ONE FINAL ROAD TO CHASE
These four drivers might need to win at Glen to get in
With only five races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup field is set, time is running out for drivers who don’t have a win to get themselves into playoff position.
Starting last year, NASCAR connected Chase berths to victories; as long as a driver is in the top 30 in points, anyone with a single win virtually makes the 16person Chase.
But let’s be honest: If a driver isn’t in a Chase spot and hasn’t won in the first 21 races, the chances aren’t so great a victory is coming in the next five weeks.
That’s where Watkins Glen International and the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen come into the picture. Road-course racing takes a special skill set, and some drivers adapt far better than others. Here are four drivers not in Chase position whose last good chance for a victory could be Sunday (you’re OK, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon):
AJ ALLMENDINGER
Allmendinger is the poster child for using a road race to make the Chase (he did it by outdueling Marcos Ambrose last year at the Glen), and this is likely his one shot to do it again.
Allmendinger is 23rd in the standings and has just three top-10 finishes, which means he’s probably not going to win an oval race barring a fuel-mileage situation or other unusual circumstance.
He’s likely the favorite to repeat at the Glen, though. Allmendinger had a disappointing finish at Sonoma Raceway in June after starting on the pole (he was 37th after mechanical problems), but he has never finished worse than 13th in his career at the Glen and has four consecutive top-10s.
DANICA PATRICK
Patrick has never finished better than 18th in any of her five road-course starts in the Sprint Cup Series. But she had a shot to win the Xfinity Series race in Montreal in 2012 until she ran over a shoe — yes, a shoe on the track — and lost the handling on her car.
Given she has road-racing experience from her open-wheel days and is driving some of the best cars in the series at StewartHaas Racing, Patrick is capable of being a contender at the Glen.
It’s certainly her best shot to make the Chase in the next five races; she has just one top-10 finish in 19 career starts at the remaining four tracks after this (Michigan International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Richmond International Raceway).
SAM HORNISH JR.
The three-time IndyCar cham- pion’s return to full-time Sprint Cup racing has been a big disappointment for Richard Petty Motorsports this year. Hornish has only two top-10s and carries an average finish of 25.4, which is on pace to be his worst since his rookie season in 2008.
But Hornish could turn it all around at the Glen, where he finished fifth in 2012 and had a pair of podium finishes in the Xfinity Series.
Plus, Hornish is driving for Ambrose’s old team, and Ambrose had two wins in the No. 9 car (in 2011 and 2012) plus the second-place finish last year. No pressure, right?
TONY STEWART
It seems crazy to say Watkins Glen is Stewart’s last chance at a win before the Chase begins, but that might actually be the case. Stewart is the track’s all-time leader with five wins, even though he hasn’t raced there since 2012, and should be one of the favorites.
After all, he is perhaps the greatest all-around driver of his generation. He has shown time and again he can win on any type of track and in any type of car.
But Stewart has struggled this season. Week after week, he hasn’t been able to get the feel he needs in the car to be competitive (two top-10s, 14 laps led all year). So although he has five combined wins at the four remaining tracks after this week, including three at Richmond, this weekend could be it for Stewart’s Chase hopes.