RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — It's a Hendrick Motorsports front row at Richmond International Raceway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for Saturday night's "regular-season" finale, turning a lap of 127.023 mph in his Chevrolet to bump teammate Jeff Gordon from the top starting spot.
"I was as surprised as anybody," said Earnhardt, who won the 11th pole of his career. "It feels good. I've not really been the best of qualifiers the last couple of years. We have a lot of improvements we've made this year. It feels good to get a pole."
It's the first pole for NASCAR's most popular driver since the 2011 Daytona 500.
It came at the expense of Gordon, who is trying to race his way into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Gordon wound up second, and was pleased with the effort.
"Mission accomplished," he said.
Gordon needs a strong race Saturday night and a little bit of help to earn one of the two wild-card berths in the 12-driver Chase field. Although eight drivers go into the race mathematically eligible for the final two spots in the Chase field, the talk has focused on a battle between Gordon and Kyle Busch for the last slot.
Busch, a four-time Richmond winner who picked up his only victory this season here in May, qualified 15th. But Gordon knew that's not far enough in the pack to not worry about Busch.
"In my opinion, it's really Kyle's to lose," Gordon said. "For us, it's really nothing to lose, everything to gain."
Earnhardt is already locked into the Chase and is racing only for bonus points Saturday night. The Chase field will be re-seeded after the race, with everyone but the two wild-card drivers starting their title hunt with three bonus points per victory.
Earnhardt has one win this season.
"I think everybody wants to get the win to kick the Chase off, and go into the Chase with a lot of confidence," Earnhardt said.
The top seed will be Denny Hamlin, who has a series-best four wins this season and goes into his home track coming off consecutive victories the last two weeks. He qualified 11th and has said all week his focus Saturday night will be in helping Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch make the Chase.
But Hamlin could be joined by another driver in a tie for the top seed: five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and defending champion Tony Stewart are all tied with three wins this season. If one of them wins at Richmond, they'll tie Hamlin with 12 bonus points to open the Chase.
Hamlin, a two-time winner here, isn't ruling out stretching his lead with yet another victory. He's coming off wins at Bristol and Atlanta.
"I think we've got a great shot at three in a row," Hamlin said. "We've just got to keep it going."
Regan Smith, not eligible for the Chase, qualified third and was followed by Chase drivers Clint Bowyer and Johnson. Sprint Cup Series points leader Greg Biffle qualified 23rd in a rough day for Ford drivers.
Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, Biffle's Roush Fenway Racing teammates, qualified 16th and 17th. Edwards, who lost the championship to Stewart last season on a tie-breaker, is clinging to the outside possibility of making the Chase. He's winless this year, although a late penalty for jumping the restart cost him the win here in May.
He said he's rooting for "an insane race" Saturday night.
"I want things to just be off the chart. I want rain delays and oil on the track. I want things to happen," he said. "I need this race to be insane. I need people running out of fuel and crazy cautions and four-wide down in turn one. That's what I need and I'll take whatever I can get."
That's exactly what Busch doesn't want to happen.
"I hope it's not crazy," he said this week. "If I had my way, I'd just as soon see somebody already in the Chase win the race and I finish second."
Busch can clinch a berth by winning the race, or by losing 12 or fewer points to Gordon.
Showing posts with label Gordon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gordon. Show all posts
Saturday, September 8, 2012
It's Busch vs Gordon in race for final Chase berth
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — NASCAR trotted out eight drivers Thursday who are all mathematically eligible to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
In reality, Saturday night's "regular season" finale is a race between Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon for the final berth in the 12-driver field.
The two wild card berths are both technically open. But with two wins on the season, Kasey Kahne is in strong shape to lock one of them down. So Busch and Gordon talked as if it's just down to them for the last slot.
"I think it's just Jeff and I," Busch said. "Nothing against any of the other guys, but the way past history preserves itself, I think it's just Jeff and I."
Busch can clinch a berth by winning the race, or by losing 12 or fewer points to Gordon. It doesn't hurt that Richmond is one of his best tracks.
He's a four-time winner at Richmond, and his May win here is his only victory this season. He's got an average finish of 4.7 and has 13 top-10s in 15 career starts. With that track record, he didn't seem too stressed Thursday.
"It certainly relieves a little bit of pressure than if (the race) was anywhere else," Busch said. "Richmond is a really good race for me, but it is a short track where anything can happen."
Gordon only makes it into the Chase by finishing 13 points ahead of Busch. And, a week after failing to knock Denny Hamlin out of the way at Atlanta for what would have been a crucial victory, Gordon is vowing to do anything needed to make the Chase.
"We're going to do whatever it takes to win, whatever that means," Gordon said Thursday.
What it doesn't mean, though, is asking for help. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are already locked into the Chase, and although Kasey Kahne isn't yet, it would take an epic failure and a litany of other scenarios for him not to claim a wild card.
Gordon wants them to run their own races on Saturday night.
"I'm not going to ask them to do anything for me," he said. "It they choose to do anything on their own, that's on them."
At the same time, Gordon said he won't give anyone any breaks, even his teammates. At Atlanta, on the final restart, he had a chance to knock Hamlin out of the way and steal a win that would have given him two on the season and put him in prime position to grab the last Chase berth.
He's been kicking himself ever since, and even wondered if he's getting soft in his later years. It won't happen again on Saturday night.
"Right now, we're going to be treating anybody that's in front of us as if they are the enemy," Gordon said.
Busch understands that it could be anything goes in the closing laps on Saturday night. His preference is for a quiet race, with a driver already locked into the Chase winning, and Busch finishing second. But if he's got to move Gordon for the win, he'll do it, and knows Gordon will do the same to him.
"It would be in line with what's on the line," he said.
In reality, Saturday night's "regular season" finale is a race between Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon for the final berth in the 12-driver field.
The two wild card berths are both technically open. But with two wins on the season, Kasey Kahne is in strong shape to lock one of them down. So Busch and Gordon talked as if it's just down to them for the last slot.
"I think it's just Jeff and I," Busch said. "Nothing against any of the other guys, but the way past history preserves itself, I think it's just Jeff and I."
Busch can clinch a berth by winning the race, or by losing 12 or fewer points to Gordon. It doesn't hurt that Richmond is one of his best tracks.
He's a four-time winner at Richmond, and his May win here is his only victory this season. He's got an average finish of 4.7 and has 13 top-10s in 15 career starts. With that track record, he didn't seem too stressed Thursday.
"It certainly relieves a little bit of pressure than if (the race) was anywhere else," Busch said. "Richmond is a really good race for me, but it is a short track where anything can happen."
Gordon only makes it into the Chase by finishing 13 points ahead of Busch. And, a week after failing to knock Denny Hamlin out of the way at Atlanta for what would have been a crucial victory, Gordon is vowing to do anything needed to make the Chase.
"We're going to do whatever it takes to win, whatever that means," Gordon said Thursday.
What it doesn't mean, though, is asking for help. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are already locked into the Chase, and although Kasey Kahne isn't yet, it would take an epic failure and a litany of other scenarios for him not to claim a wild card.
Gordon wants them to run their own races on Saturday night.
"I'm not going to ask them to do anything for me," he said. "It they choose to do anything on their own, that's on them."
At the same time, Gordon said he won't give anyone any breaks, even his teammates. At Atlanta, on the final restart, he had a chance to knock Hamlin out of the way and steal a win that would have given him two on the season and put him in prime position to grab the last Chase berth.
He's been kicking himself ever since, and even wondered if he's getting soft in his later years. It won't happen again on Saturday night.
"Right now, we're going to be treating anybody that's in front of us as if they are the enemy," Gordon said.
Busch understands that it could be anything goes in the closing laps on Saturday night. His preference is for a quiet race, with a driver already locked into the Chase winning, and Busch finishing second. But if he's got to move Gordon for the win, he'll do it, and knows Gordon will do the same to him.
"It would be in line with what's on the line," he said.
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