Kyle Busch surged into a lead after 45 laps of Sunday’s Chase for the Sprint Cup opening race at Chicagoland Speedway.
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Kevin Harvick (4) makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway, Sunday, September 20, 2015, in Joliet, Ill.
Why he’ll win: He’s excellent at Loudon, which will give him momentum early, and at Martinsville, where – if he’s still alive in the Chase – he’s a good bet to win (five in his career) and get an automatic berth for the Homestead finale.
Kasey Kahne is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver not racing for a championship this week at Chicago.
Channeling his inner “Little Engine that Could” combined with some grit and no-holds-barred racing, Newman maneuvered his way through the 10-race, four-knockout round Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to finish second in the final standings despite not winning a race all season. “That’s what I think”.
Martin Truex Jr. set the pace in the first of Saturday’s two practices, and second practice overall, for the MyAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
And even though Johnson and Knaus sometimes squabble petulantly on the radio, they continue to find ways to clear whatever hurdles the Chase might throw their way.
Newman hasn’t won a race since the 2013 Brickyard 400, a devastating drought for a driver who won at least one race every year from 2010-13 and won eight times in 2003. 22 in Miami, we might see Kenseth, Chesterfield native Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch, all teammates, racing for a title, Gibbs told reporters after the race that would be highly improbable.
Jimmie Johnson planned to start his first day as a 40-year-old with a run along Chicago’s waterfront.
Jeff Gordon qualified for the Chase on points, without a victory in the first 26 races.
Jimmie Johnson had a chance to spark a monumental NASCAR rumor. But the absence of talk hasn’t dampened Johnson’s confidence.
“I haven’t won a pole since they went to group qualifying (in 2014) – haven’t really been that close”, Newman said. “We just have to move on from it and go racing the next few weeks”. “We knew we’d come here and be fast”. We had to get in the ambulance together to come back to the Infield Care Center.
Still skeptical? Consider the facts.
Why he won’t: Menard just hasn’t shown the chops to compete with the big boys, managing only four top-10s and two top-fives.
Truex contends the streak of top 5s and top 10s he started the season with are the norm, not the exception, and he reckons he and his team can contend deep into the Chase. “But we’ve been here before”. But if it’s not a good start, there’s several more races where we can get ourselves in good shape.’ You can have one mulligan. I don’t think he is quiet “clutch” enough to make it to the championship round, but Jr. could very easily make it to the elite 8.
“It’s possible”, Gordon said of going out with another title.
“At Talladega you can get caught in someone else’s accident”. “After all, this is the second time I’ve injured my knee”. Gordon is more likely to follow the formula of Newman a year ago , trying to be consistent and not necessarily relying on victories, which would mean an automatic pass to the next round. “Kyle just did a better job driving than I did and I had the fastest vehicle . Real proud of the effort and hopefully it’s going to pay off for us in this Chase”.
“I feel 80 right now, not 40”, he joked. New cars cost north of $100,000, engines (which are switched out for higher performance models) cost another $100,000 and all the other specialized parts add a third $100,000 to cost of vehicle .
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The format for 10-race Chase for the Championship was to create four levels of eliminations to build interest for a final winner-take-all race November.
