A look at Lucky Dog Racing's 2015 Chase field

The 2015 Chase for the Cup will kick off at Chicagoland Speedway and 16 drivers will battle it out for the chance to become the champion. Last year Kevin Sullivan barely made it into the Chase but ended up having strong really strong finishes. He led the standings for several weeks but went into Homestead 9 points behind Joe Tenpenny. He was able to finish ahead of him and won his first championship.

Kevin was a surprise during last year's Chase but unfortunately he won't have the chance to do it again this year. The defending champion did not qualify for this year's Chase. Actually the top 4 finishing drivers from last year did not make it in this season. In total, 11 drivers from last year's Chase won't be battling for the Championship this year, that's a very high number.

This will also be the first year that Lucky Dog Racing will mirror NASCAR's current format by using the four different rounds, eliminating drivers every three races. It's going to be a epic fight to the finish to see who gets to host the trophy at the end.

Now here is a look at the drivers listed in order by how they are seeded into the Chase.

1. Ron Parlacoski, Jr. - Ron makes the Chase for the second time in his career and the first time as the number one seed. Ron had a very unusual season with a lot of up and down finishes. He had some poor runs but also recorded three wins in that time. It was the highest amount of wins in a season for him during his 6 year career. He finished the regular season in 10th place but will start the Chase in first. In his first Chase in 2013, Ron finished in a strong 4th place. He will need to find a way to more consistent good runs together with this new Chase format if he hopes to win the championship.

2. Jose Rodriguez - A month ago Jose was probably wondering if he would be able to make the Chase this year. He had a win at Pocono that he could use but he was stuck down in 30th place. In a month, Jose recorded three top 5's and then winning his 2nd race at Richmond. So from being uncertain if he'd make it in, Jose goes in as the number two seed. He has been the hottest driver lately but everyone starts on the same grown in the Chase. He will need to keep that momentum going and try to become the second player to win a championship in all three series. This is the third straight Chase for Jose who has made it in each of his three fulltime Cup seasons.

3. Harry Jeffery - Harry was definitely sweating it out at Richmond as he came into the race with 2 wins but in 25th place. Luckily for Harry he finished just well enough with a top 20 run and managed to stay in 25th place. That puts Harry into his 8th Chase which is the most by any other player in the league. He missed last season after a 5 year consecutive streak so he'll be looking to make use of his good fortune. The hall of famer won the championship in 2011 so he knows how to get things done. It will also be a nice boost to jump all the way from 25th to 3rd place in one week.

4. Jessy Turgeon - Jessy has been sitting at the top of the standings since early June and will find himself suddenly down in 4th place. Jessy's been the most consistent player in that time and is probably considered one of the favorites this year. Like Ron Parlacoski, Jr, he's only made the Chase once in his career, also the 2013 season. He finished 7th place that year but will be looking for much better things this year. He'll need to pick things up a bit, he hasn't had a top 10 in a month and he'll want to try and get back to the front again quickly.

5. Jordan Hunt - Jordan is someone that you usually see in the Chase year after year and this year is no different. Jordan had a solid regular season which he recorded a win and finished in 3rd place, just one point behind second. Jordan has finished in the top 10 in every chase and won it all back in his rookie season in 2007. This is his 6th Chase and second in a row. Jordan will be looking to find some of that magic that he used in his rookie season to win his second championship.

6. Ron Blackman – After coming so close to a championship in the 2013 season, Ron Blackman has been trying to redeem himself. He led the standings for the first half of the regular season until Jessy Turgeon took over. He struggled for a time but has picked things up lately. There's nothing more then he'd like than to move back to the front again after leading for so many weeks. If he can do what he did in 2013 then he might just have another chance. This is the third consecutive year that he's qualified for the Chase.

7. Brian Blair - Brian is making up for a disappointing season last year when he missed the chase after finishing 6th the year before. Brian is in that same class that Ron and Jessy are in, making their 2nd Chase after their lone appearance in 2013. Brian has had some nice finishes in the second half of the season and worked himself up to 6th place. He'll start 7th in the Chase.

8. Teeder Jenkins – Finally in his 5th year in the league, Teeder Jenkins makes his first Chase. His first four season have been pretty bad, 43rd, 38th, 23rd and 34th. Something changed this year though, he finally found success and has been in the top 10 ever since May. It will be interesting to see what Teeder can do in the Chase. He may just surprise everyone as the dark horse as well.

9. Kelly Wolfe – We don't have any rookies this season, but Kelly is the closest one there is. He only ran 17 races last year so this is his first full time season. Kelly has made the run for the championship in the Xfinity series last year by finishing in 2nd place, he's also 2nd there again this year. He also had strong runs in the Truck series as well. Now Kelly is going to show everyone what he can do in the Chase for the first time and he may be one of the four drivers fighting it out at Homestead.

10. Jack Thesier - The second of our first time Chasers this year is Jack Thesier. Jack's first full time season last year resulted in a 30th place finish. He improved much more this year to end the regular season in 19th place. His win at Kentucky secured his first appearance in the Chase and will also give him first career top 10 appearance. He's probably not someone that you'd expect will challenge for the championship but flying under the radar may just work out for him.

11. Dione Baker - Dione is the third and final of the first time Chasers. If there is anyone that you'd considered to be the underdog, this is it right here. There probably wasn't much players predicting that Dione would be making the Chase this year, but she turned some heads. She won her very first race at Sonoma in June which mover her up to 18th place. She stayed in the top 25 ever since then and has been rewarded with her first chase berth.

12. Randy Cook - Randy went through a 5 year stretch of not making the Chase until he made it last year. For the first time in his career he makes back to back Chases thanks to his win at Phoenix early in the season. He's been in the top 25 ever since then and he now gets ready for his 3rd Chase. He finished in 10th place in both of his first two, he'll be looking for more this time out.

13. Stephen DiCaprio - Stephen is the highest of the drivers to make it on points alone rather than wins. Despite not getting a win, Stephen had a very strong regular season and was one of more consistent drivers. He only recorded 3 top 5's but he avoided a lot of poor finishes and finished the regular season in 2nd place behind his teammate Jessy Turgeon. This is the 2nd consecutive appearance and 7th of his career.

14. Greg Miller - Greg ends a long streak of not making the Chase. He was out of the league for a few of the years, but Greg has not been in the Chase since he won back to back champions in 2005 & 2006. It should be interesting to see what happens after a 9 year absence. It's a different league and a different format since Greg won his championships. He'll need to adapt but he'll have a shot to become the first player to win three championships.

15. Bob Douce - Bob missed the Chase last year after a 3 year streak of making it in. He finished in 20th place, trying himself for his worst season the other year that he missed the Chase, 2010. He is eager to make up for it this year and try to win his first championship after 10 seasons in the league.

16. Greg Eichele - Greg Eichele is smiling big time after Richmond and Matt Minnich is doing just the opposite. Matt would have gotten the final spot in the Chase but after Greg finished 2nd in the race, he moved in front of Matt to win the entry. It's the first time that Greg has made the Chase since the 2012 season, his only appearance until now. Last year Kevin Sullivan made the Chase in the final week and went ahead to win the championship. Greg is hoping that he can follow in Kevin's footsteps.

That's a look at all 16 drivers this year. Four of them will be eliminated after Dover, Four more after Talladega and then four more after Phoenix. The final four will battle it out at Homestead.

The winner will get the trophy and win the 2015 championship. Good luck to all of them!