Chase For The Championship Drivers

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Sep 11, 2012

Chase For The Championship Drivers

Denny Hamlin

A four-race winner, Hamlin is making his seventh consecutive Chase appearance and the second as the No. 1 seed. The last time he held that spot (2010), he finished in second place, 39 points behind champion Jimmie Johnson.

Jimmie Johnson

The five-time champion, who has appeared in every Chase since its inception in 2004, won at Darlington, Dover and Indianapolis this year. He had his lowest finish in NASCAR's playoff last season when he finished in sixth.

Tony Stewart

The defending champion begins his pursuit of a fourth career title as the No. 3 seed. A winner at Las Vegas, Fontana and Daytona, he's had 10 top 5s and 12 top-10 finishes this season. But Stewart faded down the stretch, coming in fifth or better twice in the last eight races.

Brad Keselowski

Keselowski, who is in his third full-time Cup season, makes his second consecutive Chase appearance behind the strength of victories at Bristol, Talladega and Kentucky. He enters the playoff having posted nine finishes of ninth or better in the last 10 races.

Greg Biffle

Biffle, who spent 14 weeks atop the Cup points standings, boasts regular-season wins at both Fort Worth and Michigan. While he's never won a series championship, he has finished in second (2005) and third ('08).

Clint Bowyer

Bowyer is in the Chase for the fourth time in five years, but the first as a member of Michael Waltrip Racing. He ended the regular season in impressive fashion, finishing eighth or better six times, including a win in Richmond to go along with his victory at Sonoma. His career-best Chase finish is third in 2007.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt is back in the Chase for the second straight year and the fifth time in his career. In a season in which he ended a 143-race winless drought at Michigan, Junior is also tied for the series lead with 17 top-10 finishes and he's second with an average finish of 9.9. He came in fifth in the Chase in both '04 and '06.

Matt Kenseth

The 2004 champion and this year's Daytona 500 winner, Kenseth was first in points for seven weeks but slid to seventh by the end of regular season as he had an average finish of 16.8 over the last eight races. His best finish in the Chase era was second in '06.

Kevin Harvick

Third in the Chase in each of the last two seasons, Harvick qualified for the playoff despite not winning a regular season race for the first time since 2009. But he did boast four top 5s and 11 top 10s.

Martin Truex Jr.

Truex returns to the Chase for the first time since '07 in the midst of the best season of his nine years in Cup. He's already tied his career-best with 14 top-10 finishes and is one away from his high for top 5s with six. Victory continues to elude him as Truex has gone 192 races without a win.

Kasey Kahne

In his first season with Hendrick Motorsports Kahne qualified for the Chase for the third time in his career and the first since 2009 as he seized a wild-card berth with victories at Charlotte and Loudon. The ninth-year driver's best finish in the playoff was eight in '06.

Jeff Gordon

The four-time series champion gave Hendrick four drivers in the playoff as he rallied at Richmond to beat out Kyle Busch for the second wild card. Gordon, who has qualified for the Chase every year but one ('05), has never won a title in this format, but finished second in 2007 and third in both '04 and '09.