Chase For The Cup #5: Charlotte

JPG/racintoday.com

We're halfway through the Chase for the Sprint Cup and the next stop is here at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, the home track of NASCAR. The chasers aren't in Kansas anymore, and I'm sure many of them are relieved after the beating Jimmie Johnson laid on them, signifying the #48 never went anywhere. But are things really gonna get better for the 11 other drivers trying to dethrone Five-Time? Well, maybe, but not likely.

Favorites

Jimmie Johnson

Johnson's last win at Charlotte in 2009. JPG/NASCAR.com

Five-Time has definitely demonstrated why he is "The Man" at CMS. In a time span from 2003-2005, Johnson won five of the six races. Including winning four in a row at one point. The race he didn't win, he finished 3rd while leading 104 laps. Get the picture? Another astounding stat is that Johnson has led a lap in 18 of his 20 Charlotte starts. Yeah, I think its a safe bet to say he'll be a threat tonight. 

Kasey Kahne

There's no secret that Charlotte is Kasey Kahne's best track. And seeing how he has ran in practice, not to mention, past success here, Kahne is and will be among the favorites to win tonight's Bank of America 500. In fact, he was the sole driver to end Johnson's dominance during that span by going onto winning three of the next five Charlotte races. Now I realize he hasn't had a top ten in the last three, but make no mistake, something unfortunate would have to keep him from breaking such a trend.

Darkhorses


David Reutimann

     

Reutimann in Victory Lane winning the rain-shortened Coke 600 in 2009.
JPG/bleacherreport.com

Yes, I know he won the Coca-Cola 600 thanks to Mother Nature. But since then, he has ran off three top tens in his last four Charlotte starts. This is his best track. Also, his average finish is better than nine of the 12 Chase drivers in the field. Not bad huh?

Greg Biffle

So apparently rumor has it that the Ford's are looking very strong this weekend and he looks to be the Class of the Fusions. The Biff has an average finish of 18th and no wins at Charlotte. Not good. But his practice times in the five and, especially, ten lap averages are very good. So while the focus will be on fellow teammates, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, Biffle might sneak his way into Victory Lane when the race is all said and done.

RiskTakers


Jeff Gordon

Out of all the Chasers, he seems to be the only one that isn't too thrilled with the way he car is driving, Even teammate Dale Jr seemed to be pleased with his ride after practice last evening. Charlotte has been very hit or miss for Jeff. He has four Charlotte wins, but then he has streaks of less-than-stellar finishes, most notably from 2005-2007. He registered five straight finishes of 24th or worse; all DNF's. If anything is a good sign, it was that he was 8th in practice under the expected race conditions yesterday. Otherwise, I don't have any expectations for tonight. Hopefully, I'm proved wrong.


You know what's ironic? I'm giving Fantasy advice and I, myself, am having a difficult time on who to choose. I mean many of the Chasers seem pleased with their race cars. But I have only $100 to work with. Anyway, this race will come down to #4 (Kahne) and #16 (Biffle), with Kasey Kahne winning the Bank of America 500. Yep, That's right. A chaser will not win tonight. In the meantime, I will have my Chicago-Style-Deep Dish Pizza from Lou Malnati's and enjoy the race, as usual.


All Race Stats retrieved from http://www.racing-reference.info/