Cuts » he knew the lap was not good enough to progress

KANSAS CITY -- Maybe weve had it wrong all this time, thinking the restrictor-plate lottery at Talladega Superspeedway is the wild card in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.Charlotte Motor Speedway certainly staked its claim for that honor last weekend. Five of the twelve remaining Chase-eligible drivers finished 30th or worse Sunday, with wrecks or mechanical issues putting their NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes very much in jeopardy.That makes this Sundays Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway ultracritical, especially for those drivers who find themselves in a deep hole in terms of advancing in the Chase. For Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, who are all on the outside looking in, and even Denny Hamlin on the bubble, winning is pretty much the only option if they want to make the cut when the Chase field is narrowed from 12 drivers to eight after next weeks race at Talladega.Its exactly the kind of drama NASCAR hoped for when it created the 16-driver elimination format for the Chase in 2014, and it makes a race like Kansas that might have faded into obscurity become vitally important.It drastically changes the dynamic, said Team Penskes Brad Keselowski, who came out of the opening race of the round of 12 in good shape, sitting fourth in the standings with a 25-point cushion over ninth.When I look at this format that we have, theres really two ways you can get in, and thats through consistency and winning. And when you look at the simple math, there are four cars that are going to be eliminated and there are five cars that are in really rough shape that arent going to have the opportunity to be consistent and make their way in.Keselowski didnt have the best of days at Charlotte, but his seventh-place finish was enough to keep him in the top half of the eight drivers who will advance. Barring a disaster at Kansas, he should be able to move on in the Chase through consistency.Easily, he remarked. If we could run top-10 the next two races, I would say its an easy transfer. If youre a car that has any kind of gap right now, youre just going to go and lay up at Kansas.Certainly there are some situations you cant avoid -- you blow a tire or things like what happened to Joey [Logano, at Charlotte], he added. Those arent avoidable situations. You can break down, but the reality is, if you have a pretty good gap, you probably are going to take a log off the fire.The DNF at Charlotte was a major turnaround from a year ago for Logano, who won all three races in the 12-to-eight cutoff round in 2015. Logano was then famously knocked out of the Chase a couple of weeks later when Matt Kenseth intentionally wrecked him at Martinsville in retaliation for the move Logano had made on Kenseth to win the Fall Kansas race.Like the other drivers who are in the danger zone, Logano remains bullish about his chances of advancing. A two-time Kansas winner, the Penske Ford driver knows he cant dwell on the tire problems that ruined his race at Charlotte.Its part of racing, but were not out, Logano said. Were not gonna die. This team is resilient. Weve proved it before, and well just have to go out and prove it again. We just have to have two flawless races. Its something we can make up.Although a multicar wreck at Charlotte affected several Chase contenders, mechanical issues also played a big role. Martin Truex Jr.?and Carl Edwards were lucky to finish 12th and 13th after respectively battling engine and clutch problems in their Toyotas.They lie sixth and seventh on the Chase grid, about 20 points to the good.Im not going to think about having a cushion, Edwards commented. I know what this competition is about, and all these guys can go win the next two races.With half of the 10 Chase races run on 1.5-mile intermediate speedways, perhaps it is appropriate that Charlotte might end up playing such a pivotal role in this years championship. The same potential for drama exists this weekend at Kansas.Among the drivers currently not in the top eight, Harvick probably has the best chance of recovering from a bad weekend at Charlotte. Engine and electrical problems relegated the 2014 Cup champion to a 38th-place finish.Harvick has a previous win at Kansas, though, and nobody has come through in the clutch more frequently since the elimination-style Chase debuted in his championship season. Over the past three years, Harvick has won races three times when facing elimination: Phoenix 2014, Dover 2015 and New Hampshire earlier this year.Logano is a two-time winner at Kansas, a venue where Hamlin has also visited Victory Lane. Hamlin looked in good shape at Charlotte until his engine blew late in the race.Unlucky, but in this format you can still win and advance, and some other guys had some tough days, Hamlin related. I think each race youre going to have a handful of guys that are going to have issues; Kansas I dont think will be any different, and Talladega we know will be crazy.Thats why were not out of it by any means, he added. We just have a little hole we have to dig out of.While several drivers are in a relatively comfortable position in terms of advancing in the Chase, only one man doesnt have anything to worry about: Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson.But that doesnt mean JJ and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are going to relax.Im so glad Im not one of the teams that had trouble at Charlotte because its just so tough, Johnson said. A victory is a huge boost, theres no way around it. Were definitely building momentum at the right time, though it happened maybe a little later than we would have liked.Were clearly in that round of eight, but ideally I want to keep the pressure on our team and have more exposure to race-winning pressure situations, he added. It would be smart not to change anything because you have to be at ten-tenths for these last few races.I want more trophies this year. Wholeasale Eagles Jerseys . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. Eagles Jerseys China . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.cheapeaglesjerseysauthentic.com/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Cheap Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Authentic Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. A downbeat Daniil Kvyat said his current slump feels never ending after qualifying 19th for the German Grand Prix.Kvyat failed to emerge from Q1 at Hockenheim, later asking Toro Rosso on the radio What the f--- is going on? after being told teammate Carlos Sainz had progressed to the next session. The Russian has only out-qualified Sainz twice in eight attempts since his demotion to Toro Rosso.Kvyat admitted he knew the lap was not good enough to progress.I had a s--- session. They werent good laps, Kvyat said. I had a very bad lap with many mistakes. I was expecting to be out of Q1.I dont feel great, its not a great period for me. It seems like its never ending up, Im trying every weekend so much but nothing is working so far, so it needs to be more than that.Asked if he felt he currently had the mental strength to deall with his current form, he said: Well its not like Im having the most pleasant time in the world, for sure its not easy but its not an excuse.dddddddddddd. Everyone has hard times, if you are good enough you come out, if you are not good enough you just die.Immediately after his elimination, Kvyat had told Sky Sports he needed more than the summer break to rectify his current slump.When asked to explain what he meant, he replied: I dont know what I need, I dont know. I just need the feeling in the car. When it comes back it will be much better, so yeah, I cant remember the last time I had a good feeling with a car so I dont know whats going on. It seems like my working window is very narrow. ' ' '