New Hampshire Race Proves to be Feast or Famine for Chase Drivers

Joey Logano poses with a New England "lobstah" after winning in New Hampshire
(Photo: Google Images)

Going into Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it appeared Brad Keselowski was going to nab his third win in a row. But after being outdueled on a few late race restarts, it was his Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano who wound up in victory lane. He also grabbed the the second of three spots in round two of the Chase for drivers who win in round one. This was the Middletown, Conn. native's second win of his career at what he considers his home track and his fourth win of the year.

But while Roger Penske's reign of dominance was extended with his third consecutive win, many of the Chase drivers want so lucky. Many frontrunners experienced issues at Loudon and  face elimination heading into Dover next weekend. The race was also about a few drivers 3who no one expected to contend in NASCAR's version of the playoffs, grabbing back some of the spotlight and letting everyone known they aren't finished yet.

Many of the drivers who many expected to run away in the points and battle for the championship experienced issues, either from someone else s mess or from their own team having problems. Dale Earnhardt Jr lost a lap early after he had to pit so his team could replace a loose wheel; a costly, careless error that a team running for it's first championship can ill afford to make. But "June Bug" would rebound to finish an impressive ninth on the day. Matt Kenseth also experienced issues. His first problem came when he got loose down the backstretch, crumpling the hood of teammate Kyle Busch's car. The result of these two getting together also collected Ksaey Kahne, who drilled the back of Busch's No. 18 Camry and ended any hope of his No. 5 Chevy being competitive again. But while Kahne limped home 23rd, Busch's team managed to keep their driver on the lead lap and repair his car enough to score an eight-place finish.

Could AJ Allmendinger be the 2014 champion? (Photo: Google Images)

 

However Kenseth wasn't so lucky. He got collected in a late wreck with Paul Menard with 30 laps to go and came home in 21st place.

Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin might have also seen their chances to advance to round two take a serious turn for the worse after Sunday. They finished 36th and 37th respectively. After leading early, Hamlin's car had an issue with the fuel probe, an integral part of making sure the car can be filled with fuel, and this cost him four laps while his team fixed the problem. But later on, he was collected in a lap 180 wreck with Martin Truex Jr and David Ragan crashed and Hamlin slid right into their mess. Busch was strong early on as well, but after losing a lap for having to pit for a loose wheel, "The Outlaw" clobbered the wall in turn three and saw his day end abruptly.

But drivers like AJ Allmendinger finished 13th, Aric Almirola came home a very impressive sixth place, Ryan Newman finished 18th after crash damage to keep his hopes alive another week. It's these drivers who snuck in under the radar that might prove more dangerous in this fight than anyone  thought. The drivers who didn't expect to make the Chase and really have nothing to lose and are trying to prove they belong in the second round.

A scant 12 points separate eight place Kenseth from last place Almirola in points. The drivers are eight places apart in the standings. While many criticized the new format for the Chase, myself included, it looks as if NASCAR got what they wanted. Fans might get a tight championship battle after all. We might see what can happen when eight drivers fight to get out of the bottom four in the standings and they are forced to run all-out to do so.

Next week's trip to the "Monster Mile" might be more monstrous than ever before.