Over the course of the last 12 races, nine of them have been won by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers - Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. Wit Hamlin locked into round two with the victory at Chicagoland, and the other three drivers starting off with top-10 finishes, it seems as though Joe Gibbs Racing is easily the early favourite to take home the championship.
Following the myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, the big story was the on-track contact, followed by off-track confrontation between Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson. Logano, who played a small role in the contact on the restart, stated on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that he had doesn't have much of a reaction to the skirmish between the pair of drivers as he's staying focused on his own program.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series will race this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while the XFINITY Series travels to Kentucky Speedway.
There is hot, and there is hot. Hot could be winning the opening race of the Chase, securing a berth in the next round, and allowing two races to tinker and prepare for Charlotte. However, after a spin on just the second lap in Chicago, the result was as much a credit to the performance of crew chief Dave Rogers as it was to the driver, Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin roared back from last place to win the Chase opener at Chicagoland. Hamlin automatically advances to the second round of the Chase, which begins at Dover on October 4th.
Whether on dirt or asphalt, racers compete with all the hearts on track. But when a fellow racer is injured or in need of help off the track, true racers pay it forward with whatever help is needed.
Chicago. The opening race of the Chase. Sixteen drivers would continue the quest, one very likely locking his way into the next round, some setting themselves up with fine starts while others...not so much.
When Denny Hamlin spun on lap two, it seemed as though his day was over. However, a timely question mid-race to get him back on the lead lap and a strategy play at the end would result in the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota making it to victory lane.
Kurt Busch looked to have the race in hand, holding a solid advantage ahead of Jeff Gordon as the race began to come to a close. Then, with nine laps to go, the caution would fly due to debris after Matt DiBenedetto got into the wall. Rather than scoring the victory, Busch would fall back on the final restart after staying out, finishing third.
Ford Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series drivers visited the Kansas Speedway media center ahead of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. Joey Logano will sit on the pole position for tomorrow’s race by virtue of NASCAR’s metric after both practice and qualifying were rained out.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Kansas Speedway.
