Winners and Losers at Chicagoland Speedway

John Harrelson/NASCAR via Getty Images
John Harrelson/NASCAR via Getty Images

Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway was a long one. The race started late due to rain, drivers then got less than half way before another five hour delay due to more rain. When the rain finally left the area — NASCAR started the long process of drying the track — which pushed the normal day race into a late night race under the lights.

Matt Kenseth was triumphant, charging to the lead on a restart to capture his sixth win of the season. Kenseth now leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup series points standings.

Below our the Winners and Losers from Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL.

Winners:

Matt Kenseth

Kenseth was th race winner, capturing his sixth win of the season. He is currently first in the point standings, eight ahead of fellow teammate Kyle Busch.

Jeff Gordon

Gordon was given a position in the Chase after NASCAR decided too many different scenarios influenced his chances at Richmond. At Chicagoland, Gordon put his spot to good use – gaining six positions for the Championship after finishing sixth.

Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch moved up four positions in the Chase, with a fourth place finish at Chicagoland. Kurt, having his up’s and down’s this season, has stayed steady and focused as he works to bring a Championship to the Furniture Row Racing team.

Ryan Newman

Newman was the recipient of the second Wild Card position in the Chase after the Michael Waltrip Racing teams were fined and penalized for actions detrimental to stock car racing at Richmond. Martin Truex Jr. was docked 50 points, which moved him out of the Chase, making room for Newman. Newman finished Sunday’s race at Chicagoland in tenth position — moving up four solid spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Losers:


Joey Logano

On lap 177 of the race, Logano’s engine blew in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford, causing a huge detriment to his 2013 Chase run. In order for Logano to come back from such a failure – he would need to be aggressive and win races. Logano is more of a solid top 10-15 place finisher, so although Logano may still mathematically be able to win the Championship, it would take a miracle on his behalf.

Greg Biffle

Biffle never recovered after having to serve a “tail end of the field penalty” after running over an air hose in the pits. Biffle restarted 31st and managed to climb up to 16th. Biffle dropped to 11th in the points standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. was plagued with engine failure with 40 laps to go. Earnhardt finishing 35th severely impacted his Championship chances. He dropped four spots in the Chase to 13th. As Earnhardt Jr. said, “We have some pretty tough competition in the Chase, “The average finish is going to be inside the top 10 to win the championship. So you can do the numbers, you can do the math.”

NASCAR

Richmond, conspiracies, 13 Chase drivers, two rule changes, and no Air Titan at Chicagoland — need we say more?

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