JOILET, ILLINOIS :: All the controversy following last Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway has caused most fans to look away from the important subject, the chase. Matt Kenseth comes into the chase as the points leader due to having the most wins in the regular season. Kenseth comes in to another 1.5 mile track where he's had the most success at this year. Kenseth has four wins at over 1.0 miles tracks, Kansas, Las Vegas, Darlington and Kentucky. But does that make him a true contender for the Championship or will 5-time champ Jimmie Johnson regain momentum?

Despite coming in on a DNF streak 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson always puts on his game face when the chase comes around. He started the 2013 season off with a boom by winning the Daytona 500 in February over Dale Jr. his Hendrick teammate. But as of late we haven't been seeing the No. 48 Chevrolet up front, it's been Kyle and Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards. Jimmie will come in the chase 2nd in points just 3 off of Matt Kenseth and if he can put the last few weeks behind him he will be a contender for the title like he always is.

Last week's winner in Richmond, Carl Edwards also has a little fire under his tail as of late. He captured the flag in Phoenix earlier in the year and hasn't won since until Richmond last weekend. Carl is looking to do even more back flips come the chase this weekend. Edwards driver of the No. 99 Ford has never won the elusive gold at the end of the season, but this year if he can have a little luck he could easily win it all.

He was in the news early this week "funny man" Clint Bowyer for manipulating the outcome at Richmond. He's over that though and he looks to improve one spot in the standings from last year come Homestead. Bowyer doesn't have a win through in 2013 and that sets him back 15 points to start the chase. 15 points doesn't seem like a lot, but he'd have to average 1.5 spots ahead of Matt Kenseth each chase race to take the lead. Bowyer now has something to prove though because he's the only MWR Toyota in the chase.

We can try to predicte who will win the championship all day long, but racing is racing and a blown tire and engine failure in this competition could ruin your entire season in a jiffy. Catch the first race of the chase in Chicagoland on Sunday September 15th on ESPN.

Phoenix Racing now has a new owner after James Finch came to an agreement with Harry Scott Jr. Scott will officially take ownership on September 10^th, right before the Chase kickoff at Chicagoland. Scott has some big plans in the works for the No.51 team including a new pilot, current Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier.

Allgaier has been working his way into NASCAR's top tier of racing for many years and is finally getting his chance to run with the best of the best. Starting in Chicagoland, Allgaier will make his first start in the Sprint Cup Series, something he has been patiently waiting for.

Allgaier ran limited races in the series for a variety of teams until he earned his first full-time ride in 2006. For three years, Allgaier raced full time in the series, garnishing eight wins and the 2008 ARCA Championship.

In 2009, Allgaier finally advanced in to NASCAR's Junior Varsity series, the Nationwide Series. In his first two seasons in the Nationwide Series, Allgaier drove the No.12 Verizon Wireless Dodge for Penske Racing. With only one win and eleven top-5 finishes,  Allgaier moved to Turner Scott Motorsports in 2011 where he still remains today. While behind the wheel of the No.31 Chevrolet, Allgaier has added two victories and multiple top-5 and top-10 finishes to his resume.

After five full seasons in the Nationwide Series, Allgaier is finally getting his chance at the Sprint Cup Series. With new owner Harry Scott by his side and sponsorship from Nationwide Series sponsor Brandt, Allgaier will make three starts this season in NASCAR's top series before taking over the No.51 permanently in 2014.

Allgaier, with his wife and new baby, is more than thrilled to drive for Scott in 2014. “I love competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series but I must admit that making my debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be a special day for me," said Allgaier.

Allgaier will make his Sprint Cup series debut at Chicagoland Speedway with new Phoenix Racing owner Harry Scott Jr.

It was a race that hadn’t happened in more than 40 years and now you can own a part of that history. For the right price that is.

For the first time in 43 years, one of NASCAR’s major touring series took to the dirt track for a race that sold out in a matter of minutes.

When the historic NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway came to a close on July 24^th, former Champion Austin Dillon stood in Victory Lane with a trophy full of dirt. With his win, Dillon etched his name in history with the likes of the King himself, Richard Petty, the last driver to win a NASCAR sanctioned race on dirt.

Austin Dillon may have mad history on that Wednesday in July, but now you have the opportunity to own a piece of history from that race for yourself.

During the heat races leading up to the feature race, all eyes were on one driver as he tried to battle his way into the field. Norm Benning raced his heart out in the last chance qualifier and secured himself one of the remaining spots in the feature race with the blank-red No.57 truck. Benning raced so hard that his truck was falling apart at the seams at the end of the last chance qualifier.

Teams from across the garage raced over to help Benning and his crew repair his truck in time for the feature race. That very truck, whose side was almost ripped off in competition, is now up for auction on the popular site, eBay.

The race truck, in the same condition as it was at the end of the feature race, was put up on eBay Thursday with a Buy It Now price of $15,000. Currently, the bids sit at $8000 with the reserve not yet met.

Speculation started growing when word of the race truck up for auction hit the media lines. Fellow driver Brendan Gaughan took to Twitter to confirm after talking to Benning that the truck for sale was indeed, his from the race.

Toby Christie from Sicknissified.com was able to reach Benning for comment about why the truck was for sale.

“The truck finished the race pretty much unusable for future events, and with the buzz surrounding the Eldora (Last Chance Qualifying Race),” Benning said. “We decided to throw it up on eBay and see if we couldn’t get a nice down payment on a new truck, it would be much easier to just replace the Eldora truck rather than try and fix it.”

So, if you are a NASCAR History and Memorabilia fanatic and have $15,000 plus lying around, this race truck will be a piece of history that you won’t want to miss out on.

You can find the truck on eBay here.

The season will continue this weekend as Garrett Marchant located a sponsor to repair the damaged No. 77 Lone Star Car Transportation Chevy after last weekend’s hard hit with the outside wall at East Carolina Motor Speedway. BMR Motorsports and Garrett Marchant Racing are thrilled to announce that Keen Parts / www.CorvetteParts.net will be on board starting August 10^th when Marchant returns to East Carolina Motor Speedway.

Keen Parts is committed to making your Corvette look the best from under the hood, to the interior, to the exterior they have you covered.  With over 18,000 parts in their database on their website www.corvetteparts.net any Corvette owner will be able to find what they are looking for.

“I ran really well last week before the throttle hung, hopefully we can pick up from where we left off,” Garrett Marchant explained. “I am really looking forward to the possibility of meeting my newest partners, Keen Parts, this weekend and possibly taking them to victory lane.”

For more on Keen Parts and to thank them for helping Garrett Marchant run this weekend please visit them on Facebook: Facebook.com/KeenParts and Twitter: Twitter.com/KeenParts.

Fans are also reminded to place their order today for the new Racing 2 Cure hats from Last Lap Marketing. You can visit http://bit.ly/LLMR2CStore and in the driver referral box put Garrett Marchant and 10% of the sale will go to Marchant’s Racing 2 Cure efforts. Your support will be greatly appreciated as we Fight Cancer One Lap at a Time!

For more on Garrett Marchant Racing please visit www.GarretMarchant.com, Facebook: facebook.com/garrettmarchantracing, PR Twitter: @GMR77PR, Garrett's Personal Twitter: @GMarchant77, YouTube: youtube.com/user/GarrettMarchantRacin, and on Instagram @GMarchant77.

Written by Last Lap Marketing

Garrett Marchant, driver of the No. 77 Lone Star Car Transportation was scheduled to race this past Wednesday but due to the forecast, the South East Limited Late Model race was canceled and left Marchant in a bind. Marchant has not been behind the wheel for more than a month and he really wanted to race this week.

The BMR Motorsports team took a look at the schedule this week, and notice that Southern National Motorsports Park was running a limited late model race. This is when Marchant took to Twitter and started looking for help for the bill this weekend since the team had already budgeted their money for the race at Caraway. Thankfully the fans came together to put Marchant behind the wheel in one of the biggest races he has run this year.

“Just as quick as things can go wrong, they can go positive,” Garrett Marchant said about how his luck has been this season. “There are going to be some heavy hitters in the field in the limited late model race, and I just want to come home completed all the laps on the lead lap and a possible top ten. I can’t thank all the fans enough as well for their support not just this week, but throughout the whole season. The fan car will be running sometime next month, and there will be plenty of names on the No. 77 @WalgreensCVAZ Chevy.”

Due to scheduling conflicts, updates from the track on Saturday will not be as often, especially during the race. The No. 77 AFG Home Improvements / Kim’s Sweet Sensations team will try their best to provide updates when available.

Don’t forget to also purchase your Garrett Marchant Racing merchandise including a t-shirt and decal. Special discounts are available for club members, which you can still up for at www.GarrettMarchant.com.

For more information on Garrett Marchant Racing please visit www.garretmarchant.com, Facebook: facebook.com/garrettmarchantracing, PR Twitter: @GMR77PR, Garrett's personal Twitter: @GMarchant77, YouTube: youtube.com/user/GarrettMarchantRacin, and on Instagram @GMarchant77.