Kasey Hoping To Be A Dandy Kahne At Pocono
Kasey Kahne’s aggravation spilled with every word uttered in his post-race interview on ESPN following Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In regards to needing a win to enter the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Kahne said:
“Yeah, no kidding. I know that. We have five more good tracks for us and six more races, so hopefully we can get one.”
The look on Kahne’s face was one of missed opportunity, after leading the most laps (70) at the Brickyard. But he immediately looked on the bright side – “five more good tracks.” And one of those, unquestionably, is Pocono Raceway, site of Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400.
Kahne is the defending winner of this one, and with two wins overall and a runner-up finish in the August race two years ago, the driver of the No. 5 has headline writers frothing at the mouth to use the old “Kahne Is Able” headline sometime around 5 p.m. on Sunday.
A victory would catapult Kahne squarely on to the 16-driver Chase Grid. He’d be the 12th different winner this season, with only five regular season races remaining. “Comfortable” would be a good word to describe the peace of mind a win would give Kahne.
His solid runs have given him a chance to “back” into the Chase Grid, though he’s currently on the outside looking in. With 555 points this season, Kahne is only four points behind Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Austin Dillon, who currently resides in the 16th spot on the Chase Grid Outlook.
Statistically speaking, Kahne is among the hottest drivers in the series. In the last six races, since race No. 15 at Michigan, Kahne has scored four top-ten finishes. His average finish of 10.5 over the stretch ranks fourth in the series. And his driver rating of 101.4 ranks second only to teammate Jeff Gordon with a driver rating of 105.0.
Six Chase Spots Clinched, Ten To Go
Four more drivers cleared the two toughest hurdles for entry into the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup, joining Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski, both of whom locked up a spot on the Chase Grid at New Hampshire.
At Indianapolis, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano all either scored a second win – Gordon – or clinched a top-30 points spot – Johnson, Edwards and Logano. Now, those six drivers need only to attempt to qualify for the remaining six races to “officially” earn a spot in the Chase.
As a reminder, any driver with multiple wins guarantees himself a spot in the top-15 winners – or top-16, if the points leader after race No. 26 has a win. Any driver who left Indy with a 289 point lead on 31st place clinched a top 30 points spot.
Now, the series heads to Pocono Raceway, where four more drivers could clinch a spot in the Chase.
This weekend, the magic number is 241 – any driver 241 points ahead of 31st place clinches a top-30 spot. If a driver does that, and has multiple wins, he clinches a spot.
Those who can do it this weekend: Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola. Harvick’s two wins mean he needs only to clinch a top-30 spot – a near certainty, as he needs to score only eight points at Pocono to do so – and that’s if 31st place David Gilliland wins and leads the most laps. Busch has clinched a top-30 spot, but needs another win to clinch. Hamlin has yet to clinch a top-30 spot. He would clinch with a win and some help.
Almirola would need to win this weekend to clinch, and get a good bit of help to also lock up a top-30 spot.
Bonus Baby: Gordon Now Aims For Extra Chase Points
Jeff Gordon’s record-setting fifth victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway clinched him a spot in the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup, assuming he starts the remaining six races in the regular season.
Now what? Now, he goes full-bore, with one goal in mind: More “Winner” decals, and the three bonus points that go with each once the Chase starts. Each Chase participant will have their points reset to 2,000, with three bonus points tacked on for each win during the 26-race regular season.
Arguably, those bonus points are more important than ever, especially in the first round – the Challenger Round. The bonus points are given only to that round, rather than across the entire Chase, as in past years. So, each point is three times as important over those first three races. And entering NASCAR’s playoffs with a bevy of bonus points would greatly enhance a driver’s ability to advance to the Contenders Round.
As the series heads to flat Pocono, coming off flat Indianapolis, there’s a notion that those who excel at one will likewise excel at the other. That’s true, in a way.
Pocono has followed Indianapolis on the series schedule in every season since 2007. Since then, the average finish of the Brickyard winner at the following race at Pocono is 10.3. The best finish at Pocono by the Brickyard winners was third by Jimmie Johnson in 2008. Ryan Newman followed last year’s Brickyard victory with a fourth-place run at Pocono. Jamie McMurray’s Pocono finish of 22nd was the lowest of the reigning Brickyard winners.
Gordon owns the stats to suggest a strong follow-up to his Brickyard victory. His six Pocono wins are most all-time, and he’s finished in the top-ten in three of the last four races, including a win in 2012
Also Noteworthy…
Jeff Gordon’s win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was also his 445th career top-ten finish in the Sprint Cup Series, which is fourth all time. Conceivably, Gordon could reach 454 top tens by season’s end, putting him second on the all-time top-ten list. The current top-three: Richard Petty (712), Mark Martin (453) and Bobby Allison (447).
Testing, Testing: Next Tuesday and Wednesday (Aug. 5-6), Richard Childress Racing and Germain Racing will both test at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
At Indy last weekend, there were 3,327 total green flag passes, the second-highest figure at the Brickyard since the beginning of loop data in 2005. Only the 2011 edition had more passing with 3,450.