One letter can change everything. Or, depending on the stump speech and the number of babies kissed … nothing at all. For instance…
Poles: Something Joey Logano has dominated this season, winning a series-high five Coors Light Pole Awards.
Polls: Something Logano hopes to dominate today … and the early returns show New Hampshire trending heavily in the colors of Logano’s yellow and red Ford.
Logano traveled throughout the Granite State today, visiting traditional key stops along the campaign trail of New Hampshire, which has been home to the first United States Presidential primary for the last 100 years. The incumbent winner of the New Hampshire Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race, Logano looks to repeat in Loudon on Sept. 27.
That was just one of 10 market visits by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers today, part of the annual pre-playoff cross-country media blitz known as Chase Across North America. Nine other drivers visited nine markets to help kickoff NASCAR’s playoffs – the 16-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which opens at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 20 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and MRN).
All told, 16 drivers will visit each Chase track market, plus New York City, Los Angeles, NBC’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut and ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut in advance of the Chase.
Below is a highlight reel of sorts from the other nine stops from today – plus, a look at what’s ahead.
Kenseth A Tri-City Threat
Just days after leading 352 laps at Richmond International Raceway en route to his fourth win of the season, Matt Kenseth hit three cities (Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; Greensboro, N.C.) to promote Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Oct. 10, the lone night race in the postseason. During each stop, Kenseth met with fans and dignitaries, including Greenville Mayor Pro-Tem David Suddeth and Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan. While in Charlotte, Kenseth and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Marcus Smith honored military members in attendance with free race tickets.
Kyle Busch: The King of Bristol (Connecticut)
With 17 national series victories, no one has dominated at Bristol Motor Speedway like Kyle Busch. But on Tuesday, he dominated the other Bristol – Bristol, Connecticut, home to the headquarters of ESPN. While at ESPN, Busch participated in a number of ESPN property interviews, including live appearances on SportsCenter in front of his No. 18 M&Ms Crispy Toyota Camry – which was parked on the ESPN campus all day.
Newman’s Got Pep In His Step
Last season, Ryan Newman made it all the way to the Championship 4 … without a win. That’s tough to do, and he doesn’t want to tempt fate for a second consecutive year. Also, he’s just plain tired of his 78-race absence from Victory Lane. “I miss it [winning] a lot,” Newman said during a roundtable interview in Dover in promotion of The Monster Mile’s Chase race on Oct. 4. “I think this is my longest winless streak and that’s pretty tough. … We’re still super competitive, we’re still potentially leading laps and running up front, and making it to places that other people aren’t. So, there are victories in that.” Newman ended his day at Dover with a pep rally at Fred Fifer III Middle School in Camden, Delaware.
Keselowski Cuts The Mustard In Chi-Town
No knowledgeable NASCAR fan would count out Brad Keselowski in this season’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, considering he enters the playoffs with top-10 finishes in nine consecutive races. And no self-respecting Chicagoan would put ketchup on their hot dog. Both topics were discussed today during the 2012 premier series champion’s visit to the Windy City. Keselowski made stops at three iconic hot dog locations to rank the Chicago-style fare. One in particular hit home – the Reuben Pulaski, a polish sausage with potato cake, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. “Just how grandma made it,” Keselowski said.
McMurray: A Wild Card At The Wild Card
Though winless, Jamie McMurray quietly had one of the better regular seasons of 2015. McMurray enters the Chase as a first-time Challenger – and could be a wild-card championship threat. So it makes sense that he stopped off at Talladega Superspeedway on Tuesday – the ultimate wild-card track. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has a win at Dega, where he participated in media Q&As, co-hosted an hour-long live radio show with local station WJOX and painted a car in Talladega’s Victory Lane with local elementary school students. Talladega’s Chase race – the cut-off race of the Contender Round – is scheduled for Oct. 25. “The one thing that stands out to me about the Chase is something Jeff Gordon said to me on stage after the race at Richmond,” McMurray said. “He said, ‘You’ll realize how big a deal this really is over the next seven days.’ I thought that was cool to hear from a guy that’s won four championships.”
Menard Has The ‘Keys’ To Chase Victory
Like McMurray, Paul Menard makes his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appearance after a consistent regular season. Menard, who headed to Martinsville to help promote its Nov. 1 Chase race, received the key to the city of Martinsville and participated in a celebratory parade in the city’s downtown.
Surprise, Surprise: Bowyer Hams It Up With Unsuspecting Fans
In Texas on Tuesday, Clint Bowyer got a taste of what it’s like to be behind the camera – as opposed to his ubiquitous role as the on-camera funny man of the NASCAR garage. During his stop to generate excitement for the Texas Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Nov. 8, Bowyer pretended to be a camera man interviewing Texas Motor Speedway season ticket holders. ‘Camera Man Bowyer’ told one fan to be more positive when she said she didn’t think Bowyer would do well in the Chase. “It was a fun day to interact with the fans,” Bowyer said. “When you go to do these things, it’s always something a little bit different and that was probably about as much fun as I’ve had in a while. Big week for us…making The Chase, being a part of this, Chase week, everything that happens up to Chicago, even before you ever get on the race track is a big deal. It’s fun to soak that all in, embrace it and then get after it this weekend and get this thing off and running.”
Hamlin Shows Some Science Flare
Denny Hamlin teamed up with Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science to host students from Broward County High School, where Hamlin and the students participated in a variety of activities and exhibits at the museum. During the trip, Hamlin might have done some recruiting for future engineers for Joe Gibbs Racing. He drove an incredible solar-powered car built by Western High School students from Davie, Florida. “The most impressive thing is that these high schoolers built it from the ground up, everything from welding the aluminum to putting the seats in to creating the rack and pinion steering for the front,” Hamlin said. “They did a really, really good job and this is a competition that they take seriously and they want to be very competitive at it. I’ve got a good inside connection on some good solar panels and we’re going to get them some good solar panels and hopefully they’ll be up front.”
You Scream, Ice Cream For Six-Time Champ
After testing at Kansas Speedway, six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will visit the University of Kansas Hospital Tuesday night to brighten the spirits of children in the Pediatric Wing. During his visit, Johnson will deliver Lowe’s Build & Grow kits and host an ice cream social with Blue Bunny for the children. Kansas’ Chase race is scheduled for Oct. 18.
On Deck…
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will take part in their respective market visits for Chase Across North America.
Gordon will visit New York City, where he’ll go on a multi-stop media tour highlighted by an appearance on Good Morning America and a visit to the SiriusXM Studios. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will hop on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles to participate in a day of media at FOX Sports, E! News’ The Soup and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Busch will participate in the second annual “Breakfast With Champions” event with Phoenix International Raceway and The Heard Museum. Emceed by veteran motorsports reporter Ralph Sheheen, Busch will break down his picks in the Chase Grid for Phoenix-area media.
The final three stops of Chase Across North America will take place during the week of Sept. 28, with driver visits to NBC’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut (Martin Truex Jr.) and repeat trips to New York City (Kevin Harvick) and Los Angeles (Carl Edwards).
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