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It’s On: ‘Race To The Chase’ Begins At New Hampshire Motor Speedway
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.
Kahne’s Infineon Win The Perfect Precursor To Owner Richard Petty’s 25th Anniversary Of 200 Wins
For the first time since 1999, “The King” returned to Victory Lane as a car owner last Sunday at Infineon Raceway, and NASCAR legend Richard Petty’s timing couldn’t have been more appropriate.
Driver Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge) claimed the first victory for the new Richard Petty Motorsports — the organization that melded teams from Petty Enterprises and Gillett-Evernham Motorsports during the winter — and Petty’s towering, trademark hat, sunglasses and mega-watt smile were a welcome addition to the celebration.
The victory, the first at a road course for Kahne, also struck the perfect-timing note.
Next week, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway, Petty will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his 200th and final series victory. It came on July 4, 1984, during the series’ traditional Independence Day weekend at Daytona, before an audience that included then-President Ronald Reagan. It also sealed Petty’s status as the sport’s all-time leader in victories.
“I told him, ‘We got the President of the United States on the sports page, and the President of the United States got us on the front page,’” Petty said of the day’s honor “So it was a pretty good tradeoff.”
Now, Petty functions as the namesake and at-track inspiration for the fledgling RPM team, which remains co-owned by George Gillett.
“Sometimes it gets kind of aggravating but overall it’s really what I want to do and it’s what I have always done,” Petty said, “and I always feel like as long as I can do it, I want to keep doing it, because if I ever pull over to the side of the road, somebody is going to go by me and I don’t like that part.”
Loop Data: Watch Out For Stewart-Haas At New Hampshire
Tony Stewart has little left to prove this season.
Any questions about his decision to co-own a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team have mostly been answered. His goals checklist is full – almost.
He already has a points race victory (as well as a win in the prestigious NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race). He has the points lead. He has put both his cars in the top 12 in points through 16 races.
What’s left?
For one, Stewart would love to see his teammate – and employee – Ryan Newman visit Victory Lane before the season’s through.
Two, another win of his own would make him the first driver-owner with multiple wins since Ricky Rudd in 1997.
And three, a championship.
One of those goals can be checked off the list this weekend at New Hampshire, where Stewart and Newman have combined for four wins and five poles.
Stewart is strong there, posting some series-best statistics since the inception of Loop Data in 2005. He led a race-high 132 laps in last year’s summer New Hampshire race and seemed like a sure winner, but rain snatched victory away.
Since 2005, Stewart has a series-high Driver Rating of 115.6, a third-best Average Running Position of 9.9, a series-high 235 Fastest Laps Run, a series-best average Green Flag Speed of 124.308 mph and a fourth-best Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 78.7%.
Despite a DNF in last season’s September NHMS race, Newman is also solid at the Loudon track. Since 2005, Newman has a Driver Rating of 92.7 (ninth), an Average Running Position of 14.7 (12th), 96 Fastest Laps Run (ninth) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 67.8% (seventh).
A strong New Hampshire race is especially important for Newman, who is looking to break out of a mini-slump. After finishing in the top 10 in six consecutive races (and the top five in five out of six), Newman has failed to crack the top 15 in the last two events. A win at New Hampshire would end a 51-race winless drought.
