The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams return to action next weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500, Sunday, September 6th with the NBC broadcast at 7 pm ET. They’ll race 501.3 miles for 367 laps as several drivers compete to put their team in the best possible position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

In the meantime, here are some Sprint Cup Series news and notes for this week.

Logano Wins Bristol Night Race for Second Straight Year

The No. 22 Team Penske driver successfully defended his August 2014 Bristol Motor Speedway win, leading 176 laps on his way to Victory Lane in Saturday’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at ‘The Last Great Colosseum.’

Logano seems to have Bristol figured out. In addition to his two wins at the Tennessee short track, he gave fans a dominate NASCAR XFINITY Series victory there in March when he led all 300 laps and logged a perfect 150.0 driver rating.

Logano’s win on Sunday was his third of the season and second in three weeks. He is third on the Chase Grid and ranks second to Kevin Harvick in top-fives with 14, and top-tens with 18.

There are several parallels in Logano’s performance right now to the same period last year. In 2014, he logged four consecutive top-six finishes going into his win at Bristol and took the momentum into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup where he won two races and posted a 6.4 average finish on his way to a four-round championship showing. This season, the 25-year-old Middletown, Connecticut native has registered four top-five results in six races before his win at Bristol, a stretch that includes two runner-ups and a win.

Harvick First Driver Since 1972 with Double-Digit Runner-Up Finishes

As the great Rickie Bobby once said,

“If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Hopefully Kevin Harvick doesn’t agree with the fictitious Wonder Bread car driver’s logic.

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver overcame two pit road penalties to log his tenth runner-up showing of the year.  It is only the tenth time a driver has amassed double-digit runner-up finishes in a season and the first since Bobby Allison in 1972.

Harvick ranks tied for fifth in the Sprint Cup Series with two wins, but has dominated every other statistical category. He leads the series in top-fives with 17; top-tens with 21; driver rating at 119.7;  laps led at 1,406/21.4%; average running position at 7.5 and average finish at 7.5.

Last season, Harvick topped the list in nearly every statistical category except wins entering the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Once in NASCAR’s playoffs, he turned his statistical production into victories, winning three races – including the last two events – to walk off with his first career Sprint Cup Series championship.

Two to Go until Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

Drivers have just two races left to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – Darlington and Richmond.

As of now, 11 drivers qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs with wins as long as they start the next two races and stay in the top-30 in points: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.

The five remaining drivers on the Chase Grid have to either visit Victory Lane or stay high enough in the points standings, so they don’t get bumped by a new winner outside the top-16. These drivers include, Jamie McMurray (76 points above the cutoff line), Ryan Newman (+63), Paul Menard (+54), Jeff Gordon (+52) and Clint Bowyer (+35).

The winless drivers who have won at Darlington in the past and have yet to earn Chase berths this season are Gordon and Greg Biffle.

The winless drivers who have won at Richmond in the past and have yet to earn Chase berths this season are Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.

For the first time, a winless CAN clinch a spot in the Chase. If a repeat driver wins at Darlington, a winless driver would need to have a 45 point lead on the fifth-highest of the winless drivers (or 44 points, depending on tie-breakers).  If there is a new winner, a winless driver would need to lead the fourth-highest winless driver by 45 points (or 44, depending on tie-breakers).

Loop Mania: A Sampling of the Recent Statistical Leaders

Dating back to Kentucky Speedway in July, Joe Gibbs Racing has won five of the last seven races. The other two race winners were Team Penske’s Joey Logano. While the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, along with Logano and Kevin Harvick are getting most of the hype lately, a closer look at the stats show that Logano’s Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski might be ready to break out.

 

Laps Led

Kyle Busch | 502

Joey Logano | 337

Brad Keselowski | 213

Kevin Harvick | 181

Matt Kenseth |150

 

Driver Rating

Kyle Busch | 122.3

Joey Logano | 121.0

Brad Keselowski | 110.8

Kevin Harvick | 110.6

Carl Edwards | 107.5

 

Average Finish

Joey Logano | 5.3

Brad Keselowski | 6.0

Kyle Busch | 6.4

Carl Edwards | 7.9

Kevin Harvick | 9.0

 

While he only ranks 14th in points gained all season (666), Carl Edwards is another driver gaining momentum too.

Hamlin Heating Up At Right Time?

With top-five finishes in his last two starts, there’s reason to believe Denny Hamlin’s team is on the verge of a strong run.

The No. 11 Toyota driver proved his ability to navigate through the new Chase format by making all four rounds last season. Also, he has a track in every round at which he is historically strong. Hamlin has two wins at Loudon – part of the Challenger Round, owns a win at Talladega – Challenger Round, along with the sixth-best driver rating among active drivers at Superspeedways with 92.7, boasts five victories at Martinsville  – Eliminator 8 Round and claims two checkered flags at Homestead – Championship 4 Round.

Only two races remain for teams to qualify as one of 16 teams to compete in the Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup.  Stay tuned in for all the drama leading up to the first race of the Chase at Chicagoland Speedway in September.