Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Drivers Already Chasing It
Kevin Harvick leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted June 04, 2010   Long Pond, PA
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick won at Indianapolis in 2003. (Photo: Getty Images)
Sunday’s Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 will mark the start of the second half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and as such, the drivers are starting to talk about the Chase for the Sprint Cup, or at least where they are at right now relative to making the Chase.

LINK > QUALIFYING RESULTS: GILLETTE FUSION PROGLIDE 500 - POCONO

PDF> STARTING LINE UP BY ROW: GILLETTE FUSION PROGLIDE 500 - POCONO

The Chase field will be set at Richmond International Raceway in September, and after this weekend, there will be just 12 races until the 12 Chase drivers are locked in.

Points leader Kevin Harvick said what he’s paying attention to now is his safety margin to be locked into the top 12 in points.

“I think for us, I think the biggest thing is it’s about the 13th place gap,” said Harvick. “That’s the biggest thing. ... Nobody is going to race any different than what they’re racing right now and obviously you want to stay on top of the cycle of staying ahead of the game on the performance side of it, but it’s all just a matter of putting together 10 weeks and we put together the first 10 weeks and for us, we want to put together the last 10 weeks and be competitive for the championship at the end.”

So for the crew of Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, it’s business as usual at Pocono this weekend.

“Right now, it’s all about making the Chase and being the position that we’re in right now, we want to win a couple more races to get the bonus points,” said Harvick. “Those are the first two things on the top of our mind right now are trying to get some more bonus points and making the Chase.”

Others are in positions that are a little more tenuous.

“Well, we are sitting 10th (in points), I think,” said Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin, last year’s championship runner-up. “You know the good thing is that we are hoping to peak right at the right time. Certainly we have some work to do to be a contender and we are working really hard at that and we feel like we have made some progress recently and know that we have got some more work to do to be a contender.”
MY SPEED is devoted to the passionate fans who celebrate motorcycles, motorsports and the automotive lifestyle.

Greg Biffle, who is one position ahead of Martin in the points, is looking ahead, too. “We think about the Chase from Daytona,” said Biffle. “We have had a rough little patch going. Last week we had a good run going, but it was unfortunate we finished where we did. We have got to stay strong right now through this stretch in order to make the Chase. We are ninth in points, but we are on the edge, so to speak. We aren’t third or fourth, we are on that treading light territory.”

Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Sprint Cup champion, said he thought his Roush Fenway Racing team was good enough to make the Chase, but not enough to win the championship, at least not the way his car is running now.

“I am really happy where we are in the points and where our finishes have been compared to how we’ve ran,” said Kenseth, who enters Pocono third in points. “We just haven’t ran well enough overall. ... We have been trying to get the cars better to compete. We are all smart enough to know if we run like this ever week that we aren’t going to be good enough to win the championship. Hopefully we would make the dance, but I don’t think we would win it. We certainly know we need to be better.”

LINK > QUALIFYING RESULTS: GILLETTE FUSION PROGLIDE 500 - POCONO

PDF> STARTING LINE UP BY ROW: GILLETTE FUSION PROGLIDE 500 - POCONO

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

Tunnelheads, Pick Your Starters! Win Weekly! Win Monthly! Win The Championship!
tom_jensen's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.