Power Rankings: Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Pat DeCola

Kenseth comes into the Chase the hottest driver in the series, and lest we forget when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver opened the 2013 postseason by reeling off two straight wins at Chicago and New Hampshire. Could happen again.

MORE: Kenseth dominates Richmond

Kevinharvick

-1

The defending champ looks like a lock to at least make the Championship 4 field at Homestead — a safe bet to win championship No. 2.

KyleBusch

Busch is always a threat to win any race he enters — except at Kansas and Talladega, the final two races in the Contender Round. In a combined 35 starts at the two tracks, he has just eight top-10 finishes.

Joeylogano

-2

Team Penske as a whole is looking strong as the sport enters its playoffs. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to see the 25-year-old racing for a title again this season at Homestead.

BradKeselowski

-1

It’s hard to believe Keselowski has just one win this season — he’s nearly matched the amount of top 10s he had during his six-win season last year (20) with 18 so far. He also has a great chance to top the career-high 23 he notched in his 2012 title season.

DennyHamlin

Healthy ACL? Who needs it? Hamlin appears to show no ill-effects from his freshly torn-up knee — inside the car, anyway — and is among those you expect to see racing for a title in 10 weeks.

MORE: Hamlin pushes past knee pain

JimmieJohnson

-1

Not that it was ever much in doubt, but it’ll be interesting to see how Johnson’s performance changes, if at all, now that his future is locked up at Hendrick through 2017.

MORE: Johnson signs Hendrick extension

DaleEarnhardt Jr.

-3

2015 presents one of Earnhardt Jr.’s best shots at winning his first championship to date. At 40-years-old, he’s running out of time.

Carledwards

Edwards’ early-season struggles seem a thing of the past, as he’s settled in quite nicely at JGR. This is around the expected floor for his Chase hopes, but his ceiling is certainly much higher.

Kurtbusch

It’s funny how much things change in a year’s time. Last year, Busch wasn’t considered much of a threat in title talks — and confirmed that early in the Chase — but his 2015 strength shows us how deep the contenders actually run this season.

Martintruex jr

-2

Truex’s tailspin continued at Richmond and it does not bode well for one of the year’s best comeback stories to continue on for much longer.

MORE: Truex to test Kansas

Jeffgordon

Here we are — Gordon’s final Chase. He’s never won a title since the format was introduced in 2004 and things aren’t shaping up too well for him to break that trend.

Jamiemcmurray

-1

Looking for a dark horse pick to advance a round or two? Here it is. McMurray could certainly make it to the Contender Round — and then win at Charlotte, which is arguably his best track.

MORE: McMurray earns first Chase berth

Ryannewman

-1

Despite being on-pace or better with his numbers from last year — when he finished runner-up to Kevin Harvick — Newman isn’t making much noise heading into the Chase. That could change.

Paulmenard

Menard has officially made the Chase for the first time in his career, but for him to advance beyond the opening round would be somewhat of a stretch.

ClintBowyer

It’s certainly a nice story that Bowyer made the Chase under all the trials and tribulations his lame duck team has endured, but the end of the run is likely near.

MORE: Bowyer grabs final Chase Grid spot

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Staff Report

See what’s coming this week to NASCAR.com

Here’s what you’ll see on NASCAR.com this week:

MONDAY: The drivers get most of the attention, so we will introduce you to the 16 crew chiefs that will be making the calls for the teams in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup … Who has the best pit crew of all the Chase teams? PitTalks.com’s four-part series analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of each over-the-wall crew … @nascarcasm recaps the Richmond action as only he can.

TUESDAY: Will there be any movement in this week’s Power Rankings presented by Outback? We’ll see how the top drivers are ranked heading into the Chase … @nascarcasm drafts up a Facebook page using his wit and comedic puns … Hear the best in-car audio with Scanner Sounds.

WEDNESDAY: See the fresh looks that will be on track at Chicagoland Speedway with Paint Scheme Preview … High 5 presents the best NASCAR content from around the web … Which team is the favorite to win the championship? Holly Cain tells you … Kenny Bruce reports on the open test at Kansas.

THURSDAY: Chase Media Day is here and NASCAR.com will have a live stream from the event so you can hear from all the drivers in the postseason field … Driver Reports is back this week and highlights the 16 drivers in the Chase … Jimmie Johnson turning 40? @nascarcasm has something to say about that.

FRIDAY: There is plenty of on-track action with all three NASCAR national series in action at Chicagoland Speedway. A busy day is capped off by Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at 6:45 p.m. ET followed by the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol e15 225 at 8:30 p.m. ET. … Kenny Bruce and Zack Albert will be on the ground as drivers prepare for the start of the Chase … 8 Tweets highlights the best from social media in the past week.

Also coming this week: Chase Across North America kicks off on Tuesday with drivers taking to the cities hosting Chase races and a few other locations for special appearances ahead of the Chase … In light of Denny Hamlin‘s torn ACL, we take a look at drivers who have raced injured.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Nascar

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup participants Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr., along with Aric Almirola and J.J. Yeley, are taking part in a two-day Goodyear tire test today and Tuesday at Kansas Speedway.

The Hollywood Casino 400, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 18 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas, marks the halfway point in this year’s 10-race Chase. It is also the second stop in the Contender Round of the elimination-style playoff.

An open team test is scheduled at Kansas on Wednesday following the two-day Goodyear test.

Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) is a six-time Sprint Cup champion and enters this weekend’s Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway as the top-seeded driver in the 16-car field. Truex (Furniture Row) is making his third Chase appearance and his first since 2012.

Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports) is the Ford representative for the Goodyear portion of the test while Yeley and his BK Racing group is on hand as the Toyota-affiliated team.

Almirola finished just outside the cutoff for making this year’s Chase, failing to win a race and finishing 17 points behind Paul Menard (Richard Childress Racing) for the final spot.

Only one more open test is currently on tap for teams this season under the NASCAR National Series Unified Testing Policy Schedule – October 14 at Phoenix International Raceway. It will take place following a two-day Goodyear tire test at Phoenix slated for Oct 12-13.

Auto Club Speedway was scheduled to host the season’s final test on Oct. 27-29, but that has been canceled.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Nascar

RELATED: See who is in the Chase

Officials with Hendrick Motorsports have announced two-year contract extensions for six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and primary team sponsor Lowe’s.

The extensions, which were announced today via press release, run through the 2017 season.

Johnson, 39, is the No. 1 seed in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which gets underway with Sunday’s myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

A four-time winner this season, Johnson is attempting to become only the third driver in series history to win seven premier series titles, joining Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.

He is a 74-time race winner in the series and is only two victories short of tying Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time win list. Johnson is the only driver to capture five consecutive Sprint Cup championships (2006-10).

He and crew chief Chad Knaus have been paired together at Hendrick since the 2002 season.

“My relationship with Lowe’s and Hendrick Motorsports means so much,” Johnson said in a team release. “To me, this just reinforces how committed Lowe’s is to our sport and to our partnership. It says a lot to have one sponsor and one team for this amount of time. I couldn’t be prouder to represent everyone at Lowe’s and Hendrick Motorsports. This is my home, and I’m looking forward to many more victories together as a team.”

Knaus, whose latest contract extension runs through 2018, won championships as a crewman with teammate Jeff Gordon in ’95 and ’97 prior to being named crew chief for Johnson.

“The contributions Jimmie and Chad have made to Hendrick Motorsports can’t be overstated,” team owner Rick Hendrick said. “When Lowe’s took a chance by sponsoring the No. 48 team back in 2001, we never could’ve envisioned the results. It’s a championship combination and genuine partnership that we’re proud to continue and committed to develop even further.”

RELATED: Johnson discusses his outlook heading into the Chase

Lowe’s, the North Carolina-based home improvement chain, has been the No. 48 team’s primary sponsor since 2002. It also backed the team for three races in 2001.

The company funded the efforts of drivers Brett Bodine (’95-96) and Mike Skinner (’97-01) before aligning with Hendrick.

“Their dedication … not only to Hendrick Motorsports but to the NASCAR community and our fans, has been absolutely incredible,” Hendrick said. “We’re fortunate to work with a company that’s truly passionate about our sport and shares many of our organization’s core values.”

Hendrick teams have won 11 premier series titles and 237 races since debuting in NASCAR in 1984 as a single-car entity with driver Geoff Bodine.

RELATED: Where will Johnson be for Chase Across North America?

In addition to Johnson, HMS also fields NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries for drivers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.

Gordon, a four-time series champion, will retire from driving at the end of 2015. He will be replaced by defending NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott.

Earnhardt Jr. is signed through the 2017 season while Kahne’s contract was renewed late last year and will keep the Enumclaw, Washington, native on board through 2018.

Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. will join Johnson in this year’s 16-team Chase field.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by

RELATED: Meet the 16 Chase crew chiefs

This is the first in a series of four pit crew analysis pieces NASCAR.com will roll out this week as we preview the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. For more pit crew news provided by PitTalks.com come back throughout the Chase.

Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet SS for Jimmie Johnson

Pit Coach: Chris Krieg
Front Changer: Cam Waugh
Front Carrier: R.J. Barnette
Jackman: Andrew Childers
Rear Changer: Calvin Teague
Rear Carrier: Ryan Patton
Gas Man: Brandon Harder

Strength: This crew has already been a part of four wins this season. Pressure should not be a problem because it has been pitting up front all year. Chemistry is also a major plus. A change at the jack position was made midseason last year, and since then the team has stayed the same.

Weakness: The only weakness we could find with this group could be that it is young. According to our numbers, this is one of the youngest pit crews in NASCAR. That could be a plus or minus, depending on how one looks at it.

Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota for Kyle Busch

Pit Coach: Mike Lepp
Front Changer: Nick Odell
Front Carrier: Brad Donaghy
Jackman: Jeff Fender
Rear Changer: Jake Seminara
Rear Carrier: Kenny Barber
Gas Man: Tom Lampe

Strength: The group has been together with the same driver since 2008. Chemistry is great and they understand each other extremely well. Plus, they always seem to step up when the pressure is on.

Weakness: They haven’t been as consistent this year as years past. Not saying they have had a bad year, but this year has had more ups and downs than years past.

Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota for Matt Kenseth

Pit Coach: Mike Lepp
Front Changer: John Royer
Front Carrier: Joe Crossen
Jackman: Bailey Walker
Rear Changer: Chris Taylor
Rear Carrier: Richard Coleman
Gas Man: John Eicher

Strength: This is a very good pit crew with changers who have been together for a few years. They are used to winning races and understand what it takes to compete at the highest level and gain spots during races.

Weakness: Changes were made in the offseason and even more recently a few weeks back. New to the team are rear carrier Richard Coleman and jackman Bailey Walker. Seeing how this team’s chemistry plays out will be a big part of its success or failure.

Team Penske No. 22 Ford for Joey Logano

Pit Coach: Trent Cherry
Front Changer: Thomas Hatcher
Front Carrier: Dylan Dowell
Jackman: Ray Gallahan
Rear Changer: Zach Price
Rear Carrier: Eric Groen
Gas Man: Kellen Mills

Strength: Each team member believes in the people around them. This group was totally rebuilt a year ago and has been on fire since then. It works well with the driver, crew chief, and organization, and it is no stranger to pitting in big-time situations.

Weakness: Staying focused the entire Chase. There are a lot of young crewmen on this team and it can’t afford any mistakes due to inexperience.

For more pit crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Staff Report

Did Federated Auto Parts 400 race winner Matt Kenseth jump the final restart with 18 laps to go on Saturday? Some drivers thought so, but he was not penalized at Richmond International Raceway.

Appearing on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive” on Monday morning, Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, explained the governing body’s process on making the call and likened it to ball and strike calls in baseball games.

“I think for now we are still content,” O’Donnell said. “It is as you said a ball and strike call. We’ve got the ability to go back and look at video, which we do, and in this case made the call and moved on from it. It’s still one that we want to leave in the drivers’ hands. If we have to get involved and make those calls with more video, I think we’ll do that but we’d still like to see it play out the way it does.

“I think it’s one of those things that when there is some question on a call or ball, strike, same thing. Certain umpires you see different strike zones and fans seem to tune into that and the media talks about it, which is fair. I think it’s one of those areas that any advantage a team can try and get on restart, they are going to try do that and put a call in our hands, but that’s our job to make the call during the race.”

Restarts have been increasingly under the microscope in recent weeks with drivers asking plenty of questions about them during the pre-race drivers’ meeting at Bristol Motor Speedway last month.

O’Donnell also discussed how NASCAR would follow up on Saturday night’s incident in which Michael McDowell inadvertently ran into the safety truck under a caution.

“First, we start with conversations with the driver, spotter and the crew chief immediately following the race,” O’Donnell said. “What happened, where was the breakdown in communication and see what we can learn from there. Obviously, we got all the video to go through and then for every race that we have, Monday and Tuesday we go through each of the calls for a race. Evaluate what happened, what were the circumstances.

“We’ve got training that goes into this prior to the race where we meet with all the track safety and cleanup workers. We do that every morning as well when they’re at the track. We’ll debrief with those folks as well and see what they saw and look to not have that happen in the future.”

• O’Donnell also commented on reports that track officials at Richmond asked to move its spring race date from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. This year rain moved the April race, the Toyota Owners 400 , from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon.

“We have had those discussions,” O’Donnell said. “Certainly, you see that with a lot of tracks. Phoenix wanted to differentiate kind of the Saturday, Sunday. Richmond has looked to do that in the past. We had some challenges to be able to pull it off but all the discussions so far lead us to think that we are going to be able to do that in 2016. Still a couple things to iron out, but all indicators look like that might be a strong possibility for us.”

Posted on September 13, 2015 by

RELATED: Complete Richmond results

1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth dominated on Saturday, leading 352 of 400 laps and winning his fourth race of the year.

2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Despite a late-race vibration, Busch picked up his sixth top-five result of the year.

3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. The pole sitter led 25 laps on Saturday and complained that eventual race winner Matt Kenseth jumped the final restart without penalty.

4. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola, desperate for a win and a second career Chase berth, was turning heads as he raced his way into the top 10 on Saturday. Jeff Gordon radioed, “Is that (No.) 43 for position?” while Almirola raced him for seventh.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Unhappy with his car in practice on Friday, Earnhardt started 29th and climbed through the field, cracking the top five with 80 laps to go.

6. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Playing hurt with an ACL tear, Hamlin briefly paced the Joe Gibbs Racing parade around Richmond, leading Laps 126-138 on Saturday night.

7. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Although winless so far in his final season, Gordon punched his 11th Chase ticket by finishing better than 17th.

8. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski recovered from a pit road speeding penalty during the fifth caution period to record his 18th top-10 of the year.

9. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson was carving his way through the field when crew chief Chad Knaus radioed, “Jimmie, I don’t know what you’re doing when you pass somebody, but you run your fastest laps when you’re passing someone.”

10. Clint Bowyer, No. 15, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer cracked the top 10 on Lap 315, and he held on to his Chase berth thanks to repeat race winner Kenseth.

11. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards was running in the top four with his teammates on Lap 145, but lost several spots after his team made a big adjustment during the Lap 209 stop.

12. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. It was a frustrating night for Larson who, yet again, missed a Richmond top-10 on top of not qualifying for the Chase.

13. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. By simply rolling off the grid 31st on Saturday night, McMurray locked up his first career Chase berth.

14. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick’s pit crew had back-to-back issues lifting the left side of the No. 4 Chevy and resorted to tweaking the jack for subsequent stops.

15. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch struggled to make forward progress as his team hunted for forward drive off Turn 4.

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse lined up 15th for the Lap 296 restart and was continually among the cars battling for the beneficiary pass.

17. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. At the halfway point, Ragan reported that his car refused to turn after 10 green-flag laps.

18. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. After reporting a lack of front grip late in the race, Kahne was pretty quiet on the radio as he watched his Chase hopes fade.

19. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick had a minor setback when she was clocked too fast on pit road during the second caution period.

20. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Despite a frustrating night, Newman still punched his ticket to the Chase because he finished better than 31st.

21. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. The second-fastest in first practice, Mears started getting antsy about his tires during the 85-lap mid-race green-flag run. He caught a break when the caution flag was waved on Lap 98 for debris.

22. Brian Scott, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Scott made his Richmond Cup debut after recording a strong third-place run there in Friday night’s XFINITY Series.

23. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne took advantage of an early beneficiary pass to earn his best Richmond result.

24. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger picked up a couple spots and was running 19th with 60 laps to go after his team made some adjustments, including another round of wedge, during the Lap 290 caution.

25. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. In the second half of the race, Allgaier reported a tight-handling condition and specifically noted he was sliding his front tires.

26. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Fortunately for Menard, his continued streak of finishes outside the top 20 didn’t cost him his first Chase berth.

27. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon’s best Richmond start of 12th was clouded when he spent the race chasing the handling of his No. 3 Chevrolet.

28. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish learned the importance of fresh tires versus track position when he opted not to pit during the third caution period. He restarted second, but plummeted to 18th and a lap down by Lap 200.

29. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Frustrated, Stewart was running 29th on Lap 91 when he radioed his team, “Pretty (expletive) unimpressive going from 10th to a lap down in 90 laps.” Things didn’t improve for Stewart, who later radioed, “I want somebody at the end of this race to tell me how the (expletive) this happened.”

30. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Racing. Cassill’s car appeared to do well on longer runs at first, but soon developed a loose-handling condition.

31. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle entered Saturday’s race needing a win to qualify for the post-season, but ultimately spent the night aggravated with the handling of his car.

32. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex, locked into the Chase thanks to his Pocono win in June, had some early misfortune when he got into the wall on Lap 38.

33. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland’s pit crew made a spring rubber adjustment to alleviate a tight-handling condition when he stopped under caution on Lap 290.

34. J.J. Yeley, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley toughed it out on the same set of tires for almost 100 laps early on Saturday at Richmond, but that cost him track position.

35. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Moffitt’s second outing at Richmond was quiet as he fought a loose-handling condition.

36. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto made his best career start at Richmond, but struggled to stay on the lead lap at the .75-mile oval.

37. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. A persistent loose-handling condition early in Saturday night’s race made it hard for Bowman to improve his track position.

38. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt had to make an unscheduled pit stop after the Lap 218 restart because a valve stem was knocked off his tire.

39. Jeb Burton, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. “Tell (No.) 46 sorry,” Burton radioed his team after making contact with Michael Annett to bring out the third caution flag. “I don’t know what I could have done right there.”

40. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. In his Cup debut, Jeffrey Earnhardt rolled off the grid 42nd and worked with his team to manage his brakes and tires.

41. Reed Sorenson, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Sorenson lost his engine early on and leaked oil on his way to the garage, triggering the first caution.

42. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Racing. McDowell basically ripped off his car’s back-end when he accidentally hit the safety truck during the fifth caution and retreated behind the wall.

43. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett was running 32nd on Lap 112 when he made contact with other competitors, spun on the backstretch and hit the Turn 3 wall hard.

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Nascar

RELATED: Full Richmond results

RICHMOND, Va. — There were no last-second heroics, no pit-road gambles or stunning strategy in an effort to beat the odds.

For Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard, points positions proved crucial. And in the end, proved to be enough.

The group collected the final five positions in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup by failing to fail, running well enough to earn the final berths in this year’s 16-team field.

“It was still stressful, because we had that last restart,” Gordon, a four-time champion making his final Chase appearance, said after bringing his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet home seventh in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

“It was nice not to have to really be sweating it.”

Gordon needed a finish of 17th or better to clinch.

“I know this guy’s happy,” Gordon said as team owner Rick Hendrick eased up behind his driver to give him a congratulatory hug. “He was sweating it a little bit like the rest of us were. So that feels good to make him happy. This team, they deserve it.”

Hendrick, who has seen Gordon evolve from a promising young talent into one of the most successful competitors in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, provided a news flash: “Let me be the first to tell you,” he said, “he’s going to drive another year. He’s not doing good enough, so he’s got to go one more.”

Hendrick was kidding. Sort of.

GALLERY: 2015 Chase drivers celebrate at Richmond

McMurray locked in his first career Chase spot by simply taking the green flag to start the 400-lap event on the .75-mile track.

Although he started 31st in the 43-car field, by night’s end McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) had raced his way up to 13th.

“I’m super relieved,” McMurray said. “I’ve been the guy on the outside trying to fight my way in, and I’ve also been in this a couple of times and been knocked out at Richmond.”

Like McMurray, Menard (Richard Childress Racing) will be making his first Chase appearance when the 10-race playoff begins next week at Chicagoland Speedway.

The excitement of qualifying was tempered a bit by a difficult night on the race track — Menard finished 26th, three laps down to race winner Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing).

“We had a fast car, it just burned the left-front tire off after like 30, 40 laps and we started going backwards,” said Menard. “Try to figure out what happened there.”

His No. 27 team wasn’t the only one to have issues with the left front, he said. But others had no similar problems.

“Some guys,” he said, “obviously figured it out.

“We’ve had a lot of good runs this year; obviously this wasn’t one of them.”

Bowyer’s Chase appearance will be his final showing with Michael Waltrip Racing — the two-car organization will cease to exist after the ’15 season.

“I hate to say this but it’s actually nice to go into the Chase the way we are; the pressure is off,” Bowyer said. “Hell, we were trying to make the Chase, that’s big, that’s monumental for our organization and our team.

“Let’s just go have fun, let’s get everything we can out of every single weekend and see what happens. Literally, the pressure is off until somehow, some way you’re in the thing (for) two rounds or three rounds then all of a sudden the pressure kicks back up. But that’s the neat thing about being in our situation, being part of this Chase. Right now, in the next three or four weeks, there is no pressure.”

Bowyer’s status as a Chase participant was the most tenuous — a slip could have opened the door for someone else to bolt past. His 10th-place finish proved more than enough to accomplish what was required.

“At the beginning we weren’t real great,” crew chief Billy Scott admitted. “We had to work hard on it. Just stayed calm, it was a long race. After that we just kind of found a place and ran our race.

“We were keeping an eye on guys that hadn’t won and were running up front, where the guys were that we were racing in points and felt pretty comfortable with getting in on either side of that.

“There was no need to gamble. We just ran a pretty conservative race and brought it home in one piece.”

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Holly Cain

RICHMOND, Va. – Aric Almirola leaned back against his bright blue Ford and took a long swig of water. The disappointment was evident on his face, but so was the determination. He missed making the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field by a slim 17 points, but Almirola was certain that he had given it all he had.

His No. 43 Richard Petty-owned Ford finished fourth in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway in an impressive and impassioned effort from a 24th-place starting position.

Almirola’s most realistic shot of earning one of the 16 Chase berths was to win the race, and he sure made a run at it, advancing as high as third on a restart with 18 laps remaining.

“Disappointed for sure,” Almirola said on pit road. “I drove my heart out tonight and all year long, really. I feel like we’ve overachieved this year. Our cars really haven’t had the speed and we’ve managed a way to get good results.

“This race team is a great race team and we wanted another shot at it, and we just came up short. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

It was a similar feeling after the race from other high profile Chase near-misses such as veteran Kasey Kahne, who fell 33 points shy of qualifying and last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Kyle Larson, who also missed making his first postseason appearance.

For the first time since the Chase format was instituted in 2004, there will be no Roush Fenway Racing cars among the playoff contenders.

RELATED: Chase format explained

While Almirola and Kahne could have made it on points if they got some help, Larson had to score a victory to earn a Chase berth because he was too far back in the point standings.

Larson qualified well (11th) among the group of must-win-to-get-in drivers and ran among the top 10 for much of the night. But while his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate Jamie McMurray secured the team its first Chase appearance since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2009 — Larson’s 12th place finish Saturday wasn’t quite good enough to put the team “all in.”

“We ran about where we typically do here at Richmond, which is right around the top 10,” Larson said. “I don’t think anybody was beating [race winner] Matt Kenseth tonight. He was super fast.

“Disappointing run for the Chase. I think everybody on our team thought the 42 would definitely be in the Chase to start the season after the way we ended last year. But it wasn’t the case this season, so we’ll work hard the last 10 races to try and run strong for Target and get them a win and work on being consistent.

“That’s where we’ve struggled pretty much all year long was being consistent, so we’ll try and work hard at that and try and finish strong.”

Larson’s team owner Chip Ganassi was equally philosophic about the situation.

“I’m not one of these guys that gets disappointed because one guy’s in and one guy’s not,” Ganassi said. “When you can punch somebody into the playoffs, that’s good for the whole team.

“Would I like to have two cars in the Chase? Yes. Who wouldn’t? It’s not to be. … You’re happy for the ones that are in and sad for the ones that are not. The fact you have one in there makes it good for the entire team.”

RELATED: Ganassi undergoes surgery

It was an undeniably tough night to have to win your way into the postseason. Kenseth led a dominating 352 of the race’s 400 laps to finish ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Three JGR cars – also including sixth-place finisher Denny Hamlin – led all but 25 of the race’s laps.

Kahne conceded he never really had anything for the JGR cars. He ran between 15th and 20th for most of the race and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy finished 18th, two laps down to the winner. It’s the first time in four seasons that Kahne did not qualify for the Chase.

“I think the main thing for me is just figuring out how to get a car to turn again,” Kahne analyzed. “I’ve struggled all year to have front turn and if I don’t have that, I can’t race. That’s how I’ve been my whole life. We’ll just work on trying to get the cars the way I need them to and if we can’t, we’ll keep running about 15th.”

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Holly Cain

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RICHMOND, Va. – Denny Hamlin grimaced in pain as he was helped out of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota on Richmond International Raceway pit road Saturday night. Team members had bags of ice ready to lay on top of his swollen right knee – the result of a torn ACL suffered in a pick-up basketball game Tuesday night.

Hamlin asked for a moment and took a seat on the pit wall – the pain of his injury lessened a bit by the impressive sixth-place finish he turned in during the Federated Auto Parts 400 regular season finale.

Hamlin led twice for 14 laps and toughed out his 13th top-10 finish on the season only days after doctors said he could delay surgery on his knee until after the season.

Relying on competitive adrenaline and championship motivation, Hamlin insisted his knee wasn’t going to slow him down. And it sure didn’t look like it did Saturday night.

The Martinsville Speedway winner will be seeded 11th in the 16-car driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field heading into the first round of the 10-week playoffs next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

“I don’t think the knee adds any stress [to the Chase],” Hamlin said. “The stress comes from making sure we don’t have any mistakes. Just one silly mistake can take you out of it. I’m confident with the way we’re running and the speed of the cars, so we should be OK.

“Chicago, in general, has been really good for us. We tested there in the 11-car and we have one of the fastest crews out there, so a lot of things are in our favor.”

Hamlin’s team owner, Joe Gibbs, revealed after the race that Hamlin was so intent on racing that he sent the team’s back-up driver (Erik Jones) home early this weekend.

“I feel real confident,” Gibbs said of Hamlin managing his injury. “We’ve been through this before. Last time it was with his braking leg and he handled that well. We’ve got the best doctors in the world looking at him.”

Hamlin’s teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch finished 1-2 in the race buoying his expectations and a wave of momentum for the JGR team that has won eight of the last 11 events – 11 of the last 21.