The Biggest NASCAR Storylines to Watch Ahead of the Hollywood Casino 400
The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Motor Speedway, for all intents and purposes, is an elimination race. Despite it being the middle jewel of the Contender Round Triple Crown, this race is the last “true” race of the three.
That third one, as many of you who frequent these slideshows know, rests its pretty little head at Talladega, the superspeedway acting as the ultimate wild card that will see this field of 12 Chasers cut down to eight.
That makes the 400 miles around Kansas, which after Charlotte’s 500, feel like a sprint to see who can snatch up a win, thus entering Talladega with a resting heart rate somewhere around 60 beats per minute instead of 90.
The most overused word when speaking of the Chase is “pressure,” but there’s really no way to avoid it. It’s the most ubiquitous feeling that blankets the entire Chase for the Sprint Cup.
So, go on, read this week’s storylines as yet another driver (maybe) clinches a spot for the Elimination Round.
Matt Kenseth Desperate for a Rebound Effort
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Matt Kenseth’s trip around Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 11 started out promising, like he planned on carrying his Challenger Round momentum straight into the following three races.
Then a poorly planned pit stop set him back and set up eventual race winner Joey Logano with the track position he needed to carry the day.
"I can't sit here and say it was a bad call bringing him to pit road, but unfortunately for the No. 20, it just didn't end up being the right call. Yes, the points shakeup Sunday in the Chase standings was unexpected. I fully expected Matt … to be in the forefront as we head closer and closer to Homestead.
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McReynolds, a former crew chief, is the type of insider who will never truly lambaste someone within the fraternity, but in point of fact Jason Ratcliff’s decision to bring Kenseth to pit road wasn’t the right call.
But as Kenseth said after the Bank of America 500 on the NBC Sports broadcast, the No. 20 team looks at each race in isolation. With two career wins at Kansas, including one in the Chase in 2012, Kenseth will head to the heartland firing and, if he qualifies well, should be a favorite to win this race and put Charlotte way behind him.
Beware of Jeff Gordon
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As Hendrick Motorsports spirals out of control, an unlikely contender has risen from the garage: Jeff Gordon.
Gordon an unlikely contender? Well…yeah. He still hasn’t won a race this year, but he’s been awfully competitive the past few. At Charlotte, he started 22nd and worked his way up through the field, showing a graduated sense of speed that landed him in eighth.
Writes FoxSports.com’s Tom Jensen:
"After a slow stretch towards the end of the Sprint Cup regular season, Gordon has begun to pick up the pace of late. During the last five races, Gordon has posted three top-10 finishes and a worst finish of 14th at Chicagoland Speedway, a race he was in contention to win in the closing laps before getting shuffled back on a late restart. And Gordon has a whole series of good tracks coming up for him.
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With all the trouble Dale Earnhardt Jr. had at Charlotte, Gordon appears to be HMS’ best chance at competing for the Sprint Cup*.
It looks like Gordon is taking a page out of the 2014 Ryan Newman playbook. He’s scoring points and improving with each race. With all the experience Gordan has, his continual improvement at this stage means he’s a threat—albeit a long shot—to keep advancing.
*: Junior should take issue with this. Unlike most drivers, he relishes Talladega and has won the past two restrictor plate races.
The Big Reveal: 2016 Rules Package Announced
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The aero package that met drivers at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway this year will be in full force in 2016.
After the Darlington race, won by Carl Edwards, he raved at the lower downforce package, which resulted in far more driver control and made for a better racing product.
“Sold. Keep doing it. Ship it,” Edwards said in a NASCAR.com story.
Darian Grubb, Edwards’ crew chief, echoed the sentiment, "I think it was awesome. We had a lot better show. You saw cars spinning out on their own, slipping and sliding around. I thought it was really close racing, passes for the lead—stuff we haven't seen in a long time."
The details of the new rules package are a bit esoteric and mean little to the lay fan, but the shorter spoiler, shorter splitter edge and narrower radiator pan’s intent creates a more dynamic experience on the track. It should, in a word, entertain.
It could also spell longer races. The race at the Lady in Black had 18 cautions and 24 lead changes. The Kentucky race had 11 cautions and 13 lead changes.
Those 18 cautions drained much of the momentum from the race. Rare was the long green-flag run, but maybe that’s a good a thing. The great benefit to the long green-flag run is to see how pit strategy comes into play. Yellow flags, as you know, almost always spell a pit stop.
The drivers dig it, and that may create a more diverse swath of winners in 2016 and new faces in the Chase.
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The Bottom Four Will Press at Kansas
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Here’s a look at the bottom four drivers, spots nine through 12: Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt and Kenseth.
As it stands, Newman is six points behind the cutoff, Busch 10 behind, Earnhardt 19 and Kenseth is 32 back after one race. With the exception of Newman, the other three combined for 10 wins on the season and all of them stand a serious chance of letting Charlotte’s bad luck (each driver had moderate to serious issues with their cars) keep them from advancing.
Kenseth said in Jared Turner’s FoxSports.com story:
"I'm confident. I've never stood here after a race and been like, 'I'm really confident we're going to win next week.' It's way too hard to be that confident, but I'm just as confident as I was this morning. We've had really fast race cars and even when we've been off a little bit, the guys have been figuring out how to get the finishes and get some wins. We'll just go there (to Kansas), race as hard as we can and whatever happens, happens and we'll do the same at Talladega.
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And for Junior, despite being below the cut line, it puts him in the position of hunger and desire, not looking in the rearview but instead forging head strong into the wind.
"These other guys are going to just try to take care of themselves, try to survive," Earnhardt said on The Dale Jr. Download, his weekly podcast (h/t FoxSports.com). "A few of us will be out there for blood, trying to claw our way back in. I like being able to race like that. I hate being nervous and worried."
Earnhardt may be the only driver looking forward to Talladega. The Chevy the No. 88 team outfits for that race won earlier this year at both ’Dega and Daytona.
Kenseth probably has to win, but the others could edge in on points. Keeping an eye on these four at Kansas will be the most interesting thread to follow for all 267 laps.
Joey Logano Can Make This Race Miserable for the Chasers
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A year ago, Joey Logano won the Chase race at Kansas. Back then the Kansas race batted leadoff in the Contender Round, and Logano rode that into the Eliminator Round.
Being the defending winner of this race and having the added benefit of qualifying for the next round make Logano a threat to spoil the day for the other 11 Chasers.
"This makes Talladega way easier," said Logano after his win at Charlotte (h/t FoxSports.com). "I know that's on everyone's mind when this round starts and last year we won Kansas when it was the first race of this round and now we were able to get it this time at Charlotte. We'll get lots of sleep here the next couple of weeks."
Logano has five wins on the season—tops for the entire circuit—and if he’s getting more sleep that suggests a trip around Kansas could go in his favor. If he wins again, he’ll steal another guaranteed spot in the Eliminator Round from the traffic jam of desperate drivers behind him.
The No. 22 car has led 247 laps in 12 races at Kansas, with 122 of those coming in his win from 2014. The last four times Logano revved his Ford at Kansas has seen him register four top-fives. A relaxed Logano is bad news for the other 11 Chasers.
All stats came courtesy of NASCAR.com and Racing-Reference.info.
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