Kapalua Previews the 2010 Sprint Cup Race to Da Chase!!

Last Updated on Friday, 02 July 2010 11:43 Written by Mwils1 Thursday, 01 July 2010 01:53

This first episode in the Race to the Chase will highlight all of the main characters that will be competing to make the Chase in the NRL Sprint Cup Series!

#1 - DaleReynolds24

Our Sprint Cup Points leader and reigning Champion leads atop the standings by 137 points over the Professa. We're entering the point of the season that in his career, he's not been the one dominating Victory Circle. Last season he went 11 races from Infinion through the 1st Chase race at New Hampshire without winning a race. For a driver with 23 career wins in 80 starts. That's a long time span to go without a win. The biggest question is has this driver peaked at the wrong time in the season? With the level of competition up, it's almost certain that he will not rip off 6 wins in 10 Chase races this year. Although having to be considered the Favorite to repeat as Champion of the NRL Cup series. There are definite contenders to his throne. That said though, he's pretty much a lock to the Chase.

#2 - Kelley1968 -

"The Professa" as he's known started the season off with a bang. Winning the 4th running of the Daytona 500 in the NRL. He started the season winning at Daytona, 3rd at Auto Club and 2nd at Las Vegas! He has 5 Top 5's since then. But he's through the portion of the season that he typically does not perform well in. We just entered the 10 Race for the Chase portion of the season and in this section last year. Kelley won 5 of 10 races, (New Hampshire, Indy, Pocono, Bristol and Richmond). Now this driver is also very locked into the chase as are most of the top 8. But the difference this season is that he struggled up until that first career win at New Hampshire. But DC'd from the Chase race at New Hampshire as well as not being able to get online to race at Auto Club in the Chase. Those two missed opportunities gave DaleReynolds the championship last year. As Kelley averaged a 3rd place finish in those other eight races of the Chase. He is the biggest threat to the NRL's reigning Champion!

#3 - Metsrule2000 -

Mets is the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year this season as he's cemented his spot in the Chase as well. Though on the same point, can't be considered a real threat to the Championship until he corrects some issues in his program. 10 Starts on Track A this season - 5 Top 10's. Where as 7 starts on Track B this season - 1 Top 5 and 6 Top 10's. He has to step up to the harder level of competition at Track A and perform better and also needs to Tally a win to truely compete for the Championship. There's rarely been a champion whether in the NRL or real Nascar that won a Championship without winning a Race.

#4 - xX Chuck1979 Xx -

This is probably one of the hungrier drivers on the circuit this season. A Veteran whom just completed his 75th career start and has been so close to a win, with 6 Runner up finishes in his career. But right now this driver may be the hottest driver on the circuit. After an up and down start to the season for this veteran. He's rattled off 5 top 5's in the last six races. Including Runner up efforts at Richmond and Michigan. Chuck is one of the top challengers to Dale this season and will likely finally break through that glass ceiling and finally nail down his first NRL Sprint Cup victory before the season ends!

#5 - Sinnerslikeme -

Sinners is perhaps the most up and down driver in the NRL Sprint Cup series. He can run extremely strong, especially at some of the series's short tracks like Richmond. From Richmond to Pocono this year he tabulated 5 straight top 10's and 3 of them were top 5's. But he seems to be unable to find a way to finish races. Last season he had a DNF in the final 9 races of the season and if he wants any prayer whatsoever of competing for a championship. He has to work on his consistency to bring home those strong finishes to go with the strong starts he has in races.

#6 - Mwils -

Mwils hasn't been the crafty veteran of the league like he has been in past season's. This year he hasn't yet recorded a Top 5. Nor come too close to getting his ritualistic one win a season. But while coming up to his 80th career NRL Sprint Cup start, coming up this weekend in Daytona. He is the kind of driver that once Qualifying goes out the window in the Chase and he can just go race with the big boys. He's shown he can trade blows with the best. But he does need to turn it on in the next 9 races but even he is pretty safe at over 400 pts from the 13th place driver!

#7 - Bitten Buns
(aka Get Destroyed, Aka Shooter, Aka Mcgavin..AKA you get the idea) -

This driver ranks #7 in the points for the Chase. Starting the second half of our Chasers. 330 Pts above the 13th spot and fairly safe with that buffer. The issue for this driver is once again a running trend, Consistency. He started the season with back to back top 10's. Then didn't post another finish like that until Talladega. Then rattled off 4 top 10's in a row and had 2 Top 5's and 5 top 10's in the next six races. He's then gone on and gotten 2 poles in the last three races, (Michigan and New Hampshire) But no top 10's in those three races to show for it. For this driver to compete for a top 5 position in the standings or for a Championship, he has to level out his finishes and contend for some wins. Best finish this season is 4th.

#8 - Kapalua2483 -

This is this writer's favorite driver...I wonder why. A season of dissappointment after a very solid rookie campaign. Came out and was leading late in the race at Auto Club and Las Vegas. Just to lose out on both races. (Not enough Fuel, Disconnect in those respective races). The issue for this driver just like many others in the middle ground of the chase is consistency. He entered the league last season at the Spring Talladega event and rattled off consecutive top 5 finishes. That has not been duplicated for him since! On top of that, Career best finish is 3rd for this driver, several times. For this one to compete for a Championship, He has to win a race. Otherwise he'll finish midpack again this season.

#9 - PeeWee Suggs 55 -

This driver is about 270 pts above the #13 spot in the standings so again he is also pretty safe for now. With 9 races to go until the Chase. The concern for this driver is the step up in competition. 2 Career Track A starts and an average finish of 18th in those two races. This driver has to improve their overall program to do anything in the Chase. He is pretty safe in regards to the standings but to step up in competition for 10 races. An average of 18th just won't cut it.

#10 - xo Twenty ox -

If you cut this driver's name in half. You get his average finish for the season...Ten. (9.9 to be exact) This is perhaps one of the more consistent drivers in the series right now though this rookie is not getting much attention around the league. Having only started 14 races and rattling off 1 Top 5 and 10 Top 10's. Pretty impressive for a driver that missed Daytona, Auto Club and Martinsville. He's also shown gradual improvement which is another very interesting statistic. 8 of his first 9 races were on Track B. 6 Starts on Track A and he's had 1 Top 5 and 4 Top 10's in those races. If he continues his rate of improvement. Watch for this driver to potentially be a sleeper in the Chase. If he can keep his car clean just a little bit more often, he could contend...just maybe!

#11 - bb3537 -

This driver is the first driver that is one that could definitely be a driver that when the Chase starts back at Loudon in a few months...may not still be in the Top 12. This rookie has started every race this season but has only 1 Top 5 and 2 Top 10's to his credit. An average finish of 18.5 is also concerning. Only one Track A start which ended in a DNF. This is a driver that had better pick it up in a hurry if they want to keep their spot in the chase, let alone compete. 157 pts over 13th place is not a huge amount and with the drivers coming on that are outside the Chase looking in. It could definitely be a dogfight for this driver coming up soon!

#12 - Scoutchuck -

Our reigning Rookie of the Year is our bubble driver in the Chase standings. He has just a 12 point lead on 13th place in the standings. Not exactly what could be called solid. Honestly this driver feels like he's taken a step back a little bit this season! Only 1 Top 5 and 4 Top 10's for this driver to start out this season. Only 4 Track A starts and none of them tabulated a top 10 finish. He was alot stronger once Chase time came last season BUT to make the chase, he will have to start putting the pedal to the metal and stop dragging the brakes on his program!

Drivers on the Outside, Looking in but Can make it!

#13 - Speedracer91sf - This is a Jekyll and Hyde kind of driver, someone that is his own worst enemy. 1 Win, 3 Runner up finishes, 6 Top 5's and 7 Top 10's. He has also Skipped Bristol when he didn't make Track A. As well as skipping out on 5 other races, endured a 75 point penalty for actions on track at Phoenix and is currently awaiting word from the staff of the NRL as to what his penalties if any will be forthcoming from his...Multiple incidents at New Hampshire. One league official speaking on the condition of Anoyomity has hinted that this driver may be delivered a worse punishment than his last act out. This alone makes it hard to judge if this driver will make the Chase...or even run half the races leading up to it. But being 12 pts out make him a possibility regardless

#14 - Kahnekid9 - This NRL rookie entered the league a bit later in the season. Missing Daytona, Auto Club and Las Vegas. As well as later missing Texas. Yet has netted 5 Top 5's this season including a Runner up at Richmond. This has pulled him to 60 points out of the final Chase spot. If he can gain some more consistency and instead of only hitting Top 5's or nothing. Can begin rattling off some top 10 finishes to go with those top 5's. He could definately be a player in the Chase. But if those consistency problems continue to plague him. He may wind up being passed by another of the possible Chasers down the list!

#17 - ROWDYbowler20 - This driver has only competed in 11 races this season and has rattled off 3 Top 5's, 5 Top 10's and 1 Runner up finish this season. 3 Of those 4 quality finishes are from the last 4 races though. A Tough beginning to his rookie campaign has put him behind the 8 ball in making the Chase. At 270 pts out of the final spot, he has ground to make up but it looks like he may be getting hot right now and if so, Can definately make a run at it with 9 races to go!

#18 - thegift3399 - This driver when and if he competes in his next Sprint Cup event will make his 75th start. You cannot count him out, even if he's had a Feast or Famine season. Top 5 at Daytona, DNF the next two races, Win Atlanta, Misses the next two races. DNF the following two races from that. Then a 3rd at Talladega and a Win at Richmond! Since then, four more DNF's and he has not run a race since Pocono. With ALL of this though, He is only 315 points out and for a driver with 12 Career Victories in the Sprint Cup series. Last season at this time from Daytona until Watkins Glen (5 Races). He won 2 Races and 2 more Runner up finishes. This would be the time for this driver to return and try and make a run at the Sprint Cup Championship he wants badly. If he made the Chase as of right now he'd go from the bottom to the #2 seed amusingly enough!

Right now there are other drivers in the league whom have tabulated wins this season. StevenTyler 324 (Michigan), Bottlejuice (New Hampshire) and FreshNJG (Bristol, Infinion) but these drivers cannot be considered challengers yet As all three are over 500 points out of the final Chase spot. For all purposes, Fresh has no chance of making the Chase at over 800 points out. Making up 100 points a race on average is principly impossible...but not mathmatically so not out yet!

STAYED TUNED !!!