With just two races left to make the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship race as a contender, the Chase drivers hope to go big at Texas Motor Speedway this week in the AAA Texas 500.
Jeff Gordon won last week’s race at Martinsville which automatically puts him in the Championship race at Homestead-Miami as a contender. However, the other seven Chase Grid drivers still have to either win or make sure they are one of the top four drivers after the next two races.
While Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano have the biggest deficits to overcome, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards cannot relax in any way. Especially heading to Texas where a good day can quickly turn to a very bad day if a driver loses focus during the race.
The same is true for the pit crews. They will need to be on top of their game to make sure their driver gets in out out of the pits quickly and mistake free. Not only can a mistake in the pits cost the driver positions on the track, it can put them in a spot in the field where another driver’s mistake can all but end their championship hopes.
Of course the best way to relieve the pressure for the next race in this round of The Chase is to win at Texas and get the automatic advance like Jeff did last week.
With That in mind, here are how the eight remaining Chase Grid drivers stack up at Texas Motor Speedway.
#1 – Jeff Gordon
1 win, 9 top fives, 13 top tens
Driver Rating: 93.3 (7th best)
#2 – Kyle Busch
1 win, 8 top fives, 9 top tens
Driver Rating: 101.3 (3rd best)
#3 – Martin Truex Jr.
0 wins, 2 top fives, 9 top tens
Driver Rating: 88.5 (11th best)
#4 – Kevin Harvick
0 wins, 5 top fives, 13 top tens
Driver Rating: 87.4 (13th best)
#5 – Carl Edwards
3 wins, 6 top fives, 10 top tens
Driver Rating: 95.8 (6th best)
#6 – Brad Keselowski
0 wins, 3 top fives, 5 top tens
Driver Rating: 82.8 (16th best)
#7 – Kurt Busch
1 win, 3 top fives, 13 top tens
Driver Rating: 88.1 (12th best)
#8 – Joey Logano
1 win, 5 top fives, 5 top tens
Driver Rating: 81.4 (17th best)
Three of the remaining Chase Grid drivers that might be able to be called favorites to win the race at Texas are Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon. Kyle has just one win at Texas. However, he has the 3rd best driver rating among active drivers. Carl has the 6th best driver rating and he has won three times at the track. Jeff has only a single win, but is his driver rating is 7th best among active drivers. Plus, Jeff has the advantage of knowing he is already in the Championship Race as a contender.
Jimmie Johnson should definitely be considered a favorite to win the race this week and play spoiler to the seven Chase Grid drivers still in contention without a win in this round. Jimmie not only has the best driver rating at Texas (107.2) he also has the most wins at the track with five trips to Texas Motor Speedway Victory Lane. In fact, Jimmie won the first race at Texas earlier this season and has won this race in the Chase for the past three years in a row.
Based on the other races in The Chase this season, I have no doubt that this week’s race will also include some kind of drama and excitement beyond just the racing. We will all see what stories unfold when the AAA Texas 500 gets started Sunday, November 8th at 1pm central time from Texas Motor Speedway.
By: Buck Stevens
