Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth have to be thankful for the simple formula that embodies the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format – “win and you’re in.”
Earnhardt, 11th on the Chase Grid, sits 19 points behind Brad Keselowski on the cutoff line for advancement into the Eliminator 8 Round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Kenseth, 12th on the Chase Grid, is 32 points below the cutoff line.
Both drivers essentially need wins in the next two races to transfer from the Contender Round to the Eliminator 8 Round. They get their first opportunity in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2:15 p.m. ET on NBC).
“We’ve been taking these races one week at a time, and obviously we had a tough race at Charlotte but we just move on from that and focus on this weekend at Kansas,” Kenseth said. “You want to go out there and get the best starting spot and finish that you can each and every week.”
Kenseth, who leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with five wins this season, has performed well in his career at Kansas. In 19 starts at the 1.5-mile track, he has two wins, six top fives and 11 top 10s.
Earnhardt has been solid but not spectacular at Kansas. In 18 career starts there, he owns nine top-10 finishes, but no wins. In fact, the No. 88 driver hasn’t won at a 1.5-mile track since July 10, 2005 at Chicagoland – over a decade ago.
Earnhardt should not be counted out in the Jayhawk State, but his best shot to advance in the Chase is by winning next Sunday’s race at Talladega. He has visited Victory Lane at two of the three restrictor-plate races this season and ranks tied with Jeff Gordon for the second-most Talladega wins with six.
“You’d like to go in and get a win as soon as you can in this format, and get yourself locked in to take the pressure off,” Earnhardt said. “Our guys have been bringing some great cars to the race track. We’ve run good at these next few tracks that we’re going to. I’m just going to take it one corner at a time and try to do the best I can on the track, and hopefully we have smooth stops and don’t have any issues with the car.”
Source: NASCAR Wire Service
