NASCAR Drivers Most in Need of a Win in 2015
With 15 races in the books and 11 remaining to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, time is starting to run out on several drivers’ hopes of still making the playoffs.
Right now, six spots remain to be filled by drivers who have yet to win a race in 2015.
The rest of the 16-driver Chase field would then be filled out by those winless drivers who have the most points earned after the Richmond race in early September.
Last year, 13 drivers made the Chase with wins, and three by points—Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.
Newman emerged from the 16 drivers to make it all the way to the final round of four in the Chase and season finale at Homestead, falling just short of eventual champ Kevin Harvick.
Several drivers who won races last year to make the 2014 Chase have yet to do so in 2015. And with each passing race without a trip to Victory Lane, their chances grow slimmer and slimmer.
Here are 11 drivers who need to get at least one win to keep their Chase hopes alive.
Kasey Kahne
1 of 11
Kasey Kahne muscled his way into the Chase last season by winning at Atlanta, one week before the Chase field was decided at Richmond.
But while he’s come close several times this year, including season-best finishes of fourth place at Phoenix and Dover, Kahne is still winless.
From a points standpoint, if the Chase were to start tomorrow, he would qualify. But with 11 races still left, he is in a similar situation as Clint Bowyer was in last season.
Bowyer was in ninth place with five races to go and yet somehow still managed to miss the Chase. Even though he finished third in last year’s late summer race at Richmond, Bowyer dropped from 12th to 17th—and missed out on the Chase.
Kahne has to win a race soon if he hopes to make the Chase. And he won’t have Atlanta to help him, as it was moved to spring this season.
Jeff Gordon
2 of 11
This is Jeff Gordon’s final season in Sprint Cup racing. But one thing is missing.
This is his so-called “Victory Tour”—but he hasn’t had even one victory to date.
Sure, he has plenty of chances to finally earn that first elusive victory of 2015. Places like Sonoma (next week), Daytona, New Hampshire and Bristol offer potential.
And let’s not forget Indianapolis, where he’s won the Brickyard 400 a record five times, including last year’s race.
Gordon has come close to winning several times already, but wrecks not of his doing and pit-road mistakes have cost him from taking the checkered flag.
If anyone can still win a race to make the Chase, it’s Gordon. But the sooner he can win—hopefully at Sonoma—the better off he’ll be...and the pressure to win will finally be off him.
Jamie McMurray
3 of 11
Let’s get the facts out of the way first: As hard as it may seem to believe, Jamie McMurray has never qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
What’s more, his best season finish to date has been 11th, in the first year of the Chase in 2004, but that was when the playoff field only had 10 drivers.
Even when he won three races in 2010, including the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400, McMurray was so far back points-wise that he still fell short of making the Chase in the best season he’s had to date.
While he is seventh in the standings heading into this off-weekend, technically he’s 11th in the Chase running order and the first driver without a win to date in 2015.
Can McMurray win a race between now and Richmond? Yes, he’s more than capable, although he has won just one race in total since that 2010 season.
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Greg Biffle
4 of 11
Since 2008, Greg Biffle has been on a winning roller coaster.
He won two races each in 2008, 2010 and 2012 and one race in 2013.
On the flip side, he failed to win a race in 2009, 2011 and 2014.
Still, in that entire period, Biffle missed the Chase just once (2011), even though he hasn’t won a race now in exactly two years (2013 spring race at Michigan).
As for 2015, The Biff has had a miserable start to the season. He’s managed just one top-five finish (second at Charlotte) and one other top 10 (10th at Daytona) in the first 15 races.
His 36th-place finish at Michigan this past Sunday marked the seventh time that Biffle has finished 20th or worse this season. As such, he’s ranked 20th in the standings.
Given the struggles Biffle and Roush Fenway Racing have had this season, his Chase hopes are not looking good.
Ryan Newman
5 of 11
Ryan Newman was last season’s Cinderella story.
He made the Chase as one of three drivers to qualify without earning a win, and then he went all the way to the final Chase race and finished the season a close second to champ Kevin Harvick.
This season, Newman is in the same boat, at least when it comes to not having won a race yet.
In fact, the driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet hasn’t won a race since the 2013 Brickyard 400, a span of 67 races.
And yet for all of the plaudits he had in making the Chase and going all the way through to the final race, Newman is not doing all that well in 2015.
He’s ranked 16th, with zero wins, four top fives and four other top-10 finishes. He’s also just 12 points ahead of 17th-ranked Clint Bowyer.
Unless Ryan gets his car out of neutral, 2015 could be significantly different than 2014—as in not making the Chase.
Tony Stewart
6 of 11
If you're one of his fans, it likely has been painful to watch Tony Stewart this season—the worst single-season start of his career.
Even worse, he is in jeopardy of missing the Chase for the third straight year. He missed it in 2013 after suffering a broken leg in a sprint car race wreck and missed 2014 when he failed to win a race and didn’t earn enough points to make it into the 16-driver field.
Of course, missing three races after being involved in the Kevin Ward Jr. tragedy didn’t help Stewart’s chances.
But it’s likely he still wouldn’t have made last year’s Chase even if he would have competed in those three missed races, as he ultimately finished 25th at season’s end.
Will Stewart make the Chase this season? Currently 26th in the standings, he is 131 points out of 16th place, roughly the points equivalent of three wins.
And given that he has zero wins or top-five finishes in 2015, and just one top-10 finish, the odds do not appear to be in his favor.
If he wins a race, great, but right now Stewart appears to have a better chance of winning the lottery than a race.
Aric Almirola
7 of 11
Aric Almirola made the Chase last year due to a rain-shortened race at Daytona in early July. Had it not been for that race, he likely would not have made it.
At this writing, he is ranked 15th in the Sprint Cup standings. And even with 10 drivers already having won a race in 2015, Almirola—for now—is still on the right side of the Chase line.
In other words, if the Chase were to begin tomorrow, he’d make it, qualifying in the 15th position.
But let’s look at the numbers: He’s one point ahead of 16th-ranked Ryan Newman and 13 points ahead of 17th-ranked Clint Bowyer.
In other words, Almirola’s Chase hopes are far from secure.
Last year’s win at Daytona was the first of his Sprint Cup career, and the rain obviously helped. But for Almirola to make this year’s Chase, he can’t rely on rain again.
Rather, he has to go out and win a race fair and square and at its full length. Otherwise, he’ll be on the outside looking in when the Chase begins at Chicagoland Speedway in mid-September.
A.J. Allmendinger
8 of 11
A.J. Allmendinger’s win at Watkins Glen last year was one of the biggest highlight moments of the season.
The battle he had in the last two laps with Marcos Ambrose was exceptional, only topped by the emotional release The Dinger experienced afterward, particularly in Victory Lane, when he celebrated his first career Sprint Cup triumph.
But 2015 has not gone quite the way Allmendinger hoped. He’s winless, has zero top-five finishes and can boast just two top-10 showings.
Even worse, he’s 22nd in the standings and 79 points out of the top 16.
Fortunately for Allmendinger, his best chance to win a race is still coming up, either next weekend at Sonoma or again at Watkins Glen in August.
Clint Bowyer
9 of 11
Clint Bowyer has become a shadow of who he used to be. He hasn’t won a race since 2012 (a career-high three races in that season).
He hasn’t made the last two editions of the Chase. He missed 2013 when he was ruled ineligible due to his team attempting to manipulate the outcome of who made the Chase.
He was ranked as high as ninth with five races to go to the Chase last year, yet he still managed to miss making the 16-driver field.
And thus far this season, he has had a terrible start. He has zero wins, zero top-five finishes and only four top-10 finishes.
Frankly, Bowyer has become so non-competitive that—short of getting a win somewhere, anywhere—it’s highly unlikely he’ll make the Chase this year.
Kyle Larson
10 of 11
With this being his sophomore season in the Sprint Cup Series, coupled with his overall prolific ability as a race car driver, one might think Kyle Larson would have won his first Sprint Cup race by now.
Unfortunately, he has not.
Even worse, he’s struggled to a certain degree thus far this season.
Last year, he had eight top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. To date in the first 15 races of this season, Larson has just one top-five and five total top-10 finishes.
Ranked 18th in the standings, he will not make the Chase unless he wins a race or has a huge upturn in points—as in better finishes—between now and Richmond.
Danica Patrick
11 of 11
Even though she’s currently 19th in the standings, which would leave her short of making the Chase, don’t give up on Danica Patrick.
As much as doubters or haters might disagree, Patrick has a good chance of still winning a race this year. The question is whether she can do it by Richmond to make the Chase.
While it may seem like she has the best shot to do so at a longer track like Daytona or Michigan, Patrick could have a better chance of winning on short tracks like Bristol or Richmond or perhaps on the road courses at Sonoma or Watkins Glen.
With 11 races still to go, anything is possible for any driver, even Patrick. If she does make the Chase via a win or points, it would not only be NASCAR history, but would strengthen her hopes of renewing her contract with Stewart-Haas Racing or perhaps inking an even better deal with another team.
Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
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