Kasey Kahne finished the regular season 18th in points and missing out on a Chase berth, but despite the disappointment, he says his Hendrick Motorsports team has been giving him faster cars lately.
“Our whole deal these last 10 races is try to get the consistency and keep running in the top 10 and yeah, work on winning races,” Kahne told NBCSN. “But we haven’t been anywhere close to that this year. We’ve been like a 13th to 18th, and we want to be in the top 10, top five and the last three weeks we have.”
For one, it’s unchartered territory. For the other, it’s hoping that the second time around is better than the first.
That’s how the upcoming Chase for the Sprint Cup shapes up for Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray.
Larson is making his first playoff appearance. It comes in his third Cup season.
Larson, who won last month at Michigan, will start the Chase as the 10th seed.
McMurray is making the second consecutive Chase appearance. He’ll start the playoffs in the 16th and final position.
Larson has been one of NASCAR’s hottest drivers of late. Saturday night’s runner-up finish at Richmond International Raceway was his third straight top-three finish — He won at Michigan and finished third at Darlington.
It wasn’t easy, though. Larson struggled near the midpoint of the race with a loose wheel that caused him to pit on Lap 192. Still, he was able to come back for his best finish at Richmond.
The final restart, though, with two laps remaining was what sealed the deal for the northern California native.
“It felt like a video game on rookie mode, having fresh tires like that,” Larson told NBCSN. “It was a fun last restart and to get all the way to second. I felt I could get to fourth, but I got to second, so that was great.”
Given his hot streak, Larson hopes to ride into the opening race next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway and keep that momentum going as the Chase opens.
“The Chase tracks, most of them, are good tracks for me,” Larson said. “We start at Chicago, which is one of my favorite tracks and I really think we can make a good run.
“It’s been awesome and I’m looking forward to it, the first time in the Chase. There’s a lot of new guys in the Chase, so it should be exciting.”
McMurray, meanwhile, hopes to perform better in his second Chase than he did last season.
Like Larson, McMurray has had his own momentum of late, as well: His seventh-place finish Saturday was his ninth top-10 of 2016, including four of the last five races.
McMurray knew how much was on the line coming into Saturday’s race. Because he has yet to win a race this season, he was vulnerable. If a winless driver had won instead of Hamlin, McMurray could have missed the playoffs.
So he did something he typically doesn’t do — he drove defensively.
“I was racing so different than what you normally would, not taking any risk,” McMurray said. “Really good day, both our cars ran real great again today.
“The guys at our shop need to be really proud at what they have been able to build because it’s a lot of fun to drive and be able to run that quick. I looked up at one point and I think there was the four Gibbs cars and Kyle and I. We still have a little bit of work to do, but we’ve made some huge gains and I’m really proud of all those guys.”
McMurray was eliminated after the first round of last year’s Chase. He hopes that’s not the same case this year.
“I feel better about our chances this year vs. last year,” he said. “I felt like last year heading into the Chase that we didn’t really have anything in our pocket as far as little bit better cars.
“I feel like right now we have cars capable of winning. I look forward to getting (to Chicagoland), it’s been a good track for Kyle and I and would be a great way to start off the Chase.”
This marks the first time Chip Ganassi Racing has had two drivers in the Chase in the same year. Ganassi told McMurray before the race that if both he and Larson make the Chase, it would be the “biggest thing ever” at CGR in terms of NASCAR achievements.
“When you look at Chip’s organization, he’s been so successful in Indy cars, sports cars, we’ve won some big races at NASCAR, but the NASCAR side is really hard to keep on top,” McMurray said. “It’s like that for everybody. So when you get down, it’s really hard to climb your way back up.
“Earlier this year, we made some changes as far as personnel. He moved some people around. The crew chiefs and everybody is working really well together and they’ve been able to build some great cars. He’s proud of that because when you make those changes, there’s no guarantee it’s going to show up on the racetrack – but it has.”
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and like many, the NASCAR community will remember all those who were lost.
Prior to racing Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, drivers took the time to remember where they were on this day 15 years ago.
“Just like everyone, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Carl Edwards.
Kyle Busch recalls how he had just arrived at school, while older brother Kurt was with his race team. Jimmie Johnson, who has made a second home in New York over the last few years, was heading to the gym.
RICHMOND, Va. – Denny Hamlin won a wild race at his home track, and the top four Chase hopefuls entering Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400 all held serve at Richmond International Raceway in an event that ended in overtime after a record 16 cautions.
Jamie McMurray locked up a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a seventh-place finish, and Austin Dillon did likewise with a 13th-place run.
Sunoco rookies Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher both weathered some tense moments to qualify for NASCAR's 10-race playoff, the first time two rookies have ever been included in the Chase field—and the first time any rookie has made the Chase since Hamlin accomplished the feat in 2006.
Elliott brought out the third caution of the night after contact with the Turn 1 wall, but he recovered to finish 19th to earn his Chase spot with room to spare.
Buescher, on the other hand, had to make a precautionary green-flag pit stop on Lap 308 of 407 because of a tire that was deflating and lost two laps in the process. But Buescher regained the lead lap during a spate of late cautions and came home 24th, his path to the Chase made easier when David Ragan, his chief rival for 30th place in the Sprint Cup standings, was eliminated in a eight-car accident on Lap 363.
Hamlin took control of the race when his pit crew handed him the lead under caution on Lap 322. Six cautions followed, the last of which sent the race to overtime when Regan Smith slammed the outside wall on Lap 399 of a scheduled 400.
Kyle Larson pitted for fresh tires under the yellow and streaked from 12th to second on the two-lap overtime run, but the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet didn't have time to catch Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, which crossed the finish line with a margin of victory of .609 seconds.
Hamlin, who grew up in nearby Chesterfield, was elated to win the race in front of his home crowd.
"That's what’s so special about it," said Hamlin, who started from the pole and led the last 86 laps (189 total) on the way to his third victory of the season, his third at the .75-mile track and the 29th of his career. "You get to do it at home.
"I see all the extra Denny Hamlin shirts and hats and everything, and it just fires me up every time I get here. This was a great car, and hopefully we can use it in the Chase."
RELATED: See all of Hamlin's wins
Martin Truex Jr. ran third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. Kasey Kahne, who needed a victory to advance to the Chase, ran sixth after a hard-fought run to the finish. McMurray, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano completed the top 10.
With the exception of Kahne, all top-10 finishers on Saturday will compete in the Chase.
Ryan Newman's hopes of an eleventh-hour Chase miracle ended abruptly on Lap 363 when contact between his No. 31 Chevrolet and Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevy sent both cars out of control, blocking the track at the entry to Turn 3.
All told, eight cars were in the accident, but no driver was more incensed than Newman, who was racing hard with Stewart for the 10th position in a last-ditch attempt to make the Chase by winning the race.
"The No. 14 (Stewart) cut across my nose into Turn 1, and I got into him after that, but he'd already chopped into me and messed up my line, and I clipped him a little bit coming off of (Turn) 2," Newman said of Stewart, who was racing at Richmond for the last time in a Sprint Cup car. ...
"And then he just drove across my nose on the back straightaway. We'll keep fighting like we always do. It's just unfortunate not to end the way we wanted to. It's just disappointing that you've got somebody old like that, that should be retired the way he drives. It's just ridiculous."
RELATED: Late wreck derails Newman's Chase hopes
Not surprisingly, Stewart had a different perspective.
"That was the third time he'd driven into me during the night, and how many times does a guy get a free pass until you've had enough of it?" said the three-time champion. "He's got to do his part racing for a championship, too, and to race to get in there, and if you're going to run into guys -- I go into (Turn) 1 and he dive bombs in there.
"I'm already coming down, so it's not like I was trying to squeeze him in the infield or something. Ryan and I have been good friends. I don't do that to him. But he hits me in 1, he hits me off of 2, and it's like the third time by that time. There was once early in the race that nobody saw. Three times, that's two more times than I normally let somebody run into me."
And as to Newman’s suggestion Stewart should be retired already?
"He'll get his wish in 10 weeks," Stewart said. "He'll get his wish. Maybe next year without us here, he'll get his spot in the Chase that way."
The Lap 363 pileup that ended Newman's Chase hopes—and ended with Dylan Lupton's Toyota on the hood of Newman's car—also locked Buescher into NASCAR's playoff with the elimination of Ragan from the race.
"It was a crazy race," said Buescher, the first driver to represent Front Row Motorsports in the Chase. "I can't believe how many cautions we had. We got involved in one of the accidents, had a tire go down, just a very eventful day. Just so proud to be here."
Elliott was just relieved to shed the stress of an eventful race.
"I just think we have to first off be thankful that we were able to get in tonight after the night we had," Elliott said. "I can't thank my guys for working as hard as they did.
"I've never had to go through—I'm sure they haven't either—all the stuff we went through tonight, so hats off to them, fixing our car multiple times."
Notes: With four victories this season, Kyle Busch starts the Chase next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway as the top seed with 2,012 points, the same total earned by second-seeded Keselowski, also a four-time winner ... With three victories and 2,009 points, Hamlin is the No. 3 seed, followed by Harvick, Carl Edwards, Truex, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Larson, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Buescher, Elliott, Dillon and McMurray. ... Truex's No. 78 Toyota failed the laser inspection station after the race. If penalties are warranted, they will be announced before the Chase begins.
NASCAR.com's Jonathan Merryman recaps the Federated Auto Parts 400 as Denny Hamlin earns the win at his hometown track and verbal jabs are exchanged between Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.
Matt Kenseth makes contact with Brad Keselowski after a restart, cutting Kenseth's tire sending him hard into the wall, leaving the driver of the No. 20 upset at Keselowski.
Jimmie Johnson‘s night went from bad to worse as the Federated Auto Parts 400 hit the halfway mark at Richmond International Raceway.
After being busted for speeding early in the event, Johnson was running 10th during a round of green flag pit stops when he reported having hit a piece of debris. Moments later the left-front tire blew on the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet and sent the six-time champion into the wall down the frontstretch.
