Posted on by Zack Albert

Defending champ keeps cool in bid for Texas sweep, repeat title

Matt Crafton‘s lead with three races left in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship hunt last year was a hefty 51 points, an edge he maintained with enough consistency that he only needed to start the season finale to clinch his first national series crown.

This season, three other drivers are nipping at his heels within that same points window, but the 38-year-old veteran is no less comfortable despite the tighter competition. No matter the proximity of his foes, his faith in his ThorSport Racing team has never wavered.

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"If we lose (the championship), I truly believe it will be bad luck," Crafton said. "We won’t lose it because we get outran. I truly believe that we have the best group of guys in the garage. I believe 100 percent in them. It’s really cool to be in the situation I’m in."

That situation is only made sweeter by returning to Texas Motor Speedway, the site of his most recent victory and host to Friday night’s WinStar World Casino & Resort 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), the 20th of 22 races this season. In June, Crafton prevailed in a gas-mileage battle, but had the field covered on performance as well as fuel economy, leading 118 of 167 laps on the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track.

Crafton has ranked among the top three drivers in the standings ever since posting his first win of 2014 at Martinsville Speedway in the series’ second race of the season. His current stretch of six top-five finishes in the last eight races has helped him return to the top, bolstering his quest to become the first back-to-back champion in the series’ 20-year history.

"We’re just trying to capitalize at each track," Crafton said. "If we keep doing what we’re doing, it’ll take care of itself."

Crafton holds an 18-point lead on Brad Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Blaney and a 22-point edge over Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Darrell Wallace Jr., the series’ most recent winner at Martinsville Speedway last weekend. Johnny Sauter, Crafton’s ThorSport teammate, lurks 40 points off the top.

The series regulars will have an extra challenge in the form of Kyle Busch, who has scored six victories in eight truck starts this season. Busch, who is entered in all three national series events at Texas this weekend, will be trying to pad his operation’s lead in the team owner standings. The Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota, with driving duties split between Busch and 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver Erik Jones, holds a four-point edge over the ThorSport No. 88 wheeled by Crafton in its bid for a team owner title repeat.

A finish of seventh or better by any of the 10 Toyota drivers in the field would also clinch the seventh manufacturer’s championship for the Japanese automaker. Toyota has won 15 of 19 races this season.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Logano: ‘You’re going to have to win here to win the championship’

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Lest there be any doubt about the importance of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series championship-crowning season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN), consider that 15 drivers – including seven of the eight Chase drivers (Ryan Newman is the exception) representing most of NASCAR’s powerhouse teams from Hendrick Motorsports to Team Penske to Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing are in South Florida testing at the 1.5-mile track Tuesday and Wednesday.

The next time these drivers show up in the Sunshine State, four of them will be vying for the Sprint Cup championship in a one-race showdown at Homestead. And first of those four across the finish line hoists the big hardware.

Championships have been decided here before, but never like this.

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"You have to enter Homestead with the expectation that you need to win the race to win the championship and we have two cars and teams who are in the hunt for that," said Penske’s Brad Keselowski on Tuesday during a lunch break at the track. "It’s really a very, very critical test not just for us, but for all the teams.

"I look forward to coming back here because three of the last four times [here] we’ve celebrated a championship in some form whether it was Cup or Nationwide."

There are still two more races left – including this week’s stop at Texas Motor Speedway — to decide which four drivers will advance to the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Homestead-Miami. But clearly teams realize the significance of this one race and are putting in a focused effort toward success here.

"You have to execute the next couple races first, but that’s why you see so many cars testing here. It all comes down to Homestead," said Penske’s Joey Logano, who is ranked third among the eight Chase drivers.

"Making sure you have a fast car here is important. That’s going to be the difference in winning the championship or not. Most likely, you’re going to have to win here to win the championship this year, or come close to it."

Playing it safe, doesn’t appear to be an option.

"All the cars are fast but we want to be the fastest of the fast," said Keselowski, who is seventh in the Chase standings. "For us, that’s the key thing for us here today. You can’t really practice pit stops or restarts. What we’re looking for when we test is one element of the weekend, how much raw speed does you car have.

"Speed is the building block for a successful winning team and the most definitive way to find that speed is what we’re doing here with testing."

His Chase competitor Jeff Gordon — who ranks first among the eight Eliminator Round drivers following a runner-up showing at Martinsville last week — is taking a similar approach.

"It’s all about speed, having a car that handles well," said Gordon, who won the Homestead race in 2012 as Keselowski was being crowned Sprint Cup champion.

"This is a very challenging race track especially in the heat of the day. It’s slick and hard to get a hold of and difficult to get the balance right. … we’ve had some good cars here the last couple of years and want to simulate that [in testing] and hope we’re in the battle for the championship when we come back here and hope we have a car that can win the race."

Gordon is joined at the test by his Hendrick teammate and Sunday’s Martinsville winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Since Earnhardt was eliminated from the Chase, he is multitasking this week at the test.

"We’re in a different situation than Jeff, so we split the test in half," Earnhardt said.

"We’re working on 2015 [package] today and 2014 package this evening and all day tomorrow. We feel like we had a good car here last year and we’re just trying to learn a few more things. Hopefully come out of here satisfied and good shape for the race."

The drivers acknowledged the elevated intensity level created by this new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship elimination format and expect it to increase exponentially by next month’s Ford EcoBoost 400.

Even those like Earnhardt now looking in at the title run from the outside say there is a tangible case of nerves of in the garage every race weekend.

"With the way the Chase is, basically every race is so critical and you’ve go to get a top-five or win in every event," Earnhardt said. "Talking to other drivers I think there’s a sense of anxiety and nerves over trying to continue and get into next round that we didn’t have before. That sort of shows up in what you see out on the race track, those nerves and anxiety of getting to the next round and doing whatever you can as a team to take a spot to move forward.

"It’s really got guys scratching their heads and worried before races. There’s guys who can go out there and perform well under those circumstances and guys that spaz out and have a terrible day and spiral out of control."

Keselowski conceded he’s endured a fast-moving roller coaster ride during the Chase, experiencing bad luck like he had last week with a 31st-place finish at Martinsville, or the extreme high of pulling off a dramatic must-win at Talladega Superspeedway only the week before.

Consistency may put a driver in position for a title, but winning will likely determine the champion.

"We’re all entering the last round with the thought process you’re going to have to come here and win the race," Keselowski said. "And if that’s the case, I don’t really want to be consistent. I want to be the guy that can get hot on any given week and kinda own a race, so to speak.

"You have to count on coming here and needing to deliver a clutch performance to win and I think our teams at Team Penske have that capability."

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No. 24 team ascends to No. 1 overall following runner-up finish. Agree? Disagree? Cast your vote

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Team says Texas, Phoenix present opportunities to keep title hopes alive

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Kevin Harvick‘s stumble out of the gates in the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last weekend at Martinsville Speedway has left him with two races to put his name in the championship-eligible field of four.

The mathematical route of accumulating points is a formidable one, but a victory at either Texas or Phoenix in the next two weeks would cure all of Harvick’s ills. And if numerology has any hand in providing an assist, Harvick will be making his milestone 500th start in NASCAR’s premier series in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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For his Stewart-Haas Racing support system, there are no misgivings that their lone remaining title hopeful can come through in the clutch.

"Absolutely not. There’s definitely no doubt," said Tony Stewart, Harvick’s stablemate and team co-owner. "You look how fast he was at Texas in the spring. I think we feel good going to Texas, and Phoenix is one of his favorite tracks. There’s nobody I’d put money on in a two-race deal more than him."

Mid-race contact from championship rival Matt Kenseth left Harvick 43 laps off the pace in 33rd position after last Sunday’s race, shuffling him to last among the eight drivers still in title contention. The 33-point deficit to new series leader Jeff Gordon isn’t impossible to overcome, but Harvick would need some misfortune to visit some of the Chase competition to advance by points.

The other way to lock into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship under this year’s new format isn’t easy but is less complex — win one of the next two. It’s been done before, even in the new playoff system’s infancy, with Brad Keselowski‘s Talladega victory to avoid elimination taking on the equivalent of a walk-off homer or a buzzer-beater.

Conventional wisdom might say, "don’t drive angry," but SHR competition director Greg Zipadelli expects Harvick to convert last Sunday’s setback into motivation going forward.

"Obviously, he’s frustrated but he seems to do well when his back is against the wall and I think he wants it," Zipadelli said. "Nobody is going to give you it. Racing for years, you gotta go earn it, you gotta race it and some days things stack against you and you’ve got to go see what you’re made of. We’ll go to the next couple of races and see what we’ve got. I believe in our people, I believe in our equipment, so we’ve just got to do it."

A large part of the optimism stems from Harvick’s recent performance at both tracks, starting this weekend with Texas Motor Speedway. Though Harvick finished 42nd at the Fort Worth track in April after suffering engine failure just 28 laps in, he was third-fastest in final practice and third-best in Coors Light Pole Qualifying before his No. 4 Chevrolet broke down.

Harvick’s prospects are even more encouraging at Phoenix International Raceway, where the Eliminator Round finale will cut the remaining Chase field in half to determine its final four. Harvick has won three of the last four Sprint Cup races at the mile track in the Arizona desert, including a dominating victory there in March, when he led 224 of 312 laps in just his second start with the Stewart-Haas operation.

While last weekend’s dust-up with Kenseth made the road ahead more difficult, Rodney Childers — Harvick’s crew chief — maintains there’s no panic in the team’s game plan.

"We’re ready to go," Childers said. "Our Texas and Phoenix cars are already ready, and our Homestead cars are going there to test. There’s nothing we need to change or do differently. We’ve just got to go win a race."

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Posted on by Nascar

Richard Buck: ‘We’re moving faster and our jobs are much easier…’

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It’s not only the cars on the tracks that are going faster these days.

Thanks to a collaborative effort with Microsoft, NASCAR’s technical inspection process has been setting its own track records as the 2014 racing season hustles toward its conclusion.

The development of a mobile inspection application has helped streamline the labor-intensive process of on-site technical inspection, trimming nearly in half the time spent examining cars and recording pertinent data.

The paperless procedure, which debuted in September at Chicagoland Speedway, consists of NASCAR officials inputting relevant data into Windows-compatible devices as the cars move through the various stages of inspection.

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"We’re moving faster and our jobs are much easier than they were before," Richard Buck, managing director for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series said. "The inspection app was designed to make the overall process more efficient and it has."

Inspectors use the devices for eight different disciplines, from safety and templates to engine inspection, throughout the course of a race weekend.

"We saw some opportunities to bring the speed up and the efficiency of our inspection process," Fred Prendergast Jr., vehicle inspection tools and procedures engineer for NASCAR, said at Charlotte Motor Speedway earlier this month. "We talked to all of the guys in the field, and said ‘This is what we’re doing. How do you want it to work? How do you want it to look? What are your complaints and what are your concerns in the field?’ And that’s where all of this came from."

For years, individual NASCAR inspectors would record a car’s progress through the inspection process on paper, signing off when the car cleared a certain station while making notations when an issue or issues arose. Prendergast estimated that officials were initialing paperwork upwards of roughly 2,000 times each weekend for 38 weeks.

Now, they simply note on the handheld device when the car has cleared, or indicate any issues when applicable, and the information is stored in the database. Each series director can track the progress of the inspection process, as a whole or for an individual car, by simply viewing the application’s dashboard on his desktop or laptop device, regardless of where he might be located.

According to Jason Campbell, senior product marketing manager for Windows marketing, the technology "is connected to a dedicated network. If it’s out of range, the device still captures the data, and when it’s in range, it syncs up."

"It actually works in an off-line manner," Prendergast said, "so if they lose connectivity, they just keep on going."

Buck, Wayne Auton and Chad Little serve as series directors for the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, respectively. Prendergast said the directors wanted "a more efficient way to manage race-day events, the inspection events, with more real-time data they could see."

The app provides access to the various inspection disciplines with a "real-time view of everything that’s going on in the field," he said. "Each discipline, and where it’s at in terms of completion.

"On the right side, they’ve got what they call the score — how many cars are ready to compete and have gone through the complete inspection process. How long do we have until the race?"

Previously, the only way to determine how far along the inspection process was, or if any team or teams had an issue, was for the series director to personally walk through the garage to the various inspection stations.

"He would have had to have spoken to the official at that point, talked to the team. You don’t have to do that anymore; it’s all right here," Prendergast, a former engineer in the aviation aerospace industry, said.

Each car is considered good to go by default. As it moves through the inspection process, should an issue arise, officials can note the problem with the touch of an icon — the level of infractions are color-coded for easy reference — and even have the ability to include a photograph when necessary.

"One of the things we weren’t able to do before was see real-time data, real-time notes," Prendergast said. When an icon on the screen is highlighted, "that means someone has written a note related to this infraction. So (an official or director) can open that up and read what’s going on with that particular car."

Such real-time data, combined with a growing database, also allows officials to detect trends. If teams are working in an area of the cars that’s caught the attention of the officials, it can be easily traced. It’s also made it easier to confirm issues that have surfaced previously.

Now, when a car comes through, a crew member has to sign off on any infraction "so there’s a record of it," he said.

"I can go back and pull the image of the signature from the database. It’s all saved. We will save a full season’s worth of records, then we’ll archive it. We can keep it for however long we need."

Prendergast said he’s hoping that the technology will also be used to record items away from the track, such as chassis certification at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina. And the process is expected to be completely paperless by next season, when he said details of infractions in inspection would be emailed to those parties involved.

Additionally, the ability to give fans access to the results of the process as it unfolds is also being studied.

"The possibilities of this … are absolutely tremendous," Prendergast said.

Microsoft’s Campbell said the development of the application from initial concept to in-race use took about six months.

"The design experience, how we created the visual; image engineering, how do we take the Windows image and put it on the device; the infrastructure, tying into the NASCAR infrastructure, the database and where all this stuff is housed," he said.

"That’s a very, very short time. When thinking about a commercial installation, and the fact that you’re capturing sensitive data and you have to secure that, that is a very short time.

"Typically in commercial scenarios, we see anywhere from probably 12 to 18 months for something like this. This is very accelerated … the officials and our services team really immersed themselves into what it is going to take to deliver what they want to be more efficient."

For Buck and the other series directors, as well as the inspectors in the garage, it’s made the entire process much smoother.

"With the dashboard in my office," Buck said, "I can monitor the progress of all 43 cars and the dynamic movements of what it takes to get ready for a race on race day."

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Posted on by Nascar

Seven of eight Chase drivers participating at site of season finale

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Fresh off a victory at Martinsville Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte are among 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams testing Tuesday and Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Letarte, departing at season’s end to move into the broadcast booth with NBC Sports next season, brought along a bit of help in the form of Greg Ives as teams will work on 2015 rules packages as well as setups for the upcoming season-ending race on Nov. 16.

Ives is the crew chief for the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Chase Elliott. He will take over as crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup team next season.

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Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "The Morning Drive," Letarte said that the two-day test would give Ives and his driver a chance to work together without the pressure of a race weekend.

"We’re going to run a little bit under the 2015 rules," Letarte said. "(Greg) and Dale are going to be working some together today; I’m talking on the radio instead of working on the race car because I want Greg and Dale to really spend some time together and kind of get a leg up.

"Then this afternoon about 5 o’clock when the sun starts to go down we’ll jump into ’14 rules; Dale and I will work hard and we’ll probably do the same thing again tomorrow — when the track is close to (what) we’re going to have for the 3:30-4 o’clock start of the upcoming race, we’re going to be in our ’14 configuration.

"When it’s not that close, here in the middle of the day, we’ll let Greg and Dale work through some plans for next year."

The Sprint Cup Series moves on to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the AAA Texas 500 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN), before stops at Phoenix and Homestead close out the season.

"If you’re going to go and spend the time and money and effort to go test, to get on the airplane, to go down there … do it right or don’t do it at all," he said. "Winning is better than losing, that’s what we figured out and there’s three more to go and our goal is to win all three."

The Martinsville victory was the fourth win of the season for Earnhardt Jr., who also won the Daytona 500 and swept both races at Pocono Raceway. It was his fifth since being paired with Letarte in 2011.

Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne are also participating in the two-day test, as is Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway Racing), Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), and Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing).

The group includes seven of the eight drivers still battling for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title – Richard Childress Racing‘s Ryan Newman is the only Chase driver not in attendance. According to a spokesman for RCR, the organization has already used all four of its tests allowed at NASCAR tracks.

"It basically looks like a Chase heat race," Letarte said. "Egos will come out today. We say we’re testing, but you don’t want to go home the slowest."

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Chat with fellow NASCAR fans during this week’s on-track activity

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Posted on by Brad Norman

Driver currently sits second in points despite no trips to Victory Lane in 2014

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Of the eight drivers who advanced to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, three — Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth — have won at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Among the five remaining drivers, two have multiple wins this year in Joey Logano (five) and Kevin Harvick (three).

Out of the final three drivers, two have finished second in the final series standings before in Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin.

That leaves Ryan Newman.

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The 36-year-old may be the least flashy of the remaining competitors still in contention for this year’s championship, but yet another timely performance last weekend at Martinsville Speedway has him second in the standings with two races remaining before the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Newman finished third at the 0.526-mile track, tied for his best result of the year, behind the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon. He’s three points back of Gordon, the series points leader, and has five consecutive finishes of eighth place or better.

"(The new format) has played to our advantage mathematically, no doubt," Newman said. "We were the 16th seed coming in without a win. We’ve not won yet. We were tied for the lead in the points with four races to go. So mathematically it has played to my advantage, as it has others, but probably mine mostly."

Even a rare mistake can’t ruin the momentum the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing team has generated.

Following a caution on Lap 188, Newman was busted for speeding on pit road — coincidentally, so was the No. 24 of Gordon. That sent the No. 31 back to 31st in the lineup, setting the stage for a rally that was more grit than glamour.

Newman’s progress through the field after that penalty Sunday was slow. He was 25th on a Lap 277 caution, 13th after a Lap 386 caution and finally back into the top 10 by Lap 400.

On the final pit stop following a red flag on Lap 488, Newman’s team gambled on two tires. He restarted eighth, and had never cracked the top five in the race until the final lap.

"The strategy of two tires there at the end worked out good for us," he said. "It was the right number of laps with the guys that stayed out, and we kept the guys behind us that had four tires. It was a great team effort. I put our team in a hole when I sped on pit lane, which doesn’t happen very often. It cost us a lot of track position."

Perhaps equally as important as Newman’s outstanding day was that Earnhardt won the race. Junior is no longer in the Chase, and those in the Eliminator Round automatically qualify for the four-driver championship round at Homestead with a victory this round.

That means at least two of those four heralded spots will be determined by points. For a driver that hasn’t won this year, but whose average finish (13.0) ranks fourth in all of the Sprint Cup Series, it’s setting up to be an ideal scenario heading to Texas Motor Speedway.

"I mean, it’s played to our advantage the entire time as far as not having a win, not having bonus points," Newman said. "But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be from the drop of the green in Texas or from the drop of the green in Homestead."

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See where each driver finished the Eliminator Round opener and why

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Editor’s note: Drivers in italics are in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
Well, as always, timing is everything. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Martinsville for the first time in his career, a win that would’ve propelled him to the Championship Round at Homestead had he not been eliminated last week at Talladega. Still, he was plenty excited. "I definitely polished off the jerky too early," he said over the radio. "Cold beer, a whole (expletive) keg would be awesome. I could do a keg stand right now." Get more driver audio with RaceView

2. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
Jeff Gordon incurred a speeding penalty ("I knew it. Big mistake on my part. My bad guys.") when he was caught going too fast on pit road on Lap 192. Considering he had to overcome this severe disadvantage and beefs with Carl Edwards (who checked up in front of him, damaging the nose of the No. 24) and Ryan Newman ("What’s up with that 31 getting into me?"), it’s incredible that he finished runner-up to his teammate. Get more driver audio with RaceView

3. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
Speaking of incredible, Ryan Newman also had to overcome a speeding penalty at the same time as Gordon, rebounding for a third-place finish. Newman’s consistent charge through this Chase has been remarkable. He keeps inching closer to that elusive first win of 2014 and it just feels like at some point he’ll break through.

4. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
Martinsville proved successful for "Smoke" once again, as the driver was in contention for the win late for the first time since his return from a three-race absence. More importantly, he built momentum to carry into the end of the season and beyond, leading multiple laps in consecutive races for the first time this season.

5. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske
It wasn’t the round-opening race that Joey Logano enjoyed for the start of the Contender Round — i.e. his win at Kansas — but his fifth-place finish was enough to keep his head above water and in good standing for advancement to the Championship Round. As we’ve been seeing more and more lately, the No. 22 was out front for 60 laps and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him win next week at 1.5-mile Texas, the type of track Team Penske has dominated this year.

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6. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
While his mix-up with fellow Chase driver Kevin Harvick left his competitor’s No. 4 Chevrolet with heavy damage, Matt Kenseth was able to recover from the incident well enough to nearly muster a top-five finish. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver even absorbed an intentional hit from the SHR driver: "(Harvick) tried to knock our radiator off. Check the nose for any damage." Get more driver audio with RaceView

7. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Clint Bowyer sighting. Having led just one — one! — lap since he led all of three at Indianapolis in July, Bowyer looked like his old self on Sunday, leading 33 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish.
Get more driver data with RaceView.

8. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
At times, it looked like Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 car were the combo to beat — he led 68 laps — and that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was back to honing his Martinsville prowess. An eighth-place finish is still good, especially considering an early pit stop flub where the car was too close to pit wall and the temporary jack man couldn’t get the handle down all the way nearly derailed him, but Hamlin still sits on the wrong side of the Chase bubble.

9. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing
A solid top-10 finish for AJ Allmendinger and crew, which should go a long way toward solidifying another of the JTG Daugherty Racing driver’s strong suits as they turn their focus toward 2015. He may be out of the Chase, but this team won’t forget that they made it via the Watkins Glen win. If Dinger has road courses and short tracks nailed down, look out.

10. David Ragan, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports
If you were told that in two races at Talladega and Martinsville, David Ragan would’ve finished 30th and 10th, there’s no way you’d think the top-10 came at the short track. Alas, that’s the case, as the Front Row Motorsports driver recovered from a spin on Lap 207 for his best finish of the season.

11. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
Early in the race, Kyle Busch struggled with some steering issues into the turns, telling his team, ‘Won’t turn. Won’t leave," later asking crew chief Dave Rogers to free up the car. Whatever changes the No. 18 team made must’ve worked, as Busch worked his way through the field for a near top-10 finish. Get more driver audio with RaceView

12. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon was caught speeding on pit road on Lap 391, a penalty that normally would’ve derailed the rookie and saddled him with a poor finish. The RCR driver rallied, however, to improve upon his spring Martinsville finish of 15th.

13. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing
Not much is expected of Greg Biffle when the veteran driver hits the Virginia short track — after all, he’s never finished in the top five and has just five top-10s in 24 starts. That said, he’s been much better at Martinsville lately, averaging a finish of 12.0 since the start of 2012, so his 13th-place finish is right in line with his recent results.

14. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
Paul Menard has finished inside the top 10 at Martinsville once in his career, placing exactly 10th this spring. In that race, he moved up 11 positions from where he started. In Sunday’s contest, he started 14th and finished there, too.

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was involved in a late-race mix-up, but recovered enough for a 15th-place finish. Considering he missed last week’s race at Talladega completely, a mid-teens finish has to be considered a success for the second-year driver.

16. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
For a good portion of the race, it sure looked like Jamie McMurray was going to play the part of Chase spoiler — a role that instead was filled by Dale Jr. — as he led 84 laps from the pole. In this year’s postseason, McMurray has shown serious speed and a competitive nature that wasn’t seen much in the regular season, so he could be a guy to watch as a 2015 Chase sleeper.

17. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
Much like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Allgaier missed the Talladega race because of a qualifying gaffe, so his 17th-place finish is a solid return to the track for the No. 51 driver. Plus, he improved upon his starting and finishing position from the spring race.

18. Cole Whitt, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing
Partly due to the overwhelming success of Kyle Larson and the hype around Austin Dillon, Cole Whitt hasn’t gotten the attention he deserves in 2014. The rookie has shown marked improvement over the course of the season and finished inside the top 20 for consecutive races for the first time this season via his 18th-place Martinsville result.

19. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Racing
While it’s unlikely another one of his fans will get a tattoo to commemorate his 19th-place Martinsville finish like one did after his top-five at Talladega, Landon Cassill matched his career-best "Paperclip" finish in nine races.

20. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing
Given how many of the remaining Chase drivers finished inside the top 10, Carl Edwards‘ 20th-place finish could’ve been a lot worse had Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick not imploded and scored 31st and 33rd-place finishes, respectively. The Roush Fenway Racing driver battled grip and water temperature issues all day and ended up being involved in Keselowski’s wreck on Lap 436, but remains in the Chase hunt because of his slight recovery.

21. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports
Proof that the new Chase format is doing its job: Aric Almirola, who made the Chase via his July Daytona win and was knocked out almost immediately when he blew an engine in the opener at Chicago, has averaged a finish of 26.9 in the seven postseason races thus far. This team made plenty of improvements this year, but it’s clear they aren’t ready for the big stage yet.

22. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports
With no top-10s under his belt in 2014 and only eight to his name in his career, it’d be irresponsible to expect one to come at Martinsville for the veteran driver, given that his career average finish is 29.6. Still, a 22nd-place result is better than he’s been, and he improved on his spring finish by four spots.

23. Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports
Marcos Ambrose had a quiet race until he and Kyle Larson got into each other with 11 laps to go, sending both drivers sideways into the wall. It’s possible that Larson was protecting his teammate, Jamie McMurray, as the No. 9 and No. 1 were beating and banging mere seconds before this happened, but it isn’t the kind of race a driver bowing out of the sport in three weeks was looking to have.

24. Michael Annett, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing
There was a five-race stretch in the middle of the season in which Michael Annett seemed to be closer to "getting it", when he averaged a finish of 22.0. It was respectable for a rookie, but he hasn’t shown much since then. Perhaps his 24th-place showing at Martinsville will kick off a strong finish to his 2014 campaign.

25. Josh Wise, No. 98 Chevrolet, Phil Parsons Racing
Josh Wise has run more laps at Martinsville — 2,103 — than any other track on the circuit, and it shows. The 2014 All-Star has steadily improved his finishing position at the short track since his 2012 debut there, culminating in Sunday’s top-25.

26. Mike Wallace, No. 49 Toyota, Jay Robinson Racing
Mike Wallace ran back-to-back races for just the second time this season and it resulted in his best race of the year. After starting dead last, Wallace marched through the field for his best cup finish since 2007.

27. Brian Vickers, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing
Brian Vickers had an entertaining race. He traded shots back and forth with Kasey Kahne, at times blaming his car ("The car just went straight when I got down to (Turn) 1. Be sure and check that splitter. Something has to be wrong.) but then later wanting to take part in the melee, saying "Alright, we owe him another. We can do this all day long." Get more driver audio with RaceView

28. Kyle Fowler, No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford
For a driver making his Sprint Cup Series debut, Martinsville is no easy task. It showed on Lap 75, when the 22-year-old spun and drew a caution. Still, he battled hard all day to recover for a respectable 28th-place showing.

29. Alex Bowman, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing
Alex Bowman had a really difficult race from the get-go. He spun on Lap 5, making contact with Aric Almirola and later crunched his hood on Lap 207 when traffic in front of him stopped abruptly. To make matters worse, he couldn’t even unwind the way he wanted to, tweeting, "So to top today off they’re holding the driver owner lot for an hour. Which means missing the walking dead tonight."

30. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
It’s clear that Kyle Larson will need to make one of his priorities over the offseason focusing on short track racing, because Martinsville always seems to eat up the otherwise super-talented rookie. He was involved in a bad wreck with 11 to go after he tangled with Marcos Ambrose and has yet to finish better than 27th in three races.

31. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske
Brad Keselowksi must like racing as the Chase underdog, because he didn’t do himself any favors at Martinsville. His No. 2 started running hot on Lap 95, then he was caught speeding on Lap 163, and finally lost an axel on Lap 436, causing the biggest wreck of the day. At one point, team owner Roger Penske chimed in, "Lot of time. You’ll be fine." He wasn’t.

32. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
It’s a good thing for the No. 48 team that they were eliminated last week at Talladega, because otherwise they’d be in a serious hole right now. Johnson’s race was bad the whole way through, saying in the early going, "Weird vibration in the front. Feels like maybe some rubber on the tire that won’t come off. … Might be a loose left-front. Getting worse." He later ran into Casey Mears, prompting a testy crew chief Chad Knaus to say "Try not to run into anything else.” The HMS ride was later leaking oil and limped to the garage for a poor finish. Get more driver audio with RaceView

33. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
Luckily for Kevin Harvick, he’s magnificent at Phoenix and should contend for the win there. For now, Martinsville presented a nightmare race for the SHR driver, getting into a mess with Matt Kenseth that sent him to the garage with damage and a faulty oil cooler and radiator. He came back out around Lap 268, but it was too late.

34. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
At times, Danica Patrick looked to be putting together a second-consecutive competitive race, but later traded shots with a feisty Martin Truex Jr. that resulted in her No. 10 Chevy wrecked beyond repair. Her thoughts? "That 78 (expletive) took me out. If he thinks there’s a problem, he better look at what he did first." Get more driver audio with RaceView

35. Reed Sorenson, No. 36 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing
Reed Sorenson was another guy who was happy to see the checkered flag, since it signaled that his horrible day was over. The TBR driver spun in Turn 2 on Lap 188 with a blown tire and later spun again and smashed the wall on Lap 386.

36. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
In his final race with crew chief Daniel Knost, Kurt Busch certainly had a fast car, but his engine caught on fire late in the race while in seventh place. It ended a day in which they already had to overcome a tire issue, "The right rear is already kicking out on us."

37. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing
Casey Mears was the unlucky meat of a Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne sandwich, getting squashed between the two on the Lap 436 wreck. After he was released from the infield care center, he lamented the fact that he couldn’t be back on the track, because he was having a good time.

38. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing
It’s tough to say exactly why Martin Truex Jr. and Danica Patrick were so mad at each other; if it all stemmed from this race (which it might’ve) or if there’s history there. Either way, the pair traded shots until the No. 78 was eventually wrecked for good in Keselowski’s big wreck on Lap 436.

39. J.J. Yeley, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing
Yeley has only run 15 Sprint Cup Series races in 2014 and none of them has been particularly good, including Martinsville. He’s yet to finish higher than 29th this season, with only three races to go.

40. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
Of course, he was involved in the late wreck on Lap 436 like plenty others, but it was his drama with Brian Vickers that was the most entertaining part of Kahne’s race. Both drivers knew what was going on, with Kahne’s crew chief Kenny Francis saying "I’d say the ball is in his court now," after Kahne knocked the No. 55.

41. Travis Kvapil, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport Racing
Travis Kvapil struggled on Sunday, getting into the wall on Lap 16 after contact from Josh Wise. He later said on Twitter, "Tough day for the @Circle_Sport 33. Got turned around early, then it went downhill from there. Car wasn’t 2 bad. Engine broke to end our day."

42. Timmy Hill, No. 44, Team XTREME Racing Cheverolet
Timmy Hill had one of the shortest races of any driver, going over the wall on Lap 37 with smoke billowing from his engine. His take: "Out early today. Had a small fire under the hood. Track staff did a good job putting the fire out. Will take the car back & diagnose at shop."

43. Clay Rogers, No. 93 BK Racing Toyota
And finally, Clay Rogers made just his second career Sprint Cup Series start, finishing 43rd again after he did so at Loudon a few weeks back.

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Get the full lineup of NASCAR programming for the week

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All times ET

Monday, October 27
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
7:30 p.m., The 10: NASCAR’s Most Bizarre Moments (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Tuesday, October 28
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7:30 p.m., The 10: Greatest Comebacks in NASCAR History (re-air), FOX Sports 2
9 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Martinsville (re-air), FOX Sports 1
3 a.m. (Wed.), NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Martinsville (re-air), FOX Sports 1

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

Wednesday, October 29
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Thursday, October 30
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7:30 p.m., The 10: NASCAR’s Wildest Throw-Downs (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Friday, October 31
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
10:30 a.m., The 10: Greatest Soundbites in NASCAR History (re-air), FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Special (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 1
3 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice, ESPN2
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
8 p.m., NCWTS SetUp, FOX Sports 1
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Texas, FOX Sports 1
4 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Texas (re-air), FOX Sports 1

Saturday, November 1
6 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Texas (re-air), FOX Sports 2
10 a.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race at Thompson, FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 2
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 2
2 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 2
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Texas, ESPN
10:30 p.m., The 10: NASCAR’s Wildest Throw-Downs (re-air), FOX Sports 2
11 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 2
Midnight (Sun.), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 2
1 a.m. (Sun.), NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race at Thompson, FOX Sports 2

Sunday, November 2
10 a.m., NSCS Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 2
11 a.m., NSCS Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 2
1 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FOX Sports 1
2 p.m., NSCS Countdown, ESPN
3 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Texas, ESPN
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1
1:30 a.m. (Mon.), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Texas (re-air), ESPN2

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