Deadlock broken. #20-Joey Logano’s fourth-place finish at Daytona, for now, has lifted the Pocono winner into the No. 2 ‘Wild Card’ qualifying berth for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’. For now, anyway. Logano, #39-Ryan Newman and #5-Kasey Kahne entered the Coke Zero 400 with an identical number of points with Kahne holding the tiebreaker. Post-race it’s Logano by one point over Newman, three points over Kahne. Kyle Busch continues to claim the No. 1 ‘Wild Card’ with a 12th-place points ranking. There’s no guarantee any of the four will be ‘Wild Card’ winners with eight races remaining before the Chase field is set. There’s also no certainty that a single win will earn a ‘Wild Card.’ Looking ahead, Logano, Newman and Busch have New Hampshire victories. Newman, a three-time winner, is defending last year’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 title. Then there’s #24-Jeff Gordon. He has no wins but can be considered a serious ‘lurker.’ Gordon has three Loudon wins and is a four-time winner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the July 29 Brickyard 400 follows New Hampshire. Back-to-back wins definitely would stir up the stew. Defending Brickyard 400 winner #27-Paul Menard, with four top-10 finishes, also must be part of the discussion. He is 13th, nine points behind Busch.(NASCAR)(7-11-2012)
