2-For-2: Penske Proves It’s Contender Round Material

How quickly the tide can turn.

All summer it looked like a Hendrick Motorsports driver would take the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but now a new team has seized the title of favorite.

With victories in four of the past five races, including the last three in a row, Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have asserted the racing outfit as the organization to beat moving forward in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Keselowski (5) and Logano (4) lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in wins and have each locked themselves into the Contender Round with victories in the first two Chase races. On top of their hefty win totals, the duo also tops the series with 12 top-five finishes apiece.

Keselowski and Logano will try to continue their streak in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. The current Chase Grid leader, Keselowski won at Dover in 2012, the same year he clinched the NSCS championship. He has finished worse than fifth just once in his last four races at the Monster Mile.

Unlike his teammate, Logano has not found Victory Lane at Dover, but has collected seven top-ten finishes in 11 starts there.

With Team Penske nabbing two of the 12 spots in the Contender Round, eyes are focusing mostly on the remaining Challengers. Below are the finishes each driver needs in Sunday’s race at Dover to guarantee a spot in the Contender Round, regardless of the finish of any other driver:

Kevin Harvick: 34th or better; or 35th and at least one lap led; or 36th and most laps led

Jimmie Johnson: 24th or better; or 25th and at least one lap led; or 26th and most laps led)

Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 21st or better; 22nd and at least one lap led; or 23rd and most laps led

Jeff Gordon: 14th or better; 15th and at least one lap led; 16th and most laps led

Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards: 2nd; or 3rd and most laps led

AJ Allmendinger: 2nd

Kasey Kahne: 2nd and at least one lap led

Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola only control their own destiny by winning Sunday at Dover.

Johnson A Monster At Dover

No active driver has even come close to experiencing the success Jimmie Johnson has had at Dover International Speedway.

The No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet pilot heads into Sunday’s AAA 400  at the Monster Mile looking to add to his course record of nine wins, five more than the next highest active driver, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. In 25 starts at the track, Johnson also owns 13 top fives, 18 top-tens and an average finish of 8.4.

Winner of the last two races at Dover, Johnson will attempt to join David Pearson, Rusty Wallace and Gordon as the fourth driver to notch three consecutive victories at the one-mile concrete oval. He will also try to sweep the track for the first time since 2009 when he achieved the feat on the way to his fourth of six Sprint Cup titles.

With the attention focused on Team Penske lately, Johnson has floated under the radar. The defending Chase for the Sprint Cup champion quietly sits in fourth on the Chase Grid following a 12th-place finish at Chicagoland and a fifth-place showing at Loudon.

After a month-long, five-race summer swoon when he finished worse than 38th three times and failed to register a showing better than 14th, Johnson has logged five top-tens in his last six starts.

“My favorite track in the Chase would be Dover,” Johnson said. “It’s just the closest track to my roots. You’re kind of airborne into Turn 1, airborne into Turn 3. It’s a very intense track. It takes a lot of throttle control to work the corners right and produce a fast lap time. Dover’s my track.”

Go Time In Final Race Of Challenger Round

“Now or never,” “survive and advance,” “all or nothing,” whatever you want to call it, it’s crunch time this weekend for most of the Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway on Sunday for the AAA 400, the last race of the Challenger Round. Following the event, the four winless championship-qualifying drivers lowest in points lose their eligibility for title contention. The remaining 12 drivers will advance to The Contender Round and their points will be reset to 3,000.

The points couldn’t be tighter, assuring only one thing – Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski have locked up a spot in the next round.

Everyone else? We’ll soon find out.

Right now, Ryan Newman clings on the last Contender Round spot, ahead of Denny Hamlin (-6 points), Greg Biffle (-6), Kurt Busch (-8) and Aric Almirola (-10), but their fates are far from set in stone.

The bubble extends across the bottom half of the Chase Grid with a mere 12 points separating eighth-place Matt Kenseth from Almirola. That’s tight. Bold, italicized, underlined tight.

Jeff Gordon sits comfortably in the seventh spot on the Chase Grid, 15 points ahead of the cutoff line and would advance with finishes of 14th or better, regardless of anyone else’s result.

Allmendinger and Almirola Proving They Belong

Few gave AJ Allmendinger and Aric Almirola much of chance to advance to the Contender Round.

Yet, both are on the verge doing exactly that.

Both drivers stay alive in the Chase, more than holding their own, with Allmendinger in great shape to advance the Contender Round, sitting 10th on the Chase Grid. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver controls his own playoff destiny in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, where he can advance with at least a second-place finish, regardless how his fellow competitors do. There are plenty of other scenarios where Allmendinger can clinch a spot in the next round, but a runner-up guarantees advancement.

Almirola has some work to do, trailing Ryan Newman by ten points for the last Contender Round spot. However, he would be close to a lock to advance after this weekend if his engine didn’t blow at Chicagoland where he was running sixth with 36 laps left before being forced to head to the garage. The No. 43 Nathan’s Famous Ford pilot finished sixth last week and has shown some speed lately with three top-tens in his last four races.

Almirola can lock himself into the Contender Round with a win on Sunday, but he would need help from the field with any other finish.

Ganassi Squad Relishing Spoiler Roll

Too bad Kyle Larson didn’t qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. If he did, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year favorite would rank third on the Chase Grid with an almost guaranteed spot in the Contender Round following his third-place finish at Chicagoland and runner-up showing at Loudon.

With his streak of top-five finishes on the line, Larson will attempt to spoil the afternoon for Chase hopefuls by capturing his first victory in the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. In the series’ first visit to the track earlier this season, Larson finished 11th. The 22-year-old has experienced NASCAR Nationwide Series success in Delaware’s capital with three top-tens in as many starts, including a runner-up finish last year.

On a similar run as Larson is his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Jamie McMurray, who will also try to play spoiler after failing to make the Chase. McMurray rides into Dover with a streak of three top-ten finishes, including a fourth place performance at Loudon. The No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet driver has struggled at Dover with one top-five and five top-tens in 23 starts there, but does bring in the momentum as a legitimate contender this weekend.

Despite missing out on the Chase, the future looks bright for CGR.

“I guess there are a few other Chase guys that were contenders today, but me and Jamie the last two weeks have been really good,” said Larson following New Hampshire. “I know other teams that are in the Chase notice that and I’m sure they’re worried about us for next season already.”

Also Noteworthy in the Sprint Cup Series

Testing Update: Team Penske and Roush Fenway Racing each tested at Texas Motor Speedway this week.

Next Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 29-30), Stewart-Haas Racing will test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.