Jimmie wins again and other news nuggets

Nothing like an off week to mess with the blogging clock, but it's time to get back into the groove.

Not only did we return to the racing grind after a rainy weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, but we had breaking news flying all over the place that will have big impacts on NASCAR for a long time to come.

The opening of this post is easy and a bit ho-hum. After all was said and done and the rain finally decided to stay away, Jimmie Johnson was his winning self again Monday at Bristol. He rolled to the win at the Food City 500, his second in a row and 82nd of his amazing career.

The scoring system doesn't matter. The racing surface doesn't matter. Mother Nature's cruel twists don't matter, either. Johnson just keeps on going.

After rain washed out qualifying, Johnson had to start 11th, a place where race winners at Bristol don't usually come from.

Again, it didn't matter.

Kyle Larson led the first 202 laps. Johnson didn't lead for the first time until lap 394. The 48 only fell out of the lead off pit road twice the rest of the way, but Johnson overtook Kevin Harvick with 21 laps to go and pulled away from a battle for second place between Clint Bowyer and Harvick that Bowyer eventually won.

But in the bigger picture, the only thing that may stop Johnson's assault on the record books is Johnson's health, both mental and physical. Over the last five years (2012 through 2016), the 41-year-old is consistent in his checkered flags won -- five, six, four, five and five.

At the rate he's going, we may be talking about Johnson joining Richard Petty and David Pearson in the 100-win club by 2020. In his 16 full-time seasons in NASCAR's top series, the El Cajon, California native has never had less than two wins a year.

And he only did that once, in 2011.

I've seen several social media postings from a lot of fans who can't stand what Johnson's done in his career. But the bottom line is when he hangs up the helmet, he'll be clearly penciled in among the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time.

Before we could really digest Johnson's win, the bigger bombshell came Tuesday when Dale Earnhardt Jr., the man who's only been voted NASCAR's Most Popular Driver 14 years running, shocked us all by announcing his retirement Tuesday.

It was a jaw-dropping moment for most of the fan base, but the whole sport will be impacted by his move.

Considering how it all came together, it's not surprising.

For those who may have been hiding in a cave, Earnhardt had to sit out the second half of the 2016 season to heal from a concussion. It stunk for all of us, but he did his time and returned to full health in time for the start of this season.

While there haven't been any additional effects from the concussion, Junior Nation hasn't had a whole lot to cheer about through the first eight races.

After finishing fifth at Texas two weeks ago -- the best run for the 88 so far -- an early crash took Earnhardt out at Bristol and he finished 38th. He's 24th in points, averaging a 24th-place finish, and has led eight laps, all at the Daytona 500.

That's gotta give pause to any driver, no matter how healthy he is. If you're not competitive, it's time for a reassessment of everything.

Junior will be 43 in October. He just got married. He has his health back, and I'm sure he wants to keep it and go out on his own terms.

That's certainly not a bad thing. It's awful for the fans, but the sport will survive.

We've had several retirements from big names over the last three seasons. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, and now Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The total excellence on the resumes is stellar. Gordon had 93 wins with four championships, Stewart had 49 with three titles, Edwards won 28 times and Junior has 26 to date.

That's 196 victories and seven titles to leave the sport. They can't stay forever.

When legends like Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison and Richard Petty stepped out of their cars, the world didn't collapse. We still had our races, and the popularity went south for a time before a new crop of drivers came in and went to work.

We're in a similar cycle right now, like it or not. In a sport where it's not normally an option, time and patience will be of the essence so the next crop of stars can leave their mark on the hearts and souls of the most passionate fans in all of sports.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

Earnhardt Jr. concussion issues leave reasons for concern

A mid-July race during the long NASCAR Sprint Cup season may have a lot of news value attached, but a definite exception was made when a major item broke Thursday afternoon.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – who has only been the most popular driver for the last decade – announced he will not be running at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday due to concussion-like symptoms. It’s a big blow for a driver who could not only use a win, but is barely hanging on to a spot in the Chase with just seven races left until the field is set.
In a statement released by Hendrick Motorsports, the driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet wasn’t cleared by his doctors following an evaluation. Alex Bowman, who will ride in the car this weekend, was 13th in the first practice at New Hampshire and qualified 20th for Sunday’s race.
But for Junior Nation, it’s a shock to the system to not see their guy behind the wheel. Then again, there’s a greater long-term issue at stake.
Earnhardt has had a history with concussions. He took a couple of bad hits at Michigan and Daytona earlier this season, and he admitted he wasn’t feeling right at Kentucky last week, where he qualified and finished 13th.
“I wasn't feeling great the week going into Kentucky and thought it was possibly severe allergies,” Earnhardt said in a statement provided by the team. “I saw a family doctor and was given medication for allergies and a sinus infection. When that didn't help, I decided to dig a little deeper. Because of my symptoms and my history with concussions, and after my recent wrecks at Michigan and Daytona, I reached out and met with a neurological specialist. After further evaluation, they felt it was best for me to sit out.
“I'm disappointed about missing New Hampshire this weekend. I'm looking forward to treatment with the goal of getting back in the race car when the doctors say I'm ready.”
Adding to the mystery, there is no timetable for Earnhardt Jr.’s return. If he can’t go when the series heads to Indianapolis next week for the Brickyard 400, the team announced a shocking bit of news.

None other than five-time Brickyard and four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon could come out of retirement to drive the 88. According to a USA Today story, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt said a final decision on Gordon running at Indy would likely come by Wednesday.
As for anything beyond next week, it’s all speculation, so the discussion stops here.
Adding to the intrigue, should Gordon return to the track and race – something he didn’t rule out when he announced his retirement, although this potential Cup run is certainly a stunner – it would push his eligibility for the NASCAR Hall of Fame back a year, which would put him in the same class as Tony Stewart.
Two legends with seven Cup titles between them certainly makes the selection process easier for those who have the power to vote, but there’s something a bit more important at play here.
Earnhardt Jr. has already stated he’ll donate his brain after he dies to help with studies for CTE. No one can say if this injury is career-threatening, but concussions can’t be taken lightly anymore.
By their very nature, NASCAR drivers would much rather be in the car first. The stories of how much they risked to return from injuries are too numerous to document here, although Ricky Rudd taping open his eyelids is one story that immediately comes to my mind.
Concussions are an entirely different matter, though. Earnhardt Jr. will be 42 years old in October. He’s getting married after the season ends.
Popularity and success behind the wheel may be one thing, but it all means nothing in the end if concussions get in the way of life after racing.
Get well first, Junior. Your fans will be there all the way.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

Logano rules youth movement at Michigan

Joey Logano won six races in 2015, nearly made the final four for a second time, and had an all-around successful year.

As for Logano’s start to 2016, the wins were just a bit harder to come by. The newest incarnation of a lower-downforce package was a catalyst to end his drought.
Asserting his dominance on restarts to hold off all challengers, Logano cruised to the win in the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 12, leading 138 of the 200 laps. He became the 10th different driver to win a race on the season and punched his ticket to the Chase.
And if anyone had doubts about the future of NASCAR, they needed to look at who ran up front at MIS. After the 26-year-old Logano, Chase Elliott (20) and Kyle Larson (23) combined to become the youngest top three finishers – average age: 23 – in a Sprint Cup race since 1951.
While the young ones were ruling the front of the field, some of the veterans weren’t nearly as fortunate, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.
For the fourth race in a row, Busch finished 30th or worse. His No. 18 M&Ms Toyota lost the engine on lap 52 and he finished dead last in 40th. Earnhardt Jr. was the next car out of the race after his No. 88 collided with Chris Buescher at lap 62.
Adding insult to the injury, Buescher was able to have the damage repaired to his No. 34 and he went on to finish 20th.
As the series heads to the second off week of the year, the debate can officially begin on who will break through and change their zero in the win column to get into the Chase.
Here’s a stat to note: In the first two seasons with the new eliminator-style format, there were 13 and 11 drivers, respectively, who got into the Chase by winning a race in the first 26. So far in Year 3, there are some notable names still searching for that elusive checkered flag.
Earnhardt Jr. headlines the list. After three wins in 2015, Junior has been shaky of late. Although he has four runner-up efforts, the average finish for the 88 since Texas has been 16th and he’s led just 53 laps on the year.
Elliott is as close to having a breakthrough in the win column as any Cup rookie in a long, long time. The runner-up finish at Michigan was the best of his 15-race career and he’s had 11 top-10 runs.
After crashing at Las Vegas and ending up 38th, Elliott’s average finish since then has been 7.1. He should be Rookie of the Year in a stone-cold lock, although Ryan Blaney has potential to give him a run for his money.
Austin Dillon – love him or hate him – shook off three weeks of bad runs and grabbed an eighth-place finish at Michigan. He’ll need to put at least three weeks of solid runs together to stay in Chase contention.
As for Blaney, he would be the 16th and final Chase qualifier if it started today. Cliché aside, the Wood Brothers driver has seen mistakes at the worst times cost him shots at wins.
Blaney does have four top-10s in the last six races, but with the first of two road course races coming up at Sonoma Raceway in two weeks, the pressure to perform is officially on.
For all the remaining drivers with championship dreams, the race to the Chase begins right now.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Iowa Speedway (.875-mile oval), Newton, Iowa)

-XFINITY SERIES: American Ethanol E15 250, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 250 laps, 218.75 miles

2015 champion: Chris Buescher

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Speediatrics 200, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 200 laps, 175 miles

2015 champion: Erik. Jones.

-SPRINT CUP: Off until June 26 for the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.

Johnson win caps crazy California weekend

When it came to racing on the wide 2-mile oval at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., it didn’t draw many rave reviews in the early years.
On a typically warm, sun-splashed day in Southern California, a native son made the most of a late opportunity and gave the fans in attendance another Sprint Cup race worth talking about.
Jimmie Johnson, who grew up down the road in El Cajon, got by Kevin Harvick on the final two-lap overtime restart to win the Auto Club 400 on March 20. Johnson became the first two-time winner of 2016 and moved past Dale Earnhardt into seventh place with his 77th career victory.
Johnson’s good fortune may not have happened if it weren’t for Kyle Busch’s No. 18 car blowing a tire to bring out the race’s sixth and final caution at lap 198, only two short of the scheduled distance. Harvick led 142 laps on the day, but Denny Hamlin won the race off pit road as the lead-lap cars came in to replace tires.
On the restart, Johnson momentarily fell behind Hamlin, but gave Harvick a push to the front before maneuvering to the inside of the No. 4 and pulling away for the win. It was Johnson’s sixth win at Auto Club in 22 starts at the track.
And it all came on a day when Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet was adorned with a Superman logo in honor of the upcoming “Batman vs. Superman” movie. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, drove the Batman car at Auto Club and finished 11th.
Johnson’s fire suit was emblazoned with the hallmark red “S” with yellow trim across the chest, but he felt like the whole team could have easily worn the distinction with just as much pride.
“Yeah, it's fun to have a paint-out like this on the race car,” Johnson said in his post-race interview. “We had the Madagascar 3 movie and won with it, had these goofy wigs that we wore.  Everybody was waiting for a chance to pull out a cape if we won here.
“All the wins are special, but when you have props and a cause like this, it takes it to the next level.”
Harvick, who was looking for his second straight win, lamented his ending misfortune.
"We weren’t very good on restarts for four or five laps, unless we were all by ourselves," said Harvick in a NASCAR Wire Service story. "The No. 48 was able to hang with us, and we just weren’t able to drive it in like I needed to, just didn’t have the front tires turning and the back wouldn’t grip.”
With Earnhardt now in the rear-view mirror on the wins list, Johnson knows the march up the ladder toward the likes of the now-retired Jeff Gordon with 93 victories, David Pearson’s 105 and Richard Petty’s untouchable 200 won’t be easy.
“There are no guarantees about when you're going to win and have success,” Johnson said. “I've been very, very fortunate to win 77 of these things, which blows my mind by itself.
“It's easy to look at trends and say we win X a year, but at some point that stops, that stops for everybody. I don't know when that point is for me.  I certainly hope it's not soon.”
Since he started his full-time Sprint Cup career in 2002, Johnson has won at least twice in every season – 15 years in a row and counting. As long as his health holds up and the racing is still fun, don’t be surprised if the debate heats up on not only if, but when Johnson – who doesn’t turn 41 until September – passes Gordon and joins Pearson and Petty in the century club.
The six-time champion picked up his 77th win in his 512th career start, an average of once every 6.6 times Johnson gets in the car. With success like that, only the foolish and cynical would have reason to doubt that he can take his true place among the greats of the sport when all is said and done.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

All series are off March 27 for Easter.

Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile short track oval), Martinsville, Va.

-SPRINT CUP: STP 500, April 3, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1 (check local listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN affiliate.

Race distance: 500 laps, 263 miles.

2015 champion: Denny Hamlin.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Alpha Energy Solutions 250, April 2, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN affiliate.

Race distance: 250 laps, 131.5 miles.

2015 champion: Joey Logano

-XFINITY SERIES: Off until April 8 for the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson ties Earnhardt on career win list

On the first official race of 2016 under NASCAR’s new low-downforce package, there weren’t a lot of drivers leading the field at the Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
But when those who did were engaged in the battle, it proved worthy of the race fan’s attention.
Try to ride comfortably? You risk getting blown away by the rest of the field. Mash the gas, risk losing your tires a lot sooner in a race run.
In the end, Jimmie Johnson made history in a wild finish, coming away with his 76th career victory to tie Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time career list. And in the most appropriate moment of the season so far, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the runner-up.
Johnson’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports tweeted: “Congrats to my friend and teammate @JimmieJohnson on tying my father today in Cup wins. Proud to have ran 2nd on this momentous occasion.”
Not only was Johnson’s win momentous, but the racing was pretty darn awesome, too.
Although only eight drivers led laps at Atlanta, there were 28 lead changes among them. Passing was plentiful and caution flags were few, requiring pit crews to be on their quickest with the stops and crew chiefs to pay close attention to tire wear.
No yellow flags came out until lap 211. The second caution wasn’t until lap 324 for a Ryan Newman spinout, one lap short of the official distance.
Enter NASCAR’s new overtime rule. Once Johnson got past the official overtime line off the final restart, the race was over.
And the field didn’t get to the checkered flag before Johnson could take the white flag due to a four-car accident back in the pack. It left some fans up in arms, but the rule had to be put in place mainly because of the controversy surrounding restart issues on the green-white-checkered attempts of last season.
With Johnson’s win putting him in more elite company than ever before, it begs for truly legitimate questions. Will he get a seventh championship? Will he reach 100 wins?
Under the new Chase format, winning titles is the most difficult it’s been in NASCAR history. It’s not about riding around for maximum points anymore. Winning is rewarded handsomely, as Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick can certainly attest with their Sprint Cup crowns of the last two seasons.
There’s also good news and bad news about Johnson’s quest for 100 wins. The good: He got to No. 76 in his 509th career start, and that averages out to a win every 6.6 times Johnson gets in a race car.
The bad: Johnson is 40 years old and will hit 41 in September.
While the native of El Cajon, Calif., hasn’t gone winless in any of his 15 seasons as a Sprint Cup driver, time and normal wear and tear have a way of catching up to everyone.
Look no further than now-retired Jeff Gordon. Gordon may have 93 career wins, but he was shut out of the win column three times in his 23 seasons (1993, 2008, 2010) and was 44 when he stepped out of the car for the final time in 2015.
There haven’t been any rumblings about Johnson’s future yet or any signs he’s slowed his competitive pace. He led the fewest laps (558) of his career since 2005, but still won five races last season.
But none of us know what will really happen. As long as Johnson keeps winning, what’s to stop him from reaching for the highest heights possible?
Only Johnson himself – not fans, not social media, not media who cover the sport – will determine his place in the history of the sport.
Right now, Johnson’s place is heading toward the stratosphere. Let’s sit back, watch and enjoy it.

Tom Zulewski will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 12th consecutive year starting Friday for the Boyd Gaming 300 and Kobalt 400. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval).

-SPRINT CUP: Kobalt 400, Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, Fox (check local listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.

2015 champion: Kevin Harvick

-XFINITY SERIES: Boyd Gaming 300, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1 (check local listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Austin Dillon

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until April 2 at Martinsville Speedway.

Logano takes out Kenseth, wins at Kansas

He didn’t have anything to lose after his win last week at Charlotte, but Joey Logano wasn’t about to lie down for anyone as he raced for another victory in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.
Matt Kenseth, in desperate search of anything resembling a shred of momentum and title-chasing hopes, found out what that meant in the closing laps around the 1.5-mile oval.

Logano pulled off the bump-and-run on Kenseth with five laps to go to take the lead and held on in a green-white-checkered finish to pick up his second straight win and give the remaining drivers in the Contender round of the Chase plenty to think about with the next elimination on deck Oct. 25 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The proof is clearly in the points. After Logano, only seven more drivers will keep championship hope alive, and second through 10th place is separated by a total of 20 points.
That will make Talladega – already an unpredictable wild-card when the Chase isn’t involved – a viewing and racing experience that will border on downright insane.
With Kansas in the rear-view mirror, Martin Truex Jr. would be the last driver to advance to the Eliminator round of the Chase. He has a six-point cushion on Kyle Busch and is eight points ahead of Ryan Newman.
And on the flip side of the coin, Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. may want to get advice from Kevin Harvick on how to win when their backs are clearly against the wall.
Kenseth may have gone from leading 153 of the 267 laps to finishing a decent 14th, but it wasn’t nearly good enough to counter last week’s 42nd-place showing at Charlotte. He’s in 12th, 35 points behind Truex Jr.
Directly in front of Kenseth sits Dale Jr. at 31 points behind the cutoff. He may have won the GEICO 500 at Talladega in May, but there’s no amount of looking at past film that can be done to figure out a way to win again. This race, the CampingWorld.com 500, is all about keeping the car in one piece and making moves toward the front at the right times. Those who do will continue on in the Chase, while the rest will be left to lament what might have been.
For those who love drag racing, the NHRA Toyota Nationals is on deck Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s the penultimate stop of the season to determine the 2015 champions in the four professional classes – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock car and Pro Stock motorcycle.
After the weekend’s action finished up at Texas Motorplex outside of Dallas, three champions could potentially be crowned in two weeks. In Top Fuel, Antron Brown enjoys a 132-point cushion over Tony Schumacher and in Pro Stock, defending champion Erica Enders-Stevens leads Greg Anderson by 154.
Enders-Stevens is not only closing in on another championship, she has ruled the day at Las Vegas with three straight event victories and an 18-round winning streak. At 20 points per round win to go with additional bonuses for qualifying position and setting new track records, don’t be surprised if Enders-Stevens exits Las Vegas with her second golden Wally championship trophy.
Brown may have the inside track on his second title in the last four seasons (2012), but Schumacher has a history of stealing thunder in shocking fashion as his eight championships in the category, including 2014, will attest.
Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle will have title fights that go down to the wire when the series hits the season finale at Pomona, Calif. on Nov. 12. Del Worsham, who won at Las Vegas last fall, also won at Texas over Jack Beckman in the final and increased his lead to 38 points.
In PSM, Andrew Hines probably breathed a sigh of relief after teammate Eddie Krawiec lost to Jerry Savoie in the final round at Texas. The end result means Hines, in search of a second straight championship, kept a 21-point lead heading to Las Vegas.
Jason Line (2012 in Pro Stock) and John Force (2013 in Funny Car) have won NHRA championship Wally trophies in the Countdown era at Las Vegas. If the current battles are any indication, it’s worth making the trek south in two weeks to see who may be next.

Followers and comments welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Talladega Superspeedway (2.66-mile D-shaped oval), Talladega, Ala.

-SPRINT CUP: CampingWorld.com 500, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 500 miles, 188 laps

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Fred's 250 presented by Coca-Cola, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 250 miles, 94 laps.

2014 champion: Timothy Peters.

Random thoughts on the Contenders

As we hit the mid-week lull in the land of gear boxes and post-race inspections that are shown for the whole world to see online, I can't help but wonder how good this round of the Chase will be. Kevin Harvick is master of this domain, as was showcased at Dover on Sunday.
Harvick may have done his post-race burnout a little too excessively (said only by those who couldn't catch him in the race), but he did what he absolutely had to do to keep his vision of repeating alive.
With Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega on deck, here are a few more random musings on the chances of the Contender 12.
-Harvick: With his win at Dover -- after going 0-for-29 previously -- the title is his to lose. It will not matter if he's on the outside looking in when we get to Talladega.
-Matt Kenseth: Joined teammate Denny Hamlin as the other race winners of the Challenger round. Was fourth at Charlotte, sixth at Kansas and 25th at Talladega the first time around. Started on pole at CMS. With Talladega being such a terrible crap shoot to begin with, it's not a stretch to say a win in the next two races will take the heat off.
-Denny Hamlin: Was eighth at Charlotte, ninth at Talladega, but 41st at Kansas. As long as he gets things figured out at Kansas, he'll be fine. A win may not be necessary for him to advance.
-Carl Edwards: Had his 400th career start to open the Chase at Chicago, finished second to Hamlin. Won at Charlotte, but was 20th at Kansas and 32nd at Talladega. Any sort of a repeat on Round 2 is most definitely not an option.
-Kyle Busch: For all the hype of his four wins and getting into the Chase despite missing nearly half of the regular season, Busch nearly fell flat on his face. Somehow, he was able to advance with a runner-up finish at Dover. The final margin: One point...and it was complicated by Harvick's victory.
Busch's races in Round 1: 9th, 37th, second.
The first time at the tracks in Round 2: Only an 11th-place run at Charlotte, which was his first points race after the injury. In Busch's career, he's won exactly one Chase race, and that was all the way back in his rookie year at Phoenix in 2005.
Winning may be the only option that gets him through to the Eliminator round.
-Kurt Busch: Was third, 19th and 17th in Round 1, which was good enough -- by two points -- to get him to the next round.
In the first pass at the Round 2 Chase tracks, Busch was 10th, eighth and 12th. As long as he's somewhere in the neighborhood this time, it'll get him through for an Eliminator shot.
-Joey Logano: Average finish in Challenger round was 6.3. Average at Contender tracks the first time through: 17th. Highlight was a 33rd at Talladega.
No matter how good Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski have been so far, NASCAR's biggest, baddest track will be a nightmare without a trip to Victory Lane before then.
Logano's average finish in the last 10 races (since Indianapolis) is 5.9, though, so it could be a wash.
-Martin Truex Jr.: Finishing order in Round 1 (Chicago, Loudon, Dover): 13th, 8th, 11th. Had issues with pre-race inspection at Dover that forced him to back of field, made a great rally to get through to Round 2.
He was solid at Contender tracks the first time around with two fifths (Charlotte, Talladega) sandwiched around a ninth at Kansas. As long as he stays out of trouble, a win will be a needed boost that carries Truex into the Eliminator round.
-Jeff Gordon: Still has a zero in the win column and 92 for his career, but the drive for a fifth championship is still very much alive. Was 14th, seventh and 12th in Round 1.
Like several of his fellow Chasers, Gordon had problems at Talladega in May and finished 31st. A win may be the only thing that gets him through.
-Brad Keselowski: Had decent, if not tremendous, first round of Chase, finishing eighth, 12th and 16th. Continuing the earlier theme, BK finished 22nd at Talladega the first time around.
Unless he has a win by then, look for the title dreams to end in this round.
-Ryan Newman: Still hasn't won a race since the 2013 Brickyard 400, but is still quietly very much in contention for another shot at the title.
Newman's Round 1 finishes: fourth, 10th and 19th. It got him through to the Contender round by a single point.
And here's more to give Newman Nation a little more hope: He was sixth, 10th and 7th at the Round 2 tracks the first time around.
Those who think a winless champion will happen need look no further than how Ryan Newman is performing. It's all about how you finish.
-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Because Harvick won at Dover, Junior Nation didn't have to sweat. By virtue of his two wins, the 88 knocked out Jamie McMurray by winning a tiebreaker and moved on to Round 2 of the Chase.
Junior's Dover finish (3rd) basically saved him after runs of 12th at Chicago and 25th at Loudon. The 88 was solid at the next three Chase tracks the first time around with two thirds and a win at Talladega. All duplication at this point is most welcome.
And my picks for the next four to see their title dreams end: Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I never claimed to be Nostradamus, and the way this Chase works is a big reason why.
Followers and comments are welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

When worlds collide: Danica not happy with Dale Jr.

If anyone were surveyed, NASCAR fan or not, and asked who were the most popular drivers in the Sprint Cup series, the large majority would say Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick.
During Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Danica was left with harsh feelings after the No. 88 got into the back of the No. 10 on lap 137. There was so much pent-up frustration from Patrick that she was still angry later in the race, as this video suggests.
The introduction of less downforce may have been a hit among most drivers, but don't tell that to Patrick. She finished 34th at Kentucky, two laps down, but Earnhardt wasn't that much better as he came home in 21st.
There won't really be a lot of fallout from what happened between Danica and Dale Jr. once they strap in for this weekend's race at New Hampshire, but there's a valuable lesson to be learned here. There was plenty of fury from Patrick when she got taken out like she did. Junior told his race team that he "didn't have any brakes," but the incident happened near the wall.
When it's a racing deal, parts and pieces between driver and machine don't always work together properly. Cooler heads will recognize what happened and it's time to move on. The fan bases can duke it out on social media all they want, but it won't change the outcome.
Amid the favorable reaction to the racing at Kentucky, though, along came NASCAR Chairman Brian France, who appeared on SiriusXM Speedway Monday afternoon and almost came across with a Donnie Downer type of statement.
France wants "more drafting and pack racing."
Uhh...OK. From a piece written by Dustin Long of NBC Sports, the lower downforce package used at Kentucky increased green-flag passing by 132 percent. France had this to say to SiriusXM's Dave Moody:
“What we’re really looking for is how tight is the racing?’’ France said. “How many lead changes are there? How much passing through the field is going on? How many more teams are competitive by a given package? What accomplishes those goals the best? That’s how we go about sorting it out."
From the stat sheet Saturday, there were 13 lead changes among eight different drivers. In last year's Quaker State 400, there were 12 lead changes among only three drivers, and the pair who finished 1-2 -- Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano -- led for 230 of the 267 laps.
I'd certainly call that progress. The real impact of the new rules will come in time.
Tom Zulewski is an 18-year veteran of journalism and has covered many forms of motor sports throughout his career. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.

Earnhardt's popularity even shinier now

Sure, it was almost 3 a.m. when the Coke Zero 400 finally finished early Monday morning at Daytona International Speedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his second July race at the World Center of Racing, but any form of celebration was the last thing on his mind.

As cars were wrecking behind him coming to the finish line, the No. 3 driven by Austin Dillon went airborne and turned the catch fence into tattered, twisted and mangled steel.

The in-car audio spoken by Earnhardt and spotter T.J. Majors ended up being a statement to why fans have voted him NASCAR's most popular driver for more than a decade. If you heard it live during the late-night broadcast or caught up with it on social media after a good night's sleep, there was real, legitimate emotional impact.

But don't just take it from me. Give a listen to what Junior had to say after the race when he spoke to NBC. If you weren't a fan of the No. 88 before, you should be now. There's an undeniable maturation that's happened to Dale Earnhardt Jr., and what happened at Daytona is another important step in the process.

He's engaged to Amy Reimann. He's got six wins in the last 53 races after needing more than 10 years to get his previous six. And he's second in points with nine races left until the Chase.

Yup, it's good to be Junior right about now. Not just for the racing, but for the person he's become.

Daddy Dale is certainly showing his approval from heaven.

One striking thing that came from the Daytona wreck involved the pit crew for the No. 88. Every last one of them ran out to Dillon's upside-down car to make sure he was OK.

NASCAR mandated that only the safety crews were allowed on the track after the Tony Stewart-Kevin Ward incident from last August, but other than a stern lecture (probably) from the powers that be, no penalties will be forthcoming.

And there shouldn't be, either. A racer's humanity means there will always be concern for their own whenever a life goes flashing before their eyes.

Thank goodness this one was only a flash.

Tom Zulewski believes Dale Earnhardt Jr. will find championship karma as the 2015 season unfolds. Feel free to share this post and follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.