Counting this week’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, there are only three NASCAR races left to make the Chase Grid. You can bet that short track action will be a Battle at Bristol Saturday night!
Ten NASCAR drivers have secured their spot for NASCAR’s playoffs. Those drivers are Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. These drivers only need to attempt to qualify for the remaining three regular season races and they will be a contender for the championship in the final ten races of the year.
One driver, Kyle Busch, is currently on the Chase Grid with four wins, but is not locked in the top 30 in points. That means that Kyle not only has to attempt to qualify for the final three races, he will also have to make sure he does not finish low enough to fall out of the top 30 in the point standings. If he doesn’t finish the regular season in 30th place or higher, he will be removed from the Chase Grid, despite his four wins.
Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer are all currently on the Chase Grid based on the number of points they have. However, since these five drivers do not have a win yet they are not ensured their spot in the Chase. They rank 12th through 16th respectively on the grid. Should a driver below them in points (but 30th or higher) capture the win Saturday night, or if a driver is able to move above them in the point standings they could be pushed off the grid.
Clint Bowyer is the only driver less than one race worth of points above the first driver not on the Chase Grid, Aric Almirola. That means he would be the only driver that could be knocked off the grid based on this week’s race alone. However, the other four drivers on the Chase Grid currently based on points could be pushed off over the next three weeks if they do not manage to win one of the races.
You can see how the 2015 NASCAR Chase Grid looks heading into the IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway at the bottom of this page.
With ten drivers wanting the bonus points that are earned for the start of the Chase from each regular season win and the other 33 drivers on the track needing the win to either get on the grid or secure their current spot on it, this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol truly has the making of a battle.
While the teams and drivers will likely be aggressive in the race out of need, they will also have to temper that aggression with some caution as well. With 43 cars racing inches apart on a track that is only 0.533-miles around, trouble can happen easily and quickly.
Beatin’ and bangin’ happens when NASCAR goes short trackin’ from almost the start to the end of the race. If a car gets into another one even slightly and in the wrong manner, one or both of the cars can find that they have damage that can cut a tire down and send them to the pits for an untimely stop.
That tire going down or even the contact itself can send a car sliding and/or spinning on the track causing a wreck of one, both or many cars on the track that is so devoid of space. That can take a driver that is doing well and ruin their day in the blink of an eye.
All of those scenarios (and more) can at least cost a driver that has secured a spot in the Chase bonus points by removing their chance to win the race. They can at worse cost a driver that has not secured a spot on the Chase Grid a chance at the championship by again ending that driver’s chance of winning the race.
With that being said, what drivers have the best performance at Bristol Motor Speedway in their Sprint Cup careers? Here are the top ten in driver rating at Bristol.
#1 – Matt Kenseth – 104.6 driver rating with 4 wins
#2 – Jeff Gordon – 100.3 driver rating with 5 wins
#3 – Kyle Busch – 100.0 driver rating with 5 wins
#4 – Kyle Larson – 99.0 driver rating with 0 wins
#5 – Brad Keselowski – 93.3 driver rating with 2 wins
#6 – Kurt Busch – 92.6 driver rating with 5 wins
#7 – Kevin Harvick – 92.5 driver rating with 1 win
#8 – Jimmie Johnson – 92.3 driver rating with 1 win
#9 – Greg Biffle – 92.3 driver rating with 0 wins
#10 – Carl Edwards – 90.6 driver rating with 3 wins
Matt Kenseth has to be a favorite heading into the IRWIN Tools Night Race Saturday night. He was the winner at Michigan last week scoring his third win of the 2015 NASCAR season. He won the first race at Bristol in April. He is the top driver at the track on the list above and is one of the three active drivers tied for the most wins at the track. Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has also been dominating the NASCAR Sprint Cup series recently having won six of the last eight races.
Jeff Gordon should be a favorite as well heading to Bristol, but I hesitate in saying that he is. Jeff is in his final full-time Sprint Cup season and has not performed up to expectations of many so far this year, despite being on the Chase Grid based on points currently. I have no doubt that Jeff will be a popular favorite for finally get his first win in his final year and secure his spot on the Chase Grid as a result.
Kyle Bush has been a part of that recent JGR domination in the Sprint Cup series accounting for four of the six wins. With five victories at Bristol in his career, getting that sixth win would break the three-way tie and would further expand his 23 point lead over 31st place making it less likely he will slip out of the top 30 and off the Chase Grid.
Joey Logano will be heading to Bristol as the defending 2014 winner of the IRWIN Tools Night Race. If he could win this race two years in a row he would add bonus points to his start in the Chase by raising his 2015 regular season win total to three.
Because of the potentially destructive nature of NASCAR going short trackin’ any and every car that starts the race has a chance to be at the front with a chance to win at the end of the race. Every car is truly a potential dark horse winner at Bristol. That same fact makes every car a potential victim of a devastating race finish at Bristol.
We will all get to see which NASCAR Sprint Cup driver raises the trophy in Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway when the 500 laps of racing have been completed under the lights Saturday night August 22nd starting at 6:30 pm central time in the IRWIN Tools Night Race.
By: Buck Stevens
