Back in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings after a brief absence, Mark Martin, winner of the LifeLock.com 400, used a roller coaster to describe Sprint Cup Series points racing.
You have to wonder what adjective Kyle Busch would use after nearly dropping out of the Chase standings when the No. 18 team finished 33rd due to engine problems Saturday night. The team dropped two positions in the standings, and only four points make the difference between Busch in 10th, Martin in 11th and Matt Kenseth in 12th.
For what seemed to be a fairly smooth race at Chicagoland Speedway, its results still managed to have a major impact on the standings.
Kasey Kahne was the night’s big winner as his third-place finish propelled him four spots to the eighth in the standings. Kahne is still in championship contention despite being caught up in a last-lap crash at Daytona last week, which resulted in a 15th-place finish. NASCAR.com
“Four?” Kahne asked with incredulity when told he’d leapt from 12th to eighth in the standings with a third in the Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. “That’s great! I thought it couldn’t be more than two or three spots.”
There’s been plenty of upward mobility this season in NASCAR’s premier series, where having the deepest pockets no longer equates with the loftiest results.
To the richest went the spoils last year as NASCAR’s four most well-funded teams claimed all 12 spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. This year’s 10-race title run, which begins in two months at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, likely won’t be so top-heavy.
There are seven teams represented among the top 12 drivers currently in Chase territory, and two organizations (Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports) are among those eligible for championship contention despite weathering layoffs and sponsorship cutbacks.
Meanwhile, four- and five-car teams whose budgets stretch well into the tens of millions are struggling to maintain a Chase foothold or even crack the top 12. USA Today
Kenseth finished Saturday night’s race in 23rd, dropping two spots and hanging on to the 12th Chase spot by 10 points ahead of Biffle.
On the up side, Juan Montoya is still going strong and finished 10th Saturday, climbing two positions in the standings to ninth. It gave Montoya four consecutive weeks of being inside the coveted top 12 in points.
Point’s leader Tony Stewart finished fourth to maintain his place at the top of the standings, and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman brought home a sixth-place finish to remain seventh in the Chase standings. NASCAR.com
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