Five drivers who need a major turnaround to make the Chase
Clint Bowyer -- He is currently 13th in points and only seven points out of 12th. So the task of getting back into Chase contention would seem not that difficult. But Bowyer has been going in the wrong direction ever since a fifth-place finish at Martinsville put him second in points. In the five races since then his average finish has been 28.4. That won’t cut it.
Kasey Kahne -- He’s in 16th place, 66 points out of 12th but the hill he has to climb is much higher. He and his Richard Petty Motorsports teammates have been driving underpowered and overweight cars all year. And Kahne has been very vocal in his criticisms of the team’s performance and has said he has to stay off the radio during races so as not to vent his frustrations on his crew. RPM does not have the new Dodge engine yet -- as Penske does -- but is likely to introduce it soon and probably in the No. 9. But it’s likely to be too little, too late.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Junior is in 18th place and 89 points out of Chase contention. He has shown flashes of brilliance at times, like at Talladega. But more frequently he has been shooting himself in the foot with pit road mistakes. And the stress from his mediocre season has started to show in his uncharacteristic irritation during recent press conferences. In five of the 11 races so far he has finished 27th or worse. That kind of inconsistency is deadly. Eventually he will hit upon a week where everything comes together and the law of averages works in his favor. He’ll win a race this year simply because his team, equipment and talent are good enough to do so. But that won’t be enough to vault him over five other drivers and into 12th.
Martin Truex Jr. -- The Daytona 500 polesitter is in 19th place and 127 points out. Truex is coming off his best finish of the year -- a sixth at Darlington but he also has six finishes of 25th or worse. Plus, the odds are that he’s a short-timer at Earnhardt-Ganassi. If Brad Keselowski doesn’t end up in a third car next season at Stewart-Haas, Truex could find the stability he needs there.
Kevin Harvick -- He’s in 21st place, 162 points behind 12th. But he’s also just a few points ahead of underachieving teammate Casey Mears. And he has five finishes of 30th or worse. At Lowe’s he won the 2007 All-Star race, but he has just one top 5 in 16 points races. He’s only led nine laps all season -- all of those coming at Las Vegas. Since the crew chief swap between Harvick and Mears there has been improvement. Harvick did not run a single lap in the top 15 for the three races prior to the swap. In the two post-swap races he has spent 75 percent of his laps in the top 15. But 21st in points is a very deep hole.
Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at Blog of Tommorow
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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