Debate: Who Will Win the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship?

 

There are several possibilities as to who will win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Matt Kenseth has been strong for the entire season. Jimmie Johnson had a record lead prior to the last four regular season races and Kasey Kahne has shown he is one of the few drivers that can run with the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers all season long. However, one driver has been on the edge of the championship in the past and will win it in 2013.

 

Kyle Busch is one of NASCAR’s most talented race car drivers and will win the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. I understand that Busch has yet to win a Chase race in his career, but he has shown strength throughout the entire 2013 season and is known as one of NASCAR’s best short track racers.

He finished second at Chicagoland Saturday night and his team has looked really good on the intermediate tracks all year long. He’s won at New Hampshire in his career, although it was early. He did finished second at New Hampshire in July also. Busch knows how to get it done. He’s won at Dover and is not afraid to ruffle feathers if he has to.

 

His greatest competition may be his teammate Matt Kenseth. If TRD has indeed fixed their engine woes they should have a great shot at the championship. Busch will outrun Kenseth and I believe if he does, it will be a great deal for Joe Gibbs Racing and Busch. We’ll see. It should be a lot of fun to watch it unfold in front of our eyes.

 

 

It was a tough decision for Matt Kenseth to make the move from Roush Fenway Racing, the organization he called home for 13 years, to Joe Gibbs Racing in the offseason but it was one he felt he had to make to win races and ultimately win another NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. With his move many, including myself, picked Kenseth before the season to win the championship while others didn’t think he could do it in his first season with the team.

 

In the first 26 races Kenseth won five times. That number matched the most he won in any single season at Roush which was in 2002. The five wins also landed him a three point lead in the points standings after the Chase reset heading into Chicagoland Speedway.

 

After a long day and night at the track on Sunday Kenseth showed that he should be the man to beat in this Chase. He grabbed the lead on a late restart from his teammate and restart ace Kyle Busch and sailed onto victory. Now with nine races to go Kenseth has an eight point lead over Kyle Busch.

 

Busch might be his biggest competition along with Jimmie Johnson who is currently third and 11 points behind Kenseth. Busch though has never won a race during the Chase and Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports team has faltered over the last month and even had pit mistakes at Chicago that Johnson had to claw back from.

 

Kenseth meanwhile has won four of his six races this season on 1.5 mile tracks and has an average finish of 6.14 in the seven races this season on the intermediate tracks. Of the nine races left in the Chase four are on 1.5 mile tracks including Kansas Speedway where Kenseth won earlier this season.

 

Another sign that points in Kenseth’s favor is that the past two champions, Tony Stewart in 2011 and Brad Keselowski in 2012, both went onto win the championship after opening the Chase with a win at Chicagoland Speedway.