The Chase under the lights:
This Saturday night's UAW-GM Quality 500 is the only race in the 2005 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup running at night in primetime. Lowes Motor Speedway is a great facility and speed records will likely fall this weekend as it is now faster than ever. Can point leader Tony Stewart keep up his torrid pace or will another driver in The Chase be able to make his move towards the NEXTEL Cup?
Tickets:
Speedway ticket office (800) 455-FANS or (704) 455-3200
Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)
The Track:
Lowes Motor Speedway is a mile and a half tri-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns. The track is fast and even though there is a preferred groove there is still enough room for a faster car to get by.
Lowes Motor Speedway is the home track for NASCAR. The majority of the teams are based within 30 miles of the speedway and everybody brings their best stuff to Lowes because everybody wants the bragging rights of winning their home race.
Race Distance:
334 Laps = 500 Miles
The Big Picture:
Tony Stewart has managed an average finish of 6.5 since The Chase began. By avoiding bad finishes he now has a large 75 point lead in the standings. If he can continue to skirt bad luck he just might run away with the 2005 title.
The current points top ten are: 1. Tony Stewart 5,684. 2. Ryan Newman 5,609. 3. Greg Biffle 5,596. 4. Rusty Wallace 5,594. 5. Jimmie Johnson 5,592. 6. Carl Edwards 5,589. 7. Mark Martin 5,571. 8. Matt Kenseth, 5,568. 9. Jeremy Mayfield, 5,527.10. Kurt Busch 5,460.
Storylines:
This is a good week to talk about the tight battle for 11th. The driver that finishes the season in 11th gets a million dollar bonus and a trip to the Waldorf in New York City for the awards banquet. Right now Kevin Harvick owns 11th by one single point over Jamie McMurray and only one additional point separate Elliott Sadler in 12th. Jeff Gordon, Joe Nemechek and Dale Jarrett aren't too far behind. This is a great battle that is sure to come down to the wire.
Media Coverage:
TV: NBC Saturday, October 15th, 7:00PM Eastern.
Radio: PRN and XM Satellite
Actual Race: 7:10 p.m. Eastern
Posted Awards:
$4,980,384
Last Year:
Last year this is the race where Jimmie Johnson began his winning streak that saw him win three in-a-row and four of the last six races of 2004. Kasey Kahne had dominated most of the day but cut a tire on lap 268 and slammed the wall while leading, ending his day.
Predictions:
Jimmie Johnson has won the last three Coca-Cola 600s and four of the last five NEXTEL Cup points races held at the track. I just don't see any way to not pick him as the favorite for this weekend.
As a backup I'll go with last week's winner and the winner of the All-Star Challenge at Lowes Motor Speedway in May of this year: Mark Martin.
