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The Chase Starts With a Level Playing Field

An Opinion


September 13, 2010

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

The Chase is officially on, and for the first time in years, I think it is just about anyone’s to win, or lose.

Going into Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway, the Chase field was already pretty solidly set, save something major happening on the track during the race. Despite the fact that Kevin Harvick had led the points for the majority of the season, he came out of the race on Saturday with a 30 point deficit to the new points leader Denny Hamlin.

The key word among the Chase participants for 2010 seems to be consistency. All agree this is the most level playing field going into the final ten races in years, and it will be consistency that will lead to the championship in Homestead in ten weeks.

“I think it is the most competitive chase field we have ever had,” said Tony Stewart, who will be starting the Chase in 6th place, 50 points behind the leader. “You hate to sound like an idiot by saying you just have to be better than the other eleven guys, but that is what is going come down to. I think you have to capitalize on the tracks you’re good at -– you’re not going to be able to get a mulligan. You’re going to have to be good for ten straight weeks.”

“You are going to have to capitalize on the places you are good at and survive the places you aren’t.” added Greg Biffle, who is starting the Chase tied with Stewart. “We probably have seven or eight good racetracks in the chase for us. We have a few that we will have to keep our head above water on.”

Matt Kenseth says that it isn’t only how his team runs, but how the others run in comparison that will determine his success in the chase. “Our performance has been getting better lately and I’m enthused by that and seeing how good Greg has been running and Carl, so it feels like we are getting better. So if we do all the right things at the track and get up there, hopefully we can contend with those guys, but it depends on how they run as well and if they have trouble and all that. But the main thing we are focused on is trying to elevate our performance to where we can be a consistent frontrunner and leading laps and be in contention to win.”

All eyes seem to be on the man who has won the last four championships: Jimmie Johnson.

“I feel like Jimmie has had an unbelievable ability to perform in the Chase and win Championships, but I think all of these guys, everyone would agree that it’s anyone’s race more than ever this year,” said Carl Edwards, who is starting tied for last in the Chase with Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, and Jeff Gordon. “It looks like advantages are smaller and they last a shorter amount of time.

“So over these ten races, it’s just going to be –- I think it’s anybody’s tonight. To me it feels like that’s truer than ever. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmie comes out here and goes off and wins the first three or something and proves us wrong, but I don’t believe he’ll do that.”

Clint Bowyer believes that the gap between the 48 team and everyone else has shrunk enough to make this anyone’s Championship. “Superman has not lost his cape, but it is shorter than it was in years past. So hopefully we’ll all be able to give him a run for his money this year.”

“If guys think we are vulnerable, it’s my job to show up at Loudon, qualify on the pole, and win the race. That’s what we need to do regardless,” explained defending champion Jimmie Johnson. “I hope we can do it again. There’s no telling. It’s been awfully tough to win four in a row, but we’ll show up and give 100% and at the end of ten races, if we give 100% and get beat, then we’ll go home and be proud of what we did. But if we squandered it away and do something stupid and say, we didn’t give it our all, we’ll be disappointed.”

Johnson’s teammate, Jeff Gordon, says we should have a pretty good idea of who is going to be the man to beat by the time they go back to Charlotte next month. “Most of that starts to show itself four or five races into the Chase, and that’s kind of the way I feel about it right now. Yeah, maybe there’s no clear-cut favorite right now, the way the past 26 races have gone. But I’ve seen how the team that really is going to win this championship seems to be pretty clear in the past, anyway, four or five races into the Chase, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens again this year. But certainly, the thing that is exciting is that it’s really hard to predict who that is going to be. You know, I think it is exciting for the sport right now of how competitive and close the competition is.”

The man leading the Chase going into Loudon next week says that while many people talk about the importance of gaining momentum, it really is a new mindset each and every week, and that mindset helps to determine success or failure.

“Your momentum ends as soon as you go to the next race track as far as I’m concerned. It’s about next week on Monday. It’s about getting better at that race track,” explained Hamlin, who took the lead going into the Chase with a win Saturday night.

So next week we head into the chase with twelve men who believe this is their Championship to win. We will see if momentum, or history, plays a part in determining who will be holding court in Las Vegas in November.



You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Kim


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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