The Chase heats up with its most intensity in Round of 12

On the final restart of the 2015 Talladega Chase race led to a pile-up on the front stretch that collected several cars.

The biggest wild-card in the existing Chase for the Sprint Cup format is the race at Talladega on Sunday Oct. 23.

Beyond the fact that it's a restrictor-plate race where anything can, and usually does happen, it's also an elimination race where only eight Chase drivers will advance.

I have to say that I am very disappointed that NASCAR let the drivers talk them into swapping dates in 2017 with Kansas because I think it definitely takes away a lot of the drama. Having Talladega as an elimination race in any round ramps up the intensity.

Obviously we have 400 miles to run this Sunday at Kansas and we have the possibility of another driver joining Jimmie Johnson to lock themselves into round three with a win Sunday, but I think Jimmie is really the only one who can feel safe right now.

A classic example is Denny Hamlin only a year ago. He went into Talladega second in the points and by the time the checkered flag flew, Denny found himself eliminated from the 2015 championship picture.

Believe me when I tell you that these other 11 drivers want to win more than anything this Sunday at Kansas. If any one of them could pull that off, they could go to Talladega and breathe a little bit easier just like Jimmie is right now.

Don't think that because he is locked into Round 3 that Jimmie is going to put the next two races on cruise control.

If you look at the Chase standings, he has some heavy hitters in a hole right now and he'll want to do all he can to keep it that way.

If he would happen to win Sunday at Kansas or next weekend at Talladega, that could go a long way in knocking some power players off the board that he won't have to face in on the road to Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

Now that Charlotte is in the rear-view mirror and because of what happened to a lot of those Chase drivers, this second round is not only the most tense but also the most unpredictable in my book of all four rounds.

The old belief that once you are in you can relax is a bunch of crap.

Jimmie has some serious players behind the eight-ball and he needs to keep the pressure on them.

Sure he could play defense but why would he? Everybody wants to win, that's why we race, but winning this Sunday or next Sunday or even both would really change the Chase complexion of the No. 48 team's chances of making history.

Johnson would join only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. with seven NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, the most all-time.

Goodyear tire notes for Kansas Speedway

Both the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series will compete at Kansas Speedway this weekend, but they will be running different tire setups.

Sprint Cup teams will run the same tire combination they did at Kansas earlier this season. However, it will be the first time the Xfinity Series runs their tire setup at Kansas.

Sprint Cup tire info:

Set limits: Sprint Cup – five sets for practice and qualifying and 10 sets for the race

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4656; Right-side — D-4662

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 87.56 in. (2,224 mm); Right-side — 88.35 in. (2,244 mm)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 25 psi; Left Rear — 25 psi; Right Front — 54 psi; Right Rear — 50 psi

This is the same combination of left and right-side tires that Sprint Cup teams ran at Kansas earlier this season. Kansas is the only track at which either of these two tire codes will be run by Sprint Cup teams in 2016.

This right-side tire code (D-4662) employs Goodyear’s multi-zone tread technology, which combines two distinct tread compounds on the same tire: the outboard 10 inches of the tread (Traction Zone) features a compound that is designed for grip, while the inboard two inches of the tread (Endurance Zone) is toughened to enhance durability on that area of the tire which sees the most heat and takes the most abuse.

As on all NASCAR ovals greater than one-mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Kansas. Air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

Xfinity tire info:

Set limits: Xfinity – seven sets for the event

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4670; Right-side — D-4672

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 87.60 in. (2,225 mm); Right-side — 88.39 in. (2,245 mm)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 26 psi; Left Rear — 26 psi; Right Front — 54 psi; Right Rear — 50 psi

This is the first time Xfinity Series teams have run this tire setup at Kansas, though they did run this left-side tire code (D-4670) at Michigan International Speedway in June and this right-side tire code (D-4672) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. Both the left and right-side tires feature the same compound run at Kansas last year, though there is a construction change to Goodyear’s updated speedway construction on both sides.

As on all NASCAR ovals greater than one- mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Kansas. Air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

Royals’ catcher named pace car driver for Sprint Cup race at Kansas

With the Kansas City Royals not taking part in the MLB postseason, Drew Butera has a lot of time on his hands.

He’ll fill some of it by being the honorary pace car driver for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

The track announced that Butera, a catcher for the defending World Series champions, will drive the car during the opening pace laps of the Hollywood Casino 400.

Butera, who has been in MLB since he was drafted in 2005, was behind the plate for the final inning of the World Series, which the Royals won in five games over the New York Mets.

Martinsville Speedway to add lights for next season

Martinsville Speedway will add lights next season, track officials announced Wednesday.

Construction is scheduled to begin the day after the Oct. 30 Sprint Cup race at the 0.526-mile oval. The track will be the first motorsports facility to have LED lighting. There will be 14 poles installed.

Clay Campbell, president of Martinsville Speedway, said the lights will be used as an “insurance policy” in case the race is delayed or goes later into the afternoon. In the Nov. 1, 2015 race, Jeff Gordon won as darkness enveloped the track.

“If we would have had one more delay, we wouldn’t have finished that race,” said Campbell, who estimated the project will cost $5 million and added it would be paid for by International Speedway Corp., which owns the track. “It’s important and critical we get those races finished.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on hand for the announcement and likes the move.

“I think it’s great for the racetrack, and it opens up a ton of possibility for the track itself,” he said. “Martinsville is one of the very best short tracks in the country. It’s awesome, and it’s been a long time coming.

“I would say I would love to have a night race here any day of the week. Short-track racing is what this sport was born on.”

The move comes as the track prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.

The 2017 race times have been set. Martinsville’s April 3 race will be at 2 p.m. ET and the Oct. 30 race will start at 1 p.m. ET

With Martinsville adding lights, tracks that host Sprint Cup races that don’t have lights are Dover International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International and Sonoma Raceway.

One of the championship favorites will skip critical test at Homestead-Miami Speedway

A championship contender – possibly the early favorite — will be absent from next week’s test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, whose Nov. 20 season finale will decide the Sprint Cup title.

Furniture Row Racing won’t bring Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 Toyota to the Oct. 18-19 session at the 1.5-mile oval. A team spokesman said the test was removed from the team’s schedule last week and didn’t know the reason.

Homestead-Miami Speedway will play host to the last of several “organizational tests” scheduled by NASCAR during the season. In an organizational test, which isn’t mandatory, only one car per organization is permitted to participate.

As a single-car team, Furniture Row Racing wouldn’t have been in the predicament of having to choose who would test among multiple contenders, which is the case with Joe Gibbs Racing and its four Chase-eligible drivers.

Every other remaining championship contender will be represented at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week: Team Penske (Brad Keselowski), Hendrick Motorsports (Chase Elliott), Stewart-Haas Racing (Kurt Busch), Joe Gibbs Racing (Carl Edwards), Richard Childress Racing (Austin Dillon).

Truex won two of the first three races in the 2016 playoffs at Chicagoland Speedway and Dover International Speedway. He reached the championship round last season, finishing fourth among the Chase contenders (12th overall).

Here’s the list of drivers and teams that are testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week (current championship contenders in bold):

–Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske

–Carl Edwards, No.19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing

–Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports

–Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing

–Kurt Busch, No.. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing

—Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports

—Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports

—Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing

—Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing

—Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing

—Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle-Sport Leavine Family Racing

—David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing

Alex Bowman gets camo themed Mountain Dew scheme for Talladega

Alex Bowman‘s paint scheme for the Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway may blend into its surroundings.

bowman-talladega-2Bowman, who will drive the No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the seventh time in 2016, will have a camouflage Mountain Dew paint scheme for the Oct. 23 race.

The scheme is called “Take it Outside.”

Bowman will be making his fifth Sprint Cup start at the 2.66-mile track. In his four starts, Bowman only finished once (16th) while crashing out of the other three.

The No. 88 team last won at Talladega in the 2015 spring race. It was Earnhardt’s first win at Talladega since 2004.

In his five starts in the No. 88 this season, Bowman has an average finish of 23.8 after recording his first DNF at Charlotte last weekend.

CAIN:JIMMIE JOHNSON'S IN PRIME CHASE FORM AGAIN

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As Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday -- for the eighth time in his career -- he was full of emotion and adrenaline. It is his well-earned Fast Pass ticket into the next round of the championship, which amazingly will be the farthest he's advanced under NASCAR's newest title Chase format.

The victory also ended the longest winless streak in the six-time Sprint Cup champion's career -- a 25-race span. It has been six whole months since the most accomplished driver of his era hoisted a trophy in Victory Lane. The seasons are practically ready to change. Massive worry has been averted.

Please.

"Nobody ever gave up, we know what a champion Jimmie is," said team owner and 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Rick Hendrick, adding with a smile, "I've never taken the champagne bath in 30-something years, so it was like our first race (victory) again."

This win for Johnson wasn't just another trophy, another confetti moment in his surefire Hall of Fame career. This was a concerted effort to make good on this team's own high standards.

It was the product of hard work from behind the scenes at the No. 48 Lowe's team and all of Hendrick Motorsports. And the result was verification that the sport's most celebrated champion of the time is not done yet.

"There wasn't any fist pounding per se, but what we did do was try to get together with all the heads of state, let's say," Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus explained. "... what we were trying to do was identify where our weaknesses were, and once we started to hone in on where we thought we needed to get some gains, we started to allocate the resources to where we needed it.

"We've put responsibility in some different areas that maybe we hadn't in the past and I think that all of Hendrick Motorsports is definitely going to feel a lot of responsibility for this victory, which is great for all of us."

And a long time coming.

RELATED: Power Rankings after Charlotte

Johnson -- who qualified for the Chase with wins at Atlanta (in February) and California (in March) -- has led the most laps (363) of any competitor in the first four races of the Chase. Only two-time Chase winner Martin Truex Jr. is  near that total (360 laps). The best of the rest hasn't even resulted in 200 laps out front.

Still pit road miscues -- speeding penalties, crew mistakes -- ultimately derailed Johnson's trophy moments no matter how many laps he has led in the Chase. His finishes of 12th, eighth and seventh, have not been indicative of how competitive he was in the opening Chase Round of 16.

He has been competitive but too often gutted with the result.

This win Sunday wasn't just the breathe-a-little-easier ticket to the Round of 8. It was a rebirth, a reminder of what this organization is capable of.

In the last two years, Johnson has famously and painfully been eliminated from the Chase in by the second round.

And now, he is six races away from a chance to tie NASCAR's all-time greatest drivers --  Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt -- with seven Sprint Cup titles.

Some -- probably Johnson and Knaus -- would say it's much too early to start thinking in those terms. But part of the allure and amazement in earning so many championships is the work it takes to even be in position for them.

With so many changes in NASCAR's title structure throughout Johnson's career -- more so than what Petty and Earnhardt faced even -- it has been an accomplishment to even realistically contend for the big trophy. And there is no time to leave anything on the table.

"There's no way I could have dreamed about this," Johnson allowed Sunday. "To have one sponsor (Lowe's), one manufacturer (Chevrolet), one crew chief (Knaus), being at one team (Hendrick), this is fairy-tale stuff. It's been really special."

But Johnson is the first to insist those are deep thoughts reserved for November.

RELATED: Chase Grid after Charlotte

Right now, he's got some races to win, messages to send, trophies to hoist, and history to make.

"You know, I've always raced for the experience I've had in the car," Johnson said Sunday in Charlotte. "It hasn't been about stats or the previous trophies that I've won or what's really ahead of me. There's an experience that I have in the car that I chase and I love.

"The community that's created on a race team, the bond and friendship that you have with the crew chief and teammates, that's the stuff that keeps me going."

"And," he added. "we're doing what we need to and that brings a lot of optimism to the team. You get this machine of Hendrick Motorsports rolling and some momentum on our side, we can accomplish a lot and I think all four cars are showing that.

"We've got a lot more to show the rest of the year."