The NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup got off to big start in Chicago last weekend and now things will head to New Hampshire and after one race, Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing is leading the way in first place as the leader over teammate Kyle Busch as well as Hendrick's Jimmie Johnson.
Kenseth won last week in Chicago and behind him in points in the top five are Busch, Johnson as well as Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. Busch is just eight points behind Kenseth for the lead, while Johnson is close at 11 points back. The rest of the field is close as well, with Harvick at 15 points back and Edwards just 23 points back. The next few names on the list are bunched together, as the top 10 is rounded out with Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne.
After the top 10, the rest of the field is filled out by Greg Biffle, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr, while Logano of course got in after some controversy at Richmond when he was allowed to pass David Gilliand to get in. The next race will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire and then things will shift to Dover International Speedway and Kansas Speedway before heading to Charlotte again.
There's some more news around NASCAR on Friday after reports came out that NAPA Auto Parts will break off from sponsoring Michael Waltrip Racing after what happened at the end of the season with Martin Truex. After that news came out, Waltrip said that Truex may have no choice but to leave to another organization to deal with the fallout from when he was able to get into the Chase with help from a spinout from Clint Bowyer.
NASCAR fined the team and took out some penalties on the drivers after what happened and Newman was pushed into the Chase after what happened.
"If he came to me tomorrow and said, 'I got a deal to go do something,' then obviously I would not hold him back," Waltrip said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway according to ESPN. "I owe him a lot for his loyalty and his passion for our team. I wouldn't hold him back from doing something he wanted to do, but I'd like him to hang around so we can attract a sponsor and keep him in our cars."
