Breaking down the Chase Eliminator Round after Talladega
On paper, the upcoming Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appears to be a great mix of drivers and teams.
Moving into NASCAR's semifinal playoff round are:
Three Chevrolet drivers, one of whom is a past Sprint Cup champion.
Three Ford drivers, one of whom is a past Sprint Cup champion.
Two Toyota drivers, one of whom is a past Sprint Cup champion
A total of six different teams are represented among the eight drivers who are still alive in the title hunt following Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, where Brad Keselowski scored a dramatic victory to race his way into the next round.
The field for the Eliminator Round:
Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Ryan Newman, No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Heading to the Eliminator Round, it would appear Team Penske has the edge. Not only did Keselowski win at Talladega, he and Logano have each won twice in the Chase, giving Roger Penske's squad four victories in six Chase races. That suggests they will be awfully tough to beat over the final four races.
"Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix (the next three races) are obviously gonna be very important and we have to do what we've been doing," said Logano, who has five victories this season. "We can't let anything get to us. We've got to stay focused on what we've been doing."
The big loser at Talladega on Sunday was Hendrick Motorsports, which saw three of its four cars knocked out of the Chase. "It's just what you have to get used to accept it and move on," said team owner Rick Hendrick. "It's not easy."
That said, Hendrick driver Gordon is a four-time champion, has won a Chase race already and is having his best season in years. "I'm just excited about our chances to get to Homestead, and those chances come in these next few races -- Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix," said Gordon. "Those are great tracks for us."
By the same token, Harvick won last week in Charlotte and has led the most laps in the Chase so far. He surely will be a threat to win the championship as well.
Among them, Keselowski, Logano, Gordon and Harvick have won 18 races so far this season.
The other four drivers in the Eliminator Round, on the other hand, have combined to win just four races. Edwards won at Bristol early in the season and on the Sonoma road course in June; JGR as a team hasn't won since the first Talladega race in May and Newman is winless with only three top-five finishes on the entire season.
Still no one is conceding anything at this point.
"These are all good tracks for us and now we definitely have to capitalize, especially at these race tracks that we're really good at," said JGR's Hamlin.
"Winning in one of the next three races is the most important win that you could have -- just to give yourself the best shot at Homestead," said Newman, who has not won since the 2013 Brickyard 400, 48 races ago.
One thing works in the favor of the underdogs: All eight drivers will begin the Eliminator Round with exactly 4,000 points and have three races to clinch one of the four spots in the season-ending, winner-take-all race in Homestead in four weeks.
Right now, it looks like Team Penske has the edge, with Harvick and Gordon in close proximity and the remaining four drivers long shots.
But that's why they run the races.
VIDEO: Talladega Superspeedway highlights
