Chase drivers get candid during media day in Chicago
CHICAGO — Prior to the Daytona 500 this season, Jeff Gordon said he'd retire if he won his fifth championship. If Gordon could go out on top, he said, he'd walk away.
Of course, that was before he won three races and led the regular season point standings. Now the 'R' word isn't on his mind at all.
"Not unless I pull my back out break-dancing on stage (celebrating) the championship," he said with a laugh.
Gordon said he was simply answering a question in February and said at the time he'd "consider" it. But not anymore.
"I'm having too much fun right now; I don't see that happening," he said. "I hope that moment when it's time, it hits me like a brick wall and it tells me. But I don't think like that's going to be at the end of the season."
Keelan Harvick's first win
Kevin Harvick's toddler son has already picked up on his dad's winning ways. Two-year-old Keelan Harvick has a miniature Corvette he (slowly) drives back and forth on the family's driveway, and this week showed off his victory celebration in a video posted on the elder Harvick's Instagram account.
In the video, Keelan can be seen stopping his car, standing on the seat and yelling "Woo!" with a fist pump.
"I have no idea where that came from," Harvick said. "That kid, he comes up with something new every day. We drive his car up and down the driveway a lot. All the sudden on Tuesday, we had the hardcore victory celebration with the fist pump and the scream. That was new."
New rear tire changer working well for Logano
Harvick, who swapped pit crews with Tony Stewart this week, isn't the only driver whose team is making personnel adjustments before the Chase.
Joey Logano's No. 22 team has had a new rear tire changer since the Bristol night race – which Logano won – and Logano has been pleased with the pit crew's performance.
"We've made a change recently and I feel like he's done a great job right off the bat," Logano said. "He's super fast."
The new tire changer's name is Zach Price, who was most recently on Ryan Newman's pit crew at Richard Childress Racing.
Jimmie vs. Jimmy
Jimmie Johnson might be relentless on the track, but he's much more generous to competitors when racing inside a TV studio.
Johnson appeared on Wednesday night's edition of the Tonight Show to race host Jimmy Fallon on a scooter equipped with a cooler. But Fallon crossed the finish line first when Johnson blew the final corner.
"I can't win; I don't want to hurt his feelings," Johnson said. "I wasn't going to beat Ellen (DeGeneres) on her show. I usually throw those things. Granted, I didn't make the final turn, but I think I could have defended the lane and blocked and not let him by, decided to let him through.
"It was fun, though. You come off the elevator with banners down hallway. They were very committed to the race, which was neat."
Johnson, who was one of Fallon's guests before he landed the Tonight Show gig, said he loves the energy backstage.
"He wanders through and visits everybody," he said. "It's a different show to go on, and he's such a nice guy. The exchange you have, it's like some old high school buddy of yours that you run into again after a long period of time."
Brad Keselowski's video game meltdown
No. 1 Chase seed Brad Keselowski takes his video games pretty seriously.
The Team Penske driver fessed up to breaking game controllers and yelling at his virtual players when engrossed in a game of Madden football.
"I'm very competitive off the track — probably moreso (than on it), which is a little scary," he said. "… For some reason, I don't take it as personally at this level (of racing). Feels more like business."
Keselowski said breaking the game controllers out of anger wasn't something he's proud of.
"Those are always embarrassing," he said. "After I get done, I always feel embarrassed. When I'm doing it, I feel great about it."
Kyle Busch crunches the numbers
Just for fun, Kyle Busch said he ran the numbers of how his previous Chases would have stacked up in the new format.
One of the years was pretty surprising: 2012, when Busch finished 13th in points.
"So 2012 I'm the champion in this current format," Busch said. "My worst year ever and I missed the Chase, and three engine blowups in a row throughout the summer, but we ran well enough in the Chase that we would have won the championship."
Is that true? Well, Busch would have qualified for the Chase with his win at Richmond International Raceway that year. He would have advanced through the first two rounds and had a high enough finish in Round 3 – second, third and third – to make the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Busch then finished fourth at Homestead, but the three drivers in front of him – Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman -- would not have been eligible for the title.
Denny Hamlin: New format 'tailor-made' for No. 11 team
The first thing that went through Denny Hamlin's head when he saw the new Chase format?
"I was like, 'Wow, this is tailor-made for us,'" he said. "We've just got to get to that Eliminator Eight or whatever it's called. That's where we get in the wheelhouse of our tracks we've performed well in the past."
It makes sense when looking at the tracks in Round 3: Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.
Hamlin has four wins at Martinsville, two at Texas and one at Phoenix.
Then, if Hamlin makes it to the championship race at Homestead, he'll feel even more confident; he's won two of the last five races there, including last year.
"If we can get to Homestead and have a shot, we go from being the extreme underdogs in this to probably the favorite," he said.
Hey, Vegas! You forgot about me!
AJ Allmendinger heard this week that oddsmakers in Las Vegas put him in the "Field" category with Aric Almirola – 500-to-1 odds to win the Chase.
His reaction?
"It makes me laugh," he said. "… We didn't even get names! There are 14 (people) with odds, and then we're just 'Field.' I thought it was funny."
But Allmendinger didn't mind. Hardly anyone is picking him to advance past the first round of the Chase, and he's embracing the underdog role.
"For me, I enjoy that role of being under the radar and people not talking about me," he said. "We've got to be perfect to get into the Contender (second) Round and then move into the Eliminator (third) Round."
Help me out, teammates!
Kurt Busch was asked how non-Chase teammates Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick could help Busch and Harvick – the two Stewart-Haas Racing drivers who made the playoff.
"Well, they can wreck a lot of other people out there," he said with a grin. He quickly added: "I know they won't do that."
Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck