Race #1 of The Chase: New Hampshire 9/17/09

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins this Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

The top 12 drivers in the point standings have been officially locked in to compete for NASCAR’s top tier championship. Only 40 points separate 1st to 12th. Any one of the 12 drivers can win the coveted Sprint Cup trophy.

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

“I mean, the Chase is anyone’s to win and anyone’s to lose,” top-seeded Mark Martin said.  “All of these teams got in here because they’re good. And all it takes is a stretch of 10 good races to win this. I think any of these 12 teams could win it.”

One thing is certain. All 12 drivers have a realistic chance of winning, but every point will be crucial from the start of Race #1 through the checkers at the season finale.

Rewind to last year, Kyle Busch entered the first Chase race as the top seed, but finished 34th. The bad luck followed him into the next race and set up a points deficit he couldn’t overcome. He finished 10th last season. Busch missed the Chase by only 8 points.

“I’m excited about it because if I win the first two races, I’ll be leading the points this year,” said 12th seed Greg Biffle, “instead of last year I won the first two and I still wasn’t. It’s pretty tight. Forty points, that’s reachable in a couple of races.”

During the inaugural Chase in 2004, Kurt Busch won at New Hampshire and went on to win the championship that year by 8 points over 2nd place, Jimmie Johnson.

In 2005, Tony Stewart finished 2nd at NHMS kicking off a streak of 7 top-10 finishes en route to his second series championship.

Clint Bowyer surprised a few during the 2007 Chase after he won at New Hamphire and held up the momentum to finish 3rd in the standings that year.

Will momentum play a factor? The drama begins with the drop of the green flag for Sunday’s Sylvania 300.

4th seed Denny Hamlin has posted 6 consecutive top-10 finishes during the “Race to the Chase” including two wins, Pocono and Richmond. He racked up more points than any other driver during that 10-race lead-up to the Chase with 1,482 points.

8th seed Brian Vickers hasn’t finished worse than 12th since the last visit to NHMS. He’s posted 7 top-10 finishes including 1 win, Michigan.

11th seed Juan Pablo Montoya posted 5 top-10 finishes over the past 10 Chase races, beating his previous best of 6 top-10 finishes for the 2007 season.

Top seed Mark Martin has won 4 races this season, tied with Kyle Busch for the series-leading high. He’s finished 2nd, 5th and 4th in the last 3 races. This will mark Martin’s 4th Chase appearance. In all fairness, Martin made it into the Chase during each of his full-time seasons since the play-off style debuted in 2004. Martin toyed with the idea of retiring and wasn’t in chase contention on a limited schedule.

“It’s an accomplishment for sure, and I think it says a lot about this race team,” Martin said. “We were 34th in points. And those four wins, at the time, were a huge help just to get us into the Chase. And now they mean so much more. So, while it’s not a huge lead, and I don’t think any of us are getting a big head over it, it’s definitely a nice accomplishment.”

And we must mention reigning and three-time series champion, Jimmie Johnson. With Matt Kenseth missing out on the Chase this year for the first time, Johnson becomes the only driver to compete in all 6 Chases. He’s posted a total of 14 Chase race wins, the best among all drivers that have competed.

“We’ve shown we’ve had a lot of speed in the cars,” Johnson said. “And if we can just minimize mistakes we’ll be in great shape.”

There are several story lines to follow and fan favorites being picked to win the trophy this season.

Jimmie Johnson is on the quest for his 4th consecutive championship.

Jeff Gordon is on a “Drive for 5″ for his 5th championship.

Their Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Mark Martin is being called the “sentimental favorite”. He’s finished 2nd overall in the standings 4 times.

2-time series champion and first-year team owner, Tony Stewart would become the first owner/driver to win a championship since Alan Kulwicki in 1992.

What can we expect at NHMS?

There have been 9 consecutive different race winners on the 1.058-mile oval.

7 of the 12 Chase drivers have won before at NHMS. Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch lead all Chase drivers with the most wins there with 3 each. Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman have each won twice at the track while Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle have scored one win each.

Chase contenders Johnson and Busch are the only 2 drivers to have swept both races at NHMS in the same season. Johnson in 2003 and Busch in 2004.

Greg Biffle is the defending race winner. Roush Fenway Racing has 7 wins at NHMS, the most among all teams.

Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 3:10 pm.

TV coverage of Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway starts at 1 on ABC.