Clint Bowyer scored the 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win for Richard Childress Racing after he passed his teammate Jeff Burton coming to the checkered flag at Talladega. The path to the championship, which will be decided at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20, may have become just a little clearer heading into Martinsville Sunday. Roush Fenway Racing finds itself in the top two spots in the Chase standings with four races remaining. Carl Edwards holds the points lead; 14 points ahead of teammate and 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth. Edwards was a popular preseason pick to unseat five-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson this fall when NASCAR crowns a Champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20. Surprisingly, it’s the first time in Chase history that Roush Fenway Racing has held the top two spots in the points standings during the Chase.
Five-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson now sits 50 points out of the lead after his second consecutive finish outside the Top 20. Those 50 points translate to roughly 208 points under the old points system. Since 1975, the inception of the current position-based points format, the largest deficit overcome with four races remaining was 144 points by Alan Kulwicki in 1992. In the Chase era (2004-present), the largest deficit overcome with four races left was 53 points, by Johnson in 2007. That roughly equates to 13 points in the new points system. Every point matters and could be huge when it comes down to the Championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20.
Here’s a look at some notable Chase drivers and how they have fared on the “Road to a Miami Championship”:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR’s most popular driver took the lead on Lap 480 of 500 last April at Martinsville before being passed by Kevin Harvick on Lap 497 to finish second. Following that race, Earnhardt Jr. drove on to three consecutive Top 10s finishes – and an eventual berth in his first Chase since 2008. He’s scored Top-10 finishes in the last two races there and in five of the last seven. 2011 is still his best season in three years. His four top fives and 10 top 10s in 32 races surpass the full-season totals of 2009 and 2010.
Carl Edwards Defending Ford 400 winner Carl Edwards was the only driver to score a Top-10 finish in each Chase race this year until an 11th-place finish at Talladega snapped his streak. If Edwards can
escape Martinsville – a track where he’s had mixed results – it could be smooth sailing. Two of the final three races will be held on 1.5-mile tracks, a favorite among the Roush Fenway Racing camp including Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20.
Jimmie Johnson In 19 Martinsville Speedway starts, Johnson has finished outside the Top 10 only twice. In his career at Martinsville, he has six wins. The only one other time in the Chase has Johnson finished outside the Top 20 in back-to-back races was 2004. For the first time since 2007, and the third since the Chase format began, Johnson finds himself faced with the task of having to rally from a double-digit deficit with four races remaining if he hopes to win an unprecedented sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov.20.
Tony Stewart Since the start of 2006, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have combined to win nine of the 11 races. Tony Stewart and Harvick won the other two. Stewart has two victories at
Martinsville and sits fourth in points, 19 points out.
Expect these drivers to take this momentum into Martinsville this weekend. The drama, excitement and anticipation of NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup Championship has begun—the winner of which will be crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend for a 10th consecutive season Nov. 18-20.
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