We all know that Joe Gibbs Racing has established themselves as the powerhouse of the field at this point in time. We know that Roush-Fenway Racing has come a long way in figuring out this new car and that Hendrick Motorsports seems to have lost the edge that they had on everyone else last year. We’ve analyzed potential contractual signings every which way we could, and still found ourselves locked in a guessing game. Been there, done that, but perhaps one of the stories that we haven’t talked nearly enough about are two teams that are holding out hope of getting a driver into contention for the Chase for the Cup for the first time in their team’s history, and another that hasn’t fielded a Chase contender since 2004.

Once considered one of the top organizations in NASCAR, Yates Racing last visited Victory Lane back in the Fall of 2005 when Dale Jarrett drove the no. 88 car to a win at Talladega and the last time they were able to land a driver inside the top-12 in points was with Elliott Sadler back in ‘04. Since those days, the team has gone through a horrendous rebuilding stage and continue to struggle week in and week out to find primary sponsorship of their cars driven by Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland. Both are highly regarded as “underdogs” every Sunday when the series hits the track, and both have failed to land a top-five finish all season long. Still, they’ve continued to push forward, and have managed to turn a few heads along the way, particularly Kvapil. Coming into the season as a driver that nobody really paid much attention to, Travis admittedly got off to a rather slow start. But, something seems to have clicked within this team ever since a solid run at Phoenix turned sour and he finished 22nd. After that race, Kvapil sat 24th in points, but four finishes of 16th or better in the last six races - highlighted with a 6th place run at Talladega and an 8th place run in Darlington - have now moved Travis up six spots in the standings. He’s now 18th in points and trails 12th place, Tony Stewart, by only 150 points.

Red Bull Racing has been the team that quite a few people have been talking about as of late. With Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel for the organization, the team managed to qualify for only 40 races in a combined 72 attempts in their inaugural season in 2007. Coming into the season with both cars outside of the top-35 in points and forced to qualify on time, Allmendinger again missed out on the first three events of ‘08 before being replaced temporarily by veteran driver, Mike Skinner. Despite failing to finish inside of the top-25 in any of the five races that Skinner filled in, the move appears to have paid dividends. AJ has been able to take what he’s learned from Skinner and put it to good use on the track, first winning the All-Star Showdown at Lowe’s to make the cut for the All-Star event itself, and then scoring a career best 12th place finish last week at Pocono. Still, the focus of the media on this team has been placed with Brian Vickers, who appears to be on the verge of scoring the second Cup victory of his career. After a disappointing 2007 that brought him only 1 top-five and 5 top-ten’s, Vickers has been impressive on several occassions this year, though it may not always show up in the results column. He’s been strong on all of the superspeedways, but the team really started to turn heads when they established themselves as one of the dominant cars in the Coca Cola 600 before an equipment failure ended their day. Since then he’s bounced back with a 13th place effort at Dover and finished 2nd last week at Pocono. Brian has now moved up to 17th place overall and trails 12th by a mere 112 points.

Rounding out the list of underdogs making a charge towards the Chase is non-other than Petty Enterprises. Despite the fact that this team has more wins than any other organization in the history of the sport and a slieu of championships from when “the King” himself, Richard Petty, drove the car, the company hasn’t celebrated a win since 1999 when John Andretti won at Martinsville, and the closest they’ve come to a bid for the Chase was an 18th place finish in the standings last year from Bobby LaBonte. Now, nobody’s really sure who will drive the no. 45 car next year as Kyle Petty, Chad McCumbee, and Terry LaBonte have all failed to do much with the ride, but Bobby continues to press forward. Though he’s failed to score a top-ten all season long, he does have seven top-15’s and has gone the entire year without a DNF, something that has hindered the team in recent years. Additionally, he’s got six finishes of 18th or better in the last eight races, which started with a 12th place run at Phoenix, and LaBonte now resides in 19th in the standings, trailing his former Gibbs teammate in 12th by 159 points.

As many of the drivers in the top-12 continue to experience their share of misfortunes as they bounce back and forth between the bubble spots, this could be a prime opportunity for one of these teams to capitalize. But, with the recent emergance of guys like David Ragan, the resurgance of Matt Kenseth, and other perrenial Chase hopefuls such as Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. standing between them as well, the guys currently in the top-12 may not be all they’ll have to contend with.

DYN Imposes:
This week, Do You NASCAR also asks its readers …

1. Which driver in these 3 organizations will be the first to score their first / next win?
2. Are consistent top-15 and top-20 runs going to be enough to land a driver in the Chase field?
3. Which of these teams has made the best organizational move(s) in the last 2 years?
4. Will any of these 3 teams get a driver into the 2008 Chase? If so, who?

*Credit photos to Newscom.

Image details: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race served by picapp.com

After finishing fifth in the All-Star Showdown, Kasey Kahne was announced as the winner of the fan vote, beating out Robby Gordon for the honors, and as a result transferred into the All-Star Challenge itself. He then became the first driver to ever win both the fan vote and then go onto win the All-Star Race, as he held off a charging Greg Biffle in the closing laps of the race to win the $1,000,000 purse.

Polesitter, Kyle Busch, led the entire first segment of the race and appeared to be in cruise control when he pulled out to more than a two-second lead in the second 25-lap segment. Misfortune and utter disappointment quickly erased that gap, though, as he was mired with a blown engine that handed the lead off to Carl Edwards, who then maintained the lead throughout the remainder of Segment 2.

Greg Biffle was the leader at the end of the third segment when the field when the field went under caution and pitted under “race conditions”. Biffle took two tires on the stop, but a few cars behind him gambled with no tires, shuffling the Biff back into some traffic. Jimmie Johnson’s crew got him out of the pits with the lead, but he was passed by Kahne eight laps later, and Biffle never got the opportunity to catch the no. 9 Budweiser car despite his late-race charge.

Kahne won the race, giving him his first All-Star win in his career, while Biffle finished the event for only the second time in his career and earned himself his first All-Star top-five with his second place finish. They were followed to the line by Biffle’s Roush-Fenway Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, who finished fourth, and Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart completed the top-five.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 14 laps in the third segment of the race, but eventually faded to an 8th place finish. Sam Hornish Jr. and AJ Allmendinger, who both qualified for the race through their efforts in the All-Star Showdown, finished 7th and 17th respectively. Last year’s All-Star winner, Kevin Harvick, finished 11th, and three-time winner of the event, Jeff Gordon, came home with a disappointing 15th place run.

For more All-Star coverage, go to RevJim’s NASCAR Rants ‘n’ Raves as he provides “Live” on Type Delay: the All-Star Race

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

He failed to qualify for the first three races of the season, then Team Red Bull replaced him for with Mike Skinner for the next five events, he wrecked out of the two races after that, and he finished a race for the first time this season by finishing 27th last weekend at Darlington. Yet, following the NASCAR All-Star Showdown, AJ Allmendinger stood in Victory Lane for the first time in his Sprint Cup career, with his eyes now set on competing in the All-Star Race itself.

Allmendinger led all twenty laps in the second and final segment of the Showdown to earn himself a spot in the All-Star Challenge. He finished ahead of Sam Hornish Jr, who also earned a bid in the All-Star competition via his second place finish. Hornish took the transfer spot away from David Ragan on lap 33 of the 40 lap race, and was able to fend him off for the final 7 laps.

Brian Vickers led the race at the end of the first segment after taking the lead away from polesitter, Elliott Sadler, back on lap 1. He then pitted during the competition caution at the end of the segment, while 8 other cars opted to remain on the track, including eventual race winner, AJ Allmendinger.

Kasey Kahne finished the race in fifth, but earned himself a spot in the All-Star Race as well via the fan vote. He finished ahead of Robby Gordon in the voting to earn the honors.

Image details: Dale Earnhardt Jr celebrates the win served by picapp.com

It’s another week off from points racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but this week brings us something a little different … NASCAR’s annual All-Star weekend from Lowe’s Motor Speedway. For those of you unfamiliar with the format of this great race, it’s very different from what you’ll find in Major League Baseball, or the National Football League, or the National Baskeball Association. Instead of the fans voting in the best of the best, here in NASCAR, the fans will vote in only one entry. The rest of the field will be made up of race winners of any Cup Series points race from either last year or this year, Cup Series champions and All-Star race winners from the past decade, and the top two finishers in the Sprint Cup Showdown (formerly known as “the Open”). If anything, I think the best comparison for the race would be to the Bass Elite Series of fishing. Go to nascar.com now to Vote For Your Favorite Driver that’s not already eligible for the All-Star Challenge itself.

The All-Star Race format itself (click on the link to see NASCAR’s own description of the entire race format) is rather unique as well. The race is divided up into four portions, or segments. The first segment consists of a 20-lap run, after which teams have the option to forefeit their track position in favor of a four-tire pit stop under caution. Segment 2 is another 20-lap run, but after this segment, NASCAR mandates a ten-minute stop for the teams, and the cars will return to the track in the same order that they ran at the end of the segment. Cars running at the back of the pack will be eliminated prior to the ensuing 20 laps that make up segment three, and then again prior to the fourth and final segment. Another mandatory pit stop will occur prior to the final segment, with the order of the field for the restart being determined by the order in which they exit pit road.

What’s At Stake?
So, if they’re not racing for points, why even bother, right? Wrong. Along with bragging rights, the winner of the All-Star Challenge will pocket $1 million. Second place … goes home with nothing but a used up car.

The Field
The following 21 drivers are already locked into the event: Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya, Bobby LaBonte, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Carl Edwards.

Another 29 drivers will be vying for either a ticket in via the fan vote, or by finishing in the top two spots in the All-Star Showdown. Follow the link for the complete Entry List for the All-Star Showdown.

What Else?
Pit selection for the teams will be determined by their finishing order in the annual Pit Crew Challenge. The Pit Crew Challenge will test teams’ speed, strength, agility, endurance, and accuracy to the limits. Last year’s competition was won by the Ryan Newman’s no. 12 crew for Penske Racing.

NASCAR will also putting on their first Burnout Contest. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Greg Biffle will all hop into identically prepared Petty Enterprises cars to perform a full drag-style burnout throughout the course that NASCAR has setup. The contest will air prior to the Showdown race.

Broadcast
Coverage for the race itself begins at 7 pm eastern time on Saturday, May 17th live on Speed with Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond, and Krista Voda bringing you the coverage. Please visit nascar.com for a complete schedule of All-Star coverage.

All-Star Race Stats & Fun Facts
- Most All-Star Wins:  Tie - Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt (3 apiece)
- First All-Star Race Winner:  Darrell Waltrip (1984)
- Most All-Star Showdown / Open Wins:  Sterling Marlin (4)
- Best Average All-Star Finish (Drivers Locked into the Race):  Jimmie Johnson (5.2), Jeff Gordon (6.3), Matt Kenseth (7.6), Ryan Newman (7.8), Bobby LaBonte (8.4)
- Number of Drivers to Qualify Via the Showdown / Open & Go Onto Win the All-Star Race:  2 - Michael Waltrip (1996), Ryan Newman (2002)
- Most All-Star Appearances: 19 - Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin (counting this year)
- Former All-Star Winners in the Field:  7 - Kevin Harvick (2007), Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2003), Mark Martin (2005, 1998), Matt Kenseth (2004), Ryan Newman (2002), Jeff Gordon (2001, 1997, 1995), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000)
- Former Cup Series Champions in the Field:  7 - Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Bobby LaBonte, Dale Jarrett
- First time entrants: Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya
- Number of Rookies to Win the All-Star Race:  2 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000), Ryan Newman (2002)
- Humpy Wheeler, President of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, has predicted a win from Carl Edwards. Humpy has been successful with his picks 8 times out of his 20 tries, and only twice in the last 8 years.

TZ’s Six-Pack Challenge (Bonus Round):
Fan Vote (worth 5 bonus points) - David Ragan
Showdown Winners (worth 10 bonus points each) - Kasey Kahne, Travis Kvapil
All-Star Race Winer (worth 25 bonus points) - Tony Stewart

For related articles, please visit RevJim’s NASCAR Ranting ‘n’ Raving as he runs through the NASCAR All-Stars and also go to Racing for the Win for Cesar’s predictions on Who Will Dominate the 2008 Sprint Showdown.