Looking ahead to round 2 of the Chase

The Contender round, the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, begins this coming weekend and there are now 12 drivers left in championship contention. The next three races should take the competition to the next level. It appears that Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports, who are responsible for half of the Contenders, are still the teams to watch. The three race winners during the Challenger round - Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon - came from these teams. With two mile-and-a-half tracks featuring different styles of racing and a 2.5-mile restrictor plate superspeedway, the Contender round is sure to continue the unpredictability that has become the theme of this season.

Gordon wins Challenger round finale; first four Chasers eliminated

Jeff Gordon took the win in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Dover, the third and final race of the Challenger round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, after a mid-race turn of events. He is one of 12 drivers to advance to the next round of the Chase, the Contender round. Gordon's three Hendrick Motorsports teammates - Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne - will be going along with him. This is Gordon's first win at Dover since June of 2001. It is also his fourth win of the season, the first time sine 2007 he has won that many races. All four of Gordon's wins this year have come at tracks at which he also won en route to his last championship in 2001.

The first half of the race was dominated by Kevin Harvick, who led the first 147 laps of the 400-lap, 400-mile race, and 223 laps overall. Around lap 255, Harvick's left front tire went down due to a broken splitter, bringing out the fifth and final caution of the day and dropping him down to 18th. A similar problem befell Harvick while leading late in the previous Cup race at Dover in June. Points leader Brad Keselowski took the lead, and got passed by Jeff Gordon on lap 305. Fellow Chasers Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards then each led one lap during the last round of green flag pit stops before Gordon cycled back to the lead.

A number of drivers were fighting to avoid elimination from the Chase. At one point, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and A.J. Allmendinger were all right on the cutoff line. In the end, it was Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch who were the first four drivers eliminated from the Chase and no longer have a shot at winning the championship. All but Biffle have won a race in the series this year. Kasey Kahne was the last driver to make it to the second round. His teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., never contended for the race win, but was also never in danger of elimination, and now sits in eighth. Also in between during the race was last week's winner, Joey Logano.

The Contender round begins next Sunday in Kansas City, Kansas, then moves on to Concord, North Carolina, near Charlotte, for the only night race of the Chase, and concludes in Talladega, Alabama.

Proud to have Dover as my home track

I live in Maryland, and the closest major NASCAR track to my house is in Dover, Delaware, where the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series race this weekend. It's nicknamed "The Monster Mile" because it's one mile in length and the racing can be unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous. Dover also plays host to the first-ever elimination round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Sunday, and I like that my home track is home to a race of that level. I've driven past the Dover track many times on Delaware Route 1, but never actually attended a race there. Still, I feel proud that Dover is my home NASCAR track, the same way many NASCAR drivers like racing at "home".

Hornaday returns to Truck Series competition

Ron Hornaday Jr. will be back in the Camping World Truck Series lineup on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada, driving the #9 Chevrolet Silverado of NTS Motorsports that Brennan Newberry has driven for the past couple of weeks. Hornaday found himself out of a ride on August 27 after the #30 team of Turner-Scott Motorsports suddenly shut down. He is now looking forward to going back racing.

Hornaday is a Truck Series veteran and has competed in the series since its inaugural season in 1995. He has won more truck races than any other driver in series history. He has won four series championships, two driving for Dale Earnhardt in 1996 and 1998, and the other two in 2007 and 2009 with Kevin Harvick. Hornaday has has one full season in the Sprint Cup Series, in 2001 driving the #14 Pontiac Grand Prix owned by racing legend A.J. Foyt. Before that, he drove for Earnhardt in what was then known as the Busch Series.

Chase standings after two races

Here are the point standings after race 2 of the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.

1. 2-Brad Keselowski - 2,097 points, 5 wins
2. 22-Joey Logano - 2,096 points, 4 wins
3. 4-Kevin Harvick - 2,090 points, 2 wins
4. 48-Jimmie Johnson - 2,080 points, 3 wins
5. 18-Kyle Busch - 2,077 points, 1 win
6. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 2,077 points, 3 wins
7. 24-Jeff Gordon - 2,070 points, 3 wins
8. 20-Matt Kenseth - 2,057 points
9. 99-Carl Edwards - 2,057 points, 2 wins
10. 47-A.J. Allmendinger - 2,056 points, 1 win
11. 5-Kasey Kahne - 2,055 points, 1 win
12. 31-Ryan Newman - 2,055 points
13. 11-Denny Hamlin - 2,049 points, 1 win
14. 16-Greg Biffle - 2,049 points
15. 41-Kurt Busch - 2,047 points, 1 win
16. 43-Aric Almirola - 2,045 points, 1 win

Hamlin, Biffle, Busch and Almirola are facing elimination heading into Sunday's race at Dover.

Tony Stewart cleared of charges

Tony Stewart will not be criminally charged in the August 9 sprint car crash in New York state that killed fellow competitor Kevin Ward Jr. The decision was made by a grand jury in New York on Wednesday based on insufficient evidence, which investigators repeatedly reviewed the incident to try to find. Stewart could still possibly face a civil suit from the Ward family, which is very likely since they believe Stewart could have done things differently to avoid hitting Ward.

Is 2014 Joey Logano's breakout year in the Cup series?

Joey Logano, the driver of Team Penske's #22 Ford Fusion, currently has four wins this year, the second-most among all Sprint Cup drivers, behind teammate Brad Keselowski. This is probably the first time Logano has been this consistently successful in NASCAR's top series since he went full-time in 2009.

After winning his first Nationwide Series race at Kentucky in his third series start in June of 2008, Logano replaced Tony Stewart in the #20 Toyota Cup car in 2009 after Stewart left the team one year earlier than planned. Logano won a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire in his rookie season, but after that his performance dipped and he went winless in 2010 and 2011. He returned to victory lane in a Cup car in 2012 at Pocono for his first win in a full race. Logano moved from Gibbs' team to Team Penske in 2013 and won at Michigan. His first two wins this year, at Texas and Richmond, made this his first season with multiple wins on the Cup level. Now he and his teammate are on top of the Chase standings and are the first two drivers locked into the second round. So has Logano finally proven himself in NASCAR's top series? It appears so, but the best may still be yet to come.

Underdogs shine in lower series at New Hampshire, Kentucky

Saturday's lower series action featured winners who are not often regarded as being among the best in NASCAR. But they were able to get past the good drivers and be up front when it mattered the most.

The Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire was won by 16-year-old Cole Custer, making him the youngest winner in any of NASCAR's top three series. Custer, driving the #00 Chevrolet truck owned by Gene Haas, the co-owner of Tony Stewart's Sprint Cup team, started on the pole and led during much of the first half of the race. He got shuffled back during a string of late cautions, which saw him on a different pit strategy than most of the other leaders, but he fought his way back up front and got past series champion Matt Crafton on the final restart to get the win. It was Custer's seventh start in the series. He currently drives full-time in the K&N Pro Series, going between the East and West divisions.

Next up was the nighttime Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, one of a handful of stand-alone races left in NASCAR's number two series. The race was largely dominated by Richard Childress Racing, with its four drivers - Brian Scott, Ty Dillon, Cale Conley and Brendan Gaughan - all finishing in the top six. Rookie superstar Chase Elliott of JR Motorsports also got out front late, but lost the lead on a restart. Dillon led 155 of the race's 200 laps in the #3 Chevrolet that older brother Austin swept the track with in 2012, but it was ultimately Gaughan taking the #62 Chevrolet to his second series win. Gaughan , who may be best known for almost winning the 2003 Truck Series championship before getting caught up in a crash at the Homestead season finale, got his first Nationwide win at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in June.

All three races this weekend were won by drivers running for points in their respective series, something that doesn't happen much in NASCAR lately with Cup drivers competing in and winning races in lower series, taking away from younger up-and-coming drivers. But on Saturday, two lesser-known names got to celebrate in victory lane.

Logano follows Keselowski into Contender round of Chase

Joey Logano won Sunday's Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire, the second of the Challenger Round of the Chase. He now joins Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski in the Contender Round. This is Logano's fourth win of the season. It is also his first win in a Chase race and his second win at New Hampshire in Cup competition. Logano got his first series win at the track in a rain-shortened race in June of 2009, during his rookie season. After winning just three races in the five seasons between 2009 and 2013, Logano is now a true contender in NASCAR's top series, and now he has won one of the ten races that matter the most.  He sits one point behind Keselowski, who remains the points leader.

Several Chase drivers got caught up in crashes or suffered mechanical problems. Denny Hamlin, after running into a fuel issue, got caught up in a crash along with David Ragan, Martin Truex Jr. and Cole Whitt on lap 181 of what ended up being a 303-lap race due to a green-white-checkered finish. Hamlin's teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, were involved in another crash a few laps later with Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman. Hamlin is now 13th and on the brink of elimination heading into the final Challenger Round race in Dover, Delaware next week. Busch and Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. have traded fifth and sixth places and are now tied in points. Earnhardt had a tire issue early, but eventually got back on the lead lap thanks to a caution and went on to finish ninth. Kenseth, who entered the race as the defending champion, has now gone one year without a points win in Cup competition.

One driver now safe from elimination for the time being is underdog A.J. Allmendinger, who climbed from 14th to 10th in points. Allmendinger also lost a couple of laps during the race but got them back. Meanwhile, Aric Almirola remains 16th and last in the Chase grid, although he finished sixth, which was the position in which he suffered his blown engine last week at Chicagoland.

BK Racing shuffles lineup around

Sprint Cup team BK Racing has moved around some of its drivers. Rookie Ryan Truex is out of the #83 Toyota and has been replaced for the race at New Hampshire by Travis Kvapil. The #93 car that was supposed to be driven by Kvapil on Sunday will now be driven by Clay Rogers. Rookies Alex Bowman and Cole Whitt, driving the #23 and #26 Toyotas, are not affected by these changes. Truex will now be watching the #78 Chevrolet of older brother Martin Truex Jr.

BK Racing previously had its lineup altered in April, when fellow Toyota team Swan Racing shut down, transferring Whitt and the #26 car to the BK stable but leaving rookie Parker Kligerman out of a ride, as Swan's #30 team closed and is remaining assets went to the #44 Xxxtreme Motorsport Chevrolet of J.J. Yeley.

Team Penske much better than last year

Team Penske has really improved from 2013 on the Sprint Cup side. Their Cup team, which fields Ford Fusions, consists of the #2 car of Brad Keselowski and the #22 car of Joey Logano, along with the #12 research and development car, which has appeared in three Cup races in 2014. Last year, Penske won just two Cup races, one with Keselowski, the defending Cup champion at the time, and one with Logano, his first win with the team since moving there from Joe Gibbs Racing.

But 2014 has been much better for Penske at NASCAR's top level. After 27 of 36 races, they have won eight races in the series and three of the last four. Keselowski has won five Cup races this year, including the last two at Richmond and Chicagoland. He also won five races en route to his championship two years ago, one of which was the Chicagoland Chase opener as well. Two months ago, Keselowski won at New Hampshire, where the Cup series returns on Sunday. His win last week made him the first to advance to the "Contender" round of the Chase, which begins at Kansas two weeks from Sunday.

Meanwhile, Logano is a three-time winner this year. He last went to victory lane at Bristol on August 23, and also contributed to Penske's season sweep of Richmond by winning the spring race there in April. Logano has won as many Cup races this year as he did in his first five seasons in the series combined. Still, some fans think he still hasn't quite matched the success of Keselowski this year.

Both Penske drivers have also enjoyed several front-row starts this year, and in a number of races they've even swept the front row. This shows that whether it's practice, qualifying or race day, Team Penske has gotten it right in 2014. Their off-year last season has been attributed to circumstances such as the team's move from Dodge to Ford or the new Gen-6 bodies. While Keselowski missed the Chase in 2013 as the defending series champion, Logano made it in, but never contended much. But now the Penske duo both have what it takes to compete for the Sprint Cup championship.

Chase standings after race 1

As a quick midweek post, here are the current Chase for the Sprint Cup standings after Chicagoland.

1. 2-Brad Keselowski - 2,059 points, 5 wins (1 in Chase)
2. 24-Jeff Gordon - 2,052 points, 3 wins
3. 22-Joey Logano - 2,049 points, 3 wins
4. 4-Kevin Harvick - 2,047 points, 2 wins
5. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 2,042 points, 3 wins
6. 11-Denny Hamlin - 2,041 points, 1 win
7. 18-Kyle Busch - 2,041 points, 1 win
8. 48-Jimmie Johnson - 2,041 points, 3 wins
9. 41-Kurt Busch - 2,039 points, 1 win
10. 20-Matt Kenseth - 2,034 points
11. 5-Kasey Kahne - 2,034 points, 1 win
12. 99-Carl Edwards - 2,030 points, 2 wins
13. 31-Ryan Newman - 2,029 points
14. 47-A.J. Allmendinger - 2,025 points, 1 win
15. 16-Greg Biffle - 2,021 points
16. 43-Aric Almirola - 2,007 points, 1 win

If these were the standings after Dover a week and a half from now, Ryan Newman, A.J. Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola would be the first four drivers eliminated. But things are sure to change in the next two races.

Chicagoland, Kansas do have some differences

A lot of NASCAR fans believe there isn't a single difference between Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, where all of NASCAR's top three series raced this past weekend, and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, where the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins on October 5. For the most part, these people are correct: both tracks are 1.5-mile tri-ovals, they're both located in the midwestern United States, were designed by the same engineering firm, HNTB, and both hosted their inaugural races in 2001. But Chicagoland and Kansas also have a few differences.

The biggest distinction between these tracks is that Chicagoland has a slightly curved backstretch, whereas Kansas has a straight backstretch, like most "cookie-cutter" tracks, the nickname given to 1.5-mile ovals in NASCAR. Also, the turns at Kansas have slightly higher banking than at Chicagoland. The racing at both tracks isn't exactly the same either, as NASCAR teams use slightly different setups at these tracks due to the reasons above. Finally, the skybox suites at the top of the frontstretch grandstands have different looks, Chicagoland's being silver in color and Kansas's more of a beige. In addition, the skybox at Kansas is longer than the skybox at Chicagoland.

So while two of NASCAR's newest tracks may look exactly the same in the big picture, there are some pretty subtle differences between them. It goes to show that no two auto racing tracks in the world are copies of each other; they all have their own unique looks that make them special.

Keselowski takes Chase opener, advances to Contender round

For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski went to victory lane in a Sprint Cup car with his win at Chicagoland on Sunday. Keselowski started all the way back in 25th, and his teammate Joey Logano in 28th, after qualifying was rained out, setting the field based on first practice speeds. This was the first race of the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. Keselowski is the first to advance to the 12-driver Contender round, which begins at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas on October 5. Keselowski also won the Chicagoland Chase opener two years ago, when he won the series championship over Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson.

There were many issues on pit road throughout the race. Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth spun entering the pits on two separate stops, and Busch was forced to go back in. Later, Jimmie Johnson had to serve a speeding penalty, and then Brad Keselowski had to go back in under caution to tighten some lug nuts. But since Keselowski had a fast car, he was able to rebound. During a round of green flag stops, Aric Almirola, running in sixth, blew his engine and had to go to the garage. A caution came out for a Carl Edwards tire issue as Almirola and his crew were assessing the situation in their pit stall, before they went behind the wall. Many Chase contenders ran into issues during the day.

The Chip Ganassi Racing cars of Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson both tagged the wall during the race, but they still managed good finishes. Larson led late in the race, but a pair of late cautions allowed Keselowski and Jeff Gordon to pass him, and Larson settled for third. McMurray also took the lead from Gordon for a few laps earlier in the race.

The Challenger round of the Chase continues next Sunday, September 21, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, and concludes at Dover Speedway in Dover, Delaware, after which four of the 16 Chase drivers will be eliminated.

Marcos Ambrose going back to Australia

Marcos Ambrose is leaving NASCAR at the end of the season to go back to his native Australia, it was announced Saturday morning. There is talk that Ambrose is heading to a V8 Supercars team being formed by Roger Penske, who owns two NASCAR teams (Cup, Nationwide) and an IndyCar team, but Penske has said that it would take a lot of work for him to field V8 Supercar teams. Ambrose raced in that series from 2001 to 2005 and won two championships.

Ambrose came to the United States in 2006, and won his first stock car race in the Nationwide Series at Watkins Glen in 2008. He also made his Sprint Cup debut with the Wood Brothers in their famous #21 car in 2008, and went full-time in Cup in 2009 driving Brad Daugherty's #47 car. He moved to the #9 team of Richard Petty Motorsports in 2011, and won back-to-back Cup races at Watkins Glen in 2011 and 2012. Ambrose most recently won last month's Nationwide race at Watkins Glen, and then finished second in the Cup race the next day to A.J. Allmendinger, who was driving Ambrose's old #47 car.

This is the second straight year that a foreign-born driver will be leaving NASCAR for another series. Juan Pablo Montoya, from Colombia, left the #42 car of Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the 2013 season after also winning some road course races in Cup and Nationwide. Unlike Ambrose, Montoya stayed in the United States and moved back to IndyCar, the series in which he won the 2000 Indianapolis 500.

Rain washes out Friday events at Chicagoland

A weather system in the upper Midwest brought several inches of rain to the Chicago area on Friday, postponing and canceling several NASCAR events at Chicagoland Speedway in the suburb of Joliet, Illinois. The Camping World Truck Series race was supposed to be held this evening, but will now be held on Saturday after the Nationwide Series race. The rain also canceled Sprint Cup qualifying, giving Kyle Busch, the fastest driver in first practice, the pole. The final Nationwide Series practice also was not held. Hopefully the weather in the area will cooperate on Saturday and Sunday, especially since Sunday's Cup race is the first of the ten-race Chase tournament.

"Chase Across North America" sends Chase drivers to a variety of cities

NASCAR held a major media event on Wednesday called Chase Across North America. The event involved the 16 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which begins on Sunday, to 16 cities in North America: 14 in the United States, one in Canada and one in Mexico. These cities were the homes of the 10 Chase tracks, plus six cities without NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. These were the city and driver pairings for the event:

• Chicago, Illinois (Race 1 of Chase): Kyle Busch
• Loudon, New Hampshire (Race 2 of Chase): Kasey Kahne
• Dover, Delaware (Race 3 of Chase): Greg Biffle
• Kansas City, Kansas (Race 4 of Chase): A.J. Allmendinger
• Charlotte, North Carolina (Race 5 of Chase): Brad Keselowski
• Talladega, Alabama (Race 6 of Chase): Joey Logano
• Martinsville, Virginia (Race 7 of Chase): Ryan Newman
• Fort Worth, Texas (Race 8 of Chase): Matt Kenseth
• Phoenix, Arizona (Race 9 of Chase): Denny Hamlin
• Homestead, Florida (Race 10 of Chase): Aric Almirola
• Bristol, Connecticut (ESPN studios): Kevin Harvick
• Los Angeles, California: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Mexico City, Mexico (used to have a Nationwide race): Carl Edwards
• New York, New York: Jimmie Johnson
• San Antonio, Texas: Kurt Busch
• Toronto, Ontario (Truck race in nearby Bowmanville): Jeff Gordon

Throughout the day, drivers and NASCAR media personnel reported to social media about their experiences. NASCAR's official Twitter account even changed their name to "#MyChaseNation". The mass event was heavily promoted, and all of the drivers seem to have had a lot of fun. Now they are getting ready to battle for the championship in NASCAR's top series for ten races.

Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick switch pit crews

Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick have had their pit crews switched for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The team believes that Stewart's former crew has the experience to help Harvick get a jump in the championship battle. Harvick has felt that his old crew, now Stewart's crew, made a number of poor decisions on pit road during the regular season that may have cost him a couple of wins. Meanwhile, Stewart might have one more shot at getting to victory lane before the end of the season with Harvick's former crew. Both drivers are hoping that their new crew members can work with them to be more competitive during the 10-race championship run.

Summary of the last eight Cup races

As we go into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, here is a summary of the eight Sprint Cup Series races between New Hampshire in July and Richmond on Saturday night.

New Hampshire, July 13: The race is slowed by a series of debris cautions. Jimmie Johnson also runs into trouble early in the race. Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson lead early, and then Clint Bowyer leads several laps. Later in the race, Joey Logano and veteran Morgan Shepherd get into a crash, which frustrates Logano. Justin Allgaier wrecks with a few laps left, and Brad Keselowski pulls away on the ensuing green-white-checkered finish to take his third win of the season. This was the last NASCAR race for cable network TNT.

Indianapolis, July 27: To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jeff Gordon's win in the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, the day is declared "Jeff Gordon Day" by the speedway. Polesitter Kevin Harvick leads a few laps, but Gordon soon takes the lead from him. Gordon's teammate Kasey Kahne also leads several laps throughout the race. Danica Patrick and Trevor Bayne both get into single-car wrecks and their race ends early. On the final restart, Gordon passes Kahne for the lead and stays out front to win his fifth Brickyard 400, and 90th Sprint Cup race.

Pocono, August 3: Kyle Larson gets his first official series pole. Jeff Gordon leads during much of the first half of the race. Chase contenders Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson have issues with their cars and lose some positions in the point standings. On a restart, a 13-car crash takes out drivers like Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth. Late in the race Dale Earnhardt Jr. passes Greg Biffle, who had a slower car, and takes the checkered flag to complete a season sweep of Pocono.

Watkins Glen, August 10: Tony Stewart hit a driver during a sprint car race the previous evening, and the driver, Kevin Ward Jr., died. Regan Smith subbed for Stewart in the #14 Chevrolet. Polesitter Jeff Gordon leads some laps but has a power issue that takes him out of contention. The race features a hard crash involving Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell, which causes the race to be red-flagged for fence repair. Cole Whitt also spins and hits the wall early. The race is stopped again when Denny Hamlin, Alex Kennedy and Reed Sorenson crash. A.J. Allmendinger then holds off Marcos Ambrose to win his first Cup race.

Michigan, August 17: Ryan Truex crashes in practice and has to miss the race, so J.J. Yeley drives the #83 Toyota. Jeff Burton subs for Tony Stewart, who still didn't want to race. Jeff Gordon gets his second straight pole, and he and Logano trade the lead during much of the race. Danica Patrick, Justin Allgaier and others get caught up in a crash just after an early restart. Ryan Newman ends up pitting by himself during green flag runs, because he was on a different strategy. At the last restart, Gordon get by Logano for the lead, with Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Dale Earnhardt Jr. right behind them. Logano then falls back and Gordon gets his third win of the season.

Bristol, August 23: For the third week in a row, Jeff Gordon starts on the front row, but he soon has a tire going down and spends several laps in his pit stall getting it fixed. At about the same time, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson get caught speeding on pit road and have to serve penalties. Busch then gets into a wreck with Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson and Brian Vickers. A little later, Kevin Harvick spins Denny Hamlin while Hamlin is leading, causing Hamlin's car to hit the left side of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car. An angry Hamlin then throws his HANS device at Harvick's car as it passes by. Later, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski trade the lead, and then Keselowski's teammate Joey Logano gets out front. Not far from the finish, Kyle Busch and his crew chief exchange angry words, causing Busch to retire from the race. Logano goes on to make it a five-way tie for three wins in the series.

Atlanta, August 31: Tony Stewart returns to racing and gets up near the front early in the race. Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski spot a squirrel on the track early in the race. The race is filled with debris cautions and some crashes. Jeff Gordon also has another tire problem. Kevin Harvick leads the most laps. After losing the lead to Matt Kenseth and then getting it back, Harvick is passed by Kasey Kahne. A late caution for a crash involving Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. gives Kenseth the jump on the restart, but then Harvick, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson get into a wreck. Kahne gets the lead back on the second green-white-checkered attempt and wins to join his three Hendrick teammates in the Chase.

Richmond, September 6: Polesitter Brad Keselowski gives up the lead to Kevin Harvick early in the race, but soon gets it back and goes on to lead 383 of 400 laps. The race is very uncompetitive and does not feature much action, and the racing is surprisingly clean for a regular season finale. Probably the biggest highlight was a spectator climbing on top of the fence between the stands and the track, causing NASCAR to throw a caution as security personnel told him to get down. Keselowski wins and gets the first Chase seed, with four regular season victories, while Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle get the final two Chase spots based on points. After the race, Jimmie Johnson suddenly falls faint and is taken to the infield medical center. He is treated for dehydration and released.

The 2014 Sprint Cup regular season has been filled with a lot of exciting moments. The Chase, with its new 16-driver elimination format, will certainly be even better.

The 2014 Chase under the 2011-13 format

The final Chase for the Sprint Cup lineup this year would have looked different under the previous format, which NASCAR used in 2011, '12 and '13, and did not use the "win and you're in" method, but simply took the top ten in points after 26 races plus the two winningest drivers between 11th and 20th and reset their points to 2,000, plus three bonus points for each win for the top ten drivers. The new Chase format still uses the 2,000 plus three point system, but it now features 16 drivers with four eliminated every three races. Here is what the Chase standings would look like right now if NASCAR had kept the format they implemented in 2011:

1. #2-Brad Keselowski - 4 wins, 2,012 points
2. #24-Jeff Gordon - 3 wins, 2,009 points
3. #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 3 wins, 2,009 points
4. #22-Joey Logano - 3 wins, 2,009 points
5. #48-Jimmie Johnson - 3 wins, 2,009 points
6. #4-Kevin Harvick - 2 wins, 2,006 points
7. #99-Carl Edwards - 2 wins, 2,006 points
8. #20-Matt Kenseth - 2,000 points
9. #31-Ryan Newman - 2,000 points
10. #16-Greg Biffle - 2,000 points
11. 5-Kasey Kahne - 1 win, 2,000 points
12. 18-Kyle Busch - 1 win, 2000 points

Most of the differences would be in the second half of the Chase field above. A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin, who have each won once this year, would not have made the Chase under this format due to being lower than 17th-place Kyle Busch in the non-Chase point standings.

Chase grid all set; Keselowski gets first seed

Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski won Saturday evening's Sprint Cup race at Richmond, the last before the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was Keselowski's fourth win of the season, allowing him to break a five-way tie for most wins that he shared with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and teammate Joey Logano and claim the first seed in the 16-driver Chase grid. It was also Team Penske's 400th win in all racing series. Keselowski led all but 17 laps on his way to the win, and had some good pit stops during the race.

There were two Chase spots left coming into the race. Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing, still looking for his first win of the season, was the first to get into the Chase on points; he and race winner Kasey Kahne clinched their spots last week after the race at Atlanta. The two drivers who completed the Chase grid were Ryan Newman of Richard Childress Racing and Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle beat Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer by just seven points despite running into some problems during the race. Bowyer was involved in the scandal last year that took his then-teammate Martin Truex Jr. out of the Chase, but Bowyer was allowed to stay in. Along with Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard just missed the Chase.

Here is the final Chase lineup:

1. #2 - Brad Keselowski (4 wins)
2. #24 - Jeff Gordon (3 wins)
3. #88 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (3 wins)
4. #48 - Jimmie Johnson (3 wins)
5. #22 - Joey Logano (3 wins)
6. #4 - Kevin Harvick (2 wins)
7. #99 - Carl Edwards (2 wins)
8. #18 - Kyle Busch (1 win)
9. #11 - Denny Hamlin (1 win)
10. #41 - Kurt Busch (1 win)
11. #5 - Kasey Kahne (1 win)
12. #43 - Aric Almirola (1 win)
13. #47 - A.J. Allmendinger (1 win)
14. #20 - Matt Kenseth (in on points)
15. #16 - Greg Biffle (in on points)
16. #31 - Ryan Newman (in on points)

The first round of the Chase starts on September 14 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, then heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on September 21, and concludes at Dover Speedway in Delaware on September 28.

Kyle Busch leads every lap on way to Nationwide win

Kyle Busch led all 250 laps of Friday evening's Nationwide Series race at Richmond and picked up his fourth win in the series this year. It was his first since Dover on May 31. Second place switched between drivers such as Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, and JR Motorsports drivers Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott, who ultimately got the runner-up finish. Another notable finish was Richard Petty driver Dakoda Armstrong, somewhat of an underdog in the series, finishing seventh after a battle with veteran Elliott Sadler late in the race. Last year, polesitter Brian Scott, driving for Richard Childress, almost led every lap before getting passed by Cup driver Brad Keselowski late in the race.

Fans, drivers hoping for fair game in the Chase

Saturday's Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond will be the last before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. This year will mark a new format for the Chase. People are hoping for a competitive regular season finale, but also for the final Chase grid to be decided fairly, unlike the manipulation that took place late in the race last year to try to change the outcome.

Last year, Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer spun, apparently to try to get his teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase. This set up a late-race restart which shook up some of the Chase spots. NASCAR soon realized what had happened, and replaced Truex with Newman as part of the team's penalties, then added Jeff Gordon to the lineup during the next race weekend at Chicagoland. The situation upset Truex's sponsor NAPA Auto Parts, who pulled their sponsorship from the #56 Toyota, reducing Michael Waltrip's team from three full-time cars to two when the season ended.

Truex now drives the #78 Chevrolet of Furniture Row Racing, and he appears to have rebounded from last year's incident. Waltrip, Bowyer and the team's crew members have probably learned from it as well, and will try to play by the rules on Saturday evening, especially since Bowyer and his teammate Brian Vickers have been all but eliminated from the Chase. Hopefully, the all-new Chase will be decided fairly the first time around.

Comcast Xfinity named as new sponsor of Nationwide Series

Comcast Xfinity, a digital cable provider, will be the title sponsor of NASCAR's number two series, currently called the Nationwide Series, starting in 2015. The news was announced by NASCAR on Wednesday. NASCAR announced near the end of last year that 2014 would be Nationwide's last year as the series' title sponsor, which it had been since 2008. The series will be known as the Xfinity Series starting on January 1, during the offseason.

Jimmy Fennig to step down as crew chief

Jimmy Fennig, the crew chief of Carl Edwards and the #99 Roush Fenway Racing team in the Sprint Cup Series, will be ending his career in that position at the end of the season. Edwards is also leaving Roush to drive the new #19 car at Joe Gibbs Racing starting in 2015, which will leave the #99 team inactive, as the #6 team at Roush will be back in business with Trevor Bayne next year in his first full-time Cup ride.

Fennig's first crew chief role was for Bobby Allison in the late 1980s. He joined the Roush team late in the 1996 season to become the crew chief of the #6 car driven by Mark Martin. In 2002 Fennig went to the #97 car of Kurt Busch, and they won the Nextel Cup championship in 2004, the first year of the Chase championship format. He moved back to the #6 car in 2007 as rookie David Ragan's crew chief, and then went to the #99 car for the 2013 season.

All four Hendrick cars in the Chase

Last night's wild Sprint Cup race at Atlanta lasted nearly four hours, had some bizarre occurrences like a squirrel running in front of Kevin Harvick, and took two green-white-checkered attempts to end following a crash between Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne ended up winning after not being a big factor during most of the race. With Kahne's win, all four Hendrick drivers have won this year and are locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Kahne's teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have all won at various points earlier in the season, and they clinched their Chase spots before Kahne, who looked like he would be left out unless he could pull off a win. Now he has picked up that win, and is the thirteenth different winner in NASCAR's top series in 2014. It is the tenth win for a Hendrick driver.

The Labor Day eve race was dominated by Kevin Harvick, the winner of Saturday night's Nationwide Series race driving a Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned car numbered 5 (just like Kahne's Cup car) and the polesitter for the second straight week in the Cup series. Harvick got caught up in a crash with Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson on the restart for the first green-white-checkered attempt, which set up the second attempt, and ended up finishing 19th. Second-place Matt Kenseth, who hasn't won a Cup points race in almost a year, was leading at the final restart, but then got passed by Kahne. However, Kenseth did claim a Chase spot based on his place in the point standings. But most of the buzz heading into the race was about Tony Stewart, who was racing for the first time since his tragic sprint car accident on August 9, during the Watkins Glen race weekend. Stewart had a fast car early, but ran into some tire issues and made an early exit from the race, on which he declined to be interviewed.

The last race before the Chase begins will take place in Richmond, Virginia next Saturday, September 6, in another short track night race, with a couple of Chase spots still up for grabs. The final 16-driver Chase grid will be determined by the end of that race, and the first round of the new Chase will begin at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois on Sunday, September 14.