NASCAR Notebook: Smoke, Junior Go From Bottom To Top

This doesn’t make much sense, but two of NASCAR’s most talked about and most thought about drivers – Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – entered the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with little discussion, and mostly as afterthoughts.

They were the only two Chase drivers without a win – as such, they were seeded ninth and 10th in the 12-driver Chase (per rule, 11th and 12th seeds went to the two Wild Cards, regardless of win total).

Despite a top 10 regular season finish, there were stretches where both Stewart (a two-time series champion) and Earnhardt (eight-time Most Popular Driver) looked like they would vanish from Chase consideration.

But they didn’t. And now, after the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway, both seem like legitimate championship threats. A run down for both…

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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.

As they ran in Richmond, there were laps where Earnhardt held just a three point advantage over 11th. The possibility of missing the Chase altogether was very real.

So his third-place finish – albeit on gas mileage –  at Chicagoland surprised many. It was his best finish in a Chase race since a runner-up at Martinsville in 2008. As far as Chase openers go, it was his best finish since 2004, when he also started with a third-place finish. He finished the season fifth in points.

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

Count on continued immediate success for Earnhardt. He ranks fifth in pre-race Driver Rating at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (97.1) and has two top 10s in the last three races there. He finished 15th in July’s stop at NHMS.

Tony Stewart

Stewart had never won the opening Chase race, but successful starts are the norm for Smoke. In four of the previous seven Chases, Stewart finished in the top 10. In three, he finished in the top three – including two runner-ups (one in 2005, his second championship season).

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 seasons 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.

Like Earnhardt, Stewart likely won’t slow his roll. He owns a series-best pre-race Driver Rating of 114.0 at NHMS, has two wins, and runner-up finishes in two of the last three NHMS races. He came within a couple of miles of winning last year’s New Hampshire race, only to run out of the gas with two laps remaining – while in the lead.

For Some, The Chase Starts Now

A strong Chase start means little. Or everything. Really, it depends on the driver. Only one eventual champion won the first Chase race: Kurt Busch in 2004. Then you have Jimmie Johnson, who finished 39th in the Chase opener of 2006 and 25th to start the Chase last year. He won both year’s championships.

But here’s how competitive this Chase is. On the far side of the post-race points standings sheet, is a column labeled G/L, signifying the number of points positions gained or lost from the prior week. On the Chicagoland sheet, one driver (Denny Hamlin) gained zero positions. Four lost positions: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon.

Four of those drivers were the rare few Chasers who finished outside the top 10. Johnson finished 10th, and still lost spots. In other words, it’s top 10 – and maybe even top five – or bust.

Here’s good news for the aforementioned drivers who had so-so Chicagoland races: Race No. 2 in the Chase might be more indicative of things to come. In four of the seven Chase’s, the eventual champion finished in the top five in race No. 2 – and Johnson won each of the last two.

An outlook for each of the possible Comeback Kids…

Jimmie Johnson: With three victories and top-10 finishes in eight of the last nine New Hampshire races, Johnson will likely move upward in the points standings once again.

Kyle Busch: Busch was a hard-luck 22nd-place finisher at Chicagoland (he ran out of gas, and had to pit). He has one New Hampshire win, and top 10s in four of the last six races there.

Matt Kenseth: Likewise, an empty gas tank and an illegal push from J.J. Yeley dropped Kenseth to 21st at Chicagoland. His NHMS statistics are a tad worrisome. His average finish over the last seven (all finishes outside the top 10): 23.3.

Jeff Gordon: A three-time winner at New Hampshire, Gordon has top-10 finishes in two of the last three races. He also has led more laps at NHMS than any other driver: 1,226.

Denny Hamlin: Now 41 points behind leader Kevin Harvick after a 31st-place finish at Chicagoland, Hamlin has finished third and second in his last two New Hampshire races.

Spoil Sports: New Hampshire A Spot For Surprises

Of the 71 races in the history of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, only 13 have been won by drivers who were not Chase-eligible. The last to do so was Jamie McMurray at Charlotte Motor Speedway last year. Actually he played spoiler the last two times it has happened (also in 2009 at Talladega).

This year’s Chase field is stout though, and a victory by a non-Chaser seems improbable. After all, the top six and eight of the top-10 finishers at Chicago were Chase drivers.

But, if there were a Chase track (not named Talladega) that could host a surprise victor, it’s New Hampshire. The last four winners of the New Hampshire Chase race all missed the Chase this season: Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and Bowyer again.

Five of the top-10 finishers in July’s New Hampshire race did not make the Chase, including Joey Logano, who finished fourth.

Plus, there’s the decreasing list of 2010 winners who remain winless in 2011 from which to pull. After Tony Stewart’s win at Chicagoland, that list is now five drivers long: McMurray, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann and Juan Pablo Montoya.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Notes

Since he broke his ankle prior to the August Pocono race, Brad Keselowski has scored more points than any other NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, 289 to Jeff Gordon’s 262. … Tommy Baldwin Racing will team with the NASCAR Hall of Fame at New Hampshire to celebrate Richie Evans’ upcoming induction into the NHOF. In Sunday’s race, Dave Blaney will pilot the No. 36 Golden Corral/HOF/Richie Evans Chevrolet, donning an orange paint scheme reminiscent of Evans’ distinctive Modified machine. … The first two of NASCAR’s championships will be decided this week. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series concludes Saturday at Kawartha Speedway, where 2008 champion Scott Steckly carries a 94-point lead over defending champ D.J. Kennington. On Wednesday, the final NASCAR Whelen All-American Series standings will be announced and Ruckersville, Va., late model driver Philip Morris will be officially crowned with his fourth NASCAR national title. … Milestone Watch: Casey Mears will make his 300th start on Sunday; Kyle Busch will make series start No. 250. … In July’s New Hampshire race, Stewart Haas Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart started and finished 1-2, the first time a team had done that since the Daytona 500 in 1989 (Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Darrell Waltrip and Ken Schrader). But what SHR did was arguably tougher. Newman won from the pole; Stewart started and finished second. The last time the same team started 1-2 then finished 1-2, with the same drivers in the same order was on April 7, 1957 by DePaolo Engineering at North Wilkesboro. Fireball Roberts won from the pole. Paul Goldsmith started second and finished second.

Nationwide Series: Brian Scott Heads Into Off Week On Cloud Nine

Being a teammate with Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Nationwide Series – all while trying to make a name for yourself – can leave little room in the limelight. When Brian Scott signed with Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2011 season, the deal brought a great opportunity for Scott to prove himself, but it also brought on a very high level of expectations.

A rocky start welcomed Scott to JGR. His season began with a 34th-place finish at Daytona due to engine failure, followed by three more Did Not Finish (DNF) results throughout the first parts of the season.
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But every so often amongst these hard times, Scott would show flashes of what it takes to have success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. This past weekend, from start to finish, Scott’s perseverance morphed into success. After posting his first series career Coors Light pole at Chicagoland, he went on to match his series-best finish of third.

Despite the early-season hard luck, Scott has been able to crack the series’ top 10 driver standings for the second time in his career, and has been ranked among that class since the March race at Bristol (he’s currently ninth).

Scott has the seventh best season-to-date Driver Rating amongst championship contenders (83.6) and his Average Running Position is 14.254 for the season.

Though Dover was the sight of one of his four DNFs this season, it is one of his best tracks on the schedule. He won his first national series race there in 2009 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and has one of his 10 career NASCAR Nationwide Series top-10 finishes there.

Close Points Battle Simmers During Open Week As Stenhouse Still On Top

As the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads into a late season open week, the closest points battle in five years continues to simmer.

For the eighth consecutive week, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has been atop the series standings, but though he notched another top-10 finish at Chicago, his points lead shrank by two points. He now holds a 14-point advantage over second-place Elliott Sadler. Stenhouse is riding the longest stretch of time this season that a points leader has held the coveted top spot. This season Stenhouse has posted two wins (an Iowa sweep), 12 top fives, 20 top 10s and three Coors Light poles.

Stenhouse’s late-season dominance is backed up by his season-to-date Loop Data stats. He leads all championship contenders in five major Loop categories: Driver Rating (107.1), Average Running Position (8.296), Laps in the Top 15 (4,790 laps), Fastest Lap Run (526) and Laps Led (424 laps).

With Sadler sitting 14 points out of the lead, and third-place Reed Sorenson, 47 points behind Stenhouse, the tandem only have a six-pack of races left to catch Stenhouse. Next on the docket is Dover, which may prove to be where the two drivers can make their run. Sadler has made seven series starts at Dover posting three top 10s and has a pre-race Driver Rating of 83.3. He finished sixth there in May. In 10 series races at Dover, Sorenson’s average finish is 7.2. He has never finished below seventh in a Dover fall race and was fourth in this event last year. He finished third in May and he also leads the top three contenders in pre-race Driver Rating at Dover with a 100.9.

Stenhouse has three starts at Dover posting his best start (second) and finish (fourth) earlier this season at the one-mile speedway. Stenhouse pre-race Driver Rating is 91.4.

Keselowski Another Example Of Ladder System Success

NASCAR’s many developmental series have been referred to as a ‘ladder system’ for aspiring drivers to climb throughout their careers in motorsports. Brad Keselowski is the latest product of such a system. The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion is coming off one of his most dominating performances in the series. He led 158 of the 200 scheduled laps on his way to the victory at Chicagoland Speedway and posted his third career perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.

Keselowski is a prime example of how hard work through the different national series can lead to a successful career in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for young, up-and-coming drivers. For example, Roush Fenway Racing drivers, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne, both of their success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series have led to starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Another driver using the ladder system to his advantage is NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Austin Dillon, who plans to make his jump to the NASCAR Nationwide Series after finding success in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The past two series champions – Keselowski and Kyle Busch – have “given back” to the system. Both have started to feed the ladder system by starting teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and given opportunities to young drivers. Keselowski has fielded a truck for Parker Kligerman and Busch has fielded a truck for Josh Richards this season.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Notes

Timmy Hill (180 points) and Blake Koch (178) continue to battle for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title. Hill will look to hold on to the lead as the series gets back into gear at Dover on Oct. 1 where he finished 22nd compared to Koch’s 43rd-place finish earlier this season. … The series owner standings are still led by Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 team, but the No. 60 team of Roush Fenway Racing closed the gap to 30 points with six races to go.

Camping World Trucks: Odds Good Hornaday’s Milestone 50th Victory Could Come at Loudon

Could Ron Hornaday Jr. capture his milestone 50th victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

Short answer: yes.

Hornaday owns the best record of any NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver at the Magic Mile. He won the track’s first event in 1996, broke its string of 11 consecutive different winners in 2007 and became NHMS’s first back-to-back winner the following year.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is one of 30 different tracks on which the 53-year-old California competitor has won. A New Hampshire victory was part of Hornaday’s championship resume in two seasons – 1996 and 2007. Four series champions – Hornaday, Johnny Benson, Travis Kvapil and Jack Sprague have won at the track.

“You’ve really got to have the whole package at this race track to come through the field. Track position is critical, so hopefully we will have a fast Chevrolet in qualifying and be able to start up front,” said Hornaday of the Loudon track – one of two tracks where he owns three victories.

Hornaday’s one of two drivers with multiple victories in Saturday’s F.W. Webb 175. Kyle Busch is the other – and Busch is going for his third consecutive victory.

There will be a 13th different New Hampshire winner if neither Hornaday nor Busch wins Saturday’s race. None of the other 10 previous winners are among currently entered drivers. Kevin Harvick Inc., which will field entries for Hornaday and Kevin Harvick, is the only active owner with more than one victory at NHMS.

Buescher’s Off Night Tightens Points Standings Again

James Buescher has become the third driver to lead series championship standings after back-to-back races but his hold on the No. 1 spot is tenuous at best.

Buescher had an “off” night at Chicagoland Speedway finishing 11th with an ill-handling truck. The performance snapped a season-best streak of 13 consecutive top-10 finishes and allowed previous leaders Austin Dillon and Johnny Sauter to close within three and six points of the lead respectively.

Dillon scored his second win of the season – and the first of his career with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Harvick and Busch in the field.

“This is the biggest win of my career, I think,” said the 21-year-old Dillon following his fourth career win. He entered the season’s 18th race third and bypassed Sauter, who finished sixth. “I ran up there racing with Kyle and Harvick.”

Timothy Peters, like Buescher, had a tough night at Chicagoland finishing 17th. He remains fourth in the points standings but 20 off the lead. Hornaday completes the current top five, 47 points behind Buescher.

Fortunes For Several Intertwined In New Hampshire

Call the F.W. Webb 175, “All in the (Racing) Family.” NASCAR remains a close-knit group as evidenced by the following:

•Dillon’s spotter, Andy Houston, won the race in 1998.

•Sauter’s brother, Jay, won the 1997 event driving for Richard Childress Racing which fields Chevrolets for rival Dillon.

•Peters’ Red Horse Racing competition director Terry Cook won the race in 2002.

•Cook drove for K Automotive, a Keselowski family operation. Bob and Kay Keselowski’s son Brad owns the Dodges seating Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Parker Kligerman.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Notes

Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that two-time defending NASCAR Mexico Series Champion German Quiroga will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in the F.W. Webb 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday, Sept. 24. Quiroga has signed a one-race deal to pilot KBM’s No. 51 Toyota Tundra with sponsorship from Telcel. … Steve Arpin won his first series Keystone Light Pole Award at Chicagoland Speedway. Arpin, making just his fifth appearance, is the 14th different pole winner of the season and second Turner Motorsports driver to snag the No. 1 starting spot. Teammate Ricky Carmichael sat on the pole in Atlanta. … Blake Feese returns to Turner’s No. 32 Chevrolet at New Hampshire. He finished fourth in the truck Sept. 2 in Atlanta. … Rookies Nelson Piquet Jr. and Kligerman finished third and fourth in Chicago. The two account for a combined seven top-five finishes in 2011 with each accounting for second-place performances. The Sunoco rookie battle remains tight with Cole Whitt leading Joey Coulter by eight points. … Jimmy Villeneuve, truck chief of Piquet’s No. 8 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, will be heading home this week to race in front of family and friends during the F.W. Webb 175. Originally from Auburn, N.H., Villeneuve got his start in racing working on Super Late Models at a local short track, Lee USA Speedway.