Ten To Watch in Second Year of NASCAR's Elimination Chase
February 12, 2015 | By John Schwarb
There was no doubt that NASCAR got a deserved Sprint Cup champion in 2014.
Kevin Harvick won five races, had 20 top-10s, a series-high eight poles and led 2,137 of 10,032 laps – in other words, the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet was in front for more than 20 percent of its laps.
But how Harvick won the championship was just as big of a story. NASCAR’s new elimination format in the Chase for the Sprint Cup was new and unorthodox – the sanctioning body went to great lengths just to explain how it worked – but it delivered go-for-broke racing, a few scuffles and, in the end, a four-man title fight at Homestead that wasn’t decided until the final laps.
It all worked so well that NASCAR is leaving the format alone for 2015.
“One of the magical parts of this Chase, and we want to make sure we keep it this way, is the simplicity of it: Win and you get in, be in the top eight, top four, whatever it may be, and move on,” NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said. “Beat the other three drivers and you win the championship.
“Whatever we would do in the future, we want to make sure that simplicity is right there.”
With the same format in place for 2015, which four drivers might we see at Homestead this time in the title fight? Might it be a completely different foursome than 2014?
Here’s 10 to watch as the season unfolds:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior Nation rejoiced one year ago with a win at the Daytona 500, followed by three more wins in the regular season, but title hopes sputtered with elimination in the “Contender” round of 12. He’ll try to go farther in the Chase with new crew chief Greg Ives, replacing TV booth-bound Steve Letarte.
Carl Edwards: The next victory backflip will be off a Toyota, as Edwards left Roush Fenway for Joe Gibbs Racing. And between Edwards, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, it should be time for the flagship Toyota team to make its strongest title push.
Jeff Gordon: This is the final full season. He’ll be feted by fans and tracks every week in Sprint Cup, but the four-time champion hopes it’s more because he is making a strong push for a fifth title. Will also be interesting to see how close the Indiana native can get to 100 career wins. He’s got 92 now. He won four times last year.
Kevin Harvick: This is the 11th season of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and only “Five-Time” Jimmie Johnson has repeated as champion. The champion’s momentum is more of a fleeting notion given the emphasis on the season’s final 10 races, but Harvick’s a lock to be at least in the conversation come September with all the speed he showed in 2014.
Jimmie Johnson: Many fans’ Chase grids hit the trash last year when the six-time champion failed to become one of the final eight title-eligible drivers. You know the No. 48 will be in the postseason – he has won at least two races in 13 straight seasons – and crew chief Chad Knaus will devise some kind of plan to inch closer to Homestead.
Kyle Larson: Only Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick were more consistent over the 10 Chase races last year, though Larson didn't make the Chase. But the 22-year-old figures to have many Chases ahead of him, perhaps as early as this season with Ganassi Racing.
Joey Logano: The No. 22 Penske Racing team has had the entire offseason to anguish over the slow pit stop that doomed the title chances at Homestead, but the key stats from 2014 were five wins and 22 top-10 finishes – both career-highs for Logano in his sixth Sprint Cup season. Six seasons and he’s still not yet 25 years old.
Ryan Newman: The South Bend, Indiana, native became a Chase lightning rod as he advanced to the finale despite not having won a race in the regular season or the postseason. Perhaps karma will be on the Richard Childress Racing driver’s side and he’ll get a win early this season.
Danica Patrick: Chase talk may be a bit of a long shot for a driver whose two Sprint Cup seasons have produced 27th- and 28th-place finishes, but in this format it only takes one win to get to the dance, like A.J. Allmendinger and Aric Almirola last year.
Tony Stewart: Will Harvick’s owner find his old form and get into Chase contention for the first time since 2012? Physically, Stewart reports that he’s fine and mentally he appears focused again following the sprint car accident that killed Kevin Ward Jr.