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| The kid at Bristol has a point! |
There are only three weeks remaining until the Chase starts and only 12 drivers will make it -- Jimmie Johnson is only driver to clinch, but right now we have 14 legitimate drivers all vying for the final 11 spots, and each week something happens to drastically change the stage. Drivers with no wins who are inside the top-10 with no wins, like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch are feeling the pressure of trying to continually run well, while drivers outside the top-10 like Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman have an interesting dilemma in front of them.
Truex Jr., sits in 12th position and would get the wild card based on his one win if the season ended today, but he’s got Logano breathing down his neck -- only seven points behind -- and a win in his back pocket that he captured last week at Michigan. Newman is only 17 points behind and also has a win. If either of those drivers can win one in the final three races, they’ll likely secure one of the wild card spots with two wins on the season. But in going for the win, there is a risk. Go all out and sometimes things can turn for the worse, such as wrecking and sliding down in points.
As for Gordon, he slid another position in the standings to 14th and if he doesn’t win at least one race, he’ll have to make up at least 27 points over the next three to pass Greg Biffle who sits in 10th with one win. Gordon’s in a situation where he has to be as aggressive as ever and go all out and let things fall where they may. He raced himself into the Chase last season with a succession of brilliant finishes in the final three races before the Chase with a third-place and two runner-up finishes. After finishing second at Pocono a few weeks ago, he’s come up with poor finishes of 36th at Watkins Glen and 17th at Michigan and he‘ll need something similar to last season, and maybe even better, to have a chance.
This Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway’s half-mile fast track should turn up the heat on all the drivers competing for their playoff lives. In addition to already feeling the heat from the standings, they’ll also feel the wrath from irritated drivers who have to spend 500 laps tightly bunched up with one another. With so many drivers competing for every position they can, there are bound to be plenty of hurt feelings when they are wronged by a fellow driver, and that’s when the real drama begins, because the anticipation of seeing the retaliation is what makes Bristol so fun for the fans.
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