A look at Lucky Dog Racing's 2016 Chase field
The Cup series begins its Chase for the championship for the 2016 season in what is sure to become a very heated and tense 10 race battle. Whoever survives to the final four and finishes the highest at Homestead will become the next driver to hoist the trophy. This is the 12th season that we are running with the Chase format and the second year using the 4 round system.
Last year it was Randy Cook who won in his 9th try. Randy’s back in the Chase again this year but he’ll have so tough competition as usual. This year we have four past champions and three first timers including a rookie in the field. Seven of last year's Chasers are back in the field this year.
Here is a closer look at the drivers listed in order by how they are seeded into the Chase.
1. Dean Higley – Dean enters the chase as the #1 seed after winning the most races, a total of three. He’s no stranger to the Chase, this is the 7th time that he’s made it and has won the championship two of those times. He enters the Chase with three good finishes but has had some problems putting together consecutive runs during the season. The win at Michigan may have sparked a fire though, he comes in with nice momentum and will be looking to become the first driver to win three Cup championships.
2. Jack Thesier – Jack finishes on top of the standings for the regular season ever since he took the lead after the July Daytona race. He won early on in Phoenix and then later at Indy. Unfortunately four out of the last five races have been a bit of a struggle for Jack. He’s hoping those troubles are behind him as he starts fresh for the Chase. Last year he made his first Chase and finished 11th. He’s looking for better things in his second one.
3. Robby Stone – After a nice solid regular season, Robby makes the Chase for the fifth time in his career. Robby had a four year streak of making the Chase but missed last year. He’ll be looking to make up for it this year and try to win his first championship. He does great on plate races so Talladega is looking really good for him. He started the season strong with winning two of the first three points races and the Sprint Unlimited. Like Jack, Robby has struggled in four of the last five races but should turn things around as the Chase starts.
4. Tom Watkins – After becoming the only rookie to make the Chase this year, that should pretty much lock up the rookie of the year title for Tom. We didn’t have any rookies in the field last year, the last two that made the chase were Joe Tenpenny and Fred Sanchez in the 2014 season. Joe came within 2 points of winning the championship. Tom is hoping to become the first rookie since Jordan Hunt in 2007 to win it all.
5. Stephen DiCaprio – Stephen is the only player to make the Chase in all three series. He’s had a great year all around and is hoping that one of those Chase berths turns into a championship. He finally won the Truck series championship last year and now would like to finally get that Cup championship. Stephen led the standings for the first half of the season and would like to get it back quickly again. After 12 seasons in the league and 8 times making the Chase, if anyone is due, it’s Stephen.
6. Ryan Smith – Ryan Smith make the Chase for the fifth time and is another long time veteran looking to finally get his first championship as well. Other than the last two races, Ryan had a nice run of races to work himself up from 27th place in June to 5th place entering the Chase. If Ryan can keep it going then he’ll be tough to beat.
7. Jessy Turgeon - Jessy has made the Chase two times including last season and finished in 7th both times. He enters as the seventh seed this year. They say seven is lucky but Jessy is looking for more than that this year. His first top five finish would be really nice, a championship would be better. Maybe three sevens equals jackpot.
8. Randy Cook – Last year's champion nearly didn't make the Chase this year until he won at Darlington. He followed that up with a 5th place finish at Richmond and now looks good going into the Chase. He took him awhile to make the Chase which he finally did in 2014, now he has three straight appearances. Randy is the one to beat this year and he's going to try his hardest to win two championships in a row.
9. Harry Jeffery – Harry has the most Chase appearances than any other member in the league. This is the 9th time that Harry has raced for the championship and he broke through in 2011. He struggled for most of the season, falling as low as dead last in 46th place. He really stepped it up in the 2nd half including winning at New Hampshire. Harry knows how to perform in the Chase and could be tough to beat.
10. Joe Tenpenny - Joe is on cloud nine after winning the final race before the Chase at Richmond. That was his golden ticket to his second career chase. He finished just two points behind the championship in 2014, now he's going to have the chance to make that up and finish one spot higher.
11. Jordan Hunt - Jordan is the final of the drivers who have championships in the Chase, he won back in 2007 as a rookie. He's looking to end that nine year drought and get his second championship. He won at Dover this year and is happy that Dover is early in the Chase, maybe he can sweep.
12. Gary Wheat - It's been a very stressful three weeks for Gary. After three straight finishes of 44th and below, Gary barely made it in. At Richmond he fell all the way down to 23rd place, keeping just two spots above the cut-off line. Now that Gary is in, he can breathe easy and try to win his first championship in his sixth Chase appearance.
13. Matt Minnich - Matt is the second of first timers this year. It took Matt four tries to make the Chase, now he will try to make the most of it. His best career finish was 17th, so he's at least guaranteed to have a best career finish this year. He didn't win a race this year but entered the Chase in 3rd place, the highest driver making it in on points.
14. Jay Smogolski - Jay is the third and final first time Chaser this year. Like Matt, it also took Jay four times to try and make the Chase. He also did not win a race this year but has stayed pretty consistent. A few races ago he had three straight top 5 finishes. That's the kind of performance that he'll have to try and keep up.
15. Paul Scannell - Paul is the fourth driver from Racing Traditions, Inc. to make the Chase field this year, making them the only team with four drivers. Paul did not make the Chase the past two seasons and finished 9th both times that he made it in. With any luck he'll be able to get his first top 5 season finish this year.
16. Jose Rodriguez - Jose is the final driver to make it in this year which he did on points. Jose makes it four years in a row of making the Chase. That keeps his Cup career perfect for full seasons and is also the longest running active streak. He made the top 4 last year to battle it out in Homestead. He's hoping to do it again this year and add a Cup championship to his Xfinity and Truck ones.
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 2016 championship. Good luck to all of them!
|
