Chaser Or Racer: NASCAR's Race To The Chase (California)

Nothing like the Bristol night race to add some spice to the NASCAR season.

Even in its new, supposedly “inferior” form, the track still has a habit of bringing out that special side of drivers that only appears when one gets mad at another.

We saw it in Kyle Busch calling Carl Edwards “Mr. Ed.”

We saw it in Clint Bowyer calling Michael Waltrip the worst driver in NASCAR.

However, in all of the excitement Bristol can bring, we can forget how important it is to leave the track with a good finish if you’re looking to make The Chase.

While Jeff Gordon undoubtedly wants to end his winless streak, his fifth place finish puts him more than 100 points to the good. If he can just maintain that margin after California, he’ll be fairly safe going into Richmond.

Kevin Harvick continues to show his new found consistency, as he finished fifth at the Tennessean bull ring. One more finish like that, and he’ll lock up his third straight Chase spot.

However, there also drivers who got bitten by Bristol, and subsequently may no longer have any chance of making The Chase (I’ll get to them, or him I should say, in a little bit).

10th place Matt Kenseth: Shhh…don’t tell anyone, but he finished ninth on Saturday. Once again, he quietly avoided all the carnage, didn’t step on anyone’s toes, and finished solidly in the top ten. It was a typical Matt Kenseth race.

Runs like that in the next two races will surely keep him safely in the top twelve. However, he’ll need to have runs just like (if not better) in the next two races, given he is only 78 points ahead of 13th place David Ragan. A mistake could potentially kill his Chase chances.  

I have faith though that he’ll stay in the top 12.

11th place Denny Hamlin: A third place was just what the doctor ordered after the disappointment of Michigan. It’s funny a good run tends to fix all morale problems in a team isn’t it?

However, Hamlin is far from out of the woods; California has not been very good to him. He’ll have to come out with a good run to keep himself safe going into Richmond, where it’s safe to say he’ll be strong given his performance there in May.

However, even he stays in, he and the team need stop being “hot and cold.” Otherwise, they’ll never truly contend for a title.

12th place Clint Bowyer: He continues to bounce in and out of the top 12 like a basketball, with this week seeing him land in the final Chase spot.

The race saw him rebound from being collected in a Bristol “big one” and finish a nice seventh.

However, I’m still not sold on this team. The consistency hasn’t been there this year.

I don’t expect a good run out of him in California, setting this team up for a “do or die” race in Richmond. And I don’t feel safe in saying they’ll have a “do” race in Richmond. I just don’t think it’s this team’s year.

13th place David Ragan: It looked like this would be the race where the underdog might have met his match.

A fast qualifying time was negated by wall contact and a switch to the spare car, meaning Ragan and the No. 6 team would start at the back.

However, they all kept their heads clear and came out of Bristol in 10th and now are only 12 points out of The Chase.

Plus, the California oval is quite similar to Michigan oval, where Ragan recorded third just two weeks ago.

Things are looking up for this team to get in.

And if they do…they just may surprise a lot of people and be a surprise contender.

Watch out for Cinderella.

14th place Kasey Kahne: He’ll need a small miracle to help him after he was a helpless victim of the “big one” last Saturday.

He trails Bowyer by 56 points, a manageable margin, but one that will require a little bit of bad luck of Bowyer’s part to erase.

Now, it is certainly possible (and maybe even probable) that Bowyer will run poorly on Sunday.

But, I’ve learned to never trust a situation in which a driver or a team doesn’t fully control its own destiny. Too many variables exist to expect someone to mess up.

Best of luck to Kasey and the No. 9 team. I think you may need it.