NASCAR - Race for thr Chase Race #1, Loudon, N.H.Sun. 9/17 TNT/12:30 p.m. E.T.

Nascar.com,Jayski's ^

[Pete-R-Bilt]

New Hampshire International Speedway







A glance at the 10 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, in order of points standings:

Drivers in the Chase, a closer look

DRIVER: Matt Kenseth

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,050

HOMETOWN: Cambridge, Wis.

AGE: 34

CAR: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford

CREW CHIEF: Robbie Reiser

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 1st (2003)

OUTLOOK: Kenseth, the driver many believe forced the Chase format because of his lackluster 2003 title run, has momentum on his side as he tries to win a championship under the new system. He's got four wins this season and has turned it up a notch heading into the Chase.

DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,045

HOMETOWN: El Cajon, Calif.

AGE: 30

CAR: No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Chad Knaus

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 2nd (2003, 2004)

OUTLOOK: Johnson, who has four wins this season, led the points for most of the year. A perpetual title contender, he's hoping this is the season he finally finishes the job.

DRIVER: Kevin Harvick

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,040

HOMETOWN: Bakersfield, Calif.

AGE: 30

CAR: No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Todd Berrier

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 5th (2003)

OUTLOOK: Harvick is the darkhorse of this championship Chase. He's running away with the Busch Series title and will get extra track time running both schedules. A championship would be the first for Richard Childress Racing since Dale Earnhardt's 2001 death.

DRIVER: Kyle Busch

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,035

HOMETOWN: Las Vegas.

AGE: 21

CAR: No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Alan Gustafson

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 20th (2005)

OUTLOOK: After a rocky start to the season that had him on almost every driver's bad side, Busch has quietly stayed out of trouble and made himself a championship contender. Probably too immature to win a title just yet, but talented enough to make a run at it.

DRIVER: Denny Hamlin

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,030

HOMETOWN: Chesterfield, Va.

AGE: 25

CAR: No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Mike Ford

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: --

OUTLOOK: The surprise of the Chase field, the rookie has been impressive and thrust himself into Chase contention by sweeping the Pocono races. He lacks the experience to win the title this year but could pull off a stunner like he did at the start of the year when he won the Budweiser Shootout.

DRIVER: Dalr Earnhardt Jr.

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,025

HOMETOWN: Kannapolis, N.C.

AGE: 31

CAR: No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Tony Eury Jr.

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 3rd (2003)

OUTLOOK: Earnhardt is on a comeback after finishing a career-worst 19th in the standings last year. But he's been hit-or-miss this year and had a pair of engine failures at inopportune times. Unless he gets really hot, he's a longshot to win the title.

DRIVER: Mark Martin

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,020

HOMETOWN: Batesville, Ark.

AGE: 47

CAR: No. 6 AAA Ford

CREW CHIEF: Pat Tryson

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 2nd (1990, '94, '98, 2002)

OUTLOOK: Martin has yet to prove this season that his team is strong enough to win a title, and he's yet to win a race this year. But he'll go down fighting in what's likely his final season of full-time Cup racing.

DRIVER: Jeff Burton

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,015

HOMETOWN: South Boston, Va.

AGE: 39

CAR: No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Scott Miller

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 3rd (2000)

OUTLOOK: Although he's winless this season, Burton is having a tremendous year after several miserable seasons. He's led a ton of laps, but late-race slips have prevented him from making it to Victory Lane. If Burton can put it all together, he's got a chance.

DRIVER: Jeff Gordon

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,010

HOMETOWN: Vallejo, Calif.

AGE: 35

CAR: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet

CREW CHIEF: Steve Letarte

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 1st (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001)

OUTLOOK: After missing the Chase last year, Gordon's team has rebounded in hopes of getting him his fifth title. His season has just been OK by Gordon's standards, but the driver nicknamed "Money Man" is sure to turn it up a notch over the stretch run.

DRIVER: Kasey Kahne

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,005

HOMETOWN: Enumclaw, Wash.

AGE: 26

CAR: No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge

CREW CHIEF: Kenny Francis

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: 13th (2004)

OUTLOOK: Kahne, who has five wins this season, dominated on 1.5-mile tracks earlier this year. With five of the Chase races on 1.5-milers, another hot streak could make him the runaway Chase winner

[WestCoastGal]

Earnhardt fans.....

Bono Manion on Claire B's show yesterday........

Talking about how Jr and the 8 team were really coming on and how they were really going to be the ones to beat. He said that DEI is working HARD to get them that championship. He said that the 2 teams are and will continue to work very close together and they will help each other as much as possible. He said that they have already moved into the new shop and so them and the 8 team work side by side now. They are just seperated by a hallway and so they share alot.

He said that DEI is very excited and determined to win the championship with Jr. He said they have improved greatly with engines and other things. They know what they are doing and have what it takes to go all the way. He said they have alot that they expect to show in the final 10 and he thinks they will be great. He said that the 8 team is just very focused and determined to go out there and be the team to beat every week for the championship. He said he has never seem them so excited and ready to go. They have a plan and know what they have to do. He said the team has a "togetherness" about them. They are working great together and things are better than ever. they want it bad for each other and they and DEI will do whatever they can to get it.

[WestCoastGal]

Croc Hunter and Peter Brock fans.....

Craftsman Truck Series driver Marcos Ambrose will carry tributes to fellow Australians Peter Brock and Steve Irwin on his Wood Brothers/JTG Racing entry in Saturday's Sylvania 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Ambrose, driver of the No. 20 Ford, is a native of Tasmania, Australia. His Team Australia truck will carry a logo with Brock's No. 05 on the side and a logo in tribute to Irwin, known as the "Crocodile Hunter."

RIP and God Speed Mates.

[Roccus]

I'm not the NASCAR fan that you guys are, but races at this track seem boring to me. What about you?

[WestCoastGal]

For anyone who missed Letterman last night NewYorkTexan got us screen caps on the old thread here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1696635/posts?page=689#689

[LasVegasMac]

Thanks for the ping.

The weather looks ok for Sunday. Time to get this show on the road!

[don-o]

Roccus, I am very ignerant - but this 'un and Dover and Michigan seem to be pretty much a day at the office.

[WestCoastGal]

This track has an interesting history. As far as boredom.........Mr Helton and Monsieur Debris usually throw a caution to bunch them back up.

---

In 2000, the track was the site of a pair of fatal accidents which took the lives of promising young drivers. In May, while practicing for a Busch Series race, Adam Petty perished when his throttle stuck in the middle of a turn. When Winston Cup made their first appearance, a similar fate befell 1998 Rookie of the Year Kenny Irwin, Jr.. For safety reasons, track owners decided to run restrictor plates on the cars during their return trip to the speedway in September 2000, making it the first track outside of Daytona and Talladega to use them. It would be the last one as well; a boring race won by Jeff Burton, which had no lead changes, was the result of the experiment. It was the first wire-to-wire race since the 1970's.

The 2001 New Hampshire 300 was originally scheduled for September 16, the Sunday after the September 11 terrorist attacks. NASCAR initially announced that the race would be held as scheduled, but the event was postponed until the Friday after Thanksgiving. There was much concern about the weather, but race day turned out to be unseasonably mild.

Two changes were made. In 2002, in an effort to increase competitive racing, the track's corners were turned into a progressive banking system, as the apron was paved and became part of the track, and the track's banking was varied from 4 degrees in the lower two lanes to 12% grade (about 7 degrees). The addition of SAFER barriers to the corner walls was made in 2003.

During the September 2003 Sylvania 300, an incident occurred at this track involving Dale Jarrett where his car was stuck in the middle of the race track and was in danger of getting hit while other cars raced back to the caution flag. As a result, NASCAR banned racing back to the caution flag, resulting in a "free pass" (popularly referred to as "the lucky dog") in which the first car behind the leader not on the lead lap would get their lap back during each caution period in all of NASCAR's national and regional series.

[vox_freedom]

Thanks for that interesting background and memory refresher. The fatal accident of Adam Petty was especially tragic, as was the earlier one of Kenny Irwin. I have found the races since the track revisions/changes more exciting.

[Roccus]

Well,you folks know better than I. It's just that in my mind's eye, NH = Indian file circuits. Although I used to enjoy NASCAR back in the late 60's early 70's, it was on broadcast TV, like Wide Wlorld of Sports etc. usually on tape. Cable wasn't available to me until 2000, so there's a big gap in my viewing. Living in NYC did have it's drawbacks.

[Roccus]

WCG, I hit "post" before I thanked you for your response. Sorry.

[fideist]

NASCAR.Com now has the video of the Chase drivers delivering the Top Ten on Letterman last night.

[fideist]

Pete, OUTSTANDING thread this week! GREAT job!

[B4Ranch]

>> also produce enough roughage to feed 1000 cattle for ranchers in the area.<<

Drunk cows staggering in the pasture, thanks to ethanol.

I'm watching KK at Richmond on Speed.

[Pete-R-Bilt]

Drunk cows staggering in the pasture, thanks to ethanol

next time on Ophra.

[NYTexan]

Great thread ya put together!

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks for the thread!

NASCAR hits Big Apple to promote Chase (Letterman, Regis and Kelly, ESPN Zone show guests)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1701706/posts

[SouthTexas]

American Gladiator

[tubebender]

We are getting a lite rain here on the north coast this morning. First in 3 1/2 months so the streets and highways will be slicker than s___

[Pete-R-Bilt]

Moderate to heavy rain here this weekend.

Snow level down to 7000

[LasVegasMac]

on Jayski....

"RYR one car team in 2007? Robert Yates Racing co-owner Doug Yates told reporters in Richmond, Va., his team could shrink from two cars to one if sponsorship isn't found for its #88 [currently driven by Dale Jarrett with UPS as the sponsor](USA Today sidebar)(9-15-2006)"

No 88 car next year ? - that would be strange.