Jonathan Birchfield holds off South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley for 2011 Celebrity Chase Tracker Title

November 25, 2011

As Tony Stewart held off a hard charging Carl Edwards in the Ford 400 to win his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, musician Jonathan Birchfield scored a vital 10 points in Chase Tracker at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Birchfield’s ten points was good enough for a total 103 points after all ten races. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley outscored all Chase Tracker participants at Homestead with a weekly record 50 points.

Haley made a dramatic late title push but eventually fell one point shy of Birchfield’s 103 points. After three impressive weeks in Chase Tracker Chicago White Sox pitcher John Danks fell one strike short of winning the title with just ten points at Homestead. Danks finished seventh overall with a total of 96 points. United States Congressman (FL) Bill Posey continued his strong run with 30 points at Homestead, but would eventually have to settle with fifth overall.

Along with Posey, world-renowned chef Emeril Lagasse also made a late surge into the top-ten with a 30 point effort at Homestead. Lagasse jumped from 21^st to sixth overall and is among six celebrities to finish in the top-ten. Miss Sprint Cup Kim Coon continued her consistent form and remained in the top ten after six weeks in a row finishing eighth overall.

After Homestead celebrities claimed six top-ten spots: Jonathan Birchfield (2), Nikki Haley (3), Bill Posey (5), Emeril Lagasse (6), John Danks (7) and KimCoon (8).

Jonathan Birchfield beat all celebrities in Chase Tracker but the overall winner among media members was Ed Coombs (Gater Photo Racing News/ Speedway Media). Coombs’ 30 points at Homestead gave him a total of 104 points good enough to claim the 2011 Chase Tracker title. Chris Despain of Rubbingsracing.com finished fourth overall after scoring ten points at Homestead. Brian Nelson had a great week in Miami jumping from 17^th to ninth overall after scoring 20 points on Sunday. The final media member among the top-ten overall was Karah Leigh Hancock of The Valdosta Daily Times. Hancock was first overall two weeks ago and will be disappointed she could not hang on to the title, but she was able to steal a solid top-ten finish overall. Farah Kaye made a late push to get into the top ten with 30 points at Homestead, however even after jumping 20 spots in the standings she finished 12^th overall.

The Chase Tracker is a fantasy game in which contestants predict each week’s Chase standings and race winners. Like a “March Madness” grid, a Chase Tracker entry must be completely filled out (all 10 weeks) before the Chase begins. Points are awarded for each correct prediction, with the amount increasing each week. One point is earned for each correct Chicagoland pick, two for each New Hampshire pick, up to 10 points for each right Homestead pick. Correctly predicting the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion earns a contestant 20 points. Five bonus points can be earned each week for properly predicting the race winner.

See below for a complete list of celebrities’ participating in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Celebrity Chase Tracker as well as the final standings.

2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup CelebrityChase Tracker Participants

v Rodney Atkins Country Music Artist … 2006 ACM Top New Male Vocalist

v Steve Beshear Governor of Kentucky

v Jonathan Birchfield Musician … “Saturday Night Shootout” appears on ESPN race broadcasts

v Jason Michael Carroll Country Music Artist … New Album “Numbers” available at Cracker Barrel

v Carrot Top Comedian … Headlines at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas

v Jeff Carter Columbus Blue Jackets Center … 6-yr NHL veteran; 2009 NHL All-Star

v Kim Coon Miss Sprint Cup

v John Danks Chicago White Sox Pitcher … 5-yr MLB veteran;1st-rd draft pick in 2003

v Gavin DeGraw Platinum Recording Artist … Album “Sweeter” debuted at #8 on the charts

v Tim Duggar Country Music Artist … Will sing National Anthem at Kansas Speedway

v John Erskine Washington Capitals Defenseman … 10-yr NHL veteran

v Anthony Foxx Mayor of Charlotte

v Kenny Gattison Atlanta Hawks Asst. Coach … 1986 Sun Belt Conference POY

v Nikki Haley Governor of South Carolina

v Kelly Hansen Foreigner Lead Singer … Band has sold over 70 million albums worldwide

v Chris Jericho Fozzy Lead Singer/WWE champion … Record 9-time Intercontinental Champion

v Emeril Lagasse World-Renowned Chef … Hosts new show “Emeril’s Table”

v Charles Latibeaudiere Co-Executive Producer, TMZ … Also appears on TMZ on TV

v Jerod Mayo New England Patriots Linebacker … 4-yr NFL veteran; 2008 NFL Def ROY

v Bob McDonnell Governor of Virginia

v Patrick McHenry United States Congressman (North Carolina 10^th District)

v John Ondrasik Musician … “Five for Fighting” lead has three Top-40 songs

v Monica Palumbo Miss Sprint Cup

v John Payne Pennsylvania State Representative … Head of Penn. Motorsports Caucus

v Bill Posey United States Congressman (Florida 15^th District)

v Brandon Rhyder Country Music Artist … Two No. 1 singles on Texas Country Music Chart

v Jaclyn Roney Miss Sprint Cup

v Rick Scott Governor of Florida

v David Spade Actor … Star of CBS sitcom “Rules of Engagement”

v Danny Wiseman Professional Bowler … Ranked on PBA list of “50 Greatest Players”

v Vince Wilfork New England Patriots D-Line … 8-yr NFL veteran; 3-time Pro Bowler

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