NASCAR Cup Series

The road to the championship runs through Team Penske

Published Sep. 22, 2014 2:45 p.m. ET

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Larry McReynolds

We know that we still have Talladega and Martinsville to race at in this year's Chase that will be difference makers in who our champion might turn out to be, but when it is all said and done, I think we are going to look back at Sunday's race at Loudon and say, "wow what a chain of events that ended up being."

I say that because we headed into last Sunday's race with two or three drivers that already were done for the 2014 Chase after Chicago unless they could win at Loudon or Dover. Now, we leave New Hampshire and are headed to Dover with nine drivers separated by only 18 points.

Obviously we only have two drivers that are locked into the next round and they both come from Team Penske. Of course I am talking about Brad Keselowski, who won at Chicago, and Joey Logano, who won Sunday at Loudon. The reality is after those two, we don't have anyone of the 14 remaining drivers who is remotely eliminated.

In fact, go to our 16th-place Chase driver, Aric Almirola, as a perfect example. His motor blew up in Chicago and he finished 41st. Yet after a great run Sunday with a much-needed sixth-place finish, Aric is only 10 points out of the cut-off spot of 12th. Ten points really isn't a lot, folks, so that is certainly going to make for an interesting Dover race this Sunday.

At Loudon we sort of had a mixed bag of results from our Chase contenders. While we had seven Chase drivers finish in the top 10, we also had five Chase drivers who finished outside the top 20. To me, the biggest thing was well over half of our Chase drivers either had issues or mistakes, and several relied heavily on getting the free pass during the race to get back on the lead lap. In fact, both Greg Biffle and A.J. Allmendinger got the free pass twice.

We have said all year long that if you are going to win this championship that you were either going to have to go through Hendrick Motorsports or Team Penske. Now as hot as they are, plus both Team Penske drivers winning the first two Chase races, they are certainly sending a message that the championship goes through them.

The other amazing thing is that it's just the two of them at Team Penske. They aren't a four- or even three-car operation. They are only the No. 2 and No. 22. Now they have won nine of our 28 races so far and, even more impressive, they have won four of the last five races run.

So even though there are still eight races to go, Team Penske is making a strong statement that if you want that 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, well you are going to have to go through Team Penske to do it.

VIDEO: NASCAR Victory Lane - Joey Logano

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