NASCAR Chase: Chicagoland rewind

Observations

How the Chase drivers fared

1. Brad Keselowski (2,059 points)

Leads the series with five wins and is locked into Round 2 of the Chase.

2. Jeff Gordon (-7)

Continues to show he has a legitimate shot at earning that elusive fifth championship.

3. Joey Logano (-10)

Like Keselowski, Logano had to overcome bad track position to start the race but rallied to finish fourth.

4. Kevin Harvick (-12)

Harvick again led the most laps in a race (79 of 267 this time) but came up short of turning into Victory Lane.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-17)

Earnhardt never contended for the win, but his 11th-place finish was a vast improvement of his car’s performance on Friday and Saturday.

6. Denny Hamlin (-18)

A sixth-place finish is just what Hamlin needed for boost of confidence to start the Chase and his first race with crew chief Darian Grubb since July.

7. Kyle Busch (-18)

Tangled on a late restart with his brother, Kurt, but was able to salvage a seventh-place finish.

8. Jimmie Johnson (-18)

The six-time Cup champion never really was in contention for the win and fell back to finish 12th on the last restart.

9. Kurt Busch (-20)

Contact with Kyle on that late restart hindered Kurt’s ability to contend for the win.

10. Matt Kenseth (-25)

Kenseth ran around the top-10 most of the race but never got in position to challenge for the lead.

11. Kasey Kahne (-25)

Was penalized twice for speeding on pit road but rallied to get back on the lead lap and finished 13th.

12. Carl Edwards (-29)

Edwards’ car cut a tire and slammed the wall on Lap 231, which forced him to make an extended trip to pit road. He finished 20th and a lap down.

13. Ryan Newman (-30)

A cut tire and speeding penalty on pit road took him out of contention early, but he managed to salvage a 15th place out of the day.

14. AJ Allmendinger (-34)

Complained about the car’s handling from the start and never was able to make much forward progress. He finished 22nd.

15. Greg Biffle (-38)

Never seemed to have the speed to compete Sunday and finished two laps down.

16. Aric Almirola (-52)

Was running among the top 10 the entire race until his engine blew on Lap 231.

Five key moments

1 . With qualifying rained out, several contenders – including Keselowski and Logano – were buried back in the field and Larson started from the back after wrecking his primary car Saturday.

2 . Harvick led the most laps but had to pit a second time under the first caution because of a loose wheel.

3. Keselowski took the lead for the first time on Lap 108, getting around Jamie McMurray.

4 . While Larson and Harvick battled for the lead on Lap 252, Keselowski drove between them to take the lead.

5 . A late caution didn’t slow Keselowski as he easily held off Gordon to earn his fifth win of the season.

This story was originally published September 14, 2014 at 7:50 PM with the headline "NASCAR Chase: Chicagoland rewind."