Nascar Race Today

NASCAR Charlotte 2013: Mysterious debris caution foils Jimmie Johnson

Until a suspicious caution for debris derailed his bid, Jimmie Johnson looked like he was going to Victory Lane at Charlotte.

It was a race Jimmie Johnson knew he should have won; just as well as he knew he should be leaving Charlotte Motor Speedway with the points lead.

Instead, a bobble on the final restart of the night proved costly, as all Johnson could do was scramble to finish the Bank of America 500 fourth. More troublesomes, he lost a point to championship leader Matt Kenseth, who finished third, falling four points back in the standings.

"Evidently I was too close to (Kahne) and in his way, and my car washed up a little bit," Johnson said. "A couple of guys were able to get inside of me and I just lost track position at that point, which was unfortunate.

"Once I got rolling again I was fine, but I lost too much at that point."

On the night he led 138 laps and had the field covered until a controversial caution for a piece of debris with 26 circuits remaining. Although he didn't want to question NASCAR's decision and was diplomatic when asked, it was apparent the caution wasn't something Johnson agreed with in comments made to USA Today.

"I don't know, honestly," Johnson told USA Today when asked the legitimacy of the final caution for debris. "I've thrown (NASCAR officials) under the bus before and it turned out there was something there, so I've just got to watch myself and watch the video and see for myself.

"To have a debris caution stop the race when you're up there controlling it and having a good thing going is awfully frustrating. We'll take the fourth. It's not the end of the world, but every point matters right now. I hate seeing something like that shake things up."

Justifiable or not, the final caution reset the field following pit stops. Johnson restarted third -- the first driver with four fresh tires -- behind Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, each of whom elected to take two tires only.

And as the green flag waved, Johnson quickly pulled to the rear of Kahne and appeared ready to pass him for the lead. But as Johnson sped through Turn 1 his Chevrolet broke loose and pushed up the track, dropping back to seventh.

From there it was a mad -- and ultimately futile -- dash to recoup the lost positions.

"If we could have come out second, which was really close with the No. 24 (Gordon) and start on the front row I think it would have been a much different result for us," Johnson said. "But it didn't happen.

"We led some laps tonight, had a good car. I'm not sure what happened in the points, but I know it's awfully tight up there right now."

* Complete coverage of the 2013 Sprint Cup Chase

* "Awesome" lap gives Jeff Gordon Charlotte pole | Full Charlotte coverage

* Kvapil's arrest another hit for NASCAR's reputation

* Bristol NASCAR track to host college football game

* The good times, hard life and shocking death of Dick Trickle

1. (23) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334 laps, 103.9 rating, 47 points.

2. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, 138.3, 44.

3. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 334, 107.4, 42.

4. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, 129.6, 41.

5. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 111.2, 40.

6. (2) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334, 97.1, 38.

7. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 334, 117, 38.

8. (7) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 334, 106.6, 37.

9. (18) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 334, 94.3, 35.

10. (15) Carl Edwards, Ford, 334, 95.3, 35.

11. (14) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 334, 89.1, 34.

12. (8) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 334, 88.1, 32.

13. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 334, 79.7, 31.

14. (10) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 333, 95, 30.

15. (6) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 333, 104.7, 30.

16. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 333, 78.9, 28.

17. (29) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 333, 68.2, 27.

18. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 332, 72.9, 26.

19. (25) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 332, 70, 25.

20. (35) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 332, 55.2, 24.

21. (26) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 332, 66.8, 23.

22. (17) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 331, 79.6, 22.

23. (11) Aric Almirola, Ford, 331, 69.3, 21.

24. (13) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 331, 65.4, 20.

25. (27) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 330, 59.2, 0.

26. (36) David Reutimann, Toyota, 330, 51.6, 18.

27. (19) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 330, 56, 0.

28. (24) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 329, 58.1, 16.

29. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 328, 47.1, 16.

30. (30) David Ragan, Ford, 328, 48.4, 14.

31. (28) Casey Mears, Ford, 328, 35.3, 13.

32. (39) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 327, 43.1, 12.

33. (32) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 327, 39.7, 0.

34. (31) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 327, 48, 0.

35. (41) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 326, 34.6, 9.

36. (40) Timmy Hill, Ford, 324, 30.9, 8.

37. (21) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, engine, 247, 63.5, 0.

38. (43) Blake Koch, Ford, vibration, 216, 28.5, 0.

39. (38) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, electrical, 149, 32.4, 0.

40. (37) Michael McDowell, Ford, vibration, 83, 27.3, 4.

41. (33) Josh Wise, Ford, brakes, 81, 37.2, 0.

42. (22) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, engine, 80, 42.9, 2.

43. (42) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, accident, 23, 29, 1.

---

Average Speed of Race Winner: 158.312 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 9 minutes, 57 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 1.022 seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 20 laps.

Lead Changes: 24 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J.Gordon 1-26; D.Gilliland 27; K.Kahne 28-29; D.Earnhardt Jr. 30-43; K.Kahne 44-73; J.Johnson 74; R.Newman 75; C.Edwards 76; Ky.Busch 77; K.Kahne 78-90; D.Earnhardt Jr. 91-95; K.Kahne 96-128; R.Newman 129; M.Kenseth 130; C.Bowyer 131; B.Keselowski 132-133; K.Kahne 134-173; Ky.Busch 174; K.Kahne 175-177; J.Johnson 178-227; Ky.Busch 228; J.Johnson 229-307; Ky.Busch 308; K.Kahne 309-325; B.Keselowski 326-334.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Kahne, 7 times for 138 laps; J.Johnson, 3 times for 130 laps; J.Gordon, 1 time for 26 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 2 times for 19 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 11 laps; Ky.Busch, 4 times for 4 laps; R.Newman, 2 times for 2 laps; M.Kenseth, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Edwards, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Bowyer, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Gilliland, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: 1. M.Kenseth, 2,225; 2. J.Johnson, 2,221; 3. K.Harvick, 2,196; 4. J.Gordon, 2,189; 5. Ky.Busch, 2,188; 6. G.Biffle, 2,167; 7. Ku.Busch, 2,166; 8. C.Bowyer, 2,162; 9. D.Earnhardt Jr., 2,159; 10. C.Edwards, 2,158; 11. J.Logano, 2,150; 12. R.Newman, 2,147.

---

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

If Brad Keselowski is trying to play mind games with Kyle Busch in an effort to derail Busch's championship chances, Joe Gibbs doesn't believe his driver can be rattled on the race track.

1. (23) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334 laps, 103.9 rating, 47 points.

Roger Penske, needing nothing short of a miracle for Helio Castroneves to win the IndyCar title in next week's season finale, will run a third car for AJ Allmendinger in what's presumed to be a strategic move to aid their championship chances.

They race around the track at 200 miles an hour, their high-horsepowered machines covered with corporate sponsor logos.

The same can be said of the walls of the tracks and the events themselves, as Saturday night's Bank of America 500 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in Charlotte, N.C., would suggest.

The reason for this column? No, I'm not having an old sportswriter days flashback.

The executive who oversees the sponsorships, including the recruitment of the sponsors themselves, was born and raised in Modesto, attended local schools, and her family still lives here.

Meet Jill Gregory, NASCAR's vice president of industry services. It's a vague title, but in fact it places her among the most valuable and powerful women executives in all of sports. She was among the first "Game Changers: Women in Sports Business" honorees by the Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily in 2011. This year, she was among the top women in business in Charlotte, N.C., where she lives and works.

Gregory has coordinated sponsorships with NASCAR's racing teams and with the 25 tracks that host Sprint Cup and Nationwide events since she hired on with NASCAR in 2007. She came aboard at a time when the economy was in a downward spiral, but has done her part to keep NASCAR growing in sponsorships and popularity.

She also works with marquee NASCAR drivers to promote the sport, and is involved in developing the next generation of NASCAR stars through NASCAR Next. The program identifies potential star drivers at an early age - 15 to 20 years old - and schools them on how to develop their skills both behind the wheel and behind the microphone, in front of a TV camera or in a sit-down interview. Solid relationships with the media help grow the fans base and the NASCAR brand.

When drivers bump and crash on the track, and then rip into each other in the pits and press conferences afterward? Not a problem.

"They're racing at 200 miles an hour just inches away from each other," she said. "It's tense by nature. We want our drivers to have personalities and we want the fans to see that. We just have to be mindful of when it crosses a line."

A quick background: The daughter of Dennis and Judy Gregory, Jill graduated from Grace Davis High in 1983, spent a year at Modesto Junior College and then went on to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she graduated with a degree in journalism. She went to work for a sports marketing company in the Bay Area, embarking on an odyssey that has taken her to Los Angeles, Houston, New York and other cities. She worked on the sponsorship side for companies including Texaco, Bank of America and Nextel (now Sprint) before joining NASCAR six years ago.

"I'm kind of old-fashioned," dad Dennis told me. "I keep a regular phone (address) book. I've got about three full pages of her (Jill) old addresses and phone numbers."

Gregory certainly embodies one of those local kids who goes off and becomes successful, not unlike filmmaker George Lucas, sports agent/team owner Jeffrey Moorad, and actors Jeremy Renner and Timothy Olyphant. Their common denominator? They all used their experiences growing up here as the foundation that enabled them to create and seize opportunities in their chosen professions. NASCAR wants its executives to receive the same kind of recognition in their hometowns, and embarked on a campaign to publicize them.

Gregory, as a Modestan, probably seemed like an unlikely person to become an auto-racing executive.

"We played tennis and swam at the SOS Club," she said. "My dad was very involved in the SOS, and we spent every hour of the weekend at the SOS. We were always outside."

Her family, along with several others, spend a couple of weeks camping each summer at Pinecrest.

"Real camping," she said. You know - tents, dirt, campfires. None of the trailer or cabin stuff. No iPhones or computer games allowed.

But there was a link to motorsports. Cousins Ross, Steve and Michael Bava, and John, Greg and Mark Largent were into racing. She went along with them to events in Stockton, Monterey's Laguna Seca and Sears Point (now Sonoma Raceway). Sonoma hosts the Toyota-Save Mart 350, which has its own valley connection: the supermarket chain founded in Modesto and owned by Modesto's Bob Piccinini. The sponsorship began years before Gregory joined the NASCAR team. They do visit when the race comes around each June, though.

So while she was only a marginal racing fan, she had been to some races and understood the atmosphere. That came in handy as her career progression took her deep into the sport and its industry. Her parents and surroundings also prepared her.

"I grew up on Magnolia Street," she said. "I always felt I wasn't afraid to go and try something else. I always knew if I needed to come back, to regroup, I always could."

Her sisters, Susanne and Jennifer, were raised the same way. Susanne worked for Coca-Cola in Atlanta before returning to California (she now lives in El Dorado Hills). Jennifer also went to Atlanta, where she is a personal trainer while also working for the family machining business in Modesto, Ejector Manufacturing, via online.

"We're proud of all of our girls," dad Dennis said.

As they should be. After all, they were the original sponsors.

Commentary

By Ryan McGee | ESPN The Magazine

Reminder: Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race is at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Not Talladega. Charlotte.

"So, what are you saying?" crew chief Gil Martin said Friday afternoon in the Charlotte garage, laughing. "Are you saying people are bringing Talladega up a little bit?"

Yes, that's exactly what we're saying. While everyone still in the Chase hunt says they are 100-percent focused on the task at hand at Charlotte this weekend (coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET, ABC), that's not 100-percent honest. Charlotte is merely the first part of a treacherous three-act play that begins on NASCAR's home track, moves south to the restrictor plate-choked madness of Talladega Superspeedway, and then to the near-equally unpredictable bullring of Martinsville Speedway.

"You can't win the championship over the next three weeks," points leader Matt Kenseth said on Friday. "But I think you can sure lose it."

All too aware of that possibility is the growing pack of racers trying to reel Kenseth in. In fact, they're banking on it. Since the 10-race Chase started five weeks ago, Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, trailing by a scant three points, have threatened to break away from the points pack.

But a pair of somewhat human stumbles at Kansas, paired with a win by Kevin Harvick and a third-place finish by Jeff Gordon, has fueled new hope back in the pack. Especially with Gordon and Harvick starting Saturday night's race on the front row and their career records at Talladega.

Now those hoping to run down the Big Two are unapologetically pinning a large portion of their hopes on the unpredictability of "The Big One" and, to a lesser extent, the dangers of an old fashioned Martinsville demolition derby.

"I think for us we controlled the things that we could control last week and that was scoring max points," Harvick said of his Kansas win. "You have to have some luck on your side to be around at [the season finale at] Homestead. Hopefully you catch some of those breaks, whether it be at Talladega or Martinsville and hopefully you can counter-balance that with some breaks of your own."

In other words, hope that the two guys out front get caught up in one or both of those potential messes and you don't.

"I remember last year the 14 car was upside down, tumbling across cars, so it can change, points can change in a hurry and that's the one racetrack that we all know can go one way or the other in a hurry," said Greg Biffle, sixth in the championship standings, 44 points -- essentially a race -- behind Kenseth. "A lot of guys got their fingers crossed that maybe a little bit of a break in the points there, but certainly you can't count on anything happening."

No, but one can hope. They are. And yes, those two guys being chased know that.

"I do feel good about our chances. Post-Talladega, depending on how things play out there, we'll see where we stand," said Johnson when asked to assess his shot at a sixth Cup. "I know if we keep this pace up, we'll definitely be a contender come Homestead. The big question is just Talladega."

But before Talladega and Martinsville, yes, there is Charlotte.

When talking to some veteran crew chiefs and drivers during Thursday and Friday's practice sessions, you might have thought they were talking about Talladega. They wondered aloud about practicing in the daylight when the race is at night. They speculated on the lingering effect of the still-new Gen-6 racecar. And, a full seven years after Charlotte Motor Speedway was repaved, they talked about the blacktop-turned-curveball as if it had been laid down just last week.

It would be inaccurate to compare Charlotte's '06 surface to Kansas' one-year old makeover, which is still catching blame for what was sometimes a sloppy, caution-punctuated race.

But clearly what once worked chassis-wise no longer does. Add in the cool temperatures of a long, 500-mile mid-October night -- forecast to begin in the 70s and dip into the high 50s -- and the capacity for unpredictability certainly exists.

Johnson won five of the six races leading into the repave. Since then he's won once in 15 tries, including a sudden snap-to-the-right late-race crash in 2011 that essentially ended his consecutive championships streak at five.

Over those 15 post-paving races, there have been 11 different winners. That may not be Talladega-type madness, but it could be just enough of a roulette wheel to provide a pre-Talladega points scramble.

"At this point, it's just going all out, giving it everything we have, we're not really thinking about points," said Gordon. "We're trying to win races and get the best finishes that we can."

But a little help would be nice.

ESPN The Magazine, NASCAR

FAST FRIENDS -- Future Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick topped the speed chart in Friday afternoon's final Happy Hour practice for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Busch running a best lap of 190.759 miles per hour in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. Harvick was close behind at 189.613 mph in the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the same car Harvick drove to victory in its maiden outing last weekend at Kansas Speedway. Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch completed the top five.

Elsewhere, Carl Edwards ended Happy Hour seventh, Jimmie Johnson was eighth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 16th and Mark Martin 17th.

But not everyone was happy during Happy Hour.

Points leader Matt Kenseth, who qualified 20th, was just 23rd fastest during the final practice, not where he wanted to be in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. But he'll have the opportunity to move forward in the field tomorrow night.

"Starting 20th is not the end of the world, it's a 500-mile race and I think that's more than enough time to get to the front," said Kenseth. "Certainly, it's going to take you longer to get there than if we would have qualified fifth or sixth."

And although he was 10th in Happy Hour, Bank of America 500 pole-sitter Jeff Gordon grazed the wall late in the session. Gordon won't have to go to a backup car.

THE NEWEST ROUSHKATEER -- Jack Roush has always had a willingness to develop young drivers, and Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he introduced his newest pilot, 20-year-old Ryan Reed. A Type I diabetic, Reed will drive the No. 16 American Diabetes Association Drive to Stop Diabetes Presented by Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang full-time in 2014 on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit. Reed will be compete for the series championship and rookie of the year honors next season.

Ford Motor Co. has been a staunch supporter of diabetes research and the automaker helped put this deal together. "Ford is actually how we got involved with Roush," said Reed. "We were supporting Ford's efforts with diabetes research and wanted to drive Fords, so having the Mustang adds an extra element as to how perfect this relationship is. Everyone on board is passionate about this. Everyone supports the cause and it's an amazing feeling."

Reed has three career Nationwide Series starts, with a best finish of ninth earlier this year at Richmond International Raceway. "Honestly, I'm gonna go to some tracks and have a bigger learning curve than others," Reed said. "Richmond, I showed up and adapted to the track really well. Bristol, I went there and I struggled, so there are gonna be tracks that I go to that I just take to really well and there are some tracks I'm gonna have to really work at it. I know that I have Jack Roush and all of Roush Fenway supporting me."

TRADING PLACES -- Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway are changing race dates for 2014, with Kansas getting the night-before-Mother's-Day race on May 10 and Darlington moving to April 12. The biggest impact is that there will be one more night race on the schedule, as both tracks will now race on Saturday nights. Darlington seemed to have a found a home with the May race date, but now it's moving again.

Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle said he's good with the change and with one more night race on the schedule. "To be perfectly honest with you, I enjoy night racing," said Biffle. "I think it's a little bit more racy, it's a little more fun. It seems like a better atmosphere if I was a fan in the evening for a night race. ... It doesn't sound like it's gonna be that big of a change for us at this point."

NASCAR is expected to release its full schedule on Tuesday and sources tell FOXSports.com that there likely will be no other significant changes in the Cup races for 2014.

SILLY SEASON -- As expected, Germain Racing will switch from Ford to Chevrolet in 2014, and has formed a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, similar to the relationship between RCR and Furniture Row Racing. Casey Mears, driver of No. 13 GEICO-sponsored Germain entry, drove for RCR in 2009, the same year Germain moved to the Cup Series full-time.

"Richard Childress and RCR have an extremely competitive program with a long history of winning races and championships," said team owner Bob Germain Jr. "They have great people and tremendous resources which will allow us to continue to improve our GEICO team's performance in 2014 and beyond."

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON -- Jared Irvan, the 15-year-old son of former NASCAR racer Ernie Irvan, will race full-time next year in the PASS Super Late Model Series. The Irvan family will be team owners and will prep Jared's car, which, will have full sponsorship from Auramist, a misting fan company.

"I really learned the most about his career from watching videos," Jared said of his famous father. "I learned that miracles happen. I was only one when he quit racing, so I couldn't be there in person, so I just had to learn everything from videos. I'm just trying to learn more about what I need to do to make it in racing."

CONCORD, N.C. -- At least the start will be good for Hendrick Motorsports fans Saturday night in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

All four of the Hendrick cars will start in the top-six, including Jeff Gordon from the pole.

-- Gordon first in qualifying | BOA 500 qualifying results | Beloved drivers | Charlotte picks | Odds

Here's a look at the lineup for the only night race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the fifth event of the 10-race Chase:

1. Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet -- Has points leader Matt Kenseth still in his sight, which is better than what most other Chase drivers can say. Better yet, he'll have everyone in his mirror at the start of the race Saturday night.

2. Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Chevrolet -- Big win last week got him back, a little, in championship contention. Needs to prove this week that will be the norm the rest of the year instead of a rarity. Qualifying was a good start.

3. Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford -- He's been looking for something positive. Best starting spot in last 26 races would rank as something positive.

4. Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet -- Considers himself lucky to salvage a strong finish last week as engine went sour in waning laps. Says it was in the valve train and believes issue has been resolved.

5. Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet -- Has his big "5 Kahne" charity run Sunday. Probably a hilly up-and-down course to go along with his year. And maybe kinda ironic that the No. 5 is starting fifth.

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet -- Solid qualifying on his 39th birthday as he prepares for his 500th start at the same track where he made his first. That would make a good storyline for a win, wouldn't it? Then again, any Earnhardt Jr. win is a good storyline.

7. Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 39 Chevrolet -- Team might feel out on an island as Martin struggles and Patrick learns. Not sure how much different that was than when Stewart was there.

8. Juan Pablo Montoya, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet -- Can't accuse him of giving up on NASCAR after that qualifying lap.

9. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota -- Will have a better weekend this weekend than last, when he wrecked three times. At least he better hope so.

10. Kurt Busch, Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevrolet -- Seventh in the standings thanks to gritty performances. Expect another one Saturday night.

11. Aric Almirola, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford -- Stoked after 10th-place finish last week at Kansas. Would be really stoked if he could post first back-to-back top-10s since April.

12. Joey Logano, Penske Racing No. 22 Ford -- Has finished third and fourth in past two races. And he's 10th in points. That's gotta stink.

13. Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet -- Had a strong day at Kansas last week with a seventh, his eighth top-10 of the season.

14. Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota -- Bowyer admitted he kind of lost his mind a little when he, in frustration, ran into Almirola postrace. Hoping to get the finish he believes he deserves this week.

15. Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford -- His fifth last week was just his third top-five in last 14 races.

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford -- Announced Thursday that Zest will be back as a primary sponsor for handful of races next year. He's got to like the smell of that deal.

17. Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip Racing No. 56 Toyota -- Still no update on his 2014 plans but has other concerns this weekend as his best finish ever at Charlotte was seventh and his average finish is 18.1 at the track.

18. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota -- Best part of Charlotte weekend is it was the first weekend of pro basketball exhibition games so he has something to distract him.

19. Brian Scott, Circle Sport Racing No. 33 Chevrolet -- Scott making his Cup debut in this RCR-prepared car. He hopes to do 5-7 Cup races next year while returning to an RCR Nationwide car.

20. Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota -- Dude now has his own Citizen watch that is for sale to general public. Only way world gets better for him would be a second Cup championship. That's quite possible.

21. Kyle Larson, Phoenix Racing No. 51 Chevrolet -- Both Larson and Scott posted great qualifying results considering they're making their Sprint Cup debuts.

22. Mark Martin, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet -- Can he have just one or two good races before Stewart gets healthy? Martin won't be in the car next week at Talladega (driver's choice) as Austin Dillon will take over the wheel.

23. Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing No. 2 Ford -- He doesn't know what intentional wrecking is so he had to ask at the prerace drivers meeting? He must be new to the sport and didn't grow up around it.

24. Bobby Labonte, JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Toyota -- Still looking for 2014 ride probably hoping this won't be his last race at Charlotte.

25. Jamie McMurray, Earnhardt-Ganass Racing No. 1 Chevrolet -- McMurray right now the "best of the rest" at 14th in the series standings. Wouldn't be surprised if he stays there.

26. Jeff Burton, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet -- Says he has something close to lined up for next season but leaving the destination a mystery. Apparently not Swan Racing, Phoenix Racing nor Wood Brothers.

27. Brian Vickers, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota -- Actually gets a weekend off next week as Michael Waltrip gets in the car for Talladega. After that qualifying run, Vickers might wish he'd get an extra day off Saturday night.

28. Casey Mears, Germain Racing No. 13 Ford -- Has been 23rd in the standings the past two weeks, his best since the eighth week of the season.

29. Marcos Ambrose, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Ford -- Was ninth at Kansas last week. Was 10th last time at Charlotte. Things looking up? Maybe until his qualifying lap.

30. David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford -- Has to be excited for next week at Talladega, where he won the last time Cup raced there.

31. Cole Whitt, Swan Racing No. 30 Toyota -- Hoping to make the most out of the chance in this car.

32. Landon Cassill, Mike Hillman Racing No. 40 Chevrolet -- With Brian Scott in the No. 33 car this weekend, Cassill gets in the No. 40 car this week.

33. Josh Wise, Front Row Motorsports No. 35 Ford -- Best starting spot in last five weeks, for what it's worth.

34. David Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford -- The three Front Row cars were 30th, 33rd and 34th in qualifying. They appear equal.

35. Danica Patrick, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Chevrolet -- Here's something to take to the bank: Her race Saturday night should be longer than last Sunday.

36. David Reutimann, BK Racing No. 83 Toyota -- Not been a great season but this qualifying a little worse than normal for him.

37. Michael McDowell, Phil Parsons Racing No. 98 Ford -- Likely will be a short night for this team, that has start-and-parked for most of the year.

38. Joe Nemechek, Nemco-JRR Motorsports No. 87 Toyota -- His real race is Friday night in the Nationwide Series.

39. Dave Blaney, Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7 Chevrolet -- His big pink-ribbon decal on hood among those for breast cancer awareness his weekend.

40. Timmy Hill, FAS Lane Racing No. 32 Ford -- Hill was the top rookie in the race at Kansas. What's even bigger is he finished on the lead lap. Solid run for newcomer.

41. Travis Kvapil, BK Racing No. 93 Toyota -- Probably not all that concerned about the qualifying lap after his arrest on domestic violence charges two days earlier. Said he was embarrassed by his arrest and thanked team for sticking behind him.

42. JJ Yeley, Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 36 Chevrolet -- Wife and daughter decked out in pink racing suits Thursday as wife was competing in charity race. They win the cute award for the weekend.

43. Blake Koch, Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Ford -- He had never been in a Cup car until Thursday. So it will be a learning experience Saturday in his first career Cup race.

It was May 30, 1999, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 24-years-old. At the time, Barack Obama was a state senator in Illinois, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., had just entered the national consciousness, and Star Wars Episode 1 was about to become the highest grossing film in history.

So much has changed in American life and culture since the son of the Intimidator, the seven-time NASCAR champion, made his first Cup start 14 years ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On Saturday night at that same track where it all began, the driver once known as Little E, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Thursday, will become only the 34th person in Cup history to start his 500th race in NASCAR's highest series.

GALLERY: Classic photos of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

For the last 10 years Earnhardt has been voted by fans as the sport's most popular driver, yet in each of those seasons he's never won the championship. He's been good -- Earnhardt has 19 career victories -- but not great. Which raises the question: Can he do it this year?

It won't be easy. His title chances appeared doomed after he suffered an engine failure in the Chase opener at Chicagoland and finished 35th, but since then he came in sixth in New Hampshire, second at Dover, and eighth at Kansas. With six races left in the playoffs, Earnhardt is eighth in the standings, trailing leader Matt Kenseth by 54 points. It's not an insurmountable deficit, but it's very close to it. The only way for Earnhardt to make a charge at the championship is to win multiple races over the next six weeks and hope that the likes of Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick struggle.

Earnhardt should be fast on Saturday night at Charlotte. On Thursday, he qualified sixth. But because of where he sits in the standings, Earnhardt and his crew chief Steve Letarte can afford to gamble -- both on the track and on pit road. Races at Charlotte often boil down to games of fuel mileage, so expect the No. 88 team to try to pit out of sequence or stretch their fuel in order to steal a win.

Back in his Cup debut at Charlotte in 1999, Earnhardt finished a respectable 16th. In his 26 starts at the 1.5-mile track since then, he hasn't won, but he does have five top-five finishes.

Darrell Waltrip tweeted on Thursday that he believes Earnhardt, recognizing the symbolism of this race, will take the checkered flag on Saturday night. I agree. He's my pick to win Chase race No. 5 of 2013.

Here are four other drivers to watch when the green flag waves in the Queen City:

Kenseth has won more races this season (seven) than any other driver. He took back-to-back checkered flags to begin the Chase, but he struggled last Sunday at Kansas -- another 1.5-mile track -- and wound up 11th. He now has a three-point lead in the standings over Jimmie Johnson.

In his last three starts at Charlotte, Kenseth hasn't finished higher than 10th. And even though his setup was off last Sunday, he has flourished on intermediate-length tracks throughout his 14-year Cup career. He was a rookie with Earnhardt in 2000, and since then the two have remained close friends. I think he'll be right on Earnhardt's rear bumper when the checkers wave on Saturday night and wind up second, solidifying -- at least for one more week -- his hold on the championship lead.

No driver in the last decade has been more dominant at Charlotte than Johnson, the five-time champion. In 24 career starts at the track, he has five wins. But there's a caveat: He has only has one victory at CMS since 2006.

Still, he was oozing confidence on Thursday when he met with reporters in the infield media center and spoke about his title chances. "We've been very consistent," Johnson said. "We've been competitive. We've won a race [at Dover]. I feel good with that. I know if we keep this pace up, we'll definitely be a contender come Homestead."

Agreed. Though I don't believe Johnson will win on Saturday night, he remains my pick to be hoisting the big trophy at Homestead on Nov. 17.

Relatively quiet for most of the season, Harvick emerged as a legitimate title contender last weekend at Kansas, as I wrote earlier this week. After capturing the pole, he led the most laps and took the checkered flag. He's now third in the standings, 25 points -- essentially the equivalent of 25 positions on the track -- behind Kenseth.

"Last week went about as well as you could write it down on a piece of paper for us," Harvick said on Thursday. "Sitting on the pole and winning the race is a little bit out of character from what we have done in the past. But I think for us it gives us a lot of confidence in the things that we can do and need to do to keep ourselves in position to continue to race for this championship over the next several weeks."

Harvick took the checkers in the spring race at Charlotte in May. Barring a mechanical failure or getting caught up in a wreck, he should be good for a top-five on Saturday night.

If Gordon is going to win his fifth championship, he simply must -- MUST -- reach Victory Lane on Saturday night. Currently in fourth place in the standings and 32 points behind Kenseth, Gordon appears to have a very capable car for Saturday night. On Thursday, he won the pole.

Yet in his last six starts at Charlotte, he has finished 18th or better only once (seventh in the fall of '12). This will be a revealing race for the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer. If Gordon flourishes -- and I think he will -- it will show that he still has the skill and the will to contend for a title. If he flounders, it could portend that his glory days are indeed behind him.