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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Drivers Looking For Bonus Points At RIR
Bonus points are the key this weekend at Richmond International Raceway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 08, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Denny Hamlin will carry at least 50 bonus points into the Chase. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
For the drivers already locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Saturday night’s Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway is all about one thing and one thing only: winning.

Ten of the top 12 drivers already have clinched Chase berths and Greg Biffle will clinch when he starts the race. Clint Bowyer needs only to finish 28th or better to lock himself into the final Chase slot.

When the checkered flag falls to end the race Saturday night, NASCAR will reset the point totals for all 12 Chase drivers to 5,000, plus 10 bonus points for each race they won during the 26-race Sprint Cup regular season. Right now, it breaks down like this:

• 50 bonus points — Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson.

• 30 bonus points — Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch.

• 20 bonus points — Kurt Busch.

• 10 bonus points — Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle.

• 0 bonus points — Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth.

Given that the points will be reset after the race, it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever to any of the Chase drivers’ points totals whether they finish second or 42nd at RIR. But a victory is worth 10 bonus points, which could be significant in the Chase.

That doesn’t guarantee that Saturday night’s race will turn into checkers-or-wreckers, like the annual non-points-paying Sprint All-Star Race, but it just might.

“We’re focused on winning this weekend at Richmond, picking up those valuable bonus points entering the Chase and going into those final 10 races with a lot of momentum and a full-steam-ahead attitude,” said Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge. “Some of the guys have won more races already this season and have more bonus points built up. We need to try to even the score and get on a more level playing field as we head on to Loudon, N.H., and kick off this year’s Chase.”

“We are going to run it really hard,” said Burton, one of the drivers looking for his first victory of the season. “We are going to kick it off this weekend in Richmond and just bring everything we have. There’s no more protecting now. It is go time and we have to lay it all on the line.”
Teammates Matt Kenseth (Left) and Carl Edwards (Right) have scored no bonus points toward the Chase. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“If we got four (victories), it would help us sit just below the top guys —Denny and Jimmie,” said Kyle Busch, who is third in points now and likely will still be third heading into the Chase. “Momentum is a big key. We ran strong at Atlanta and that is something we can build on in our mile-and-a-half program, and that’s something I haven’t been so good at this year. Denny’s been good, we haven’t been that good. But we’ve been good at the short tracks. We’re hoping to just kind of keep all of that going and build some stronger race cars for the Chase.”

Regardless of what happens on Saturday night, though, there seems to be a consensus that the championship race is wide open.

“I don’t see anybody running away with this Chase,” said Hamlin, one of the pre-season favorites and still a legitimate threat. “I think it’s going to be tight all the way down to the end and you’re probably going to see three or four guys with a legitimate shot to win the championship in the last race. That’s something that you really couldn’t say in years past. Someone could prove me wrong and really go on a tear, but I feel like there’s really been inconsistency with all race teams other than the 29 (Harvick) all year long. No one’s really stepped up and been consistent over a 10-week period. It’s tough for me to say who’s going to do that.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.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.

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