The Chase To The Sprint Cup Headed To Texas

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Race number 8 of NASCAR’s Chase to the Sprint Cup will shift from the short track style of Martinsville Speedway to the wide open racing of Texas Motor Speedway. The AAA Texas 500 will also see what unfolds after Tony Stewart’s direct challenge to points leader Carl Edwards following Tony’s win last week.

Tony captured his third Chase win in last week’s Tums Fast Relief 500 and jumped up three spots in the points to second, just 8 points behind Carl in first place currently. As NASCAR.com reports, Tony issued a personal challenge to Carl during the Victory Lane interview when he said, “Carl Edwards had better be real worried. That’s all I’ve got to say. He’s not going to sleep for the next three weeks.” Carl didn’t appear to let Tony’s comments get under his skin as his simply responded with, “We’ll see what happens at Texas.”

Although the “war of words” in the media hasn’t boiled up leading to Texas as of yet, one can only wonder what may transpire on the 1.5 mile track this Sunday if things start going bad for

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either driver. One could speculate that Carl has the edge this week since he has the most wins of any driver at Texas Motor Speedway having made the trip to Victory Lane there 3 times in Sprint Cup racing. Tony has captured the checkered flag there once.

Although none of the 12 drivers in The Chase field have been mathematically eliminated from championship contention, only a handful have a legitimate shot at it. That’s something that Tony and Carl better keep in mind. Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin have both won at Texas twice before and could very easily take the win if Tony and Carl get too focused solely on each other. Matt won the April race at Texas earlier this year and Denny took both races there in 2010. While Denny doesn’t have a realistic chance at the championship, Matt is in fifth place, 26 points out of the lead with an outside shot at it.

While Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski haven’t won at Texas yet, they are in third and fourth place in points respectively. Kevin 21 points back and Brad 27 points back. If either of these two can find a way to win this Sunday, the momentum they would gain heading into the final two races of The Chase could turn out to be huge.

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Although it’s unlikely that any of the other Chase drivers could have a serious shot at the championship at this point without some unforeseen circumstances happening; there are several that could play spoiler to the Texas drama party that appears to be gearing up for Tony and Carl. Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all have won a race at Texas Motor Speedway. None of these drivers are the type to just roll over because the chips are stacked against them at this point. They will all be giving it all they have to get their second win at Texas.

The non-Chase drivers will be doing their best get a win as well. Each of them, while not eligible to win the Sprint Cup, still have the desire to win every race they are in and build some momentum of their own toward next season. They say “everything

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is bigger in Texas” and if any of the drivers lose focus they will likely find that is true for both good and bad things. With the wide track and high speeds, a driver can find themselves in a “bigger in Texas” wreck before they know what’s happening.

Be sure to tune into JD & Kevin in the Morning on B104, Friday morning, at 6:50am for a preview of the AAA Texas 500 with Wilson’s Race Report.

You can hear all the action of race number eight of The Chase, the AAA Texas 500, from Texas Motor Speedway on our sister station WJBC FM, 93.7, starting at 1pm central time Sunday  (11/6/11).