The Biggest NASCAR Storylines to Watch Ahead of AAA Texas 500 at Fort Worth

The NASCAR season has but three races left, two in the Eliminator Round (ER), which now has a distinct eliminator feeling to it especially after Matt Kenseth turned his Camry into mortar shell. And, you know, Homestead.

If all goes according to NASCAR’s plan, Kenseth will only race at Homestead, as it went full-on valet and parked his vengeful rear for the next two races.

This week, thanks to Kenseth’s penchant for failing to cut the wheel left, there’s barely another storyline worthy of the great state of Texas, site of the AAA Texas 500.

Many drivers are in serious danger of heading to Miami with nothing to drive for. An exception is Jeff Gordon, who partied like a debutante, jumping into the arms of his teammates, skirting the now-played-out burnout in lieu of more jumping into the arms of more teammates.

Gordon awaits for three more. Two races remain in the ER, and it continues at Texas. Read on for this week’s storylines.

NASCAR Suspends Matt Kenseth for Two Races

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Usually the “big” storyline of the week gets the final slide, sort of the opposite of traditional news stories. For these things, it actually pays to bury the lede, as it were, but in this case the lede is SO big, it needs to be the first slide.

Yes, Kenseth, he of the projectile automobile, could be watching the rest of the Eliminator Round from the pit box.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR's vice president and chief racing development officer, said in a statement (h/t NASCAR.com):

"

Based upon our extensive review, we have concluded that the No. 20 car driver, who is no longer in the Chase, intentionally wrecked the No. 22 car driver, a Chase-eligible competitor who was leading the race at the time. The No. 20 car was nine laps down, and eliminated the No. 22 car's opportunity to continue to compete in the race.

"

To which, because NASCAR is all about safety (Kyle Busch would argue), O’Donnell added, “Additionally, we factored aspects of safety into our decision, and also the fact that the new Chase elimination format puts a premium on each and every race. These actions have no place in NASCAR."

The damage is done. Joey Logano, the target of Kenseth’s smart bomb, is 28 points below the cut line (BTCL). Nothing changes that. The only solace Logano can take from this entire situation is the knowledge that his car is, by far, the speediest.

How Will Joey Logano Respond at Texas?

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Speaking of Logano—the pinata that burst into a thousand expletives—he is 28 insurmountable points BTCL. His only realistic chance of reaching his second straight championship four is a win at either Texas or Phoenix.

Logano, as you know, swept the entire Contender Round, a triumvirate of races widely considered the hardest stretch of the entire Chase, so winning at Texas or Phoenix or both doesn’t just seem possible, it seems likely.

As if Logano needed any more motivation, he’ll be driving angry, even hungrier than before because, like Kenseth, he, no doubt, feels something was taken from him, something that was rightfully his.

If Logano isn’t starting in either Row 1 or 2 come Sunday, that will be one of the bigger surprises leading up to Texas.

And if he doesn’t finish P1, well, he can’t blame Kenseth for that this time around.

Joey Logano Apparently Has Many Enemies

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Kenseth apparently made more friends by taking out Logano at Martinsville. He lived up to some kind of code, the Code of NASCAR, which means slighted driver (SD) may exact his revenge on opportunistic driver (OD).

The SD, in this case Kenseth, plowed the OD, in this case Logano, like snow, and it tickled Tony Stewart, a frequent SD and OD in his prime, so much that he said over the radio (h/t SBNation.com), “That's awesome. I mean, he didn't take him out, he junked him."

Correction, he took him out. What part of falling 42 laps down as a result of said “junking” doesn’t adhere to the definition of “taken out.”

Chad Knaus, the Karl Rove of the No. 48 team, said, “Oh my god. Oh my goodness. Matt just got more fans than he's ever got in his whole life, right there. That's awesome."

If Logano didn’t feel lonely before the Kansas Incident, which subsequently led to the Martinsville Incident, there are fewer people he can turn to now. In his corner is Brad Keselowski, Logano’s teammate, and No. 22 crew chief Todd Gordon, one the best, if not the best, crew chiefs in the sport right now.

This all could work in Logano’s favor. Us versus them is paradoxically skewed in favor of the minority in this equation.

Will Kevin Harvick Pounce?

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Well, enough about that.

Thanks to the Martinsville Incident, is there anyone who benefited more than Kevin Harvick?

Harvick, after all, took several tablespoons of flak for the Talladega Incident where he couldn’t speed up with the final restart, inciting a wreck with Trevor Bayne, thus ensuring himself of a spot in the Eliminator Round.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

And at Martinsville, Harvick had a solid day free of significant trauma and survived with a top 10. He suffered left-front fender damage after running into his teammate exiting pit road, something that could have been far, far worse.

"We just needed to finish that one where we were running," Harvick said in Jared Turner’s FoxSports.com story. "Not having a chance to win, we just needed to capitalize on some other peoples' bad day."

Harvick avoided digging himself into that dreaded must-need-a-win hole, but if ever there was a round that screams Harvick, it’s this round. Why? Phoenix.

Harvick has seven wins at Phoenix and has won five of the last six renewals, including four in a row. Sure, this is a Texas-themed slider, but Harvick gets kudos here heading to the Lone Star State for surviving the paperclip.

If Logano can’t surface from Kenseth’s attempt at Cask of Amontillado-ing him, Harvick is the car to beat.

How About That Other Team Penske Driver?

Mark Almond/Associated Press

So, we’ve established the particular bind Logano finds himself in, but what of his teammate, Keselowski?

It was the No. 2 that spun out Kenseth a few laps before the Martinsville Incident. The ensuing wreck sent Kez to the garage and sent him 24 BTCL by sundown.

Paul Wolfe, the shot-caller in the pit box for the No. 2, said in Jared Turner’s FoxSports.com story:

"

We've got to take the positive out of it, and that's we had the best car here for sure, definitely, on the long run, and we had a great day on pit road which was a struggle for us earlier in the year. So all those things are positives, and we're going to build off of that and go to Texas and hopefully put together another car like we had today.

"

Unfortunately for Kez, he remains winless at the next two tracks.

It should also be noted it was this race a year ago that became known as the Texas Incident, which incited a riot when Kez cut Gordon’s tire in the final laps.

Jeff Gordon was definitively not acting like someone celebrating like a debutante. Harvick shoved Kez from behind. Then it was a melee of Miller Lite and Axalta flame-retardant suits pin-balling off each other setting up a contentious race at Phoenix, won by Harvick. Karma hit the snooze bar in ’Zona.

Though Kez is winless at Texas, he has two top fives in his last two trips to Fort Worth…so maybe.