Night Riders: Kenseth, Kahne Looking To End Zero-fer
Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne waged one of the memorable battles from the 2013 season.
For nearly 20 laps, two of NASCAR’s marquee talents ran side-by-side, inches apart, navigating Bristol’s high banks in a thrilling show of expertise and competitive desire.
Kenseth won that race, like so many others during the 2013 season. In all he won seven, more than any other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.
Kahne finished second, just short of a Bristol sweep. He won the spring race in convincing fashion, leading 109 laps.
Considering the state both are in this season, that seems way longer than 12 months ago. Both drivers are winless, neither have clinched a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and time is running out.
Heading into the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, let’s take a deeper dive into both drivers’ predicaments.
Matt Kenseth: All things considered, it’s good being Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon’s win at Michigan – his third of the season – guaranteed that there will be at least one winless driver in this year’s Chase. That spot belongs to the winless driver highest in points – which, now, is Kenseth. Fifth in points, Kenseth holds a 30-point lead over Ryan Newman, the next highest ranked winless driver.
In other words, he’s pretty safe.
Still, momentum would be nice. Kenseth has finished 38th in two of the last three races, but heads to Bristol, one of his best race tracks. He has three wins at Bristol, which ties Las Vegas and Auto Club Speedway as his most prolific tracks. He has a Bristol driver rating of 102.7, one of nine tracks where he eclipses the 100 driver rating mark.
Kasey Kahne: Kahne’s seat is not nearly as comfortable as Kenseth’s. But it could be worse.
Kahne now sits outside the Chase Grid in 17th – but only nine points behind 16th-place Greg Biffle. A win would immediately lock Kahne into the Chase. And it’s a scenario that entirely possible.
He has finished in the top-ten in the last four Bristol races and has led laps in three of the last four. Kahne has scored more points at Bristol in the last four races than any other driver.
Chase Clinch Update: All 12 drivers with wins have now clinched a spot in the Chase, assuming they at least attempt to qualify for the remaining three races in the regular season. If a winless driver wins this weekend, and is 97 or more points ahead of 31st place, he or she will also clinch a spot.
Larson Eyes Chase Spot At Bristol
Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Target Chevrolet smacked the wall in Michigan, ending his day early with a last-place finish – the repercussions of which were huge.
Going into the race, he sat at 15th on the Chase Grid, on the fringe, but still above the qualifying line. Now, the 22-year-old holds the 19th position, trailing Greg Biffle by 24 points for the 16th and last spot on the Chase Grid with just three races to go before the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“We had a really good Target Chevy this weekend, so that’s why what happened in the race was so disappointing,” Larson said. “It’s just a shame because we were up there in the points’ battle for the Chase, so now we have to work even harder to try and get in.”
Fortunately for the rookie, his first full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series marks the new win-and-you’re-in Chase format. If Larson can come up victorious in any of the last three showdowns, he will join Denny Hamlin (2006) as the second rookie driver to ever qualify for the Chase.
Larson’s best chance comes at Bristol in the Irwin Tools Night Race on Saturday. The Ganassi driver has experienced success at Bristol with two runner-ups and one fifth-place finish in three Nationwide Series starts and a tenth-place performance in his first Sprint Cup appearance at the track in March.
“I think we have a great car every time we get on the track and Bristol is one of my favorite tracks,” Larson said. “So we will try to go there and get a win and not worry about points anymore.”
Gordon In Driver’s Seat With Chase Looming
Jeff Gordon has not won a Sprint Cup Series championship in 13 years. That’s after winning four titles in nine years.
Gordon’s performance this season answers the above statements with one of his own: “Yeah. So what?”
With just three races until the Chase begins, Gordon has turned back the clock. By blowing by Joey Logano on a late restart to win at Michigan, the 43-year-old tacked on an exclamation point to a dominant month, marked by a victory at the Brickyard, a sixth-place finish at Pocono and two Coors Light poles. He now leads the series points standings and his three wins rank tied for the most in the series.
“This is exciting,” said Gordon of his stretch – even before winning at Michigan. “To be running this good and have cars that are this great; back-to-back poles from Watkins Glen to Michigan, we’re having a lot of fun right now.”
At the moment, Gordon has the fastest car on the series. Combined with his pure talent and guile developed through 23 years on the circuit, he has seized back his greatness. No driver is as formidable right now.
“I think what I see now with Jeff today is how smart he is,” said Rick Hendrick following Gordon’s victory at Michigan, the 91st of his career (third all-time). “If someone gets in front of him or is trying to block him like they did today, instead of pushing the envelope like maybe he did in the early years, he’ll just back off and let them use their stuff up, then he’ll pass them.”
Hendrick continued to praise Gordon’s technical ability on the track.
“You just don’t see him make mistakes,” Hendrick said. “I think all of his years of experience are paying off for him right now.”
Gordon and his race team are confident, but are also keeping perspective as the Chase looms.
“When things go well and you get better, then you keep going down that path,” Gordon said. “I feel like we started on a good path at the start of the season and we’ve continued to do that up to this point. I think it will even continue through the next 12 or 13 weeks.”
This season, Gordon is tied for the series lead in top-tens (16), and he’s well on his way to surpassing last year’s figures. This year: three wins, eight top-fives and 16 top-tens in only 23 races. Last year: one win, eight top-fives and 17 top-tens in 36 races.
For Johnson, It’s All Or Nothing At Bristol
Jimmie Johnson put his Lowe’s sponsorship to good use on Sunday at Michigan.
After the handle to his shifter broke, he attempted to change gears with a pair of pliers and a vice grip, a tough task while in park, never mind close to 200 mph. Largely due to the difficulty of the process, it didn’t work and Johnson had to pit again to get the issue fixed, losing a lap in the process.
Somehow, Johnson regained the lap and raced his way to a ninth-place finish, his best since his seventh-place performance at Sonoma in June.
“We put ourselves in a bad position with a shift lever falling off, breaking off I should say, but I was able to rally back and get ourselves a good finish,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get any further up in the field, but still salvaged a lot today.”
Going into Michigan, Johnson has been stuck in a rough stretch with finishes of 37th or worse in four of his last six races.
Unconcerned with his span of poor performances, Johnson cited he overcame similar circumstances in past years.
“It’s nice to have momentum entering the Chase, but if it doesn’t happen we’ve won championships that way, too,” Johnson said.
The six-time Sprint Cup Series champion continues his quest for number seven at Bristol on Saturday night – a place known for heated exchanges, of which Johnson had with Ryan Newman post-race at Michigan.
Johnson has had uncharacteristic stumbles at Bristol of late, finishing 19th or worse in the last three races there – including a 36th in last year’s night race that matched his worst career finish at Bristol.
Still, that means little. Already locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, it’s an all-or-nothing mentality for Johnson. A win would mean another three bonus points to start the Chase. Currently, Johnson would start the Chase with 2,009 points.
Also Noteworthy in the Sprint Cup Series
Jeff Gordon led his 1,058th lap at Michigan on Sunday, two weeks after surpassing the 1,000 lap led mark at Pocono Raceway. Now, Gordon has led more than 1,000 laps at nine different tracks. His most prolific track is Martinsville (3,593), followed by this weekend’s venue, Bristol (2,713).
Milestones: If Kevin Harvick leads 101 more laps this season, he’ll reach 1,000 laps led for the first time in his Sprint Cup Series career. He’s led more than 100 laps at Bristol twice in his career, most recently in April of 2005.
Team Testing: On Monday and Tuesday, August 25-26, five teams will test at Chicagoland Speedway, site of the first race in the Chase. Those testing: Stewart-Haas Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing. On Tuesday and Wednesday, August 26-27, Hendrick Motorsports will test at Martinsville Speedway, which hosts the seventh race in the Chase – and first in the third round.