Editor’s Note: Clinching scenarios courtesy of NASCAR statistical services
RELATED: Updated standings | See the Chase Grid
This weekend marks the final Sprint Cup Series race in the 12-driver Contender Round before the Chase field dwindles to eight. Here are the scenarios for clinching a spot in the Eliminator Round this Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway during the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Regardless of the finish of any other drivers
Back-to-back wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway gave Joey Logano automatic admission into the Eliminator Round.
Denny Hamlin needs to finish 14th with no laps led, or 15th with at least one lap led, or 16th and lead the most laps.
Kurt Busch needs to finish 8th with no laps led, or 9th with at least one lap led, or 10th and lead the most laps.
Carl Edwards needs to finish 7th with no laps led, or 8th with at least one lap led, or 9th and lead the most laps.
Kevin Harvick needs to finish 3rd with no laps led, or 4th with a lap led.
Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski need to finish 2nd with no laps led, or 3rd with at least one lap led, or 4th and lead the most laps.
Martin Truex Jr. needs to finish 2nd with no laps led or 3rd with the most laps led.
Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth only control their own destinies with a victory.
Last night, while NASCAR Chairman Brian France and his wife Amy France were being honored for their contributions to pediatric cancer at the Angel Ball, the sport’s first family could not help but think about a special day four months earlier.
The Frances, through their Luke and Meadow Foundation, took child cancer survivors behind-the-scenes at Pocono Raceway in June. The courageous kids got to visit the garages before the race and hang out with their favorite drivers — including six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
As special as it must have been for those kids, it was also deeply moving for NASCAR’s third generation chairman and his wife, who dedicated the race to cancer survivors.
“As important as sports may sometimes seem, days like the one we had in June puts things in perspective and reminds us of what is truly important,” Brian France said. “We were extremely humbled by last night’s honor, but that is only icing on the cake compared to the difference we can make in the lives of children.”
Amy France was also touched when discussing the children’s experience at the track.
“As a parent, I was reminded that any of those children could have been my child or your child,” Amy France said. “These are the moments that motivate me to contribute to cancer research. My hope is that my children, Luke and Meadow, will one day be inspired to be part of something beyond their own self-interests to make a real impactful change.”
The Frances, alongside supermodel and television host Heidi Klum, were honored by Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation at the annual Angel Ball for their contributions to pediatric cancer research. The crowd was treated to musical performances from One Republic, Patti LaBelle and Billy Porter and many celebrities were on-hand, including Nick Cannon.
Four-time NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon gave a heartfelt introduction for Brian and Amy at the event.
“I have known Brian since the start of my career which goes back nearly 25 years. Over that time he has become a close friend and someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for,” Gordon said. “As the third generation Chairman of NASCAR, he is a bold, collaborative and visionary leader.”
NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Brent Dewar, International Speedway Corporation Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy, The NASCAR Foundation Chairwoman Betty Jane France and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ben Kennedy were in attendance.
The Frances founded the Luke and Meadow Foundation, named after their 4-year old twins, in 2011 to raise awareness about charities they are passionate about. They have since supported, given their time and made multimillion dollar donations to a wide-range of causes including: Stand Up For Heroes in support of 9-11 families, Autism Speaks, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research, Providence Day School and many others.
“There are so many causes that need attention, but as parents, we are particularly passionate about addressing the critical needs of children,” said Amy France. “At the end of the day, we just hope to be a part of something bigger than our own family, and we believe that — in partnership with others — we can make a real impact.”
With last night’s brief pit stop in the rearview mirror, Brian France returns his focus to the remainder of the season.
This weekend, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the final race of the Contender Round on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Following the race, four drivers will be eliminated and eight will remain in contention to be the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion.
NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France and wife Amy were honored at the Angel Ball on Monday night.
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.
1
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.
1
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).
2
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
RELATED: Race Results | Standings | Chase Grid
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. used to own Talladega Superspeedway. After a disappointing run at Kansas Speedway in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, he’ll need to re-ascend to the throne next Sunday if he is to keep his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes intact.
Can do, Earnhardt, who finished 21st at Kansas and two laps off the pace at Kansas, said after exiting his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on pit road.
“Don’t count us out,” he said. “We got confidence and we definitely have the car to do it … and Talladega is a race we can win.”
Earnhardt did not have the car to do it at Kansas. Nor did he have the precision in the pits that championship hopefuls need.
He started 15th in the second of the three Contender Round events and moved backward from there.
He was plagued by vibrations a couple of times in the race and then, on Lap 160, what he believed to be a loose wheel sent him to the pits under green. When he emerged, he had dropped off the lead lap.
RELATED: Loose wheel brings Junior to pit road
It marked the second time in the Chase that a loose wheel caused him problems. At Dover a couple weeks ago, he was plagued by one. But before he was about to pit, a caution saved him from having to make a green-flag stop and allowed him to advance to the three-race Contender Round.
Despite the wheel problems, Earnhardt insisted after the Kansas race that he has big confidence in his crew and crew chief.
“I’m fine,” he said. “We’ll get it figured out. I believe in my guys. I really do.”
Earnhardt will start the race at Talladega next Sunday 11th in points and 31 points out of the eighth and final berth in the Eliminator Round. A good finish won’t be good enough for Earnhardt’s championship chances. He will likely need The Finish.
His overall history at Talladega says a victory is very possible.
Earnhardt won the spring race at Talladega this year — but his the last victory before that was in 2004.
RELATED: Junior wins spring race at Talladega
Earnhardt, who said he arrived at Kansas knowing he would likely need to win Talladega in order to advance, said, basically, “so what” to that.
“I know that one race, one opportunity, one chance makes the odds feel bad, but we won there this year,” he said. “And we went to Daytona (which, like Talladega is a restrictor-plate track) and ran third in the 500 and we won our 125 (qualifying race).”
Earnhardt was asked late Sunday afternoon about the frustration of having such a good season boil down to one event.
“I’m not frustrated and I’m not emotionally drained or anything like that,” he said. “The Chase is going to give you these kind of results.
“I’ve been in this before and it is what it is.”
RELATED: Logano spins Kenseth for win | Kenseth ‘no longer a fan’ of Logano
NASCAR.com editors Pat DeCola and Maggie MacKenzie are here to give their opinions on Joey Logano‘s race-winning, controversial move to get past Matt Kenseth at Kansas Speedway. Check out their take, then vote in our poll and let us know your view in the comments section below.
DeCola: OK, I think we all knew this was coming — the head-to-head debate about Joey Logano‘s controversial move in the closing laps of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway that put him in Victory Lane and Matt Kenseth on the edge of elimination.
Considering Logano already has a win in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, it’s easy to point out his risky move as unnecessary and unsportsmanlike. Others tend to think it’s just hard racing for a win, no matter what. I’m in the camp of the former — Logano must have been upset that Kenseth had been blocking him, but still had a few laps to get by him cleanly in what appeared to be the faster car.
What else was Kenseth supposed to do, but block? He all but needed the win to advance to the Eliminator Round and couldn’t afford to let Logano by.
Had the pair been battling for a make-or-break win, I’m fine with that, but given Logano’s cushion, it felt aggressive to me.
MacKenzie: Hey Pat, it’s so nice to see you in this head-to-head debate with me. I understand your viewpoints on this touchy matter, but I am simply Team Logano. This may be the more unpopular side to be the spokesperson for, but I’m standing by the driver of the No. 22.
Yes, Logano won at Charlotte and locked a position in the Eliminator Round, but that doesn’t mean he should play nice when he’s fighting for a championship. Now with Kenseth, one of the field’s top competitors, at the bottom of the Chase leaderboard, Logano has a relatively clear path to that nice, shiny trophy.
And we shouldn’t lose sight that this is a competition, not a lesson on manners and etiquette.
DeCola: That clear path may not be as clear as it looks right now, however. Sure, if Kenseth is able to come out of Talledega still in the hunt for a title, he’ll have no choice but to race Logano cleanly, but in the other — more likely — scenario, Kenseth will have four races to ensure Logano isn’t the one holding said “nice, shiny trophy.”
It’s clear Logano added an enemy on the race track on Sunday, and with the volatile nature of the new Chase format the more cars aiming to take you out on the race track, the less chance you have to be holding the trophy at Homestead.
That said, if Logano continues to be faster than everyone else, it’s almost a moot point — but rest assured, Kenseth will have an opportunity to exact revenge on the No. 22 at some point before 2015 is up if he chooses.
And that risk doesn’t seem worth it to me for Joey.
MacKenzie: It is definitely apparent that Logano made a foe in Kenseth. There is no doubt about that, but this is what makes this sport so great.
Logano needed to do what was necessary in order to secure his fifth win of the season. In my opinion, it doesn’t really matter that he visited Victory Lane at Charlotte and is already advancing in the Chase. He did what he needed to do to lock up another win. Isn’t that what NASCAR is all about — winning? Because when it comes down to it, Logano’s resume will show his wins, not the means he took to get there.
And something tells me that if the Team Penske driver comes into contact with his “enemy” he’ll be able to handle himself just fine. So the “risk” of him facing off against an unhappy peer in the upcoming races is well worth it.
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
Below is a breakdown of how the full 43-car field fared at Kansas Speedway:
1. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano used a strong restart to win his second straight Chase race — a career first — and his fifth victory of the year. | RELATED: Logano discusses win in Victory Lane
2. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin recovered after a lengthy pit stop to overhaul his car’s handling during the second caution period.
3. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. “Awesome job guys,” Johnson radioed his team. “That is the best race car we have had in a long time.” Subscribe to RaceView to hear driver audio
4. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne lined up inside the top five for the final restart and tried to make the bottom line work en route to his first top five since May 31 at Dover.
5. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Suspicious of oil on the high line, Busch cautiously navigated Kansas after getting into the wall a bit with 75 laps to go.
6. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch ran in the top 10 for most of the race even in light of a late-race tire vibration caused by a sliding wheel weight.
7. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford. Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney turned his best Kansas start into his best Kansas finish and ran as high as third among the Chase contenders.
8. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The outside pole winner took advantage of the first pit stall (courtesy of Brad Keselowski‘s penalty) throughout the race, including during the second caution when he picked up eight spots and won the race off pit road.
9. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Getting into the wall early might have hurt the pole winner’s chances, but he joked it actually helped his car as he fought to stay in the top eight of the Chase Grid.
10. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon gritted out his 14th top 10 in his 20th and final Kansas appearance. | RELATED: Gordon discusses hard top-10 finish
11. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman spent most of the race running in the top 10, but just missed finishing there when he was shuffled back from eighth on the final restart.
12. Brian Scott, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Scott matched his best start of the season, lining up 16th in his Kansas debut Sunday, and went on to score his best Cup result of the year.
13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse earned the beneficiary pass during the sixth caution flag and held on to score his second-best Kansas finish.
14. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth struggled to maintain his lead once he got into lapped traffic with seven laps to go and was moved over while apparently trying to block Joey Logano. | RELATED: Kenseth spins late at Kansas
15. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Thankful to see the Lap 263 yellow flag, Truex earned the beneficiary pass and lined up 15th for the final restart.
16. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick’s strong run was stalled when he had to serve a late-race pit penalty. His troubles continued when his shifter broke. | RELATED: Harvick’s pit road penalty comes at bad time
17. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle overcame an early vibration and worked with his team as his car swung from loose to tight in the closing laps.
18. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne drew AJ Allmendinger‘s ire while racing for 23rd on Lap 100. After getting loose and hitting the wall, Allmendinger roughed up the No. 6’s bumper before hitting pit road.
19. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Running 22nd before the second caution flag, Menard picked up 11 spots on pit road with a two-tire decision.
20. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray picked up a couple spots after starting 28th, but with no grip, he got into the wall on Lap 50. Owner Chip Ganassi tweeted at the halfway point that his cars were “just not handling at all. I apologize to our fans. But not giving up!!!”
21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt’s Chase hopes took a hit with 100 laps to go when he had to make an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel. | RELATED: Dale Jr. faces must-win situation at Talladega
22. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick worked through a tire vibration just before the halfway point on Sunday.
23. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears opted not to pit during the final caution period, and held onto 23rd during the green-white-checkered finale.
24. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola restarted 15th after the third caution period but quickly lost control and track position when he started leaking power steering fluid.
25. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Ragan posted his fastest lap of the race while running 26th with 30 laps to go.
26. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier hit the wall twice on Sunday; the second time prompted officials to wave the sixth caution flag.
27. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. It was a long day for Allmendinger, who at first thought he was losing his motor. Later in the race, he hit the wall.
28. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. High water temps and subsequent contact with the wall made forward progress difficult for Hornish on Sunday.
29. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson drew upon his dirt track skills Sunday, but was unable to maintain control of his loose Chevy and finally spun on Lap 108.
30. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto, winner of the beneficiary of the free pass after the second caution period, fought a car that became too free on long runs during his second Kansas appearance.
31. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman continually worked with his in-car track bar adjuster to fight a tight-handling condition early in Sunday’s race.
32. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. The rookie qualified 35th for Sunday’s race to earn his best Kansas start and went on to claim his best Kansas result.
33. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Unlike his teammates, Whitt opted to pit for tires during the final caution period.
34. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett struggled with a tight-handling condition in his fourth Kansas outing.
35. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. “Driver error again,” Stewart muttered after getting loose and spinning on the backstretch to bring out the second caution flag. Watch: Stewart spins at Kansas
36. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. During the fourth caution period, Gilliland made a couple stops on pit road so his team could make additional repairs to the right-rear after he scraped the wall.
37. Jeb Burton, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Burton told his team he was on the splitter in Turns 1 and 2 during the first half of Sunday’s race.
38. Reed Sorenson, No. 98 Ford, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson was penalized during his green-flag stop on Lap 94 for removing equipment from the box because a wrench was still stuck in the car after the stop.
39. Will Kimmel III, No. 32 Ford, GO FAS Racing. Kimmel made his Kansas debut on Sunday.
40. Clint Bowyer, No. 15, Michael Waltrip Racing. The Emporia, Kansas, native, struggled with a loose-handling condition and made hard contact with the wall while running 16th. Watch: Bowyer hits wall hard at Kansas
41. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon had just cracked the top-five when a right-front tire failure sent him into the wall on Lap 155.
42. J.J. Yeley, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley brought out the first caution when he got into the wall on Lap 30 and busted his radiator.
43. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Shortly past halfway, Cassill’s motor “just laid over,” and he slowly rolled on the apron to the garage.
RELATED: Low downforce prevalent in ’16 package | Fast facts on ’16 rules
NASCAR and Goodyear officials, along with three Sprint Cup Series teams, return to Michigan International Speedway Tuesday to test a low downforce aerodynamic package scheduled for use at most venues where the series will compete in 2016.
Teams and drivers that will participate are: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports; Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Racing and Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing.
“The real key at Michigan is to see … what the top speeds are and understand that,” Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said Saturday at Kansas Speedway.
“We (tested) low downforce at Michigan in 2014; had a test up there and had a number of different (aero) packages and low downforce was one of them. We were pretty conservative at that point. So we’ve got some data to go off of and we’ll go back in the spring (of ’16) to confirm.”
NASCAR officials announced last week that a low downforce package, similar to the one used at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway earlier this season, would be put into play for the bulk of the races in 2016. The new base package will include a 3.5-inch spoiler, a quarter-inch leading splitter edge and 33-inch splitter extension panel (radiator pan). The changes will lessen the amount of downforce on the cars, similar to the changes made prior to the start of the ’15 season.
“The success of the races at Kentucky and Darlington in similar trim proved extremely valuable in accelerating rules development for 2016,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said in announcing the ’16 package.
“Now, as teams have even more time to prepare and a strong baseline of data, we anticipate the racing to be even better.”
Sprint Cup Series teams competed with a high drag package this year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the August race at Michigan. The changes, however, failed to produce the desired results.
Decreasing the area of the leading edge of the spoiler and radiator pan will lessen the amount of downforce on the front of the cars while a shorter spoiler will similarly impact rear downforce.
The current 2015 aero package, which will continue to be used in this year’s events at Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead, consists of a 6-inch spoiler and 38-inch splitter extension panel.
No major changes are expected for the sanctioning body’s superspeedway rules package, which will be used at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
Tuesday’s test is expected to consist of individual 10- and 25-lap runs in morning and afternoon sessions.
According to Michigan officials, the Turn 1 grandstand seats will be open for fans with no admission charge.
Weather conditions for Brooklyn, Michigan, on Tuesday call for a 10 percent chance of showers before 8 a.m. and a high near 69 degrees.
RELATED: Race results | Standings | Chase Grid
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kevin Harvick said his team was fortunate to finish as well as it did Sunday, a 16th-place finish leaving the defending series champion fifth in points following the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
“We didn’t have a great weekend,” the 2015 Sprint Cup Series champion admitted after enduring a broken gear shift knob and a pit road penalty for removing equipment during the course of the 269-lap event.
“A lot of things falling off and now we’ve got to go to Talladega and have a good week.
“All in all it could have been a lot worse … everybody kept digging.”
Harvick, 39, led only once for 21 laps but ran inside the top five for much of the race.
It all went haywire for the Stewart-Haas Racing team, however, coming through a round of green-flag stops with some 50 laps remaining.
After hitting pit road for service, Harvick pulled out of his pit box on Lap 213 with the fuel can still attached to his car, resulting in a stop-and-go penalty that quickly dropped him to 20th and one lap down. Shortly afterward, he radioed his crew to announce that the knob on the gear shifter had broken.
“It was just really hard to shift from second to third just because there was nothing to grab onto for leverage,” he said. “But in the end the car vibrated all day; I’m lucky something else didn’t break.”
The top eight in points advance out of the Contender Round and into the Eliminator Round following next week’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). During the Challenger Round, Harvick kept his season alive in the opening round of the Chase, bouncing back from bad races at Chicagoland and New Hampshire to win comfortably at Dover.
Crew chief Rodney Childers says the team simply has to go to Talladega “and have a solid day.”
“It’s all about just racing,” he said. “Just like today. We go every week just to race; it’s not about anything other than that. Just do the best job you can and whatever happens, happens.”
The gear shifter problem and pit road violation were just a continuation of the team’s troubles at Kansas, according to Childers, who said the head of the shifter “looked like it wasn’t glued properly.”
“It started going south when we got here Friday,” Childers said of the team’s issues. “The brakes were dragging Friday. We finally got that fixed, qualified good and then (Saturday) didn’t go smooth.
“Then this morning the track bar slider locked up, we had to cut that off the car and replace it. Then the door seam broke(n) in half, the shifter broke and then we drove the gas can out.”
The broken door seam — a large crack ran down the driver’s side door area of the No. 4 Chevrolet — was a result of the beating the cars take from nothing more than air.
“A lot of these places that are real smooth … the air buffets a lot and it just beats them to death,” he said.
“I don’t think we necessarily had a bad weekend; a better weekend than most (teams). But our (fuel) mileage wasn’t very good and if we didn’t try to follow the car out of the box with the can we were going to run out anyway.”
Only one point separates Harvick, who was second in points entering Kansas, from eighth place Martin Truex Jr.
Outside the top eight heading to Talladega are Kyle Busch (ninth), Ryan Newman (10th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11th) and Matt Kenseth (12th).