chase

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Chasers Look To Shrug Off First-Race Jitters
Though the top six finishers at Chicagoland were all Chase drivers, there were a number of Chase competitors who struggled.

Four Chase drivers finished outside the top 20: Matt Kenseth (21st), Kyle Busch (22nd), Jeff Gordon (24th) and Denny Hamlin (31st).

Kenseth and Busch, with post-race Driver Ratings of 114.2 and 95.0, performed much better than their finish would suggest. They were victims of an empty gas tank, and their finish suffered for it. Kenseth had a double-whammy. Post-race, he was dropped to 21st after officials determined JJ Yeley pushed him on the final lap – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book infraction.

Continue reading “Fuel Mileage Puts Chase Contenders on Ice”

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s last top-five finish came in early June, over three months ago. Entering the Chase, seven of his previous nine finishes were outside the top 20.

So momentum wasn’t a discussion topic. A top 10 would have been thrilling.

Instead, Earnhardt surprised onlookers with a third-place run – his best finish in a Chase race since a runner-up at Martinsville in 2008.

Earnhardt now sits fifth in points – up from 10th – just 13 points off the lead.

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Clicking off position-after-position at the end of Monday’s Chicagoland race, Harvick reiterated his standing as the series’ top closer.

It also padded what is the second points lead of his Chase career. Harvick now leads the points standings by seven points over Tony Stewart. Only once has Harvick ever led the points during the Chase – after the first Chase race in 2006.

This is the second time Harvick has led the points this season. The first was after the July Daytona race.

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Smoke On Fire To Start Chase

Though winless throughout the 26-race regular season, Tony Stewart did NOT limp into the Chase. On the contrary, Stewart had three top 10s in four races coming into the Chase opener at Chicagoland.

His Monday win at Chicagoland (his third at the track) drummed up a number of notable bullets…

– It catapulted him from ninth to second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. He’s now just seven points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
– He now has at least one victory in 13 consecutive seasons. Richard Petty owns the record for most consecutive season with a win, at 18.
– He is the 16th different winner this season, most through 27 races since 2003, and three short of the all-time record of 19.

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1 26 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet
2 30 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
3 19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet
4 5 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
5 6 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge
6 3 22 Kurt Busch Shell Pennzoil Dodge
7 21 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet
8 4 39 Ryan Newman US Army Medicine Chevrolet
9 25 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
10 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
11 15 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
12 24 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota
13 8 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
14 16 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
15 22 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet

Continue reading “2011 NASCAR Race #27, Chase Race #1 Results: Chicago”