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How the 12 remaining Chase drivers have done at the 2nd round tracks
The second round of the Chase is the first of two rounds in NASCAR’s playoffs that is composed entirely of tracks the Sprint Cup Series is visiting for a second time. So we figured this would be a good opportunity to see how the 12 remaining Chase drivers have performed at Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega, the three tracks that make up the second round.
Martin Truex Jr.
Charlotte: 1st
Kansas: 14th
Talladega: 13th
If we’re looking outside the box score, Truex has the strongest track record at the second-round tracks this year. He dominated at Charlotte (392 laps led!) and Kansas (172) but doesn’t have two wins because a late pit stop issue derailed his chances at Kansas.
Kevin Harvick
Charlotte: 2nd
Kansas: 2nd
Talladega: 15th
Mr. Consistency rides again. It’s going to take an issue for Harvick to not be in the top five at Charlotte and Kansas. We won’t talk about Talladega right now because there’s going to be a lot of flashing back to last year’s Talladega Chase race in a couple weeks.
Kyle Busch
Charlotte: 33rd
Kansas: 1st
Talladega: 2nd
Busch was the beneficiary of Truex’s bad luck at Kansas (and subsequently got a lug nut penalty after the race). He hit the wall late at Charlotte for his 33rd-place finish.
Matt Kenseth
Charlotte: 7th
Kansas: 4th
Talladega: 23rd
The second round was Kenseth’s undoing last year. He hit the wall at Charlotte and had his whole kerfuffle with Joey Logano at Kansas. He finished 23rd at Talladega in the spring despite his car flying through the air.
Joey Logano
Charlotte: 9th
Kansas: 38th
Talladega: 25th
Logano was caught up in a crash while racing at the front of the pack at Kansas and also got caught in a crash at Talladega, where he and Kenseth had another on-track conflict.
Chase Elliott
Charlotte: 8th
Kansas: 9th
Tallladega: 5th
We all know Talladega is a crapshoot, so it’s hard to put much stock in a fifth-place finish there. But Elliott’s performance at Charlotte and Kansas has to be heartening, especially if Hendrick Motorsports can carry over the speed it showed at Chicago.
Brad Keselowski
Charlotte: 5th
Kansas: 10th
Talladega 1st
Just after saying it’s hard to put stock in Talladega, it’s pretty apparent that Keselowski is the best restrictor-plate racer in the Cup Series at the moment. Repeating his Charlotte and Kansas performances will put him in a great spot at Talladega this fall.
Kurt Busch
Charlotte: 6th
Kansas: 3rd
Talladega: 8th
This looks really good. But Busch hasn’t been really good lately. Maybe his team can recapture the early season form it showed.
Denny Hamlin
Charlotte: 4th
Kansas: 37th
Talladega: 31st
Hamlin was caught up in the crash with Logano at Kansas and also crashed at Talladega. But the Kansas crash happened because Hamlin could afford to be aggressive given his Daytona 500 win.
Carl Edwards
Charlotte: 18th
Kansas: 11th
Talladega: 35th
Edwards was also in a crash at Talladega and struggled relatively at Charlotte, finishing a lap down. Can the No. 19 find some intermediate track speed?
Jimmie Johnson
Charlotte: 3rd
Kansas: 17th
Talladega: 22nd
Johnson has seven career wins at Charlotte, though one has happened since 2009. His third-place finish there was his first in the top 15 in four races.
Austin Dillon
Charlotte: 12th
Kansas: 6th
Talladega: 3rd
Bet you didn’t think Dillon would be one of the strongest second-round contenders based off early-season performance, did you?
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
