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 22 JOEY LOGANO, Ford
Team: Penske Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: There's no question Joey Logano is bound and
determined to win this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
His win this past Sunday at Kansas was his second in the first four
Chase races and after the first race of the three-race Contender
Round, Logano is atop the point standings, leading Kyle Busch by six
points and the third-ranked tie of Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman by
nine points.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 11 career starts, 0 win, 3 top-5s, 6 top-10s, 0
poles. Best career finish: Third in spring 2011. Finished 18th in
this race last year and was 12th in this year's spring race there.
LOOKING AHEAD: With his win at Kansas, Logano is the first driver
already locked in to advance to the next round, the Eliminator
Round. With two wins in three races (he also won at New Hampshire),
Logano is looking like the real deal. But he's also cognizant that
he's still a long way from the championship: "With the Chase system
that we have in place right now, it is tough to put too much stock
into (being ranked first), but it's a big thing for me and the team
and this year," Logano said. "It shows the work and effort that
we've put into not only the whole year, but also thus far in the
Chase. The thing about it is that we haven't really changed anything
or done anything different than we've been doing all year. I think
that shows in the results and in the fact that we are riding a steak
of 10 finishes inside the top six in 10 of our last 11 races. We are
just doing what we've been doing in the regular season. And it's
paying off by winning races and leading the points."
LOOKING BACK: Logano earned his second win in the last three races,
dominating en route to victory at Kansas this past Sunday.
ETC.: Logano has completed a near-perfect 99.8 percent (3,893) of
the 3,899 laps contested in 11 career starts at Charlotte. His
average start there is 15.2, but his average finish is 10.5. He has
zero DNFs there.
18 KYLE BUSCH, Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: Could Kyle Busch be peaking at the best time of
all? For a driver that not many fans or media gave much of a chance
of in the Chase, he finds himself in second place after the first
four races. He trails new points leader Joey Logano by six points
and leads the third-ranked tie of Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman by
three points.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 21 career starts, 0 win, 9 top-5s, 13 top-10s, 1
pole. Best career finish: Second in fall 2010 and fall 2011.
Finished fifth in this race last year and was ninth in this year's
spring race there.
LOOKING AHEAD: Kyle Busch has long coveted a Sprint Cup win at
Charlotte Motor Speedway, but thus far he's yet to reach victory
lane. Could that change in this Saturday night's Bank of America 500
there? "Charlotte is my favorite racetrack for a lot of reasons,"
Busch said. "Just growing up watching races on TV, I loved watching
the All-Star Race under the lights and the 600 with all the sparks
flying and all the guys going after hard-fought, hard-racing wins.
The Nationwide Series has been good to me there. The Truck Series
has been pretty good to me there, too. But a Cup Series win has
eluded me there. We're definitely getting closer than I was back
when I first started racing at Charlotte. I think I have something
like 12 top-10 finishes in my last 14 races going into this weekend,
so I hope my luck is turning around a bit and I can finally get that
Sprint Cup win there."
LOOKING BACK: Busch led just one lap, but consistency by staying in
the top-five to top-10 throughout the race ultimately led to a very
strong third-place finish for Busch at Kansas.
ETC.: Busch has completed 92.1 percent (6,978) of the 7,574 total
laps contested in 21 career starts at Charlotte. His average start
there is 14.0 and his average finish is 15.6. He has five DNFs
there.
99 CARL EDWARDS, Ford
Team: Roush-Fenway Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: Carl Edwards finds himself tied for third place
with Ryan Newman after the first race of the Contender Round.
Edwards and Newman are nine points behind series leader Joey Logano,
is three points behind second-ranked Kyle Busch and is two points
ahead of fifth-ranked Denny Hamlin.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 19 career starts, 0 wins, 6 top-5s, 12 top-10s, 0
poles. Best career finish: Third in spring 2005, spring 2006 and
fall 2011. Finished 10th in this race last season and was fourth in
this year's spring race there.
LOOKING AHEAD: Edwards is a surprising third after the first race of
the Contender Round. That in itself should give him a great deal of
confidence heading into Charlotte, a track that has been good to
him, but has never paid off with a Sprint Cup win. Might that change
Saturday? "This is a big weekend coming up for us," Edwards said.
It's the home track for the team. We just came off a spectacular
finish at Kansas. After making it into this round of the Chase, we
wanted to kick it off with a good points day, a solid run, no
mistakes, and a lot of luck. We need another good run in Charlotte.
It's going to be important to run well at Charlotte so that you're
not forced into a corner at Talladega, because obviously a lot can
happen there. Our goal is to have another top five finish at
Charlotte and go out and have a little bit of fun at Talladega. It's
been an awesome start to this round of the Chase for Ford, so
hopefully we can keep that moving."
LOOKING BACK: Edwards had a strong run at Kansas. While he didn't
lead any laps, he still emerged with an excellent fifth-place
finish.
ETC.: Edwards has completed a near-perfect 99.2 percent (6,786) of
the 6,840 total laps contested in 19 career starts at Charlotte. His
average start there is 18.0 and average finish is 11.4. He has one
DNF there.
31 RYAN NEWMAN, Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: The lone representative of Richard Childress Racing
in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Ryan Newman finds himself tied for
third place with Carl Edwards after the first race of the three-race
Contender Round. Newman and Edwards are nine points behind series
leader Joey Logano, are three points behind second-ranked Kyle Busch
and lead fifth-ranked Denny Hamlin by two points.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 27 career starts, 0 wins, 4 top-5s, 10 top-10s, 9
poles. Best career finish: Second in fall 2003 and spring 2009.
Finished eighth in this race last year and was 15th in this year's
spring race there.
LOOKING AHEAD: Much like Edwards, Newman is somewhat of a surprise
in third place, particularly when you consider Newman has yet to win
a Cup race this season. "The Charlotte track is unique because it
has a lot of banking and carries a lot of speed through Turns 1 and
2," Newman said. "You kind of have to check up in Turns 3 and 4. If
the weather conditions allow you to, it can be really fast in Turns
3 and 4. It also gets slick when it catches the afternoon sun way
more than Turns 1 and 2. It makes it a unique track depending on the
weather conditions."
LOOKING BACK: Newman led six laps en route to a sixth-place finish
this past Sunday at Kansas.
ETC.: Johnson has completed a mediocre 88.2 percent (8,513) of 9,652
total laps in 27 career starts at Charlotte. His average start there
is an outstanding 8.3 (due mainly to having nine career pole
position starts there), but his average finish is fair at best at
19.0. He has five DNFs there.
11 DENNY HAMLIN, Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: After some struggles in the Challenger Round, Denny
Hamlin finds himself in fifth place after the first of three races
in the Contender Round. He trails points leader Joey Logano by 11
points, is two points behind the third-place tie of Carl Edwards and
Ryan Newman, and leads sixth-ranked Kevin Harvick by four points.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 18 career starts, 0 wins, 4 top-5s, 10 top-10s, 1
poles. Best career finish: Second in spring and fall 2012. Finished
ninth in this race last year and was 22nd in this year's spring race
there.
LOOKING AHEAD: Hamlin has admittedly had some struggles this season,
but a win Charlotte would be a huge boost for his team - not to
mention giving it an automatic berth in the Eliminator Round. "I
feel good about where we're at," Hamlin said. "There are some guys
that are faster than us week in and week out and they had some
issues (at Kansas). We didn't and kind of capitalized on that and
finished well. I'm proud of the team. (Kansas was) a good run for us
and this is obviously the type of runs that we need to keep moving
on."
LOOKING BACK: Hamlin was like glue at Kansas, sticking in the top-10
throughout almost the entire race. While he didn't have enough to
challenge former teammate Joey Logano for the win, Hamlin was happy
with his seventh-place finish. "We'll take sevenths all the way
out," he said.
ETC.: Hamlin has completed 96.7 percent (6,226) of the 6,440 total
laps contested in 18 career starts at Charlotte. His average start
is 13.2 and his average finish is 13.7. He has one DNF there.
4 KEVIN HARVICK, Chevrolet
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: Kevin Harvick started the Contender Round with a
12th-place finish, following up his 13th-place finish to round out
the Challenger Round at Dover. That leaves him in sole possession of
sixth place in the 12-driver Chase field in Round 2 of the playoffs.
He trails points leader Joey Logano by 15 points, is four points
behind fifth-ranked Denny Hamlin and is two points ahead of the
seventh-place tie of Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 27 career starts, 2 wins, 4 top-5s, 10 top-10s, 0
poles. Best career finish: First in spring 2011 and spring 2013.
Finished sixth in this race last year and was runner-up in this
year's spring race there.
LOOKING AHEAD: Harvick was once again beset by bad luck at Kansas.
Had it not been for a strange vibration, he likely would have
finished in the top-10. Will the bad luck that has followed him
throughout the season finally turn around this Saturday night at
Charlotte? "Nobody on our team is frustrated," Harvick said. "We
know that we're doing a really good job at everything that we can
control. We know in the end we're still right where we need to be to
accomplish that big picture goal and that's to win the championship.
In the end, the rest of them are just stats. Our goal is to advance
into each round and give ourselves a chance at Homestead, and if
you're loading that trophy up into the back of your hauler and
hadn't won a race, it doesn't really matter."
LOOKING BACK: Harvick was on target for a top-five, or at the very
least a top-10 finish at Kansas. But a vibration that he initially
thought was a tire going down, forced him to pit, giving up track
position. He battled back, but could wind up no higher than 12th
place.
ETC.: Harvick has completed 97.6 percent (9,420 laps) of the 9,652
total laps contested in 27 career starts at Charlotte. His average
start there is 17.9 and his average finish is 16.3. He has one DNF
there.
20 MATT KENSETH, Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: 7th, 17 points out of first place.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: Has finished third in the last two races. Overall
has two wins and 16 top-10 finishes including nine top-five's in 30
starts.
LOOKING AHEAD: Kenseth said, "Charlotte is a great race track and
it's always nice to be racing at our home track since we're usually
able to have family and friends come out this weekend. Looking back
on our last few stats here, we had some great finishes at Charlotte
recently, so I'm hoping for similar results this weekend as we
continue to fight to remain in the Chase. Charlotte is such a
sensitive track in regards to how handling can change due to
sunlight and temperatures, so it'll be important for us to stay on
top of being able to adapt to those conditions in Saturday's race."
LOOKING BACK: It was an up and down day for Kenseth. He struggled
with an ill-handling race car early in the Kansas race before his
team made some good adjustments as he raced his way into the top 10
with 50 laps to go. But contact on pit road with another car dropped
him back to 23rd before he rallied to finish 13th. "We just got some
damage there and took a long time to fix it," said Kenseth. "That
got us way behind and then it was just uphill from there. We had a
set of tires that got us loose then we had an unscheduled stop and
got behind. Just could never get back to the front."
ETC.: Crew chief Jason Ratcliff believes the team's recent test
session at Charlotte will be a big benefit on Saturday night. "I
think we learned some things we can apply this weekend," said
Ratcliff. "Charlotte has always been a good race for us, so I'm
looking forward to heading back there this weekend. The main
challenge is just trying to anticipate how much the track is going
to change at night because it can change a fair amount."
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24 JEFF GORDON, Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
WHERE HE STANDS: 8th, 17 points out of first place.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: Finished seventh in the last two races. Overall
has five wins and 23 top-10 finishes including 16 top-five's in 43
starts. Has won nine poles.
LOOKING AHEAD: Gordon has special memories when it comes to
Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Success came pretty early at Charlotte
for me with wins in my second year in the Nationwide Series - what
was then called the Busch Series," said Gordon. "Then I got my first
Cup pole at Charlotte in my rookie year (1993) and my first (Cup)
win there a year later. It's such a fun track to drive. And since
it's in Hendrick Motorsports' backyard, it's our home track where we
always want to do well."
LOOKING BACK: After running in the top eight for the first 90 laps,
Gordon's day suddenly took a turn for the worse when he and Jamie
McMurray got together on the restart following the third caution
flag. Gordon struggled the rest of the afternoon as he finished 14th
at Kansas. "We were having a pretty solid day with the Drive to End
Hunger Chevrolet until the 1 car (McMurray) got loose and got into
our left rear; was just way over his head," said Gordon. "I knew he
had a good car. He's been running good, but he just got loose and
got into me and got me into the wall. We had a little damage, but we
just lost all that track position. It is so hard to get it back at
this place. On that last restart (with 28 laps to go), I was just
real loose. I'd been a little loose, but not that loose. We just
fell back. We just kind of struggled from there. A lot of people had
trouble today. So today was a real survival day. We did that. It
just felt like we could have finished a lot better than that. We had
a good race car. We actually had a great race car (before the
incident with McMurray)."
ETC.: Gordon will be seeking his third straight top-seven finish at
CMS on Saturday night, and he knows that is exactly what he needs to
boost his chances of advancing to the third round of the Chase. "We
are only eight points out of third place (in the Sprint Cup
standings) and only eight points ahead of the Kasey (Kahne, who is
ninth in the standings), so there is a lot on the line at
Charlotte," said Gordon. "I am confident we will have a great car.
We just need a little racing luck and we can have a really good
night."
5 KASEY KAHNE, Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
WHERE HE STANDS: 9th, 25 points out of first place; eight points out
of the top 8 that advance to the next round of the Chase for the
Sprint Cup Championship.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: One win, two second-place finishes and five
top-eight finishes in the last six races. Overall has four wins and
12 top-10 finishes including nine top-five's in 21 starts.
LOOKING AHEAD: Kahne said, "We just want to go win at Charlotte, but
I don't feel like I have to win (to advance). I know I'm not 12th in
points, but I feel like it would help a lot if we win. But more than
anything, I just want to win. I want to win at Charlotte. It's been
a while since we won there and I know that we can." The driver who
wins at Charlotte automatically qualifies for the next round of the
Chase.
LOOKING BACK: Kahne was running third with only 39 laps to go when
he encountered tire problems forcing an unscheduled pit stop. The
yellow flag was being waved as Kahne left pit road dropping him a
lap behind the leaders. He took the wave around to get back on the
lead lap, but on the restart he got too high and bounced hard off
the wall. As a result, he finished 22nd at Kansas. "I was catching
the leaders, I was slowly reeling them in and then something
happened to my tire," said Kahne. "I was just ready to crash for a
lap and was able to make it to pit road before it blew. And then we
got behind when caution came out while I was leaving the pits. I
tried to come from 19th. I passed five or six cars and was feeling
pretty good and then lost the back (end of the car) and hit the
wall. My day was over at that point. But we had a great Farmers
Insurance Chevy. We had an easy top-three car for sure."
ETC.: Kahne believes his team has been at its best since the start
of the Chase. "Ever since the Chase started, minus Chicago, we've
had a top-five car," said Kahne. "And again at Kansas, I thought we
had a top-three car so I feel good about all that and look forward
to racing at Charlotte this Saturday."
2 BRAD KESELOWSKI, Ford
Team: Penske Racing
WHERE HE STANDS: 10th, 39 points out of first place; 22 points out
of the top 8 that advance to the next round of the Chase for the
Sprint Cup Championship.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: Won the fall race a year ago.
LOOKING AHEAD: Keselowski said, "The first thing that comes to mind
(as he heads to Charlotte) is that we won this race last year. That
is a nice confidence booster. We have a strong intermediate track
platform, and the 2 team has been performing well this season. It
does feel as though Homestead (the deciding race in this year's
championship chase) came early this year - subsequently we need a
big weekend in order to keep our season alive. This team thrives
with adversity, and I am not one to back down when challenged, so I
feel as though we are ready for this one."
LOOKING BACK: After leading once for two laps, Keselowski was
running fifth when a blown right-front tire sent him hard into the
turn-two wall on lap 160 of the 267-lap event. He was forced to go
to the garage area for repairs to his badly-damaged Ford. Keselowski
returned to finish 36th at Kansas to severely damage his hopes of
winning a second championship. "It's a game of Russian roulette and
it was our turn at the gun and Dale Jr's (Earnhardt) turn at the gun
earlier," said Keselowski. "We've seen signs of this (tire problems)
for three seasons racing here. Aerodynamics in racing today has
gotten out of control. The specs for tires aren't designed to handle
that...you can point fingers at that either way, there's no margin.
When you have no margin small variables are gonna get someone and
like I said it was just our day at the gun. The bad side of this
Chase is we took a big points lead here and gave it all back to
zero. The good side of it is that you can still win your way out of
it and we have two really good tracks for us ahead so if we can just
win one of them we'll be fine."
ETC.: Crew chief Paul Wolfe admits "this new Chase format does
create new challenges, but it also brings new opportunity. While it
is easy to get caught up in thinking about the Chase and this
Contender Round in particular, we can only do one race at a time.
Charlotte is a very temperature sensitive track and this is a long
race so keeping up with the changing track conditions is key. I am
looking forward to it."
88 DALE EARNHARDT, JR., Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
WHERE HE STANDS: 11th, 42 points out of first place; 25 points out
of the top 8 that will advance to the next round of the Chase for
the Sprint Cup Championship.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: 11 top-10 finishes in 29 starts. Best finish is a
third in the fall race of 2004.
LOOKING AHEAD: It didn't take Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte
long after their problems at Kansas to look ahead to this weekend at
Charlotte. "We've got to win," said Earnhardt. "We're going to have
to give it our best next weekend. You (talking to the crew) all did
awesome this weekend. That's what we need to do next weekend to give
ourselves a chance so let's be ready." Letarte quickly added, "We've
got to go to Charlotte and get us a win there. Either way we've got
to run good. Still got two more (races in this round of the Chase).
Lots of opportunity for other people to trip up."
LOOKING BACK: Earnhardt had taken control of the race and was
pulling away from the field when his right-front tire came apart on
lap 122 sending him hard into the fourth-turn wall. He was forced to
go to the garage area for major repairs before returning to the race
where he finished 39th. "I was going into turn three and the surface
of the tire unwound all the way across the surface," said Earnhardt.
"The whole surface of the tire unwound like a string. I felt it
coming apart through the corner. But I've got to hand it to the
guys. Man, that was a great race car. We hadn't been running very
good the last several weeks. But man, we came in here with a great
attitude and a great fast car; this is the car that we won Pocono
with both times. This is going to hurt us in the points, obviously,
but we've got a lot of racing left and a lot of racing (races) to
win. We just have to go to the next race and try to win."
ETC.: Earnhardt will turn 40 on Friday. "Definitely accomplished
more than I thought I would when I was younger," said Earnhardt. "I
just wanted to make it and being the son of a guy that was so
successful - the more success he had it seemed like the harder it
would be for me to make it. I'm real happy with what I've been able
to accomplish and who I have been able to work with and the friends
I've been able to make. We are still winning races and running good
so maybe we can get a few more wins and have some more fun before
it's over. Definitely having this birthday come up makes you reflect
quite a bit back on not so much the decisions or any regrets that
you have, just the fun stuff you have done and is the next 40 years
going to be just as good, because the first 40 were pretty great."
48 JIMMIE JOHNSON, Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
WHERE HE STANDS: 12th, 44 points out of first place; 27 points out
of the top 8 that will advance to the next round in the Chase for
the Sprint Cup Championship.
CHARLOTTE RECORD: Won the spring race for his seventh win - the most
wins in the history of the track.
LOOKING AHEAD: After his impressive performance in the Coca-Cola 600
at Charlotte back in May, Johnson is really looking forward to this
weekend. "The 1.5-mile tracks are our bread and butter," said
Johnson. "They've really been a strong suit for the 48 team over the
years. We know we have to be on our game at Charlotte. This weekend
is very important. We know we need a W (win). The best way to avoid
any concerns at Talladega (the last race in this round of the Chase)
is to win."
LOOKING BACK: Johnson's hopes of a record-tying seventh Cup
championship took a real hit Sunday at Kansas when he was clipped
from behind by Greg Biffle and sent spinning into Justin Allgaier
and then hard into the inside wall on the backstretch. As a result,
he finished 40th. "Just got tagged in the left-rear," said Johnson.
"I was cruising along the top, thought everything was fine and then
found myself sideways down the back straightaway. We were moving
forward and in a good position. I felt like our times had us capable
of a top-five finish. But just being back there in that mess (after
qualifying 32nd) and ended up being the mess. If you are going to be
back in qualifying you are putting yourself in harm's way and today
is proof of that."
ETC.: Even though Johnson's chances of advancing to the next round
of the Chase don't look too good at the moment, he is quick to point
out "there is still a lot of racing left. Stuff can happen. You've
just got to play the cards that are dealt to you. If I got taken out
at Kansas, someone else can later. We'll do our best to get back on
track this weekend. We know we need a win in the next two races." A
victory at Charlotte or Talladega automatically advances the driver
to the next round.
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