Hamlin wins in Chicago

In executing his game plan during last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Ryan Newman failed miserably. No one else is close. He fell back to 16 in the standings because of it and could find himself out of the running after two more races unless he can put up a win or two strong showings. The 13th seed entering this season’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Gordon is trying to win his first title in the Chase era.

Jimmie Johnson had a chance to spark a monumental NASCAR rumor. “They have been good enough to run from 5 to 10 and that is what it takes”.

Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth at Chicagoland Speedway for the start of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase.

Johnson is drawing on past performance as motivation. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has two wins this season, both on restrictor-plate tracks. “If we can do what he did, getting to Homestead would be a realistic goal”. Now, we have all gotten exhausted of NBC mentioning him every 30 seconds, but Busch has earned respect in the garage.

“Summer stretches have always been tough on the No. 48 – I don’t know why. We’ll all fight tooth and nail”. We just need to step it up a little bit.

“We’re pleased to announce that BRP, manufacturer of iconic brands like Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo, Evinrude, Rotax and Can-Am, will serve as the title sponsor of the 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona”, Chitwood said during a Saturday morning press conference at Chicagoland Speedway.

Still skeptical? Consider the facts.

Track type: 1.5-mile paved tri-oval.

He postponed surgery until after the season so he could compete in the Chase. He’s part of a Joe Gibbs Racing team that turned into a juggernaut over the summer, winning 10 times in the past 16 races.

The summer months feature tracks which have been tough on Johnson. “But we’ve been here before. That’s what I think”.

In addition, Can-Am will sponsor the vehicle for two of 2000 premier series champion Bobby Labonte’s four restrictor-plate races next year. If he gets hot during this final stretch, look out. It would be known to fans as the Chase for the Nextel Cup and would be a 10-race playoff system that consisted of the top 10 drivers in the sport to battle it out for the championship. It was his first time in a race auto of any kind since his near fatal accident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.

“I think today is a unique scenario because everybody thought it was going to rain, and predicted that it was going to rain”, said Harvick, explaining that his fast practice pace had been no lucky accident. So I’m looking forward to see how the first three or four races play out… Harvick will make the final group, but if Keselowski is still alive he’ll be in a groove, and he can win anywhere, anytime when he gets comfortable. “We’re working extremely hard”. A nice start here will really start that and we are off to a nice start, starting on the front row. “I think we were second at Martinsville”. “I don’t know if anyone would have selected them to make it to the final round at Homestead, and they did”.

The victor of tomorrow’s race will be the first locked into the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and with just three races before that cutoff, anyone who fails to finish will be in a deep hole with races in New Hampshire and Dover left in the round-of-16.

Even though HMS hasn’t shown its strength in the summer, don’t expect history to repeat itself in 2015.