First race of the Chase is in the books and Denny Hamlin has punched his ticket to the Challenger Round. A couple of Chase participants (Kevin Harvick & Jimmie Johnson) got tangled up on a restart and Harvick took the worst of it cutting a tire and ending up in the wall. The crew worked hard to get Harvick back out on the track, but he was only able to muster a 42nd place finish which puts a damper on his title defense.
How our cranks finished:
3 – #41 Led 37 laps
4 – #31
7 – #42
11 – #48
12 – #88
13 – #78 Led 39 laps
14 – #24 Led 41 laps
16 – #1
23 – #51
24 – #5
25 – #14
26 – #10
34 – #46
42 – #4
43 – 3
Next Up – New Hampshire 9/27/15
UPDATED CHASE STANDINGS: Bryant cranks in BOLD
NASCAR 2015 CHASE DRIVERS
#20 Matt Kenseth – Gibbs – Toyota – ADVANCING
#11 Denny Hamlin – Gibbs – Toyota -2
#19 Carl Edwards – Gibbs – Toyota -3
#18 Kyle Busch – Gibbs – Toyota -3
#41 Kurt Busch – Stewart-Haas – Chevy -4
#22 Joey Logano – Penske – Ford -4
#48 Jimmie Johnson – Hendrick – Chevy -7
#31 Ryan Newman – Childress – Chevy -12
#2 Brad Keselowski – Penske – Ford -13
#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Hendrick – Chevy -14
#78 Martin Truex Jr. – Furniture Row Racing – Chevy -17
#24 Jeff Gordon – Hendrick – Chevy -21
#1 Jamie McMurray – Ganassi – Chevy -24
#27 Paul Menard – Childress – Chevy -25
#15 Clint Bowyer – Waltrip – Toyota -27
#4 Kevin Harvick – Stewart-Haas – Chevy -43
