Chase Race No. 3: Four Drivers Face Elimination at "Monster Mile," Almirola Will Advance

Aric Almirola won a Truck Series race at Dover in 2010 (Photo: Google Images)

This Sunday, NASCAR will be at Dover International Speedway. This track has always been one that provides a great deal of excitement for fans (they don't call it the "Monster Mile" for nothing) but this weekend's event might prove to be one of the more exciting race's held at the high banked concrete oval in recent memory.

That is because, for the first time ever, NASCAR has implemented elimination rounds in their often maligned Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff system and Dover is the first of these three elimination races. Right now there are some big names that face not advancing to the next round; the bottom four include Denny Hamlin in 13th, Greg Biffle in 14th, Kurt Busch in 15th and Aric Almirola in 16th. But don't think that any of these drivers are out of contention and there can't be a major shakeup going into next week's race at Kansas. Hamlin and Biffle are tied for 13th, Busch is two points behind them and Almirola is two points behind Busch. And Hamlin Biffle are only six markers behind 12th place Ryan Newman, while last place Almirola is only ten points back of Newman.

But while he entered the Chase as a major underdog, scoring an upset victory in Daytona's rain-shortened July race, Almirola stands just as good a chance of advancing as anyone else facing elimination. And I believe that he will.

Title contender Denny Hamlin faces elimination Sunday (Photo: Google Images)

While most feel like they lucked into their playoff spot and wouldn't run competitively (this author included), Almirola and his Trent Owen's-led No. 43 Smithfield Ford team have really surprised in the first two Chase races. While they did suffer a blown engine in the closing laps of the race at Chicagoland Speedway, they were running well inside the top 10 at the time. And while they didn't move out of 16th in the standings, they finished a very solid sixth last week at Loudon. Almirola has run well at Dover in the past, scoring a best finish of sixth at his first Cup race in the "First State" and an average finish of 15th at the track and he has also won there before.

Driving the No. 51 Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota Tundra for the now shuddered Billy Ballew Racing team, Almirola started seventh that day and went on to score the win when Kyle Busch's truck ran out of fuel. Yes it may seem like a fluke, but to run second to Busch at a track as tough as Dover still takes some work. Almirola's team this year has been very consistent and they have returned owner Richard Petty's famous No. 43 to prominence after years of being a back-marker, while perennial contenders like Hamlin and Busch have been wildly irregular when it comes to decent finishes. While these three combined only have a handful of wins this year, it might be Amirola's consistency that carries him into round two and perhaps even further into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But there are other drivers in the playoff mix as well and the points are so tight that any one driver having a problem could open the door for another to take his place in the top 12. It will be very interesting to see who can advance and who will get grabbed by the Miles the Monster in Sunday's AAA 400.