Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon reached a number unseen in almost 20 years – 84, his current number of series victories.
Joining Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, Gordon now sits tied for third on the all-time list. He reached the 84-win mark rather quickly, needing 631 starts to nab win No. 84. Allison did it in 706 starts; Waltrip, 558.
The victory further cemented Gordon’s legendary status, but also added intrigue to the matter at hand – the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship outlook. Two key Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup storylines were shoved to the forefront.
1) The Wild Card: For the first time in the Chase’s eight-year history, there will be two Wild Card championship contenders. After race No. 26 at Richmond, the top-10 drivers are locked into the 12-driver Chase field. Spots 11 and 12 – the Wild Cards – go to those outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20.
Gordon, currently six points outside the top 10, would hold the No. 1 Wild Card spot if the Chase started today. The No. 2 spot would go to the thus-far winless Denny Hamlin in 12th. If there is a tie for number of wins – or no other winners – the second Wild Card spot goes to the driver with the best points position.
Two drivers outside the top 20 have victories – Brad Keselowski (Kansas) and Regan Smith (Darlington). Keselowski is in 22nd-place, 13 points behind 20th-place Martin Truex Jr. Smith is 27th, 47 points back. Both drivers need to crack the top 20 to be eligible for a Wild Card spot.
2) Bonus Points: A top-10 position is near-vital for Gordon. All Chase drivers have their points reset to 2,000, but only those within the top 10 earn 10 bonus points for each victory in the regular season. The “bonus points” rule was put into place for the Chase in 2007. Since then, the eventual champion – Jimmie Johnson, each year – started the Chase with at least 30 bonus points.
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