The 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins in New England, travels to both coasts, and ends in South Florida.
Drama dogs each step, but it doesn’t wait until teams settle in.
New Hampshire, site of Sunday’s Sylvania 300, has produced as many plotlines at the start as later Chase events, and doing well at New Hampshire — or not — usually carries forth.
“I don’t really think you can pick that out,” said top-seeded Mark Martin of favorites. “I mean, the Chase is anyone’s to win and anyone’s to lose. All of these teams got in here because they’re good. And all it takes is a stretch of 10 good races to win this. I think any of these 12 teams could win it.”
But Chase hopes can be twisted or expanded at the tricky, 1.058-mile oval. Take last year, when Greg Biffle, then the ninth seed, won the first two Chase races at New Hampshire to establish himself as a contender.
He’s the 12th seed this year (5,000 points), but trails top seeded Mark Martin (5.040 points) by only 40 points as opposed to 2008, when then-top seeded Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) began with 5,080 points.
“I’m excited about it because if I win the first two races, I’ll be leading the points this year,” said Biffle, “instead of last year I won the first two and I still wasn’t. It’s pretty tight. Forty points, that’s reachable in a couple of races.” Auto Racing Daily
CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR 0 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Rain-X 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Carquest / Kellogg's 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Sylvania 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 9 Aric Almirola Dodge Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 12 David Stremme Dodge Penske Racing 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M Scotch Brand 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley Tools 20 Joey Logano* Toyota The Home Depot 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet National Guard Yellow Ribbon / DuPont 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Taco Bell 36 Patrick Carpentier Toyota Wave Energy Drink 37 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver's 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge McDonald's 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge Berlin City Auto Group 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Bush's Best Baked Beans 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 51 Dexter Bean Dodge LiveWire Energy 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 64 Mike Wallace Toyota Gunselman Motorsports 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 82 Scott Speed* Toyota Red Bull 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 96 Erik Darnell Ford Northern Tool + Equipment 98 Paul Menard Ford Sylvania / Menards 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TRG Motorsports 175 Derrike Cope Dodge FlipnBags.com / EZPCBackup.com 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports
| 
|