The Chase for the Sprint Cup began today at Chicagoland Speedway in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 and the Fords of Team Penske proved they are solid contenders for the Championship. Martin Truex Jr. won the race to continue his domination of mile and a half race-tracks this year. Logano finished second and Keselowski came in fifth after racing through heavy traffic after a late caution bunched the field for a restart with two laps to go. Chase Elliott held a two second lead with the laps winding down when a caution with less than ten laps to go brought most of the field to pit-road for fresh tires and a splash of gasoline. Truex Jr. used a quick stop to beat Elliott out of the pits, but some non-Chase contenders stayed on the track with worn tires. When the green flag fell to resume racing Truex Jr., starting on the outside row, pulled high and speed around the slower cars to pull away for the win. Elliott, restarting next to Truex Jr., was boxed in by the slower traffic and had to settle for a third place finish. Both Logano and Keselowski made aggressive moves to secure finishing positions that positioned them one step closer to locking into the round of 12.With just three races between each elimination round of the Chase it is important for drivers to concentrate on consistent finishes each week. Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher are the four drivers in the elimination positions currently. It is not surprising that youngsters Dillon and Buescher find themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard, but few would have predicted that Harvick would be in danger or that Larson would join him. Harvick, despite frequent trouble on pit-road, ran consistently all year long among race leaders. Larson was the late season charger who showed the most promise entering the Chase with a win at Michigan and seven top five finishes on the year. Next week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway the contenders to advance will become clear and just like during the regular season, a win automatically qualifies a driver to move into the next round
