[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith October upon us, the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup is in full swing, with the Round of 12 starting and continuing to the Round of Eight, after eliminations. The Chase is the NASCAR equivalent to the playoffs in baseball and other sports. They have a very simple way of explaining and keeping everyone up with how the Chase works. If you win a race you advance, but that rule only applies to people who have qualified for the Chase after the 26 week season headed to the final 10 Chase races.
There were 16 drivers that qualified for the chase this season, and after the first three races, which were at Chicagoland, New Hampshire, and finally Dover. The 16 drivers were then cut down to 12 with the elimination of Chris Buescher, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, and Kyle Larson. The two race winners in those three weeks were Martin Truex Jr., who won at Chicagoland and Dover, and Kevin Harvick won at New Hampshire, which guaranteed them a spot in the Round of 12.
Now that were are through the Round of 12, and drivers are now racing to advance to the Round of 8, and after the postponed Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which was moved from Saturday to Sunday because of Hurricane Matthew. The race winner was Jimmie Johnson and he advanced to the next round and secured his position in the Round of Eight. The next races after the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte, the next two races are to be held at Kansas Motor Speedway, and then the round ends with the race at Talladega Super Speedway. That is the last race to advance and secure a place in the Round of Eight, otherwise, your season is over like the four fallen racers the round before.
After the race at Charlotte ended on October 10th, the Chase drivers had a day filled with wrecks and challenge, five of the remaining 12 drivers had some kind of issue during the race. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin both had engine issues. Austin Dillon, Chase Elliot, and Joey Logano were all involved in wrecks and tire issues. Martin Truex Jr. was having a solid race and was in third before he lost power on pit road and fell all the way to a 13th place finish to end his day.
So as October moves into November the Chase for the Sprint Cup will keep moving forward and eliminating challengers in each of the next two rounds, until only four stand to do battle at Homestead-Miami Speedway in late November, and NASCAR will then crown its Champion for the 2016 season.