?

Cain: There’s a certain six-time champion who I believe will collect his eighth win at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. Jimmie Johnson has been close to wins already in the Chase only to fall victim to pit-road miscues — something uncharacteristic of his Hendrick Motorsports organization. You’ve got to think that will be cleaned up, and I believe there’s no one more motivated to remind naysayers why he is the modern era’s very best.

Albert: Is there any stopping the Truexpress? Wins in two of the first three Chase races have established the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota as a strong title favorite, and the team returns to the site of Truex’s crushing victory in the Coca-Cola 600 in May. Placing former Charlotte winners Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson under the heading of “sleepers” ranks as a testament to Truex’s formidable stature this season. Upcoming wild-card races at Talladega and Martinsville have the potential to derail the No. 78’s march; don’t count on that happening this weekend at Charlotte.


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RELATED: Chase Grid | Round of 12 outlook for every driver

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team have become accustomed to overcoming long odds.

It is not a situation the group particularly enjoys.

Timely victories have kept Harvick in title contention ever since NASCAR officials re-vamped the series’ Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format three years ago, adding an elimination element to the process.

In 2014, he faced a must-win situation at Phoenix International Raceway. He won, then went to Homestead the following week and beat Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano to capture his first Sprint Cup championship.

In 2015, he and his team needed a victory at Dover International Speedway, to advance out of the Round of 16. He won again. And once again made it all the way to the Championship 4, eventually finishing second to Kyle Busch.

Harvick didn’t need a win this past weekend at Dover – a victory the previous weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway had already guaranteed he and his team a berth in the Round of 12 – but when a broken track bar mount sidelined the black & white Chevrolet, the “what-ifs” came to mind.

RELATED: Early trouble sends Harvick to the garage at Dover

What if Harvick hadn’t won at New Hampshire? What if he had finished second? Had that been the case, based on the Dover results, it would have been Tony Stewart, the three-time series champion and co-owner of Harvick’s team, advancing and not Harvick.

“Good timing, that’s for sure,” Harvick said Tuesday during a round of media availabilities at NASCAR’s Charlotte headquarters.

“But I think that’s really how this whole deal has to go; no matter how fast your car is you still have to have things go your way as well.”

The ability to come through in the clutch says a lot about Harvick, 40, and the team led by crew chief Rodney Childers. It speaks to their ability to overcome adversity under pressure. It speaks to their individual talent, as well as the product they put on the race track.

“You’re only as good as the people you have around you,” Harvick said. “In my particular situation, you have a group of people that just take it to another level when we get into the Chase.”

RELATED: Harvick has been clutch in the Chase quite often

The preference, of course, would be for a team not to find itself in a must-win situation in the first place. But things happen. Parts break. Wrecks occur. That his team has managed to successfully navigate its way through the setbacks on so many occasions, Harvick said, has made the group stronger.

“We’ve definitely had our back against the wall more times than we probably should have,” he said, “but I think it’s also been great character builders for us … the past couple of years. It gives us a lot of experience in dealing with the pressures and things that come with the Chase. It’s a high pressure situation and you need to win races in order to keep moving on.”

And in today’s NASCAR, winning is everything. Win a race before the Chase, and you’re practically guaranteed a berth in the 16-team Chase field. Win a race in the Chase, and you move on to the next round.

Points play a pivotal role as well, but Harvick said he would rather control his own destiny than leave it up to the “points gods.”

Winning provides him that opportunity.

“There are just so many things on these cars that can go wrong,” he said. “You can get in an accident. You just never know.

“Everybody talks about Talladega but we could have a huge pileup on a restart like we did at Dover in the (spring) race. At Charlotte, Kansas, Martinsville, you could go anywhere and have that happen.

“You just have to look at it like any moment could be a bad moment and any moment could be a good moment. You need to capitalize on the good moments in order to control as many as you can.”

• The No. 4 team has seen no pit-road issues since making a change in its over-the-wall crew prior to this year’s Chase, and Harvick said Tuesday he has no regrets about voicing his concerns.

“This is a championship team,” he said. “We’ve won the championship. And it needs to be a championship team from the performance on the track, in the shop, on pit road and from the driver’s seat. That’s just the expectation that is out there. Those are the expectations that I have and those are the expectations I put on my guys and they put on each other.

“I believe there is some pretty thick skin on my team and they all know that we are there to be successful. It’s easier to talk about things when they aren’t going well than to let them progress. I have no problem being the bad guy; some people love me; some people hate me. It doesn’t bother me.”


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Dale Earnhardt Jr. again found himself in need of a substitute driver. Tony Stewart was there to answer the call.

 

Earnhardt Jr. was at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday for a Dale Jr. Foundation charity ride-along event. The problem: Earnhardt Jr. has not been cleared to drive by his doctors as he recovers from concussion-like symptoms. The event raises “quite a bit of money,” Junior said in a video posted to Twitter.

 

Never fear, ‘Smoke’ is here. The three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion volunteered to fill the seat so Tuesday’s event could go off without a hitch. Earnhardt Jr. posted the thank-you video below, calling Stewart a “good dude” for filling in.

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Chip Ganassi Racing‘s third annual socially driven “Sound Garage” event took place Tuesday night at the team shop — and pictures came in droves on social media channels.

 

The event, targeted toward millenials, featured a concert by New Politics, a Danish rock band that describes its sound as punk, pop and electronically induced dance rock. That was the centerpiece, but there was plenty more for fans and drivers alike.

 

What else made the event special? For starters, those in attendance needed a special code from Twitter or their own event invitation to get in the doors. And in the event’s terms and conditions, the first item stated that smart phones were encouraged due to it being a social event.

 

See below for some of the top scenes.

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RELATED: Follow NASCAR on Snapchat


Bringing race day to Snapchat users around the world, NASCAR has teamed up with the multimedia messaging app to host a Live Story from this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.


Snapchat users who are attending Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte can access the exclusive race weekend filter by snapping the snapcode above. 


On Tuesday, Front Row Motorsports driver Landon Cassill took over NASCAR’s official Snapchat account to reveal his ride for the Bank of America 500 (Sunday, noon ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Low and behold, the No. 38 driver is featuring Snapchat’s logo on his hood and has promised free tacos to his Snapchat followers if he wins this Saturday. 



This is the third time this season NASCAR has had Live Story, with the first two events being the Daytona 500 and Talladega’s spring race. To add NASCAR on Snapchat, click here or search for “NASCAR” when adding accounts by username.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Truex and his No. 78 team look unstoppable right now, and this weekend we go back to where it all started at Charlotte. The veteran won this year’s Coca-Cola 600 from the pole, leading 392 of 400 laps.

MORE: Truex dominates Dover

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
3
Team Penske

The 2013 Charlotte winner has had consistently strong finishes in the Chase’s first three races and, in other good news, Martin Truex Jr. finally drank some Miller Lite.


MORE: Truex finally accepts Brad’s beer

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
0
Joe Gibbs Racing

This would appear to be Busch’s weakest round coming up, but here’s a fact: "Rowdy" has led the most laps (907) at Charlotte among drivers with no wins there, and that’s still third overall. 


MORE: Busch first to move on among winless

Harvick should have a good opportunity to rebound at Charlotte, where he’s been exceptionally strong lately (seven straight top-10 finishes) and where he won this race on the way to his 2014 title.


MORE: Harvick goes down with mechanical issue

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
-1
Hendrick Motorsports

A penalty cost Johnson the lead at Dover, but he still advanced. Now, onto Charlotte, where he has seven wins and four poles.

MORE: Penalty costs Jimmie lead

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/chase-elliott/
ChaseElliott
1
Hendrick Motorsports

Anyone who expected the rookie to falter in the early going in his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was dead wrong. Elliott isn’t a favorite, but he’s in the title picture.


MORE: Another ‘A’ for Chase

Despite leading 105 laps at Loudon, it feels like Kenseth has been quiet this Chase. Expect that to change at Charlotte, where he’s known to make headlines and has the most career races (34) and top 10s (18) among Chasers, along with two wins.


MORE: See Kenseth’s Dover grade

Penske has also been somewhat quiet in the early going, but Logano swept this round last year and has the best average finish at Charlotte (9.5).


MORE: Penske flying under radar

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
0
Joe Gibbs Racing

Despite having a win at each of the other two tracks this round, Charlotte (12.4 avg. fin.) likely offers Hamlin’s best shot at a W in the Round of 12.


MORE: See Hamlin’s Dover grade

Edwards won the Coca-Cola 600 last season at Charlotte and his 10.9 average finish makes him among one of the drivers to watch this weekend.


MORE: See Edwards’ Dover grade

With a single win between all three tracks and no average finishes inside the top 15, pencil Busch in as a driver likely to be eliminated.


MORE: See Busch’s Dover grade

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
1
Richard Childress Racing

And here’s your Charlotte dark horse pick. Dillon has finished 16th or better in his five starts at the Queen City — his home city. Combine his success with the thrill-of-the-Chase stage and expect him to rise to at least a top five, if not more.


MORE: Dillon: ‘Man, we got it done’


Larson was — somewhat surprisingly — eliminated, but he would likely have not fared well in this round. His Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega numbers are dreadful, with four top 10s in 16 combined races.


MORE: Larson: ‘Christmas present for Austin’

Larson’s teammate, on the other hand, nearly got through a round that looked poor on paper for him, and sqaundered an opportunity to race in a round that has tracks at which he’s secured four of his career seven wins.


MORE: CGR duo ousted

Perhaps his Chase appearance was all smoke and mirrors, because Stewart’s brief title run never got going. All of a sudden there are now seven races left in the three-time champ’s career, and he’s out of contention.


MORE: Tony’s final title run cut short

With three finishes outside the top 20, Buescher never had a chance to advance in this round, but not many expected him to.


MORE: See Buescher’s Dover grade

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RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid 

Breaking down the full field for the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway:


1. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex dominated the first round of the Chase with two wins and a total of 360 laps led. The 78 team is a serious threat for the championship if its performance (and lack of bad luck/mistakes) continues. Grade: A+


2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch earned his third top-10 finish in the Chase with a runner-up effort Sunday. Add in 102 laps led in Dover and the defending Sprint Cup Series champion is doing what’s necessary to get back to Homestead. Grade: A


3. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott continues to knock on the door by putting in quiet but solid runs. In a format that has proven consistency can carry a driver through each round, Elliott certainly looks like he can be this year’s beneficiary. Grade: A


4. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski started on the pole and led seven laps, but was hardly a factor. Still, he was near the top of the leaderboard at the end, and the 2012 champion is still in Chase contention. Grade: A


5. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Unlike last weekend when he finished second, Kenseth put in an unassuming day to grab his third consecutive top-nine finish. He’ll move on in the Chase with a chance at that elusive second title. Grade: A-


6. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano rounded out the Penske pair with a sixth-place finish after starting fifth. He’ll move on to the Round of 12, which he dominated in the Chase last year with three straight victories. Grade: A –


7. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson found himself in contention for a victory for the second time in three Chase races before a mistake on pit road cost him — again. This time it was by his crew. If Johnson is going to advance into the Round of 8 for the first time, the No. 48 team needs to get buttoned up. Grade: A-


8. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Problems for Kyle Larson aided his cause, but Dillon rose to the occasion to advance in the Chase. The No. 3 solidly improved throughout the day and scored its first top 10 in the Chase. Grade: A


9. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin has been only hot or cold at Dover — with little in between — and Sunday was just his eighth top-10 finish in 22 starts. Grade: A-


10. Jeff Gordon, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. It took Gordon seven starts to earn a top 10 filling for Dale Earnhardt Jr this season. He also led seven laps during a cycle of green flag pit stops. Grade: A-


11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. The good news? Stenhouse steadily climbed the leaderboard on Sunday. The bad news? He hasn’t had a top-10 finish since Bristol in August. Grade: B+


12. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne was the worst of the Hendrick cars while finishing outside the top 10 for the first time in five races. Grade: B+


13. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart’s late-season slide continued with his seventh consecutive finish outside the top 10 — as well as his elimination from the Chase in his final season of full-time Sprint Cup driving. Grade: B


14. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards admittedly struggled in this first round of the Chase (with finishes of 15th, sixth and 14th) and has plenty of work to do if he’s going to keep up with his Toyota teammates from here on out. Grade: B


15. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. An unimpressive first round for Busch, who was the first car two laps down in Dover. Now it’s time to improve upon just two top-10 finishes in the last five races. Grade: B


16. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Through 29 races (30 straight if you go back to last season), Almirola has still not scored a top-10 finish. Grade: B-


17. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. After fighting for a spot in the Chase, Newman has been a non-story the last three weeks. He was up and down the leaderboard throughout the race, but wound up finishing around where he started (19th). Grade: B-


18. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Green flag pit stops helped Biffle lead seven laps. He ended the day the first car four laps down. Grade: B-


19. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Sunday was Allmendinger’s first top-20 finish at Dover since the spring 2012 race. Grade: B-


20. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne stayed out of trouble and now has two top-20 finishes in four career Dover starts. Grade: B-


21. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott earned a career-best Dover finish on Sunday in addition to picking up his first top-25 finish in six races. Grade: B-


22. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Pairing with crew chief Danny Stockman still has not brought the consistency or improvement Menard and company are looking for. Grade: C


23. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher’s best Chase finish wasn’t enough to carry the him through to the next round as the Cinderella story came to an end in Dover. Grade: B-


24. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer was oh-so close, but his streak of consecutive 22nd-place finishes ended at four Sunday. Grade: C


25. Kyle Larson, No. 42, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Lightning did not strike twice for Larson at Dover (where he finished second in May), as his Chase came to an end following repeated miscues. A power problem led to a pit road penalty and Larson later hit the wall to end up six laps down. Grade: C


26. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears has little to add to his Dover notebook after duplicating his finish from May. Grade: C


27. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto earned his best Dover finish in four starts there. Grade: C


28. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick now has finished 25th or worse in four of her nine Dover starts. Grade: C-


29. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill is now on a three-race streak of finishing 29th, nice. Grade: C-


30. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan was eight laps back and remains 31st in points. Grade: C-


31. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith was the first car nine laps down. Grade: C-


32. Ty Dillon, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing. Sunday was Dillon’s worst finish in his 10 Sprint Cup starts this season. Grade: C-


33. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett has not finished in the top 30 in the last four races. Grade: D


34. Timmy Hill, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Hill finished 14 laps off the pace. Grade: D


35. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Toyota, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished where he ran (35.33) throughout the event on Sunday. Grade: D


36. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Earnhardt finished 16 laps off the pace in his second Dover start. Grade: D


37. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Locked into the Round of 12 in the Chase after winning in New Hampshire, Harvick was unaffected by a broken track bar mount that led to him finishing 46 laps down. Grade: F


38. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney hit the wall hard off Turn 2 when he blew a tire on Lap 106. Grade: F


39. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise earned his sixth DNF of the season following a blown engine. Grade: F


40. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray went from looking like he had a spot in the Round of 12 to missing the cut after his engine expired on Lap 194. Grade: F

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Name: Jennifer
Current City: ​Temecula, California
Member since:  2008


Getting to know Jennifer


Q. Why did you join the Official NASCAR Fan Council?


“I wanted a chance to voice my opinion on this sport and to have an active role in giving fans a voice.” 


Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?


“NASCAR is special for me because it brings families together each weekend.”


Q: Do you have any favorite NASCAR memories or traditions?


“My Dad and I are season ticket holders at Auto Club Speedway. For one weekend every year we get to spend quality time together enjoying the excitement all around the track. Listening to the Anthem being sung, watching the flyover and cheering or booing drivers brings a smile to my face and making memories with my Dad tops it all.”


Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?


Driver: “Jamie McMurray“

Tracks: “Auto Club Speedway“

Memorabilia: “My 2 signed McMurray cars”


Q: If you could go to any NASCAR race/track, where would you go?


“Bristol for sure!!”     


Q: What do you like to do in your free time?


“I love to read and ride horses.” 

Q: What’s your dream car?


“1957 Ford T-Bird.”


From all of us at NASCAR, we thank Jennifer for her continued support and look forward to hearing from her in 2016.