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Six drivers already have clinched top-10 spots; Kahne has at least a Wild Card

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Below are the 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series clinch scenarios for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, the final race before the Chase field is set. Six drivers have clinched top-10 spots in the Chase: Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. Kasey Kahne, on the strength of two wins, has clinched at least a Wild Card spot.

Four drivers control their top-10 clinching destiny, regardless of the finishes of any other driver.
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr., currently seventh in points, will clinch a top-10 spot with a finish of 32nd or better, 33rd with at least one lap led or 34th with the most laps led.
 
Joey Logano, currently eighth in points, will clinch a top-10 spot with a finish of 11th or better, 12th and at least one lap led or 13th and the most laps led.
 
Greg Biffle, currently ninth in points, will clinch a top-10 spot with a finish of ninth or better, 10th and at least one lap led or 11th and the most laps led.
 
Kurt Busch, currently 10th in points, will clinch a top-10 spot by winning, finishing second with at least one lap led or finishing third with the most laps led.

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The remaining mathematically eligible drivers need help to clinch a top-10 spot. Some, however, control their own Wild Card destiny (a win would guarantee at least a Wild Card spot).
 
Clinch scenarios for the remaining eligible drivers:
 
Jeff Gordon: Currently 11th in points, Gordon would clinch at least a Wild Card spot with a victory at Richmond. Gordon, currently six points outside the top 10, remains eligible for a top 10 spot.
 
Kasey Kahne: Kahne, currently 12th in points, has already clinched at least a Wild Card spot. Ten points outside the top 10, Kahne remains eligible for a top 10 spot.
 
Martin Truex Jr.: Currently 13th in points, Truex would clinch at least a Wild Card spot with a victory at Richmond. Fifteen points outside the top 10, Truex remains eligible for a top 10 spot. Truex, currently holding the provisional No. 2 Wild Card spot, could clinch a Wild Card spot without a victory.
 
Ryan Newman: Currently 14th in points, Newman would clinch at least a Wild Card spot with a victory at Richmond. Twenty points outside the top 10, Newman remains eligible for a top 10 spot. Newman could clinch a Wild Card spot without a win (Logano and Biffle must remain in the top 10 or be replaced by Kahne; Newman must out-point Truex by six points; Gordon must not win; and Brad Keselowski or Jamie McMurray cannot win and overtake Newman).
 
Brad Keselowski: Currently 28 points outside the top 10, Keselowski remains eligible for a top-10 spot. Currently winless, Keselowski must win to be in contention for a Wild Card spot. Mathematically there will be at least two drivers outside the top 10 with wins. To clinch, Keselowski would need to win and outpoint Truex by 13 and Newman by eight (and would only need to outpoint one of these drivers if Kahne would displace a winless driver from the top 10). If Truex or Newman displaces Kurt Busch from the top 10, he would need to outpoint the other one-win driver remaining outside the top 10 by the requisite amount.
 
Jamie McMurray: Currently 39 points outside the top 10, McMurray remains eligible for a top-10 spot. Currently winless, McMurray must win to be in contention for a Wild Card spot. To clinch, McMurray would need to win and outpoint either Truex by 25 and Newman by 19 (and would only need to outpoint one of these drivers if Kahne would displace a winless driver from the top 10).  If Truex or Newman displace Kurt Busch from the top 10, he would need to outpoint the other one-win driver remaining outside the top 10 by the requisite amount.
 
Paul Menard: To clinch, Menard would need to win and outpoint Truex by 47 and Newman by 42 (and would only need to outpoint one of these drivers if Kahne would displace a winless driver from the top 10).  If Truex or Newman displace Kurt Busch from the top 10, he would need to outpoint the other one-win driver remaining outside the top 10 by the requisite amount.

The owners Chase scenarios are the same as drivers except for two additions:

No. 14 will clinch at least a Wild Card spot with a victory at Richmond. They can also clinch a Wild Card without a win by surpassing both the No. 56 (it trails by 8) and the No. 39 (it trails by 3), AND not have the 2 or 1 win and pass them (and would only need to outpoint one of these cars if the No. 5 would displace a winless driver from the top 10). If 56 or 39 displace 78 from the top 10, it would need to outpoint the other one-win car remaining outside the top 10 by the requisite amount. There’s an outside chance that the 14 gets in the top 10, but they are 23 points behind the No. 78, which is currently in 10th.

No. 55 will clinch at least a Wild Card spot with a victory at Richmond. They can also clinch a Wild Card without a win by surpassing both the No. 56 (it trails by 33), the No. 39 (it trails by 28), and the No. 14 (it trails by 25), AND not have the 2 or 1 win. (and would only need to outpoint two of these cars if the No. 5 would displace a winless car from the top 10).  If 56, 39 or 14 displace the 78 from the top 10, it would need to outpoint two other one-win cars remaining outside the top 10 by the requisite amount.

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Driver clarifies status on Twitter; Skeen says Papis instigated hostilities

In a series of Twitter messages Tuesday morning, Max Papis clarified that his jaw was not dislocated from the infamous slap from another driver’s girlfriend following Sunday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in Canada.

Papis said his jaw was sprained, and noted that he confused the meanings of the words "dislocated" and "sprained."

"Just FYI as English is not my first language," the Italian driver posted, in part, on the social media website.

"And with this I will conclude the #slap episode," he added.

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Papis had a late-race feud with Mike Skeen at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, after both drivers wound up in the tire barrier as they neared the checkered flag. That incident capped a series of bumps on the track over the final two laps between Papis and Skeen, a road racer making his NASCAR debut.

But it was nothing compared to what came next — a woman later identified as Skeen’s girlfriend slapping Papis in the face, yelling “That’s what you deserve!” at the Italian driver.

Papis wrote, in part, in an earlier Twitter post: “And by the way … Even if she deserved (it) I will not hit a lady and it was just between two racers.”

Papis, a 43-year-old former open-wheel racer, has 45 career Truck Series starts. He finished sixth in the race, Skeen 13th.

Neither driver is a full-time participant in NASCAR, or likely to be entered in next week’s Truck Series event at Iowa Speedway.

Skeen, a 26-year-old native of Durham, N.C., who competes primarily in sports-car events, claimed in a Facebook post that the hostilities were instigated by Papis.

“The drama after the race was started by him,” Skeen wrote. “He tried numerous times on the cool down lap to wreck me again or drive me into other parked trucks. When we finally got behind the wall, I got out and talked to him face-to-face, but there was no reasoning with him.”

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17-year-old race winner, track co-owner relish successful weekend

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario — A good five hours ahead of Sunday’s inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Ron Fellows hustled the pace truck around the historic 2.459-mile road course he co-owns.

While showing media members the nuances of the track on race-day morning, he kept his eye on the racing line that he knows like the back of his hand, but couldn’t escape noticing the vast amounts of campers and fans already stationed around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. “A bit overwhelming,” he said later Sunday after the dust had settled on the series’ first international race, the Chevrolet Silverado 250.

Fellows was beaming and at his sheepishly humorous best late Sunday afternoon, finally able to relax after months upon months of preparation and investment in the track’s facilities.

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“We’re thrilled,” Fellows said. “Not only did the weather cooperate, but we had a tremendous turnout. Wandering around the infield, the response from the fans, they were just incredibly thankful that we were able to get one of NASCAR’s major series up here. Just really neat to hear, ‘hey, thanks for making this happen and rejuvenating the place.’ It’s nice to hear.”

Fellows and his home track were not only blessed with mild, sunny conditions after two fairly overcast days, but by an event that delivered on drama, with contact among the front-running four drivers in the final turn and a fresh-faced winner in the form of 17-year-old Chase Elliott.

Bill Elliott, his father and the 1988 champion of NASCAR’s top series, said he felt the frenzy from the crowd from his vantage point, spotting for his son from the hillside overlooking the track’s final three turns. For Chase Elliott, he noticed the same thing Fellows did on his pre-race drive.

“Obviously the crowd was unbelievable, and to race in front of a big crowd gives you a feeling like none other,” Chase Elliott said after scoring his first win in his sixth career start. “Fortunately it was a good show I felt like for everybody, and that’s the most important thing. If we don’t have people there we’re not going to have sponsors on the car, and none of us are going to be able to go racing.”

Sunday’s race drew parallels to this season’s other inaugural truck race, July’s MudSummer Classic at Eldora Speedway, the half-mile dirt track in Ohio owned by three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. In each case, Fellows and Stewart had deep ties to the facilities they owned. Both also traded their racing urges for ownership and promoter duties to make sure their first-time events went off without major issue.

“We were down right on the fence for the start,” Fellows said, “and you know what, for this first one, I’m glad I was able to watch it as opposed to being in it because you just miss out on that ambiance, the feel, the excitement and seeing all the people around you, how excited they were to see the truck series. So you know what, maybe next year.”

Near sundown in Bowmanville, many of the fans were still there on the long holiday weekend, taking advantage of one of the track’s nice post-race touches and walking or riding bikes around the former grand prix layout. Fellows hopes they’ll be back in massive amounts again as the track looks for bigger and better things.

“You know, this is Canada’s home of motorsports, and we’re going to continue to grow the place,” Fellows said. “Hopefully our friends at NASCAR enjoyed the weekend, as well, and we’ll go forward from here.”

 

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Tutelage of Kyle Busch helps young driver excel at international track

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario — Chad Hackenbracht said he’d be smiling for days after the first international race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It’s with good reason, after he scored an opportunistic, personal-best second-place finish in just his third career start.

In the immediate aftermath of the slam-bang finish, though, it was hard for Hackenbracht to say exactly how he felt.

“Good … I think,” Hackenbracht said with a wry smile on pit road Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. “I can’t tell through the chaos.”

The 21-year-old Ohio native was behind the two main frays, among the top four drivers, that boiled over in front of him on the final lap of the Chevrolet Silverado 250. By the time the front-runners got to the road course’s 10th and final turn, three of the four were in the tire barrier, leaving Hackenbracht to slip through and follow race winner Chase Elliott to the checkered flag.

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It would be easy to dismiss the runner-up finish as a mere gift, but Hackenbracht stayed within the top 10 most of the day, used a sound race strategy from his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports team and steadily improved into the top five as the day went on.

“I feel like we had one of the best trucks all day long,” Hackenbracht said. “Kyle Busch Motorsports, they’re the best team out here, I believe. Just trying to do the best I can with these four starts I’ve got with them this year. Can’t thank everybody enough. We did a little different strategy, almost the same as everybody else, but we were a little better on pit road, better through a couple corners on the track. Just overall, a fantastic day.”

Hackenbracht’s final truck start of the season is scheduled Sept. 28 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he has three more NASCAR Nationwide Series events planned with the Mark Smith-owned TriStar Motorsport team, bringing his season total to seven in that series. It’s all part of the growth, aided greatly by his team owner and mentor, as he tries to firm up his 2014 racing schedule.

“Whenever I have questions, he doesn’t hesitate to sit down and talk,” Hackenbracht said of Busch, who notched his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season later Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “We talked for 40 minutes one day, just all about aero, where you need to position your truck. He’s an awesome teacher, knows everything about anything. It’s amazing to have him as an owner and a coach if I need him.”

As proof that the learning process is beginning to take, Hackenbracht’s smartest move of the day may have been letting Max Papis overtake him after the race’s final restart, based on the realization that the aggressive Italian was faster and the hunch that he’d wreck with one of his rivals in the late stages. The latter prediction came to pass, allowing Hackenbracht to share the podium for the first time in a NASCAR national series.

The reward for Busch was twofold — a top-three finish for one of his teams and the bonus of his young driver bringing back a mostly damage-free truck at the end of an intense day.

“I didn’t really have to root and gouge much, but no, it was a great day,” Hackenbracht said. “It comes back in one piece for the most part, maybe a little torn up on the fenders, but overall a great day, especially considering how crazy we get on these restarts in the truck series.”

 

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Strong run in Atlanta keeps Truex Jr. in contention for a Chase berth

Related: Standings | Chase clinching scenarios for Richmond

HAMPTON, Ga. – His wrist aching, his car spent, Martin Truex Jr. leaned against the No. 56 Toyota and sighed.
 
For weeks now, the Michael Waltrip Racing driver has been bouncing around the bubble that marks the cutoff point for this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.
 
One week he’s in, the next he’s not. One week his chances seem likely, the next not so much.
 
A broken wrist suffered a week earlier at Bristol didn’t help matters. Another week, another obstacle.
 
“It hurts like hell when you’re in there just steering the car,” Truex Jr. said following his third-place finish in Sunday night’s Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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“I mean, when you’re steering back and forth here and you’re out of control and you’re holding on and you’re sawing on the wheel and all the tires; it felt like every time I moved it somebody was hitting it with a hammer.”
 
The finish left him holding the No. 2 spot in the Wild Card standings. With one race remaining – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Richmond International Speedway to settle matters – Truex Jr. leads Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas Racing) by five points. Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) leads both, but without a win, Gordon would find himself shut out of the playoff picture.
 
A fast race car can help a driver block out pain, and Truex Jr. definitely had a fast car at Atlanta. Not the fastest in the end – race winner Kyle Busch has that honor and Joey Logano was a close second. But when crew chief Chad Johnston made the necessary adjustments, Truex Jr.’s car came to life.
 
“Couldn’t get it turning, burned the right rear off and kept battling through that and then we had to go to the rear with about 100 to go and really thought we were in big trouble,” he said, “but we were able to fight up through there and figured out what our car needed towards the end.
 
“We were probably one or two adjustments away from having something for Joey and Kyle, but all in all it was a good night for us.”
 
It was a slow, difficult climb back through the field for the 33-year-old who was forced to pit twice under green when an errant lug nut was caught between a wheel and brake caliper.
 
“I thought we were done, and I said ‘you might as well hand over a wild card,’ but we were able to fight through it,” Truex Jr. said of the issue, “so that’s what we’ll have to do next week, too.”
 
Living on the edge takes a toll and the Atlanta result was much needed after a 35th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway a week earlier.
 
It wasn’t the team’s only miscue this season, but thus far Truex Jr. and his group have been able to rebound when it counted.
 
“There have been other races this year that we fell out of that killed us, too,” he said. “It is what it is; we’ll have to go race hard and I’m proud that we’re able to come here and have a good night when the pressure was on and we made it happen.”
 
As for the injury, Truex Jr. said the cast became soft, likely from perspiration, and that the team will “look into that.”
 
“I don’t know what I can do to change that,” he said of the situation. “Probably just going to have to deal with it.”

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Edwards clinches Chase spot, Gordon on outside looking in heading to Richmond

HAMPTON, Ga. – In the end, they didn’t even seem to agree to disagree.
 
Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards finished 12 positions apart in Sunday night’s AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but it was the close-quarters racing between the two early in the race that left both questioning the other’s actions.
 
The two drivers spoke for several minutes following the race, a conversation that appeared more animated than amicable. Neither seemed satisfied with the other’s viewpoint, a sentiment expressed by both.
 
“I have a problem with a guy when I apologize for sliding him and then he proceeds to tell me all the things I did wrong in the race,” Gordon said afterward. “I didn’t hear him apologizing for any of the things he did. I tried to have a regular conversation and that didn’t seem to be possible with him.”

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Edwards confirmed the two failed to reach any sort of understanding “and finally he got frustrated enough with the conversation that he just walked away, which might be smart.
 
“We were racing really early and he just slides on me and I thought it was really out of character for him,” Edwards said. “I didn’t understand what was going on there, so I did everything I could to not wreck us both. So naturally the next time we were around each other I raced him as hard as I could, and then going down the back straightaway I thought he just ran into my door and it kind of tore up our right side.
 
“He thought I ran into him, so I think it was a case where both of us were mad at each other. He wasn’t very happy with our conversation, but at the end of the day I felt like he was the aggressor and didn’t give me much of an opportunity to drive my race car that first time.”
 
Gordon slipped past Edwards early in the 325-lap race while racing for position, and admitted he “came up a little bit too short on him; that was my fault.
 
“He took my line away from me to keep me behind him and I was a lot better than him,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said.
 
Gordon, the four-time Cup champion fighting for a spot in this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup, finished sixth, a result that moved him from 13th to 11th in the points standings.
 
That was of little solace, however, since Gordon remains winless and outside the top-10. One of those things will have to change for Gordon to earn one of the 12 Chase positions.
 
With only one race remaining before the field is set — the series moves to Richmond International Raceway for next Saturday night’s pre-Chase finale — Gordon’s chances aren’t stellar.
 
But they haven’t been completely extinguished.
 
“Most of it is just us doing what we have to do,” he said. “Just like we’ve done the last two weeks; we’ve done a good job but we can do better. In Richmond, we’re going to have to do better. But we do have a shot.”
 
Gordon has finished 10th or better in five of his last seven starts.
 
Edwards officially clinched a berth with his 18th-place finish at AMS, which while it dropped him one position in points (to fourth), provided the necessary cushion between himself and 11th place.
 
“That’s the first mission of the season,” he said, “to clinch a Chase spot. And now we go win the championship.”

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Veteran wants to remain in the sport, not necessarily behind the wheel

HAMPTON, Ga. — Discussions about what he would be doing in 2014 came to a halt when Mark Martin agreed to drive the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet for 12 of this year’s final 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, the veteran driver said Aug. 31.

Martin, 54, is filling in for the injured Tony Stewart, who is out for the remainder of the year, with a broken right leg. Prior to the move, Martin had competed in 15 of 25 races this season for Michael Waltrip Racing.

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“I will be real honest with you, I could care less about 2014 right now because I am doing all I can to tread water,” Martin said. “Making this change was pretty huge because not only is it different crew guys working on the car … but it’s a whole different thought process, it’s a whole different bunch of guys that I didn’t have a chance to go to test [with] in February and go hang out in the shop.

“Just jumping right in it added, I don’t know, about three races to my schedule … so I picked up three additional races.”

Because of the change, Martin said he is “really pushed and driven to try to get immersed in this team and figure out what I like in these cars so that we can start putting that in there week to week.”

Martin finished 20th in his first start with SHR a week ago at Bristol Motor Speedway.

A 40-time winner at the Cup level, he has not competed full-time since 2011, his last with Hendrick Motorsports. It was announced earlier this year that he would not return to the No. 55 at MWR in 2014, and the organization would put Brian Vickers in the car full time.

Martin said he expects to remain involved in the sport, although he isn’t clear on what that might include. For now, his attention is focused on completing the season with SHR and helping the organization move forward.

“I’m in no hurry because I’m not really worried about what I do,” he said. “I do have a focus on what I can do in NASCAR. I want to do more in NASCAR than drive race cars. I want to do more than that. I had a good time at MWR, and they let me be a part of that organization a little bit more than just to show up and drive; I want to grow more of that.

“So that’s of great interest to me and is where my primary focus was before Tony’s No. 14 car came up. After that, it’s like I’m not worried. I’ve got to stay focused on what’s in front of me.”

To that end, he said, “we are still just throwing stuff at the car and me saying ‘nah, yeah that’s better, nah.’  When you find something that really feels good to you, there is a sense of continuity from track to track [and] you can use that same logic.  You might not use the same springs and all but you can use the same logic and you can simulate it out and shoot for those same kind of feels at other race tracks.

“We are not there yet obviously. This is not like making a change over the winter. It’s not like stepping out of a MWR Toyota into even a (Joe) Gibbs Toyota like I did at Martinsville. There is just a lot going on.”

With Vickers slated to be in the MWR car at Martinsville Speedway, Martin stepped in during the April race to fill in for the injured Denny Hamlin. He finished 10th.

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Get event times, TV information and more for this weekend’s NASCAR action

This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series are at Richmond International Raceway, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is at Iowa Speedway.

All times ET

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

PRESS CONFERENCES:
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers not locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup headed into Richmond, but who are eligible for spots in the Chase, which include:
·Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet
·Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford
·Greg Biffle, driver of the No.16 Scotchgard Ford
·Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet
·Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
·Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
·Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet
·Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford
·Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

ON TRACK
— 9-11:30 a.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series practice, FOX Sports 1, Richmond (Get results)
— noon-2 p.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, ESPN2, Richmond (Get results)
— 2:45-3:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, ESPN2, Richmond (Get results)
— 4:05 p.m. ET, NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2, Richmond (Get results)
— 5:35 p.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2, Richmond (Get results)
— 7:30 p.m. ET, Nationwide Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (250 laps, 187.5 miles), ESPN on air 7 p.m. ET, Richmond (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES:
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— 11:35 a.m. ET — Kyle Busch
— 11:50 a.m. ET — Elliott Sadler and Jack Ingram
— 2:15 p.m. ET — Michael Waltrip
— 6:30 p.m. ET — Post-NSCS qualifying
— 9:30 p.m. ET — Post-NNS race

GARAGE CAM
WATCH LIVE
— Sprint Cup: 11:30 a.m. ET

BUY TICKETS FOR RICHMOND
Click here to purchase Sprint Cup tickets.

Click here to purchase Nationwide Series tickets.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

ON TRACK
— Noon-2:20 p.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FOX Sports 2, Iowa (Get results)
— 7:05 p.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Keystone Light Pole Qual., delayed, Sun. 12:30 p.m., FS1, Iowa (Get results)
— 7:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 (400 laps, 300 miles), ABC coverage starts at 7 p.m., Richmond (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES:
WATCH LIVE
— 10:30 p.m. ET — Post-NSCS race

BUY TICKETS FOR IOWA
Click here to purchase tickets.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

ON TRACK
— 2 p.m. ET, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Iowa 200 Presented by New Holland (200 laps, 175 miles), FS1 coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. ET, Iowa
(Get results)

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Note: Links will be added as information becomes available.

Sprint Cup: Season schedule | Standings | Entry list | Lineup | Pit stall assignments | Results
Nationwide: Season schedule | Standings | Entry list | Lineup | Pit stall assignments | Results
Camping World Truck: Season schedule | Standings | Entry list | Lineup | Pit stall assignments | Results

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Logano finishes second; Newman also earns a top-five

For the fourth consecutive week Joey Logano paced the Coca-Cola Racing Family.

The 23-year-old recorded his third consecutive top-five finish and moved closer to locking up a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with his runner-up showing at Atlanta, a race in which the No. 22 Ford led a race-high 78 laps.

The finish vaulted Logano to eighth place in the standings. If the season ended today, the Coca-Cola Racing Family would have two drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

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

Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford

Recap: Logano’s summer surge has him on the brink of his first-ever Chase. This seemed unthinkable twice during the year, once after a 25-point penalty following the race at Texas, and then again after consecutive 40th-place finishes late in the season. But this team has been one of the best on the circuit in recent weeks and currently has an automatic berth in the Chase, with a win to fall back on should the group slip out of the top 10 in the standings following the regular-season finale at Richmond.
Quotable: “That’s three straight top-fives with this car, though, and that’s impressive. We’ll take that and it was a big points day for us for Richmond next week, so we have nothing to hold our heads down about, but, at the same time, I’m mad at myself on that one restart when we started third. I was a little too close to Kyle and when he spun his tires I had to check up not to hit him, and I can’t pass him before the start/finish line, so I gave the 56 a big run and he got underneath me. Then you get shuffled out to the back and it’s just a cluster after that, but it was a hard-fought day. The guys did great. Second sucks, but we can’t be too mad about it.”
His standing: Logano is eighth in the standings with 729 points.
Outlook: Logano isn’t quite locked into the Chase, but it’s close. Even a rotten day at Atlanta might not be enough to keep Logano from the postseason, because the 22 team has a win to fall back on. That would all be a moot point, however, if Logano keeps running like he has been the past month.

Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Newman finished fifth in Atlanta, giving the Coca-Cola Racing Family two drivers in the top five. And even with that, he fell out of the Chase field because Kasey Kahne (with two victories this season) fell out and therefore gobbled up one of the two Wild Card spots. Newman led three laps on the night. The veteran lost some ground over the final restarts.
Quotable: ““Oh, I just told (Kurt Busch) I’m glad I’m not the only one that can’t restart on the outside there. I don’t know what the deal is but there’s no grip on the straightaway. I don’t know if it’s rubber on the race track or what, but you did not want to be on the outside on a restart. And I was and he wasn’t and it didn’t work for either of us.”
His standing: Newman is 14th in the standings with 699 points.
Outlook: Newman finished 15th in the first race at Richmond, and that kind of effort won’t be good enough to get into the postseason on Saturday. Newman’s best chance is for a good, solid finish and watch Kasey Kahne climb into the top 10, and Kurt Busch fall out. That would likely be enough to give Newman the second of two Wild Card berths.

Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Recap: Biffle wasn’t outstanding at Atlanta, but he finished 15th after starting 24th and remained ninth in the standings. He has a an eight-point edge over 10th-place Kurt Busch and an 14-point edge over 11th-place Jeff Gordon with one race until the Chase field is set.
His standing: Biffle is ninth in the standings with 727 points.
Outlook: Biffle, like Logano, is in the top 10 but has a win to fall back on should things go sour at Richmond. And they might, considering the No. 16 finished 36th there earlier this season.

Danica Patrick (No. 10)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Patrick showed some serious growth at Atlanta, a fast race track in which she has some experience given her 2012 start there. Danica started 21st and finished 21st, an eight-spot improvement from her effort in 2012.
Quotable: “I’m proud of the GoDaddy guys. We weren’t good in the first practice. (Crew chief) Tony Gibson and the guys worked really hard, and we qualified well and then continued to get better throughout the weekend. It was a good race for us. It was a little tight at the end, but overall, we improved, and I think we’ve gotten better the last few races. The pit crew was really good, and they were quick on each stop. I’m happy with how we ran. Obviously, you always want to do better than you finish, but it’s like we’ve said all year, it’s about making little gains and getting better as we go along.”
Her standing: Patrick is 27th in the standings with 459 points.
Outlook: Earlier this year at Richmond, Patrick finished 29th, four laps down.

Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Recap: Hamlin’s miserable season continued at Atlanta, where he had to go to the back of the field before the race started due to an engine change. Then he was penalized for hanging out of his pit box while his team finished repairs, and on Lap 206 (of 325), the No. 11 was spun out thanks to a bump from Paul Menard. He finished 38th.
Quotable: “The motor finished us off, but we — I don’t know what we’ve got to do, but we can’t seem to finish a race. Our night was ruined because of a penalty putting us two laps down and putting us in a box there that we couldn’t overcome."
His standing: Hamlin is 26th in the standings with 462 points.
Outlook: Richmond ought to at least be interesting for Hamlin. He might feel like he owes Menard a payback … and does he think his feud with Joey Logano is settled? The 0.75-mile Richmond course provides the perfect payback setting.

Tony Stewart (No. 14)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Stewart missed his fourth consecutive race this past weekend and watched Mark Martin piloted his No. 14 Chevrolet to a 25th-place finish. Stewart is still nursing his broken leg and won’t return in 2013.
His standing: Stewart is 23rd in the standings with 594 points.

Posted on by George Winkler

Most expensive driver isn’t producing for fantasy owners

Related: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times — well, then we know we have a problem. Owners of Jimmie Johnson in the NASCAR Fantasy Live game can relate to that saying right about now.

For three straight races the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has not looked, well, champion-like. Behold the carnage: A 40th-place finish in Michigan, a 36th-place showing at Bristol, a 28th-place piece-de-la-P.U. in Atlanta.

An optimist might say there’s improvement shown in those numbers, but we’re fantasy owners, where the glass is seemingly always half empty. We want more fantasy points, especially from the highest-price driver in the game, and he’s not giving them right now.

Therefore, is it finally time for the great J.J. sell-off to begin? His price has stabilized at $28.75, perhaps indicating that like the hill climber on the Price is Right we might be set for a tumble.

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But the difficult thing about Johnson is knowing when to pull the plug. His numbers at most tracks are usually some of the best in the game.

And there has been a good amount of randomness to this streak of bad races. After all, a teammate (Kasey Kahne) ran into him on a restart where another teammate (Jeff Gordon) couldn’t get a grip last night at Atlanta. A betting man would probably tell you stuff like that won’t happen every day — or night as it were.

With Richmond ahead, it’s not a bad time to take a break from Jimmie — you know, get a little time away so the relationship can heal. His numbers are solid at the short track, but they aren’t dominant. His Driver Rating is in the top 10, but it’s ranked ninth. His average finish is 15.5. Not bad, but not badass, either, like the lightly bearded driver usually appears on race day.

And since everyone is cheaper than Johnson in the game, a penny saved from dumping him is a penny earned elsewhere on your roster. You can always come back to him, and if our thoughts are correct and the sell-off does begin in earnest, you’ll be able to get the No. 48 back on your team for a reduced price.

Now that’s something you won’t feel foolish about.

Key Fantasy Moment: Clint Bowyer looked like he had the car to beat in the middle of the race and was leading 48 laps when his engine blew up and he had to go to the garage for the rest of the night. Bowyer finished 39th and his fantasy score sunk to only 20 points thanks in large part to a minus-27 in place differential. Bowyer wasn’t the only marquee fantasy driver to experience engine problems, as Brad Keselowski also felt a couple of cylinders go down late in the race.  Bowyer finished 29th in fantasy points while Keselowski was 18th. Neither was worth his high price.

Biggest bargain: Joey Logano didn’t win the race in Atlanta, but he was the top scorer by far in fantasy, raking in 143.5 points and finishing well ahead of race-winner Kyle Busch, who had 104.5 fantasy points. Logano did better than Busch in all categories except for finishing position. The biggest disparity came in fastest laps, where Logano had a race-high 26.5 fantasy points to Busch’s six points in that category. And although Logano’s team had problems on pit road, it paid handsomely to get the No. 22 car on your team, especially at a reasonable price of $22.75.

Biggest bust: A chain reaction on an early restart led to Kahne getting into the back of Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, with Jeff Burton crawling up the back of Kahne. The result was smoke emanating from the No. 5 car because of radiator problems. Kahne went to the garage for repairs and did not return until he was 31 laps down. Kahne finished in 36th place and ended up with minus-4 fantasy points for the race. That was not what owners bargained for when they ponied up $25 (up $0.50 from last week) for Kahne, who was coming off a second-place showing at Bristol.

Tip to take forward: According to NASCAR’s Statistical Services, the following drivers lead in the significant fantasy categories for the past eight years at Richmond International Raceway: Laps led, Denny Hamlin (1,390); Quality passes, Kevin Harvick (575); Fastest laps, Hamlin (582); Average finish: Kyle Busch (6.5). But this is an example of where fantasy owners should not evaluate these numbers merely on face value. Although Hamlin has done well at Richmond historically, he’s still a boom-or-bust pick given the way he has struggled this season.

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