NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Top 5 Drivers Who Would Benefit from Kentucky Win

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With NASCAR’s renewed emphasis on winning races, never before has the Chase for the Sprint Cup been so unpredictable. New rules have made the 11th and 12th spots in The Chase wild cards, going to the winningest drivers in the top 20 of the standings.

With Kentucky Speedway’s first Sprint Cup race, the Quaker State 400, looming, there is no shortage of drivers who could help themselves immensely with a trip to victory lane. While some drivers will be vying for a win in an effort to solidify themselves in the top 12, others, like Dale Earnhardt Jr., just want to get in a winning mindset.

Earnhardt Jr., who hasn’t won a race in his past 110 attempts, is currently nestled comfortably into the seventh spot in the standings. Although he has no pressure to win in order to stay in The Chase like some of his counterparts, a victory may mean more to him than any other driver.

If Earnhardt Jr. can score a win at Kentucky, there is no telling what type of domino effect it may have on him for the rest of the season. Here are the top five drivers who would benefit most from a win at Kentucky on Saturday night.

5. Greg Biffle

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After making The Chase in three consecutive seasons, Greg Biffle was certainly favored to do so again in 2011. Nearly midway through the season, however, Biffle is in 13th place and on the outside looking in.

To make matters worse, without a win, Biffle would actually have to move all the way up to 10th in order to be eligible for The Chase.

For a driver as consistently solid as Biffle, it may seem as though winning a race is a foregone conclusion. The issue with that, though, is that he has only 10 races left to do it provided he doesn’t slip into the top 10 based on points. This is because The Chase starts with the 27th race of the season.

Although Biffle has 15 career victories on the Sprint Cup circuit, he isn’t exactly a prolific winner of races. Aside from a six-win season in 2005, Biffle has never won more than two races in a single season. With five total wins over the past four seasons, picking up a win this season is far from a guarantee.

Even if Biffle doesn’t win a race, he still has a good chance to race his way into the top 10, but a win at Kentucky would surely make Biffle feel much more secure.

4. David Ragan

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Coming off his first career win in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400, it may not seem as though David Ragan is in desperate need of a victory. As one of only two drivers placed 11th through 20th in the standings with a victory, Ragan is currently in the 12th and final Chase position. With one more win, Ragan would all but assure his spot in The Chase.

Despite being in The Chase at the moment, Ragan can’t possibly feel comfortable. Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Menard are all ahead of Ragan in terms of points accrued. Should any of them win a race, they would automatically displace Ragan in The Chase. With that in mind, Ragan still has plenty of work to do.

In four full seasons in NASCAR’s top series, Ragan has finished better than 23rd in the standings just once. Regardless of whether he wins another race or not, it would seem to be a certainty that Ragan will finish in the top 20.

It is entirely possible that Ragan could make The Chase without winning another race as long as he stays in the top 20. If he wants to ensure his spot, however, another victory will be paramount.

3. Tony Stewart

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Since The Chase for the Sprint Cup’s advent in 2004, Tony Stewart has missed the cut just once. While Stewart is currently 12th in the points, he is on the outside looking in with regards to The Chase, as he has yet to win a race this season. With Denny Hamlin and David Ragan having one win apiece, they occupy the wild card spots, leaving “Smoke” in 13th place, technically.

Since joining the Sprint Cup Series in 1999, Stewart has never gone an entire season without winning a race. In fact, he has failed to win multiple races in a season just once. With that in mind, Stewart is certainly favored to win at least one race at some point this season, but the question is whether he can do it prior to the beginning of The Chase.

Like Greg Biffle, Stewart is close enough to the top 10 that he may not have to win a race at all in order to qualify for The Chase. He is just four points behind the current 10th-place driver Ryan Newman and 11 points behind Clint Bowyer in ninth.

Despite that, Stewart would undoubtedly like to win a race or two, as he has grown accustomed to doing on a yearly basis. Perhaps most importantly, a win could get Stewart on track and lead to better results down the stretch.

2. Brad Keselowski

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After a somewhat sluggish start to the season, Brad Keselowski has been running much better of late at the helm of the famed blue deuce. Since winning the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway a few weeks back, Keselowski has slowly moved up the standings. He sits in 22nd place at the moment, but one more win could plant him firmly in The Chase.

While those outside the top 20 aren’t eligible to make The Chase, Keselowski is knocking on the door, as he is just 11 points back of 20th-place Joey Logano. If Keselowski can break the top 20 threshold, he will essentially be in 13th place by virtue of his lone victory.

Since he is about 70 points back of 10th place, Keselowski will, in all likelihood, need to win another race to qualify for The Chase.

The odds are certainly stacked against Keselowski in terms of making The Chase, but he has an opportunity to take full advantage of the new wild card rule. The rule is meant to reward wins, and should Keselowski win at Kentucky or any other track prior to the start of The Chase, he would likely be the winningest driver not already in the top 10.

Keselowski isn’t the most consistent driver, but he has a puncher’s chance to reach victory lane on a weekly basis.

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s spot in The Chase may not depend upon him winning a race, but no driver would benefit more from a win at Kentucky than Junior.

As previously mentioned, Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t won a race in his past 110 tries. It hasn’t been much of an issue for most of the season due to his consistently good finishes, but things have begun to swing in the other direction for Junior over the past couple races.

After finishing 41st at Sonoma and disappointing at Daytona with an 18th-place finish, the pressure is beginning to mount for Earnhardt Jr. It is obvious that he is becoming more and more frustrated with each passing week, as evidenced by his tirade regarding the new drafting strategies at restrictor plate tracks like Daytona.

It seems as though Earnhardt Jr.’s confidence continues to wane after each race he fails to win. Junior has come incredibly close on multiple occasions this season, most notably the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, in which he ran out of fuel on the final lap while leading. This type of bad luck seems to be holding Earnhardt Jr. back from becoming a true championship contender.

If Earnhardt Jr. can finally break through this weekend at Kentucky, you get the feeling that more wins and perhaps a Sprint Cup title will follow.