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Busch, Kenseth propel organization to new Chase heights

Related: Kenseth wins at Chicagoland | Results | Standings

JOLIET, Ill. — Matt Kenseth says he’s the same driver he’s always been.

It certainly seems that way — same Wisconsin accent, same wonderfully dry sense of humor, same allegiance to the Green Bay Packers football team. But something has clearly changed, given that a driver who always lurked in the shadows and stole a win here or there is now dominating races and recording victories in bunches.

That much was clearly evident Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway, when the driver from just up the road in Cambridge, Wis., led 89 laps to claim the opener in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and set a new personal record with his sixth victory of the season in the process.

"It’s been a record season for me. I’m obviously the same guy, the same driver," Kenseth said early Sunday morning, after a long event that totaled more than six hours in rain delays. "It’s obviously about Joe Gibbs Racing, the guys working there, (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) and the group and everything."

It’s clearly been a mutually beneficial relationship. The 41-year-old Kenseth has thrived in JGR cars, showing the kind of ruthless efficiency that’s more often associated with five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. And JGR has thrived with 2003 champion Kenseth under its roof, becoming an organization that feasts on intermediate tracks like Chicagoland, and now boasts a pair of potent championship threats in Kenseth and Kyle Busch.

That was all on display Sunday in Joliet, as the Chase opener boiled down to a duel between two JGR drivers who finished 1-2 in the race and now occupy those same positions in the standings. That’s no small feat for an organization that’s all too often stumbled early in the playoff, falling victim to mechanical breakdowns or other problems that have taken them out of the running in the initial stages of a 10-race stretch where any miscue is magnified.

Not so at Chicagoland, where Kenseth earned the organization’s sixth victory this year on a mile-and-a-half track. JGR’s Denny Hamlin may be playing out the string in a lost season defined by a back injury that knocked him out for most of five races, but his teammates have the organization off to an uncharacteristically strong Chase start as they pursue JGR’s first Sprint Cup title since Tony Stewart‘s last one there in 2005.

"I think we got great news. We won the race tonight," Gibbs said. "We were one and two there. The reality is, tomorrow morning it starts all over again. We’re going to be worried. We got nine races. You see those competitors out there. You could see … it could have been almost the top six, seven, eight could have been up there, got out front, it would have been a different story. I think this is going to be very, very competitive. But … getting off to a good start, we’ve struggled some doing that. I thought it was a good feeling tonight to get off to a good start with both of our cars there. … That’s a big deal for us. It’s a good start. But the reality is tomorrow morning, it’s nine more to go."

Next week brings the flat mile layout in New Hampshire, where Hamlin has won twice and may prove a valuable asset to his teammates in championship contention. Next comes the concrete mile in Dover, where Johnson is king. But after that are back-to-back 1.5-milers in Kansas and Charlotte, with intermediates in Texas and Homestead looming further down the line. "We’re excited about that," Ratcliff admitted.

Sunday in Joliet offered a snapshot of what’s possible. Although Busch didn’t get his second career tripleheader sweep, and was left still seeking his first victory in a Chase event since 2005, in the bigger picture the significance of a 1-2 Gibbs finish in the opening playoff race was evident.

"I think having the 18 and the 20 (cars) running up front like that shows that we’re capable of doing that," he said. "Matt, I tell you, Matt is really, really good at mile‑and‑a‑half racing. He is fast. He’s won a lot of them this year. I typically in the past haven’t been great at it, but certainly this year have been better at it. It’s a testament to us all learning, sharing information, getting better. I think Denny had a good run tonight going, too. It’s a process. Our program seems to be working well with these mile‑and‑a‑half tracks, but also Kenseth has won on a short track as well with Bristol. (There’s) optimism in the final 10, which half of them are mile‑and‑a‑halfs."

Dave Rogers, Busch’s crew chief, said Sunday’s result sent a message — not necessarily to the competition, but to the employees who work at JGR headquarters in Huntersville, N.C.

"I think it’s the first race of the Chase, but it certainly sends a message to everyone back at the shop that their race teams are ready to race," Rogers said. "… To come here and represent them with a 1-2 finish, we’ll go back to the shop and rib each other. My buddy (No. 18 team mechanic) Jeff Chandler will probably tell me the 20 car is the house car. Hopefully next weekend we can remind him the 18 car is the house car. But we’ll have a lot of fun with it. That’s a great way to start the Chase."

Particularly since the last two winners of the opening race at Chicagoland — Stewart and Brad Keselowski — have gone on to win the championship. Nine races remain and anything certainly can happen, but for Joe Gibbs Racing one long day-into-night on the fringe of the Windy City may have represented a step forward in more ways than one.

"It’s certainly a great feeling," Rogers said. "But what we told ourselves going into the Chase is to level out the roller coaster. This is the most humbling sport in the world, so we don’t want to get too excited and think we have this thing won by any stretch of the imagination. We want to stay humble and keep digging and keep performing. But certainly the 1-2 finish is a great way to start the Chase."

MORE:

READ: Kenseth wins at rainy Chicagoland

READ: Engine failure halts Logano’s fast Chase start

WATCH: Post-Race Reactions GEICO 400

WATCH: Final Laps: Kenseth takes Chicagoland
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Newman finishes 10th, while first-time Chase contender, Logano, comes in 37th

With Chicagoland Speedway kicking off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, drivers gave it their all to start the postseason properly.

Ryan Newman, a Chase contender, led the Coca-Cola Racing Family with a 10th-place finish at Chicagoland, leaving him eighth in the Chase standings.

Greg Biffle, another Chase contender, finished 16th after having a rough time in the pits. He currently sits 11th in the standings, right in front of Joey Logano, who also struggled at Chicago.

Being the youngest driver in the Chase, as well as the Coors Light Pole winner, Logano wanted to make a good first impression in the postseason. Instead, he started experiencing engine issues around Lap 176 and eventually had to head to the garage. He finished 37th and now stands 12th in Chase points.

A roundup on the Coca-Cola Racing Family in order of how they finished at Chicagoland:

Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Coming off what was one of Newman’s best finishes this season at Richmond, his time at Chicagoland was not wasted. Bouncing back from the recent penalty drama with Michael Waltrip Racing, Newman gave it all he had at Chicago to prove that he belongs in the Chase. Starting 20th in the 43-car field, Newman worked his way through the crowd, leading for one lap, and eventually finishing 10th. This marks Newman’s 13th top-10 finish this season. Before the rain fell, Newman started off with a tight-handling condition. After the five-hour rain delay, Newman’s handling conditions did a 180 and he struggled with being loose off the exit of corners. He currently sits eighth in the Chase standings after jumping up four spots.
Quotable: “I’m happy to come out of here with a top-10 finish tonight. Track position was really important. We were stuck in the back of the pack for a while and couldn’t really get going. Every time I got up behind someone, I’d just get so tight I couldn’t do anything with it. Matt (Borland, crew chief) got us position with a couple of two-tire stops, and once we were up front, we were able to make a little more of it. Our Quicken Loans Chevrolet was definitely better on the long runs."
His standing: Newman is eighth in the standings with 2,035 points.
Outlook: Newman heads into New Hampshire knowing that he did well at Chicago, but there is still room for improvement if he wants a shot at the championship. In his last go-round with Stewart-Haas Racing, Newman entered the first race of the 10-race Chase seeded 12th among the 13 Chase drivers, 15 points behind No. 1 seed Kenseth. Newman leaves Chicagoland in eighth, 28 points behind Chase leader Kenseth.


Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Recap: After taking 12th at Richmond and qualifying for the Chase, Biffle struggled at Chicagoland. Starting out in seventh, he quickly experienced problems on restarts and pit road. Eventually finishing 16th, Biffle dropped back four spots in Chase standings and now sits 11th, behind Kasey Kahne.
Quotable: “That was a rough night. We had major issues in the pits. I don’t know what happened. We started from the back a few times and it is really hard to get track position to pass. Our car was pretty good but every time we got ourselves worked up there, something happened. Something broke. I thought the motor broke but it must have been something on the exhaust system. We were down quite a bit of power the last 100 laps. We just tried to keep our momentum up. The restarts just killed me. I just didn’t have the power on the restarts. Once it stretched out a little we were pretty good and could keep up. It was really tough. We were hit and miss a little bit tonight. This wasn’t our best night but we pulled off a 16th place finish. Everybody kept working hard. That isn’t the way we wanted to start but we had a pretty fast car at times.”
His standing: Biffle is 11th in the standings with 2,032 points.
Outlook: With one win under his belt at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2008, Biffle knows he needs to finish in the top 10 to show any positive movement in the Chase standings. He currently sits 31 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. With nine races left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Biffle still has a chance to make an impact in the standings. 

Danica Patrick (No. 10)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Danica Patrick finished 20th at Chicagoland after starting off in 23rd. Patrick drove a smooth race and sat as high as 16th at one point. Patrick, who is competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 12 spots behind Stenhouse. She moved up one spot in the standings and has 497 points.
Quotable: “I thought it was all right. We weren’t the fastest car out there, but we were decent and relatively consistent. At the beginning of the year, top-20s were the goal based on last year and we had to readjust that a bit, but now that’s kind of where we’re falling in with things. The cars are getting better, and I’m learning things. It’s going in the right direction. I’d like it to go further, but I’ll take any progress."
Her standing: Patrick is 26th in the standings with 497 points. 
Outlook: The Last time Patrick was at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, she didn’t finish. It could be a challenge for Patrick to hold onto her momentum from Chicagoland and finish in the top 20 again. 

Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Recap: Hamlin just can’t seem to catch a break. Finishing 33rd at Chicago, and 21st at Richmond a week prior, the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Office Camry is starting to get frustrated with his outcomes.
Quotable: “Just can’t finish a race. Motor ran terrible all day and then blew up at the end. Hard two months, I mean it’s just unbelievable, even when we have a decent run going, just can’t finish.”
His standing: Hamlin is 27th in the standings with 496 points.
Outlook: Obviously, Hamlin would rather be in the Chase than out of it. But the lone positive to not qualifying for the postseason is that the No. 11 team can try some new, out-of-the-box setups in the final 10 races. The Generation-6 car has been a difficult adjustment for Hamlin, so the lessened implications down the home stretch may be a blessing in disguise. 

Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford

Recap: Logano wanted to start off on the right foot in his first ever Chase. Being a first-timer in the postseason, Logano sealed his lead position by winning the Coors Light Pole and even led 32 laps. That was until the five-hour rain delay, and after that, it was all downhill for Logano. After dramatically falling back in positions, Logano eventually had to head to the garage after his engine blew up. He ended up finishing 37th in his first Chase race and dropped six spots in the standings to 12th.
Quotable: “I am pretty angry. That was such as fast race car we had. After the rain delay we came in and put on four tires and lost some track position but we were going to take two on the next one, kind of like the 24 (of Jeff Gordon) did and he cycled out to the lead there. Unfortunately the motor blew up. You have these every once in awhile. It is a bummer to have it in the Chase when you are running for a championship. I feel like Chicago was one of those tracks we could win at. Everyone was doing the right thing. We have a really fast race car and we put it on the pole and led laps today, it just wasn’t our day I guess.” 
His standing: Logano is 12th in the standings with 2,011 points.
Outlook: Logano can’t let this setback crush his Chase dreams. As he heads into New Hampshire, he should feel confident knowing that he’s already won once at this track in 2009 after starting 24th. Although Logano dropped significantly in the Chase standings this week, he still has nine races to make up for the challenges that he faced at Chicagoland.




Tony Stewart (No. 14)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Stewart missed his sixth consecutive race this past weekend and watched Mark Martin pilot his No. 14 Chevrolet to a 17th-place finish after starting in the 29th position. Stewart is still nursing his broken leg and won’t return in 2013.
His standing: Stewart is 23rd in the standings with 594 points.

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Posted on by Holly Cain

Driver is heading back to IndyCar after seven-year NASCAR career

Despite discussions with several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, an offer to drive for IndyCar’s most successful team, Penske Racing, proved irresistible to former open-wheel champion Juan Pablo Montoya, who announced Monday he will drive a third car for the organization in 2014.

“If you really dream of an ideal position for a driver, and say you can race for Penske, that would be number one,’’ Montoya, 37, told reporters Monday. “When it was announced I wouldn’t be in the (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing) 42 (Sprint Cup car), my number one choice was to be in a winning car. … You didn’t even have to think about it.’’

Penske Racing President Tim Cindric said the deal to sign Montoya was completed quickly — so fast, in fact, the team doesn’t have a single sponsor lined up yet for Montoya’s No. 2 Chevrolet.

“Juan and I ran into each other on the (NASCAR) grid at Michigan (Aug. 18),’’ Cindric explained, “I said, ‘We ought to put you in that IndyCar’ and he said, ‘Let’s talk about it.’ Casual conversation kind of turned in to the real deal and that’s how we ended up here today.’’

As for the lack of sponsorship, Cindric laughed and said, “We put the competitive element in play first and then we’ll sort everything else out.’’

Montoya — the only driver with wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and Formula One’s Grand Prix of Monaco — became a high-profile free agent last month when his Sprint Cup team owner Chip Ganassi announced that 21-year-old Kyle Larson would drive the No. 42 Target Chevrolet in 2014, becoming the first of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity graduates to secure a full-time ride in the sport’s premier Sprint Cup level.

Some were under the impression Montoya would stay in NASCAR and sign with Furniture Row Racing, which qualified for its first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with driver Kurt Busch. But although Montoya was impressed during a visit to the team’s shop and facilities in Denver recently, he said he felt it just came down to having a better chance at winning, driving for Penske’s IndyCar operation.

In seven NASCAR seasons driving for the Earnhardt Ganassi team, Montoya won the 2007 Rookie of the Year award in addition to nine Coors Light Poles wards and two races — on both of NASCAR’s road courses, Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International.

He qualified for the 2009 Chase field and reminded reporters Monday that he is still the only Ganassi driver to make the Chase.

Montoya was adamant he doesn’t leave his NASCAR tenure with regrets but perhaps some unfinished business, reiterating his desire to win on an oval on one of the remaining nine tracks this season.

“I don’t feel like I wasted my years in NASCAR,’’ Montoya said. “It made me a lot better driver. . … I learned a lot, I became a lot smarter driver.

“We did win races and we did make the Chase. . … Did I want more success? Of course, yes. The reason we’re here today is because I want more success.’’

Montoya joked and ultimately conceded it could be a bit awkward in the upcoming months considering his current team owner Chip Ganassi has long been the Penske team’s primary rival in IndyCar. In fact, Montoya won the 1999 IndyCar championship and 2000 Indianapolis 500 for Ganassi.

Montoya said he tried to call Ganassi on Monday before the announcement, but that Ganassi was in Europe. The two did exchange text messages.

“He was very excited for me,’’ Montoya said. “We are good friends. … he had to make a decision this year [to replace Montoya] and I had the great chance to go with Roger Penske.”

As for his mixed loyalties in the next few months, Montoya laughed.

“I will have a little white flag, be very neutral there,’’ Montoya said. “I’m committed to Chip for the next nine races and working really hard to get that oval win before the end of the year.’’

With his success in both IndyCar and NASCAR, Montoya becomes a natural candidate to attempt the Memorial Day “Double” competing in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600.

“I’ve learned never to say never,’’ Cindric said. “We certainly haven’t had any of those discussions, but if something makes sense out there we certainly wouldn’t close the door on it. But certainly with us, IndyCar racing will be his focus.’’ 

On Sept. 5, Montoya received a Hispanic Heritage Award for sports, an honor bestowed upon him by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.

MORE:

READ: Kenseth wins at rainy Chicagoland

READ: Engine failure halts Logano’s fast Chase start

WATCH: Post-Race Reactions GEICO 400

WATCH: Final Laps: Kenseth takes Chicagoland
Posted on by Nascar

In the hunt for the Chase, mid-race recoveries are key

JOLIET, Ill. — Their title hopes began to unravel due to different circumstances on different occasions. Both, however, were able to recover and exit with only minimal damage in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

For Kurt Busch, the issue was speeding on pit road, an early-race mistake that put the Furniture Row Racing driver a lap down to the leader barely 75 laps into Sunday’s rain-hampered Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

For Jeff Gordon, it was a flat left rear tire that sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver to the pits under green some 100 laps later. He, too, fell off the lead lap, and seemingly out of the picture.

Both were able to regain the lost laps. Both were able to race their way back into the top five. Impressive runs are necessary to maintain title hopes, and in the opener, both Busch and Gordon — and their respective teams — delivered.

Busch finished fourth, his best result at the 1.5-mile track just southwest of Chicago, and jumped four spots in the points battle. With race No. 1 of this year’s 10-race playoff out of the way, the 2004 champion now sits sixth in the standings.

Gordon lost his bid for a top-five only after dropping a position in the closing laps to teammate Jimmie Johnson and finished sixth.

Last in the 13-car field hours earlier, the four-time champion departed with a six-spot gain and seventh-place points position.

“To think how far down we were with 40 laps to go … we were like 18th on one of those last restarts,” Gordon said. “To be able to come up through there and get sixth with a shot at a top five was a lot of fun. That’s what we needed to get this thing started off right.”

Gordon led three times for 22 laps in the 267-lap event, which was run under the lights for the first time thanks to a rain delay of more than five hours. Only 109 laps had been completed when showers halted action on the track.

Leading when the night’s sixth caution — the result of debris — came out, Gordon restarted third. But the cut tire quickly sent him back to pit road, and by the time he made it back out on the track, he was one lap down.

“When we had the flat tire and had to stop and got a lap down, we were at the mercy of the caution,” crew chief Alan Gustafson said. “Then there was another quick caution and we were able to come and get four tires and put fuel in; we were still a lap down.

“I thought it was probably going to go green and we were either going to have to get it by going fast enough on the track to gain spots or have an advantageous caution and we did both. I was amazed how fast our car was. He made up a ton of time on the leader and pretty much everybody on the track. We had about 10 more laps of (fuel and tire) range on those guys and we used it to our advantage. Then after about seven laps we got the caution (we needed).”

Busch’s first setback came on lap 77 — giving him a bit more of a window of opportunity to overcome the miscue. Still, it was tough sledding on a night when speeds and emotions ran high.

Busch took the wave-around shortly after the lengthy red-flag period when the leaders hit pit road for tires and fuel. When the caution appeared several laps later after Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chevrolet shredded a rear tire, Busch was able to pit and cycle back with the leaders.

When he pitted for the final time on Lap 220, it was with a tire already going down.

“We had some adversity to overcome,” he said. “Just a genuine battle all night with Chase guys.

"Once we got up into the top 10, we held our own. Those restarts, it’s crazy how aggressive everybody is … it’s just the name of the game right now. Overall, though, these guys found a way to get back on the lead lap, found solid pit stops tonight. Bringing home a top-five to start it off, that’s what it’s all about."

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth collected the win with teammate Kyle Busch finishing second. And "those two Gibbs cars were just fast," Busch aptly noted.

"We were, tonight, I think third at best."

MORE:

READ: Kenseth wins at rainy Chicagoland

READ: Engine failure halts Logano’s fast Chase start

WATCH: Post-Race Reactions GEICO 400

WATCH: Final Laps: Kenseth takes Chicagoland
Posted on by Staff Report

Field includes 43 drivers in second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

Click here to see the entry list for this week’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

MORE:

READ: Kenseth wins at rainy Chicagoland

READ: Engine failure halts Logano’s fast Chase start

WATCH: Post-Race Reactions GEICO 400

WATCH: Final Laps: Kenseth takes Chicagoland
Posted on by George Winkler

Kenseth, Busch, Johnson all deliver pop — at high price tags

Related: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live

While it would be impossible to fit an entire roster of Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers under the salary cap in the NASCAR Fantasy Live game, it’s important to point out that nine out of the 10 top scorers this week were from the field of 13. And as colleague Dan Beaver said in his Chase Fantasy Preview, fantasy owners can expect that trend to continue on most of the tracks left in the Chase.

The only non-Chase driver in the fantasy top 10 after Sunday’s rain-delayed event was Brad Keselowski, who brought home the ninth-best fantasy score for the price of $24.25 (down $0.25 since last week). But at that price, Keselowski was actually more expensive than some of the drivers who are in the Chase such as Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman.

So the trick this week was picking the best Chase drivers and avoiding the one or two who provided a pitfall for fantasy owners. The best were the 1-2 punch from Joe Gibbs Racing of Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. This wasn’t a big surprise considering only Jimmie Johnson had scored more fantasy points than those two this season, but with Busch at $28.75 and Kenseth at $27.75, it was an expensive duo to own.

They were worth it, but if you paired one of those with Johnson, you were also OK. And then if you combined two of those powerhouse performers with a second-tier driver such as Jeff Gordon ($24.75), who provided the fourth-best fantasy score this week, you were cooking. Throw in a value such as Danica Patrick ($11.25), who scored the 22nd-best fantasy points, and no doubt you’re looking down at the rest of the league right now.

This will be the formula for winning the rest of the way now that the field has, in a sense, been condensed. It could be a different combination every week, because we don’t know which drivers will catch a bit of bad luck at any given time. But Kenseth appears to be the gold standard at the moment. There are always those early-season engine problems that enter as a potential worry with the No. 20, but they seem to have those issues behind them.

With six wins and counting in what is shaping up to be perhaps his best season, Kenseth at $27.75 is still priced the same as Johnson and beneath Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. So even though Kenseth might not be a choice that has a lot of sizzle, he is the right choice for your foundation heading into New Hampshire.

Key Fantasy Moment: Things seemed to be going great for Joey Logano in his Chase debut after he won the Coors Light Pole Award and led the first 32 laps of the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. But then Logano started to have engine problems, and after battling them valiantly finally had to succumb on Lap 176. Logano finished 37th at Chicagoland, his worst showing since back-to-back 40th-place finishes at Daytona and New Hampshire in July. It’s the first time Logano has had engine problems since way back at Talladega, but it still might be worth dropping him just to see if his price, which had risen during a recent hot streak, might come back down to earth.

Biggest Bargain: It was a virtual dead heat between Aric Almirola and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished 11th and 12th, respectively, in the NASCAR Fantasy Live game this week. Almirola scored 53.5 fantasy points, with 20 of them coming on quality passes, while Stenhouse had 51.5 points. Almirola cost fantasy owners $17.25 while Stenhouse was $15.75. The good news about Almirola is he finished fifth earlier this season at New Hampshire, so it’s tempting to hold onto him another week. Same goes for Stenhouse, who now has two top-10s in a row after not getting a single top-10 in the first 25 races this season.

Biggest Bust: For the third time this season a major engine problem sent Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the garage early. And for the third time in the past six weeks, the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet had a finish of 30th or worse — this time coming in 35th at Chicagoland. While his popularity might be contributing to Junior’s rising price tag (up to $26.50 last week), recent history suggests fantasy owners should look elsewhere on that price level for their fantasy driver. Junior had the ninth-worst fantasy score this week with nine points.  

Tip to Take Forward: Jimmie Johnson overcame pit-stop problems of his team’s doing as well as an official’s apparent error to finish fifth Sunday. It was by far Johnson’s best finish in a five-week span and a signal that the No. 48 is back on track. That’s good news for fantasy owners searching for a smartly priced elite driver. Johnson’s recent woes dropped him to $27.75, which is equal to Matt Kenseth’s price and less than Kyle Busch ($28.75) and Kevin Harvick ($28). Grab J.J. at a reduced price entering New Hampshire, where he has the third-best Driver Rating (105.1) over the past eight seasons.

MORE:

READ: Kenseth wins at rainy Chicagoland

READ: Engine failure halts Logano’s fast Chase start

WATCH: Post-Race Reactions GEICO 400

WATCH: Final Laps: Kenseth takes Chicagoland
Posted on by Brad Norman

Kenseth wins, but Busch, Johnson shine, too; rough night for Logano, Earnhardt Jr.

1. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Kenseth leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with 2,063 points.
Last week: What a way to start the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Kenseth entered the postseason as the top seed and with more points than anyone else, then earned the maximum of 48 points in his rain-delayed victory at Chicagoland in the playoff opener. Kenseth won and led the most laps, giving him all possible bonus points. And on a day where engines went down, especially in the Toyota camp, his No. 20 ran strong through the checkered flag.
What he said: “I’ve always wanted to win here in Chicago. It’s only a couple hours from where I grew up — up in Wisconsin. So, it feels great to finally get the win here. We’ve been close a lot. Man, it’s been a long week for everybody. So, it feels great to finally race and be here in Victory Lane.”
Outlook: In 27 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kenseth has five top-fives and 13 top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Kenseth ranks 20th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 15.7. He finished ninth in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

2. Kyle Busch (No. 18)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Busch is second in the standings with 2,055 points.
Last week: Busch couldn’t quite pull off the tripleheader sweep, but he came as close as a driver could get. Following victories in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, Busch finished second to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. The No. 18 Toyota led 67 laps and was winning late before Kenseth passed him with 23 laps remaining.
What he said: “I can’t say enough about the guys, Dave Rogers (crew chief) and these guys did a great job from Saturday where we were to (Sunday). I didn’t think we had a shot, but the speed really came alive here at night for us and we were really fast.”
Outlook: In 17 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Busch has one win, five top-fives, seven top-10s and one pole. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Busch ranks 12th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 14.3. He finished second in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

3. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Johnson is third in the standings with 2,052 points.
Last week: Johnson faced several issues that could have derailed his day (and night), but the No. 48 team rallied as it so often does in the Chase. First, an apparent official’s mistake on pit road cost Johnson time. Then on a later pit stop, a brand-new jack broke and slowed him up. But the 48 got better as the night went on, and tore through the field late to finish fifth. Johnson also led 40 laps.
What he said: “The next to the last run, we got ourselves right back in the thick of things. And unfortunately, just didn’t have the speed at the end there, for that final segment to go race for the end. But, from a jack failing to a call on pit road for a lug nut that was not supposedly on, and a variety of issues, it was a great comeback.”
Outlook: In 23 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Johnson has three wins, eight top-fives and 16 top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Johnson ranks third out of 56 drivers with an average place of 9.9. He finished sixth in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

4. Kevin Harvick (No. 29)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: Harvick is fourth in the standings with 2,048 points.
Last week: Harvick was one of the most proficient drivers on restarts throughout the night, which enabled him to continually move up from his starting position of 17th. That was enough to overcome some pit-road pitfalls, including losing ground by taking four tires (everyone else took two) and once when he was blocked in by Dave Blaney in a traffic-jam of cars during fuel-only stops.
What he said: “Yeah, we had a lot of fun. Obviously our car was running really good after the break there. These guys did a lot of work in between while it was raining there. So they did a good job with the car and making some adjustments to the car there toward the end. Had a lot of fun and came up a couple short, but a good day.”
Outlook: In 25 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Harvick has one wins, five top-fives, 13 top-10s and one pole. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Harvick ranks eighth out of 56 drivers with an average place of 12.8. He finished seventh in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

5. Carl Edwards (No. 99)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Where he stands: Edwards is fifth in the standings with 2,040 points.
Last week: Edwards didn’t finish in the top 10 at Chicagoland, like eight other Chase drivers did. But in the No. 99 Ford, Edwards finished 11th and also got a bonus point for leading a lap. The bonus point for leading a lap helped him keep fifth place in the standings — which is where he was entering Sunday’s race.
What he said: “There are a couple of things I wish I could take back. I tried the high side one time and about five or six guys freight-trained me on the bottom. The last restart we all just kind of fought for the bottom and I had to check up or I was going to wreck Greg (Biffle). That got us. Other than that, the strategy I think was very good to have good tires at the end.”
Outlook: In 18 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Edwards has two top-fives and four top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Edwards ranks 13th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 14.3. He finished eighth in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

6. Kurt Busch (No. 78)

Furniture Row Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: Busch is sixth in the standings with 2,040 points.
Last week: Busch got busted for speeding on pit road Sunday, something that has plagued the driver all season. But it happened early enough in the race to where the No. 78 could recover. A series of cautions allowed Busch to get back on the lead lap, and his Chevrolet kicked into cruise control from there. The ‘Outlaw’ drove to a fourth-place finish and moved up four spots in the standings.
What he said: “We had to overcome adversity with speeding on pit road. All my lights were green, but hey, when you are cutting it that close and they say you are speeding just take it, get your penalty over with and get back on your horse. We had to come from behind and then we got the wave around. Battling up through on the restarts, one of them we went from eighth to third and then the car just was off just a fuzz. Top-fives are what it’s all about in the Chase.”
Outlook: In 25 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Busch has three wins, seven top-fives and 11 top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Busch ranks 10th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 13.5. He finished 31st in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

7. Jeff Gordon (No. 24)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Gordon is seventh in the standings with 2,039 points.
Last week: Gordon didn’t know he would drive in the postseason until two days before the race, when NASCAR awarded him an unprecedented 13th spot in the Chase field. The veteran made the most of it at Chicagoland and finished sixth after losing out on a spirited duel for fifth place with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson. Gordon was in the lead on a late restart but, in an incredible bit of bad luck, had a front tire go down. (Watch video of that incident below.) Forced to pit, the No. 24 team later caught a fortuitous caution to get back on the lead lap. Now Gordon is, appropriately, 24 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.
What he said: “Well, that was an incredible accomplishment. It just shows how much fight this team has in them. We never give up. And, what an awesome Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet race car we had tonight. To think how far down we were with 40 laps to go, to be able to come up through there and get sixth and have a shot at a top-five was a lot of fun.”
Outlook: In 37 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Gordon has three wins, 16 top-fives, 22 top-10s and four poles. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Gordon ranks first out of 56 drivers with an average place of 7.3. He finished 10th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

8. Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: Newman is eighth in the standings with 2,035 points.
Last week: Newman is like Jeff Gordon in that he wasn’t included in the initial 12-driver field, but was later added following NASCAR’s ruling after the controversy at Richmond. And also like Gordon, Newman made the most of his chance, finishing 10th in the Chase opener and gaining four spots in the standings. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family.
What he said: “Track position was really important. We were stuck in the back of the pack for a while and couldn’t really get going — every time I got up behind someone, I’d just get so tight I couldn’t do anything with it. Matt (Borland, crew chief) got us position with a couple of two-tire stops, and once we were up front we were able to make a little more of it.”
Outlook: In 23 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Newman has three wins, six top-fives, 15 top-10s and six poles. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Newman ranks ninth out of 56 drivers with an average place of 13.0. He finished 39th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

9. Clint Bowyer (No. 15)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Bowyer is ninth in the standings with 2,035 points.
Last week: Bowyer’s finish at Chicagoland was a story we’ve seen several times this season. The No. 15 Toyota was nowhere near the lead pack for the majority of the race; then suddenly, as the race neared its end, Bowyer somehow found his way into the top 10. The driver finished ninth to cap a pretty miserable week in which he was accused of intentionally spinning at Richmond. He’s ninth in the standings now, and the lack of wins this year is starting to catch up.
What he said: “It was a good night.”
Outlook: In 15 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bowyer has two wins, four top-fives, six top-10s and one pole. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Bowyer ranks sixth out of 56 drivers with an average place of 12.1. He finished 13th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

10. Kasey Kahne (No. 5)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Kahne is 10th in the standings with 2,032 points.
Last week: Kahne survived a calamitous situation on pit road in which he was bumped by another driver, causing damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet, and finished 12th. His showing gave Hendrick Motorsports three drivers finishing in the top 12, and also ensured that 10 of the 13 Chase drivers finished in the top 12.
What he said: “Yes, it was actually a pretty good finish for what we had. There were like three or four guys clueless on pit road; they are all stopping and can’t find their stalls — like we’ve never done this before. I was racing Carl (Edwards) and the next thing you know I’m trying to stop and Junior is trying to get stopped and we are all hitting one another. Hurt our car pretty bad and from there we just battled.”
Outlook: In 19 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kahne has one win, three top-fives and eight top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Kahne ranks 14th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 14.3. He finished 11th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

11. Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Where he stands: Biffle is 11th in the standings with 2,032 points.
Last week: Biffle’s car nearly blew up for good multiple times Sunday. Combine that with some problems on pit road, and The Biff wasn’t too disappointed in his 16th-place finish. His No. 16 Ford led two laps and ran in the top three at times before losing some power. The fact that his engine didn’t blow completely ensures that Biffle is still in reasonable contention for the title. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family.
What he said: “That was a rough night. We had major issues in the pits. I don’t know what happened. We started from the back a few times and it is really hard to get track position to pass. Our car was pretty good but every time we got ourselves worked up there, something happened. Something broke. I thought the motor broke but it must have been something on the exhaust system. We were down quite a bit of power the last 100 laps.”
Outlook: In 22 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Biffle has one win, five top-fives and eight top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Biffle ranks 16th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 14.5. He finished 15th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

12. Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford 

Where he stands: Logano is 12th in the standings with 2,011 points.
Last week: Logano’s night ended in an absolute disaster. The No. 22 Ford started on the Coors Light Pole and was one of the fastest cars of the night. Logano led the first 30 laps to the competition caution, and appeared to have a top-five car. Then a lengthy rain delay didn’t do any favors to Logano’s engine, and he dropped two cylinders when racing resumed. His team told the driver to log as many laps as he could until his engine blew up, which it did on Lap 176. The 37th-place finish leaves no room for error in the final nine races. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family.
What he said: “I am pretty angry. That was such a fast race car we had. Unfortunately the motor blew up. You have these every once in awhile. It is a bummer to have it in the Chase when you are running for a championship. I feel like Chicago was one of those tracks we could win at.”
Outlook: In 10 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Logano has one win, two top-fives and four top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Logano ranks 25th out of 56 drivers with an average place of 22.6. He finished 40th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Earnhardt Jr. is 13th in the standings with 2,010 points.
Last week: Earnhardt Jr. started the Chase in a hole, considering he had no wins in the regular season and therefore no bonus points. His 35th-place finish at Chicagoland, after his engine blew up late in the race, puts him last in the 13-driver field and 53 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. (Watch video of his incident below.)
What he said: “We had a car we were pretty happy with and you know just thought we were going to have a pretty good night. Something broke there in the motor. It’s tough. It’s going to be really hard to win a championship this far behind.”
Outlook: In 28 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-fives and 11 top-10s. In the past eight years at New Hampshire, Earnhardt Jr. ranks fifth out of 56 drivers with an average place of 11.7. He finished 14th in the first 2013 race at New Hampshire.

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42 drivers in the field at Kentucky Speedway

Click here to see an entry list for this weekend’s race

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Driver ‘pretty angry’ after starting from Coors Light Pole

JOLIET, Ill. — Joey Logano’s debut appearance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup had started off so well.

The Penske Racing driver won the Coors Light Pole for the playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway and led the opening 32 laps on the 1.5-mile track. But after a five-hour rain delay and a subsequent flurry of cautions that jumbled the field, Logano began falling back with what was soon diagnosed as an engine problem.

With two cylinders down, Logano stayed in the race as long as he could — until the engine let go on Lap 176, sending its driver to the garage area and toward the bottom of a Chase field that was expanded to 13 drivers this week with addition of Jeff Gordon.

“I am pretty angry,” Logano said. “That was such a fast race car we had. After the rain delay, we came in and put on four tires and lost some track position, but we were going to take two on the next one … Unfortunately, the motor blew up. You have these every once in awhile. It is a bummer to have it in the Chase when you are running for a championship. I feel like Chicago was one of those tracks we could win at. Everyone was doing the right thing. We have a really fast race car and we put it on the pole and led laps today. It just wasn’t our day I guess.”

The start of the race was delayed almost 90 minutes by weather, and Logano was third when the race was halted again for rain — this time for five hours and 10 minutes. On Lap 145 he began falling back, and during a caution for a Justin Allgaier spin radioed to his team that he thought he had a cylinder down. Smoke began emanating from the vehicle, and Logano went to pit road where his team went under the hood of the No. 22.

“Run it until they make you park it,” he was told by his team, and down two cylinders he did just that, barely able to maintain minimum speed. Finally the engine had enough, and it let go on a night that had turned very cool — very different conditions than what teams had anticipated out of a race that was scheduled to begin in the early afternoon. Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin also retired with apparent engine failures spanning all three manufacturers on NASCAR’s top series.

“When the temps outside go down and you are making more horsepower, you are going a lot faster on the race track,” Logano said. “I was having to lift early into (Turn 1) because I was up against the chip. It was a lot of RPMs. I don’t think I will be the last one to blow up today. The things are torqued up. It was OK most of the time. We haven’t really had an engine issue that was internal in the motor this whole year. Usually we have one or two a year.”

Crew chief Todd Gordon said it was less a matter of temperature than it was speed. “Track’s pretty fast,” he said. “Lot of RPM.”

Logano was far from the only championship contender to battle problems on a Sunday afternoon and evening when most of the Chase field experienced issues. But Logano’s was terminal, and it occurred while most of the field was still on the race track, and it was a series blow to his hopes of winning the Sprint Cup title his first time in the Chase.

“The problem is it is only 10 races, and that makes it hard, but we aren’t out of it,: Logano said. “We have a shot at it. This team has shown how good we are. It is always a bummer when you have a mechanical failure like that when you can’t really do much about it. Other times you can at least be mad at yourself or something you did wrong. Everyone did a good job. That is what we have to hold our heads up about. It is a tough break for this team. We are strong. We have battled through a lot of adversity this year, and we will keep doing it.” 

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With Gordon in Chase, team owner now has all four cars in playoff

MORE: Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

JOLIET, Ill. — Over the span of a few days, Rick Hendrick went from “disgusted” over the result of last weekend’s regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway, to having all four of his drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for a second consecutive season.

A whirlwind week for the most successful car owner of NASCAR’s modern era took an unforeseen turn Friday, when Jeff Gordon was added as a 13th driver to the playoff on the authority of chairman Brian France. That surprising move capped a crazy span that included team manipulation of the Richmond race, historic penalties that knocked one driver out in favor of another, and then the addition of an extra competitor in what by rule has been a 12-man Chase.

Gordon now joins his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 10-race Chase, which opens Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

“It was probably one of the most up-and-down weeks,” Hendrick said Sunday. “I thought as the race ended that Jeff was in the race, then the monitor showed that he wasn’t. I didn’t really learn a lot of the facts until we got back home. I applaud NASCAR for really looking at things and making it right. I thought (Gordon) deserved … to be in the Chase. I think it’s all worked out now and we’re ready to move on. I’m really ready to focus on the Chase now with all four cars in it, and hopefully we’ll have a good day here today.”

When last weekend’s race ended, Hendrick said he thought Gordon had narrowly qualified for the playoff. It was only after he had climbed off the pit box that he heard crew chief Alan Gustafson tell Gordon that they had missed it by a point — although Gordon would have needed two extra positions to overtake Joey Logano, who by virtue of his victory at Michigan held the tiebreaker for the final Chase bid determined by the standings.

When Hendrick left Richmond, he was aware that Clint Bowyer had spun with seven laps remaining to bring out the final caution — but didn’t know a controversy over potential race manipulation was blooming, one reason why he didn’t argue Gordon’s cause in the NASCAR hauler after the race.

“I’ve been doing this 30 years, and I’ve never been to the hauler at the end of a race and had any decision reversed,” Hendrick said. “… The race is the race and that’s it, and that’s the way it’s been for 30-plus years. I was just disgusted and left. I didn’t hang around, and left. I got out of there as soon as it was over, because it wouldn’t have done any good.”

In the ensuing days, everything began to change. Two days after the Richmond race, NASCAR charged Michael Waltrip Racing with attempting to manipulate the outcome of the event, and imposed penalties that knocked MWR driver Martin Truex Jr. out of the Chase in favor of Ryan Newman, who was en route to potentially winning until Bowyer spun. That, plus an unexpected decision to pit on the final restart by MWR’s Brian Vickers, helped Truex grab the final Wild Card and Logano seize the final spot based on standings, leaving Newman and Gordon on the outside looking in.

After suspicious radio communications emerged involving Logano’s Penske Racing team and the Front Row Motorsports program of David Gilliland — who each field Fords — France took the extraordinary step of overriding the rule book and placing Gordon in the Chase as a 13th driver.

Hendrick said AARP, sponsor of Gordon’s No. 24 car, was “calling me all week, and they were very disappointed and upset.” The team owner says he was packing meals at an AARP event in the Chicago area on Friday afternoon when he learned that Gordon had been added to the playoff. Having an extra car in the Chase is a big deal for an organization — Kyle Busch said earlier this week it often brings bonuses from sponsors and manufacturers, and can mean up to an additional $3.5 million for a team.

“It’s huge. It really is huge,” Hendrick said. “You don’t want a sponsor to feel like they got robbed. And NASCAR’s in a tough spot, because you can’t make everybody happy. They have to have a rule and live by the rules, and I think they did a good job this week. And from what I’ve heard, Brian is putting his foot down, and we’re going to see a lot tighter rein on what’s happening on the track.”

Hendrick said the race manipulation scandal that’s gripped NASCAR in the wake of last weekend’s Richmond race will probably benefit the sport in the long run. And what he’s seen in France in recent days reminds him of the current chairman’s father and predecessor, Bill France Jr., who often oversaw NASCAR using a very firm hand.

“I’m just ready to end it,” Hendrick said. “I’m glad that Jeff’s in the Chase. I think Brian France did a great job, he stepped and said, ‘I’m going to make the decision, and this is the way it’s going to be.’ It sounded like Bill. ‘I’m going to make sure this doesn’t happen, and this is the way we’re going to race from here on.’ So I applaud NASCAR for what they’ve done. I think everybody in the garage, if we could go back and run Richmond over, I would be a lot different.”

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