Sweet 16? That's the number everyone will be eyeing at RIR
Well we are down to it. Saturday night is the last race in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup regular season and there are still two spots open in the 16-driver Chase. Right now, looking at the numbers, it really is almost like a coin toss.
I like where Ryan Newman is. I think he will be in the Chase no matter what happens. I think Richmond is also a good racetrack for him to put together a solid race finish to cement his spot in the Chase. So again, I like Ryan's position right now.
If there is a repeat 2014 winner, or if Matt Kenseth wins, Newman is guaranteed a spot in the Chase if he finishes 41st or better; or 42nd with at least one lap led; or 43rd and the most laps led. If there is a new winner other than Kenseth, Newman is guaranteed a Chase spot with a finish of 18th or better; 19th and at least one lap led; or 20th and the most laps led.
It's that last Chase spot -- No. 16 -- that is like, "Wow, what a hot potato." Now sure, Greg Biffle has a marginal lead, but the guy he is trying to stay ahead of has a really strong record at Richmond International Raceway. Of course I am talking about Clint Bowyer who is simply going to be going all-out Saturday night. For that team, it is one of those now or never type scenarios.
The good news for Clint is he does have two wins and a ton of top-10 finishes in 17 starts at Richmond. That alone is going to put a lot of pressure on Biffle to basically have the race of his life to hold Clint off. The other downside Greg is facing is, as we all know, Richmond is a short track and Greg's never been known as a short-track ace. That has never made sense to me because Greg cut his teeth coming up on the short tracks, but for whatever reason it's never transferred over when he moved up to the Cup ranks.
So while these two will be battling it out, it might just open the door for a Jamie McMurray, who runs extremely well there. You also can't forget rookie phenom Kyle Larson. He's one driver I could see coming out of nowhere and pulling off a win. So I mean that last position really is a jump ball Saturday night.
If I have to pick one driver to get that last position, then I am going to go with Clint Bowyer to unseat Greg Biffle simply because of Clint's continued success at Richmond. No matter what, we are going to see a great battle Saturday night, and when the smoke clears, and trust me, I do mean smoke, once it clears, I won't be the least bit surprised to see this race go down in the NASCAR record books as one that was wild and wooly.
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