Clint Bowyer scored a career-first win at Loudon in 2007, then rode that momentum to third-place at season’s end. (Robert Laberge/Getty Images Photo)
With NASCAR’s regular season hitting its summer stretch, the pressure for drivers and teams hoping to qualify for the 2008 edition of the Chase for the Sprint Cup is starting to increase exponentially.
After Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway is completed, there will be just seven races left until the Chase field is set at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 6, and the competition remains excruciatingly close for the 12 Chase spots. Only drivers in the top 12 in points at the completion of NASCAR’s 26-race regular season will be eligible to compete for the series championship over the final 10 races of the year.
The gap from sixth-place Jeff Gordon on back to 12th-place Tony Stewart right now stands at a meager 104 points. And the gap from Stewart to 15th-place Brian Vickers is a mere 112 points. That means basically any driver from sixth to 15th is still solidly in contention to make the Chase. And in the unlikely event that NASCAR rescinds the 150-point penalty handed out to Martin Truex Jr. and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team Tuesday, he’d be right back in the mix, too.
Even as it stands now, having 10 drivers in contention for the final seven Chase spots has emotions high heading into Chicagoland. “It is nerve wracking,” admitted Clint Bowyer, who currently sits 10th in points. “I mean it is crunch time, do or die time. Now it is all about making your way in to that Chase. Right now we are in it, but it is up to us to stay in it.” Last year Bowyer surprised the NASCAR world by finishing third in the title hunt. Whether he even makes the Chase this year, though, is still an open question.
