Storylines For NASCAR Banking 500 at Charlotte

By NASCAR Media Services

It’s a big week, to say the least.

 

On Wednesday, the second class of inductees will be announced for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in Charlotte, N.C. Five new members will join last year’s inaugural class of Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty.

 

There are five first-time nominees this year: Jerry Cook, Jack Ingram, Dale Inman, Fred Lorenzen and T. Wayne Robertson.

 

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads into the fifth of its 10 races, Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway – the NASCAR Banking 500 Only From Bank Of America. In addition, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will race Friday night at CMS – the Dollar General 300.

 

Storylines follow:

 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Top 5 in Chase Separated By Only 107Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson leads the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. Two-time champion Tony Stewart is fifth. Only 107 points separate them In between are second-place Denny Hamlin (36 behind Johnson), Kevin Harvick (54 back) and four-time champion Jeff Gordon (85 back).

Comeback In Progress

Stewart is trying to mount a dramatic late-season comeback. He has made up 50 points on the points leader (first Hamlin, then Johnson) the last two weeks.

 

What are the chances of Stewart coming ALL the way back? Pretty good, really. He has a total of eight wins in his career at the last six race tracks on the schedule – Charlotte Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Stewart has won at each of those tracks.

 

Kurt Busch After Historic Sweep at Charlotte

Former series champion Kurt Busch is sixth in the Chase standings, 140 behind Johnson. Which is motivation enough for this week’s Charlotte event. But here’s more:

After winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte earlier this year, a win Saturday night would make Busch the only driver to win all three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at the track in a single season.