Chase for the Sprint Cup picks, analysis for all 16 drivers
CHARLOTTE — A glance at the 16 drivers competing in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which begins Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. The drivers are in order of seeding for the 10-race playoffs:
DRIVER: Kyle Busch
CAR/TEAM: No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
BORN: May 2, 1985
HOMETOWN: Las Vegas
CREW CHIEF: Adam Stevens
GLUCK's PREDICTION: Third round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: Busch can repeat. Then again, this wild Chase format makes that a very difficult task. So much has to go right, and it’s hard to believe that could happen two years in a row for Busch.
TWITTER: @KyleBusch
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DRIVER: Brad Keselowski
CAR/TEAM: No. 2 Ford, Penske Racing
BORN: Feb. 12, 1984
HOMETOWN: Rochester Hills, Mich.
CREW CHIEF: Paul Wolfe
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Final four
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: He needs to stay away from Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch, but Keselowski could be primed for a return to championship contention after failing to make the final four in the first two years of the new Chase format.
TWITTER: @keselowski
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DRIVER: Denny Hamlin
CAR/TEAM: No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
BORN: Nov. 18, 1980
HOMETOWN: Chesterfield, Va.
CREW CHIEF: Mike Wheeler
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Final four
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: One of these years, it’s going to be Hamlin’s turn to win a title. This may very well be it, especially with him riding a career-long top-10 streak and the best qualifying average in 30 years into the Chase.
TWITTER: @dennyhamlin
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DRIVER: Kevin Harvick
CAR/TEAM: No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
BORN: Dec. 8, 1975
HOMETOWN: Bakersfield, Calif.
CREW CHIEF: Rodney Childers
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Final four
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: There’s no reason Harvick can’t win another title, but there’s also no reason his team shouldn’t have converted some of his 23 second-place finishes in the last three seasons into more victories. Something often seems to barely thwart his chances of winning, which could be costly at Homestead.
TWITTER: @KevinHarvick
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DRIVER: Carl Edwards
CAR/TEAM: No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
BORN: Aug. 15, 1979
HOMETOWN: Columbia, Mo.
CREW CHIEF: Dave Rogers
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Third round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: It would be somewhat fitting if Edwards won his first career title at Tony Stewart’s last race. After all, it was Stewart who prevented Edwards from being a champion already by beating him on a tiebreaker in 2011. But Edwards needs to avoid DNFs — he has five of them this season, tied for the most among Chase drivers.
TWITTER: None
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DRIVER: Martin Truex Jr.
CAR/TEAM: No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing
BORN: June 29, 1980
HOMETOWN: Mayetta, N.J.
CREW CHIEF: Cole Pearn
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Champion
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: Truex has led the second-most laps this season but only has the eighth-best average finish due to bad luck and other odd occurrences. Assuming his team has its misfortune out of the way, Truex can build on last year’s championship race appearance and finish the job this season.
TWITTER: @MartinTruexJr56
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DRIVER: Matt Kenseth
CAR/TEAM: No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
BORN: March 10, 1972
HOMETOWN: Cambridge, Wis.
CREW CHIEF: Jason Ratcliff
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Third round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: He could win the title. All the Toyotas could, really. But in the past two years, Kenseth has been involved in uncharacteristic incidents during the Chase. He needs to avoid those distractions and drama to be a champion.
TWITTER: @mattkenseth
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DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson
CAR/TEAM: No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
BORN: Sept. 17, 1975
HOMETOWN: El Cajon, Calif.
CREW CHIEF: Chad Knaus
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Second round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: Even the greatest driver in NASCAR history can’t win races if his car is slower than his competition. That’s the case for Johnson, whose team has seemed a half-step off for most of the year.
TWITTER: @JimmieJohnson
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DRIVER: Joey Logano
CAR/TEAM: No. 22 Ford, Team Penske
BORN: May 24, 1990
HOMETOWN: Middletown, Conn.
CREW CHIEF: Todd Gordon
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Third round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: He might win the Chase, or he might anger a veteran driver and get wrecked out in the first round. It’s tough to tell with Logano, a hard charger with a world of talent who is going to win several championships before his career is over.
TWITTER: @joeylogano
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DRIVER: Kyle Larson
CAR/TEAM: No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
BORN: July 31, 1992
HOMETOWN: Elk Grove, Calif.
CREW CHIEF: Chad Johnston
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Second round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: If he gets to Homestead, he’ll be extremely dangerous and could win it all. But to expect a Chase first-timer to make a deep run in the playoff is asking a lot.
TWITTER: @KyleLarsonRacin
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DRIVER: Tony Stewart
CAR/TEAM: No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
BORN: May 20, 1971
HOMETOWN: Columbus, Ind.
CREW CHIEF: Mike Bugarewicz
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: First round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: Stewart’s average finish is 17.2, which is worse than Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne — both missed the Chase. He hasn’t finished in the top 20 in the last four races. It’s not a good recipe for a championship run, though it’s a nice story that he made it in his final season.
TWITTER: @TonyStewart
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DRIVER: Kurt Busch
CAR/TEAM: No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing
BORN: Aug. 4, 1978
HOMETOWN: Las Vegas
CREW CHIEF: Tony Gibson
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Second round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: If Busch and his team keep it together, they could be a serious contender. But crashing in two of the last four races before the Chase has led to some inconsistent results.
TWITTER: @KurtBusch
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DRIVER: Chris Buescher
CAR/TEAM: No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports
BORN: Oct. 29, 1992
HOMETOWN: Prosper, Texas
CREW CHIEF: Bob Osborne
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: First round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: It’s a nice story and an unexpected one that he made the Chase, but his run likely ends in Round 1.
TWITTER: @Chris_Buescher
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DRIVER: Chase Elliott
CAR/TEAM: No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
BORN: Nov. 28, 1995
HOMETOWN: Dawsonville, Ga.
CREW CHIEF: Alan Gustafson
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: Second round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: Nothing against Elliott, but Hendrick Motorsports hasn’t shown enough speed compared to the elite cars this season. That could catch up with them, unless Hendrick saved something for the playoff.
TWITTER: @ChaseElliott
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DRIVER: Austin Dillon
CAR/TEAM: No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
BORN: April 27, 1990
HOMETOWN: Welcome, N.C.
CREW CHIEF: Slugger Labbe
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: First round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: Dillon is consistent and has the ninth-best average finish this season. He might be able to ride that to the second round, but that’s about as far as he’ll go unless he starts contending for top-fives more often.
TWITTER: @austindillon3
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DRIVER: Jamie McMurray
CAR/TEAM: No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
BORN: June 3, 1976
HOMETOWN: Joplin, Mo.
CREW CHIEF: Matt McCall
GLUCK'S PREDICTION: First round
GLUCK'S ANALYSIS: McMurray hasn’t led any laps this season. Unless that changes, it will be tough to get very far in the Chase.
TWITTER: @jamiemcmurray