Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2016) — NASCAR drivers competing in the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ will display their personal Twitter handles on their respective car windshields during the first three-race round of #TheChase, NASCAR and Twitter announced today.


Beginning with Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Twitter handles including @KyleBusch, @keselowski and @austindillon3 will adorn the windshield headers normally reserved for driver last names.  


The activation is part of an aggressive push by NASCAR to use Twitter, Vine and Periscope to elevate The Chase experience for fans during the sport’s most social postseason ever. Earlier today, @NASCAR unveiled a new, racing-themed Twitter emoji, which will help bring #TheChase tweets to life throughout the 10-week postseason.


“Twitter brings the passion and excitement of NASCAR to millions of our fans every single day in very unique and innovative ways,” said NASCAR Managing Director, Social Media, Scott Warfield. “As we embark on The Chase, the platform is helping us make the overall social experience that much richer and more memorable for our fans and followers.”


Beginning this weekend, @NASCAR will curate Twitter Moments and share Vines and live video via Periscope all capturing the spirit, excitement and behind-the-scenes action of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.


The first Chase race will also feature the Twitter bird logo, @NASCAR and #TheChase displayed as giant stencils in the infield atChicagoland Speedway.


“NASCAR truly embraces Twitter as a bridge between fans and the drivers they love,” said Andrew Barge, Sports Partnerships, Twitter. “During this year’s Chase, with Twitter handles on windshields and hashtags on the infield grass, NASCAR demonstrates just how much it genuinely values and encourages that fan engagement.”


After each round of #TheChase, NASCAR will tweet action-packed digital films that feature NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers reenacting the on-track highlights and storylines. Part of the sport’s Ready. Set. Chase marketing campaign, the first video in the five-part series can be viewed on NASCAR.com/TheChase.


Twitter handles displayed on Chase driver cars for the Round of 16 include the following:


Chase Driver               Car                                 Twitter

Kyle Busch                  No. 18 Toyota Camry     @KyleBusch

Brad Keselowski         No. 2 Ford Fusion         @keselowski

Denny Hamlin              No. 11 Toyota Camry    @dennyhamlin

Kevin Harvick              No. 4 Chevrolet SS       @KevinHarvick

Carl Edwards               No. 19 Toyota Camry    #CarlEdwards

Martin Truex Jr.           No. 78 Toyota Camry    @MartinTruex_Jr

Matt Kenseth               No. 20 Toyota Camry    @mattkenseth 

Jimmie Johnson          No. 48 Chevrolet SS     @JimmieJohnson       

Joey Logano                No. 22 Ford Fusion       @joeylogano

Kyle Larson                 No. 42 Chevrolet SS     @KyleLarsonRacin

Tony Stewart               No. 14 Chevrolet SS     @TonyStewart

Kurt Busch                  No. 41 Chevrolet SS     @KurtBusch

Chris Buescher           No. 34 Ford Fusion       @Chris_Buescher

Chase Elliott               No. 24 Chevrolet SS      @chaseelliott

Austin Dillon               No. 3 Chevrolet SS       @austindillon3

Jamie McMurray         No. 1 Chevrolet SS        @jamiemcmurray


The best and fastest way to join the NASCAR conversation and connect directly with the teams, drivers and fans during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is to Tweet with, and search for, #TheChase. 

Posted on by Nascar

NASCAR introduced rules updates for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs on Wednesday, giving competition officials the power to issue more stringent rulings on technical infractions involving post-race laser inspections and lug nuts.
 
The developments were announced just days before the series visits Chicagoland Speedway for Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the opening event in the 10-race Chase playoffs.
 
Similar clarifications, where applicable, will also be in place for the inaugural Chase events in NASCAR’s XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series, which get underway in two weeks, at Kentucky and New Hampshire, respectively.
 
The updates allow NASCAR officials to strip race-winning teams of the benefits associated with a Chase victory, which include the automatic advancement into the next elimination round and any tiebreaker implications, should those teams fail the post-race lug-nut check or the post-race Laser Inspection Station (LIS) platform.
 
Previously, lug-nut infractions have resulted in a one-race suspension and a fine for the crew chief while LIS failures have carried a point deduction in the drivers’ and owners’ championship points, in addition to the crew chief fine.
 
Going into the Chase, post-race failure of the LIS platform now will be deemed a P4 level penalty if a vehicle’s rear toe measurements exceed the allowed measurements on both sides.
 
In the Sprint Cup Series, the first violation would result in an encumbered finishing position, the loss of 35 championship driver and owner points, as well as a three-race suspension and $65,000 fine for the crew chief.

In the XFINITY Series, the penalties would be the same, but the crew chief fine would be $20,000.
 
The LIS platform is not a part of the NCWTS inspection process.
 
The penalties will be the same as those for an LIS infraction if a vehicle is found to have 17 or fewer lug nuts in place following the completion of the event (in Sprint Cup, XFINITY or Camping World Truck).
 
“The changes are made to assure that we have a level playing field and make sure that there’s not a carrot out there for the team to have excessive violations when it comes to lug nuts and the LIS post-race measurements,” Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, told NASCAR.com. “As we worked with those penalties during the season we realized we probably needed to have a little bit more in place as Chase time rolled around.
 
“The Chase obviously changes a lot of scenarios for both NASCAR and the teams; it’s ramped up the intensity and there is a lot of scrutiny, as there is every week on everything (involving) technical infractions. This is really just a matter of us putting something in place so that should something happen, we have a means to effectively deal with it.”
 
Miller noted that the “encumbered finish” is already a part of the NASCAR rule book. “This just adds a little bit of definition to how we will use it moving forward,” he said.
 
NASCAR officials cracked down on lug nut penalties with new rules this spring, making sure the wheel is securely fastened on all five studs at a pit-road checkpoint after the race. At least five teams have been found in violation during post-race inspection, including those of drivers Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing).
 
The LIS platform has been used to measure cars’ chassis with precision since the start of the 2013 season. The majority of failures this year have centered on rear toe alignment.
 

Six Sprint Cup Series drivers and teams have been penalized this year for failing the LIS portion of the post-race inspection process — Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet (Dover); Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota (New Hampshire), Brad Keselowski, Team Penske No. 2 Ford (Michigan), Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet (Darlington), Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet (Darlington) and Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota (Richmond).

 

Miller said he expects the rules to remain in place for the 2017 season as well.

 

LIS failures during pre-race inspection result in written warnings, with the potential for lost track time after a team’s fourth violation.

 

Should an infraction involving post-race LIS or lug nut inspection occur during the championship race at Homestead for any of the three series, the finish of the team found to be in violation would not count toward the determination of the series champion, or for any other positions that might be determined via tiebreakers.

 

Busch is the defending Sprint Cup Series champion while Harvick was the first to win a title under the current Chase format, which debuted in 2014.

 

These latest changes were made in collaboration with industry partners. “It should be no surprise to anybody where we landed,” Miller said.

 

“As we convened with some of the team principals and competition guys, it became pretty obvious that we needed to do something like this.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Stream here

MORE: See every driver in the Chase field | Drivers talk Chase Across America


Ready. Set. Launch. Those are the key words you need to know for Thursday when the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup kicks off in Chicago.


All 16 drivers will meet with the media for extensive interviews and coverage, all of which will be live-streamed on NASCAR.com.


Go ahead and bookmark this now to watch from work (unless you’re taking a personal day, and we wouldn’t blame you): https://www.nascar.com/readysetlaunch.


The schedule of events is below. After the live stream, make sure to come back later for our full coverage from the event.


• 3:05 p.m. ET: Chevrolet drivers (Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray)


• 3:35 p.m. ET: Ford drivers (Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher)


• 4:10 p.m. ET: Toyota drivers (Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth

Posted on by Staff Report

Tyler Hudson made his first visit to Victory Lane in the 2016 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series at Darlington Raceway Tuesday night, holding-off Taylor Hurst (Aero Precision Chassiswerks) and Brad Davies on the race’s final run. Hudson, the 2013 series champion, had found limited success by his standards in 2016 with only a single top five to his name through the first 13 races.


Hudson took the lead for the final time on Lap 150 after completing of the final pit cycle of the race. He then ran steady, consistent lap times over the final 33 laps to earn his first trip to the winner’s circle in three years, pulling away from the rest of the field — including PJ Stergios (ineX Racing) who looked dominant early in the race.


Stergios seemed to lack long-run speed and fell to fourth on the final run. He was followed across the finish line by brother Jake Stergios in fifth.


Championship contenders Ray Alfalla (Slip Angle Motorsports) and PJ Stergios shared the front row with Alfalla getting the jump from pole position at the green flag. Alfalla and Stergios quickly built a gap on the field only for a caution flag to wave on Lap 13 for a crash near the back of the field.


The caution drew the leaders to pit road for tires and fuel where Alfalla made an uncharacteristic mistake by stopping too short in his pit box. The error cost him seven positions, allowing Stergios through to the lead; Alfalla would not lead another lap in the race.


Stergios made the most of the situation by leading 83 of 183 laps, but Hurst also looked strong and reeled-in the ineX Ford Fusion before pitting on Lap 51. Stergios made his stop on Lap 57 which gave Hurst, thanks to his fresh tires, a 12-second gap on the former race leader once the two returned to the track.


Even with the tire disadvantage and a quickly closing Stergios, Hurst was able to hold the lead until his next pit stop on Lap 84. Stergios once again inherited the lead and before he could hit pit road again, a caution waved on Lap 94 for a crash involving Robin Williams and Bryan Blackford.


The biggest loser among the leaders was Alfalla, who pitted early in the cycle and was trapped a lap down when the caution flew. He took the wave around to regain the lap lost, albeit on older tires.


When the race went green again, Stergios led from Hudson and looked to capitalize on Alfalla’s misfortune while Hurst was trying to regain the track position he lost as the result of pitting under green. As the run wore on, Stergios was unable to get away from the field as he had earlier in the race. Initially, Hudson and Hurst matched his lap times but, as the laps added up and the tires wore down, they began closing on the leader with Hudson’s iAnalyze Racing Fusion passing Stergios for the lead on Lap 125.


Then, Hudson made the winning move in the pits, gaining valuable time on Stergios while also enjoying the advantage of clean air. Stergios could never find the speed he had earlier in the race and faded as Hudson asserted himself when it mattered most.


Not all was lost for Stergios, however.  Alfalla’s troubles caused him to finish a disappointing fourteenth, all but erasing his points lead with two races remaining. Alfalla now leads Stergios by only four points, setting the stage for a thrilling battle in the weeks to come. Jake Stergios is third in the standings ahead of Chris Overland and Dylan Duval (The TEAM), who holds fifth by a single point over teammate Kenny Humpe.


With the championship picture tightening once again the series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the penultimate race of 2016. The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series has not visited New Hampshire since 2014, but both Stergios and Alfalla have had success on the Magic Mile in the past. Stergios finished fifth in 2014 while Alfalla finished second in 2012 and third in 2013.


Who can avoid trouble on the slow, flat corners of NHMS? Who will enter Homestead in the best position to win the 2016 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series title? Find out in two weeks on iRacingLive!


Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 78 team of Martin Truex Jr. received a P2 penalty for failing post-race laser inspection (LIS) after the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR announced Wednesday. As part of the penalty, crew chief Cole Pearn has been fined $15,000, and the team has been assessed a loss of 10 championship owner and 10 championship driver points.

 

The points were deducted before the reset for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

 

Additionally, the No. 7 car of Regan Smith was given a written warning and a loss of 15 minutes of practice time for failing LIS three times pre-qualifying.

 

Finally, four cars — the No. 18 of Kyle Busch, the No. 16 of Greg Biffle, the No. 22 of Joey Logano and the No. 78 of Truex — were given written warnings for twice failing LIS pre-qualifying.

Posted on by George Winkler

With so many intangibles that factor into who wins a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, it might seem like a fool’s errand to try to make predictions based solely on numbers.

But numbers are the most objective means we have to spot trends and try to forecast accurately in sports. So, we’ve done an experiment using average finish and laps led to predict who will advance past the Round of 16 and into the Round of 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

We’ve looked at average finish and laps led in the following categories for each Chase driver: 1. Season stats, 2. Last five races and 3. History at Round of 16 tracks. This way, we feel like we’ve accounted for who has done consistently well this season versus who is hot now versus who has some good experience under his belt.

The results are interesting to mull over while we wait for the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on Sunday in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

First, let’s look at results for average finish, then we’ll move on to laps led before unveiling the final prediction:

Average Finish

Rank Driver Points
T-1. Brad Keselowski 41
T-1. Kevin Harvick 41
3. Joey Logano 37
4. Denny Hamlin 34
5. Kyle Larson 28.5
6. Carl Edwards 28
T-7. Martin Truex Jr. 27.5
T-7. Jimmie Johnson 27.5
T-9. Kyle Busch 22.5
T-9. Jamie McMurray 22.5
11. Kurt Busch 22
T-12. Matt Kenseth 19.5
T-12. Chase Elliott 19.5
14. Austin Dillon 19
15. Tony Stewart 15.5
16. Chris Buescher 4

How we got the numbers: We assigned a point value to each Chase driver relative to how they finished in each of the following categories: average finish this season, average finish in the last five races and average finish at the Round of 16 tracks. For example, if a driver was tops in average finish this season, he got 16 points; second place got 15 points and so on down to last place, which got one point. Then, we added up the point values each driver earned in the three categories to arrive at the above list. Here are the top three drivers and bottom three drivers in each category:

Average finish this season:
Leaders: 1. Harvick, 2. Keselowski, 3. Logano.
Followers: 14. Larson, 15. Stewart, 16. Buescher.

Average finish last five races:
Leaders: 1. Hamlin, 2. Logano, 3. Harvick.
Followers: 14. Kenseth, 15. Buescher, 16. Stewart.

Average finish at Round of 16 tracks:
Leaders: 1. Larson, 2. Johnson, 3. Keselowski.
Followers: 14. McMurray, 15. Dillon, 16. Buescher.

Now, let’s take a look at how the drivers fared in laps led.

Laps Led

Rank Driver Points
1. Kyle Busch 45
2. Kevin Harvick 43
3. Martin Truex Jr. 37
4. Denny Hamlin 34
5. Jimmie Johnson 31
T-6. Carl Edwards 30
T-6. Matt Kenseth 30
8. Brad Keselowski 29
9. Joey Logano 24
10. Kyle Larson 23
11. Kurt Busch 22
12. Tony Stewart 21
13. Chase Elliott 15
14. Jamie McMurray 9
15. Austin Dillon 8
16. Chris Buescher 7

How we got the numbers: Same as with average finish, we assigned a point value to each Chase driver relative to how they finished in each of the following categories: laps led this season, laps led in the last five races and laps led at the Round of 16 tracks. Then, we added up the point values to arrive at the above list. Here are the top three drivers and bottom three drivers in each category:

Laps led this season:
Leaders: 1. Ky. Busch, 2. Truex, 3. Harvick.
Followers: 14. Buescher, 15. Dillon, 16. McMurray.

Laps led last five races:
Leaders: 1. Harvick, 2. Ky. Busch, 3. Hamlin.
Followers: 14. Stewart, 15. Buescher, 16. McMurray.

Laps led at Round of 16 tracks:
Leaders: 1. Johnson, 2. Stewart, 3. Ky. Busch.
Followers: 14. Buescher, 15. Elliott, 16. Dillon.

Now, let’s add these two results together to get our final list.

FINAL PREDICTION

Rank Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 84
2 Brad Keselowski 70
3 Denny Hamlin 68
4 Kyle Busch 67.5
5 Martin Truex Jr. 64.5
6 Joey Logano 61
7 Jimmie Johnson 58.5
8 Carl Edwards 57.5
9 Kyle Larson 51.5
10 Matt Kenseth 49
11 Kurt Busch 44
12 Tony Stewart 36.5
13 Chase Elliott 34.5
14 Jamie McMurray 31.5
15 Austin Dillon 27
16 Chris Buescher 11

Final prediction: Elliott, McMurray, Dillon and Buescher won’t make it past the first round, according to our formula. Harvick, Keselowski, Hamlin and Kyle Busch are your best bets to get through to the next round.

Drivers like Johnson and Stewart benefitted from their total laps led at the Round of 16 tracks because of their years of experience. Drivers like Harvick and Truex benefitted from leading the most laps this season. Hamlin’s recent hot streak helped him tremendously. Inexperience and lack of sample size punished drivers such as Dillon and Buescher, while not leading laps hurt McMurray.


Also notable is that neither Elliott nor Buescher has raced at Chicagoland, yet, which hurt their numbers.

But all in all, this looks like a pretty solid list of the drivers in the order we’d expect. We’ll see how it all plays out on Sunday, then we’ll continue our experiment before the Round of 12 gets underway.

Posted on by

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff field is finally complete, setting the stage for a 10-race dash to the finish and the championship glory that awaits Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Story lines abound, and our Holly Cain and Zack Albert tackle three pressing topics before the postseason gets underway at Chicagoland.

1. Can anyone stop the Joe Gibbs Racing alliance in the Chase?

Cain: There is no denying the strength of the JGR alliance from top to bottom. The question is whether it can sustain this level of performance over the next 10 weeks with a larger bull’s-eye on its defending champion back. At this point JGR is favorite. But that’s the crazy thing about letting these championships play out. Heart and motivation count, too.

Albert: The quintet of JGR-affiliated drivers may look nearly invincible now, but the two-year sample size of the current Chase format has proven to be a petri dish of unpredictability. Team Penske has two drivers — Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski — in position to drive a wedge into the Gibbs dominance, but Kevin Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet — already champions in the new playoff system — have a substantial shot at fending off a Toyota triumph.

2. With a handful of new, young faces making their Chase debuts this season, are we witnessing a changing of the guard?

Cain: With such a talented group of young drivers in the series, their participating in the Chase was inevitable. It was simply a matter of  “when.” Best of all for them — and the sport — Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Chris Buescher have not only earned their way into the Chase mix, they look to be legitimate players. The old guard has a big wake-up call and there are other young talents who may well join this mix next year. All good signs for the sport and the fans.

Albert: The influx of Chase newbies this year would suggest the opening stages of an overhaul to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver roster. It’s refreshing, a dash of blossoming names alongside the familiar faces in the playoff brackets. Now the challenge is for the youth movement to make deep dives into the postseason, rather than go quietly in the Chase’s early rounds.

3. Who’s your best bet for a Chase surprise?

Cain: I don’t know that Kyle Larson and his talent is a surprise to anyone. But, he is peaking at the right time of the season and has an envious track record at the upcoming Chase venues. And just for good measure, his Chip Ganassi Racing team knows a little about winning racing championships, too.

Albert: This is going to sound odd to talk about a driver with six championships to his credit and multiple wins this season as a surprise candidate, but Jimmie Johnson‘s current 21-race dry spell equals the longest of his Sprint Cup career. Is there a charge left in the No. 48 camp? Time will tell, but it’s still difficult to discount a group that has turned up the boost again and again come playoff time. A record-tying seventh title for Johnson remains a real possibility.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: See all 16 Chase drivers | Full Chase grid | Richmond results 

The lights surrounding Richmond International Raceway were keeping darkness at bay, if not the insects, and the majority of fans had already begun to depart.

Along pit road, 15 of the 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers were milling about – only race winner Denny Hamlin was elsewhere, in Victory Lane celebrating a win in last Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 with his Joe Gibbs Racing crew.

Drivers lounged against pit wall, stood by their cars, spoke with crew man, media, owners or just one another.

After 26 races, NASCAR’s 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup field was officially set.

“We’re just going to have fun,” Austin Dillon is telling someone. “We haven’t been (locked in) the Chase all year; these other guys have. We’re going to go and really just look to win and upset these guys.”

Dillon, 26, is making is his first appearance in the 10-race playoff, and carrying the hopes of Richard Childress Racing. Teammates Ryan Newman and Paul Menard failed to make the cut. RCR hasn’t won a premier series title since 1994, a decade before the new Chase format debuted.

“The pressure is off me,” Dillon says. “I’ve been sweating it the last three weeks; I’m not going to take that approach going into Chicago. I’m going to have fun and go all out.”

Nearby, team owner and Dillon’s grandfather Richard Childress wore a smile and a look of relief.

Dillion isn’t the only new face in this year’s Chase. Kyle Larson and rookies Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher will be making their first appearances as well when the battle to determine this year’s champion gets underway this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

Larson and Buescher made the field thanks to career-first wins earlier this year. Dillon and Elliott qualified based on their respective points positions after the season’s 26th race.

They’ve been in championship battles before — all but Larson are former XFINITY Series champs; Dillon has a Camping World Truck Series title as well.

Still, none of the four can fully understand what lies ahead. Their crew chiefs do. Chad Johnston (Larson), Bob Osborne (Buescher), Alan Gustafson (Elliott) and Slugger Labbe (Dillon) have varying amounts of Chase experience and success.

Kevin Harvick knows, too. The 40-year-old won it all in 2014, his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing, and finished second last season.

Do the kids have a chance?

“I guess that depends on how you approach it,” Harvick, seated atop pit wall, tells a reporter. “Are you happy to be there or do you want to win?

“There are obviously a lot of very competitive cars that can go out and win races but it’s hard to win a race; it’s hard to keep yourself in contention week after week, keep living up to that pressure, keep your cars prepared week after week and adapt to something that you might need to change … you have to be able to adapt on the fly.

“Those are the things that you have to learn as you go through this. I would definitely say it’s a disadvantage if you haven’t been through this before.”

Eight organizations are represented in this year’s Chase, the same number as last year and the year before. A few new faces and a few new names but the majority are old hands at this.

None belong to Roush Fenway Racing, one of the few long-running, multi-team groups not represented. Buescher’s Front Row group is Roush-affiliated — in addition to a technical alliance, both Buescher and crew chief Osborne have RFR backgrounds.

It seems like yesterday that the Roush organization was winning back-to-back titles with Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in ’04.

Kenseth’s crown was the last before the arrival of the Chase; Busch was the inaugural Chase champion.

If RFR is missing, JGR is easy to spot. For the second consecutive year all four of its teams are headed into the Chase and that’s an impressive accomplishment for any organization.


MORE: Bruce: Toyota the Chase favorite?

Stewart-Haas sends three of its four into the Chase, and no other group can boast that all of its Chase teams feature former series champions (Harvick, Busch and co-owner/driver Tony Stewart).

It’s difficult to say what’s been the most impressive aspect of Furniture Row Racing with driver Martin Truex Jr.: The team’s speed and competitiveness this year or that they’ve now made the Chase with two different manufacturers. A year ago, the Denver-based team was aligned with RCR and Chevrolet; this year it’s been JGR and Toyota. Didn’t skip a beat.

Truex made it all the way to the final round at Homestead-Miami Speedway last season. His ’16 chances, he said, are “as good as anybody’s right now.

“I don’t think anybody’s got a leg up on us,” he said. “… The cars have been fast all year long. We have to do our job and be consistent … we’ve done that the last couple of weeks and hopefully we can keep it up.”

Hope is the prevailing feeling. That and a sense of accomplishment.

Saturday night they took a moment to let it soak in.

This weekend at Chicagoland, the battle begins again (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).