NASCAR Cup Series

Sometime over the next ten weeks, at one of ten tracks hosting the Chase, Clint Bowyer will be sailing along. He will feel a sudden nudge in his left rear quarter-final, just a touch but enough to cause him to feel the car getting out from under him. Bowyer will try to save it, and come close in doing so but, alas, his car will find the wall. His race and his Chase hopes, done in an instant.

In the Spot Light: Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, was honored by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. last week. The 26th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards took place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was a ceremony to celebrate Hispanic cultural pride, contributions and accomplishments.

Last weekend at RIR, Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team earned an 11th-place finish after a late-race caution ruined their strategy for victory.

Biffle has 10 Sprint Cup career starts at Chicago, earning one top-five and one top-10 finish.

According to motorsports pundits, Kurt Busch and Furniture Row Racing accomplished one “improbable” mission and will embark on another when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

With a test session in August under their belt, Marcos Ambrose and the No. 9 DEWALT Ford Fusion team have the tools to play the spoiler role in Sunday's 400-mile event that opens the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Although the team is not eligible to win the Sprint Cup title, they have built momentum over the last two months, including two top-10 finishes in their last four races.

Having been a part of NASCAR's playoff picture throughout the season, Aric Almirola and his No. 43 Eckrich Ford team just missed qualifying for the "Chase" this season. However, with 10 races left in the season, Almirola still wants to make noise in the playoff picture. Starting this weekend, with Eckrich colors on the hood and sides of the No. 43 Ford, Almirola is aiming to run up front and grab a win away from a "Chase" contender. The team feels confident in their abilities after testing at the track a few weeks ago.

Mile-and-a-half tracks used to be the biggest challenge for Front Row Motorsports, but the numbers prove that David Gilliland and his No. 38 team are making progress. The Long John Silver's crew has averaged a top-25 finish at the intermediate tracks this season and goes into Chicagoland Speedway this weekend with confidence.

If you see David Ragan at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, check to see if he still has all his fingers and toes. The driver of the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford spent the days leading into the race weekend hunting gators near Lafayette, La.

The last time Stenhouse raced at Chicagoland, he celebrated in victory lane after his dominating performance in the Dollar General 300.