Race To The Chase' Begins At
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The battle for Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
eligibility is heating up, which means two things:
One - the thermometer says it's summer;
Two - it's time to head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
This Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 301 kicks off the "Race to the
Chase," the 10-race stretch that leads to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup.
The Race to the Chase begins amid Granite State greenery and ends on a
September Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway - Race No. 26
and the cutoff point for Chase eligibility.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams then return to New Hampshire the following
week to begin the Chase, in which the top 12 drivers (following Richmond)
battle for the series title during the season's final 10 races.
The mix of tracks in the Race to the Chase presents a worthy challenge.
Drivers begin with New Hampshire's flat, tricky one-mile oval and proceed,
in order, to Daytona International Speedway's high-banked 2.5-mile
surface, Chicagoland Speedway's 1.5-mile tri-oval, Indianapolis Motor
Speedway's 2.5-mile tradition, Pocono Raceway's triangular 2.5-mile
layout, the season's second road-course event at Watkins Glen
International, Michigan International Speedway's 2-mile oval, Bristol
Motor Speedway's high-banked half-mile, Atlanta Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile
tri-oval and finally, Richmond's .75-mile venue.
Atlanta is the only track new to the 2009 Race to the Chase; its second
event of the season now takes place on Labor Day weekend.
First, however, a deceptively difficult New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
"It's a little bit unique and it's one that makes us work hard, that's for
sure," said 2003 series champion Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford), who's
seeking his first victory there.
Loop Data Tabs Stewart As The Driver To Beat
As the Race to the Chase begins, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
champion Tony Stewart (No. 14 Old Spice Chevrolet) leads the series
standings heading into Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 301.
If statistics hold firm, he may occupy that position when the Race to the
Chase ends at Richmond.
That's according to NASCAR Loop Data from 2005 through the current season
at the 10 tracks featured in the Race to the Chase.
Per that Loop Data, Stewart owns the top Driver Rating (106.1).
He also claims the top Average Running Position (10.545) and the
second-best Average Finish (12.5) behind Jeff Gordon's (No. 24 DuPont
Chevrolet) 12.2.
Stewart (75.3) again trails only Gordon (76.5) in Percentage of Laps in
the Top 15.
Gordon, the four-time series champion, is right there statistically with
Stewart.
Second in the standings (he trails Stewart by 84 points), Gordon leads all
of the current top 15 drivers with 35 wins, 114 top fives and 164 top 10s
in 266 career starts in the 10 tracks that make up the Race to the Chase.
He also has the top average start (9.7), the highest percentage of laps
led (12.2) and a top average of 136.3 points scored. Stewart ranks second
in average number of points scored (134.8) in events at the 10 tracks
included in the Race to the Chase.
Reigning and three-time series champion Jimmie Johnson (No. 48
Lowe's/KOBALT Chevrolet) has the third-highest driver rating at Race to
the Chase venues - 130.8.
All That Matters: Emphasis On Winning The Goal As Race To The Chase Begins
At New Hampshire
For the 12 drivers currently eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup, and those battling for eligibility, the beginning of the Race to the
Chase means one thing - 100 points.
That's the total number of bonus points available to Chase-eligible
drivers, and while winning always is their goal, it becomes even more
important during the Race to the Chase.
Each victory between now and the beginning of the Chase on Sept. 20 - also
at New Hampshire Motor Speedway - means an extra 10 points for a
Chase-eligible driver. Once the Chase begins, drivers are seeded according
to the number of wins earned in the first 26 races.
That means Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota) and Mark Martin
(No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet) are in the driver's seat headed into
Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 301. Both have a series-high three wins in
2009, which means 30 bonus points for each.
If the Chase began now, Busch would be seeded first despite his current
position of ninth in the standings. Martin, currently 11th, would be
seeded second.
Reigning and three-time champion Jimmie Johnson, and Matt Kenseth, the
2003 series champion and reigning Daytona 500 champion, both have two
wins.
Johnson, third in the current standings, would be seeded third. Kenseth,
currently 10th, would jump to fourth in Chase seeding.
The remaining drivers with wins, all with single victories thus far, would
take fourth, fifth and sixth place in Chase seeding.
That means current standings leader Tony Stewart would drop from first to
fifth. Second-place Jeff Gordon would drop from second to sixth and
fourth-place Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) would drop to seventh.
NASCAR Loop Data paints a promising picture for Stewart at New Hampshire.
He leads all drivers in pre-race Driver Rating there (115.6). He also has
two wins, 12 top 10s and 15 top fives in 20 career starts at New
Hampshire.
Among the current top 15 drivers, Gordon and Busch lead with three wins
each at New Hampshire. Gordon leads with 12 top fives and 15 top 10s.
Martin is second with 13 top 10s.
The remainder of the current top-12 roster is still searching for that
first 2009 victory.
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota), currently seventh in the
standings, would be seeded eighth if the Chase began now. His average
finish at New Hampshire (7.2) is tops among the current top 15 drivers.
Ryan Newman (No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet), currently sixth, would be seeded
ninth.
Last year's series runner-up, Carl Edwards (No. 99 AFLAC Ford), currently
fifth, would be 10th. Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford), who won last year's
fall event at New Hampshire and is eighth in the standings, would be
seeded 11th.
Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Target Dodge), currently 12th, would be seeded
12th.
