NASCAR

Chase nuggets: Toyota out front, Johnson's quest for seven

Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports
Team Penske's Joey Logano (left) and Brad Keselowski are looking for Ford's first Sprint Cup title since 2004.

DOVER, Del. – NASCAR will decide its Sprint Cup Series champion from a 12-driver group over the next seven weeks. Four already have been eliminated from the original 16 after Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway.

So what are some of the story lines to watch heading into the Round 2 opener Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway? Here are a few:

Toyota just keeps rolling. Nearly half of the remaining playoff drivers are essentially from one team – Joe Gibbs Racing. Though Martin Truex Jr. drives for Furniture Row Racing, he’s virtually the fifth JGR car and the teams share information. Will all five of them make the top eight? That would certainly be a massive accomplishment, though fans of other teams might not be thrilled after already seeing Toyota win 15 of the first 29 races this season (a record for the manufacturer).

James: Martin Truex Jr. breaks from pack early for Toyota

Kevin Harvick, Chase master. Harvick has been better than anyone at navigating NASCAR’s elimination-style format, now in its third season. He’s made the championship race in both of the previous years, winning the title in 2014. As NBC Sports Network noted Sunday, another way to look at Harvick’s success is he’s never been eliminated from the Chase. Can he keep it up in a tricky second round, which features Talladega Superspeedway as the cutoff race?

Back-to-back hopes still alive. Kyle Busch had a quiet first round, but in a good way. He was already a near-lock to make the top 12 heading into Dover, then finished second to a blazing fast Truex. No one has won consecutive championships since Jimmie Johnson's five in a row from 2006-10, but Busch is certainly capable of doing so.

Austin Dillon advances as Chase for the Sprint Cup underdog

Austin Dillon vs. the world. Every driver remaining in the Chase was expected to be there – except for Dillon. And every driver remaining in the Chase has a teammate still in the playoff – except for Dillon. The grandson of Richard Childress now finds himself in the underdog role, and he’s racing like he has nothing to lose. Dillon has drawn the ire of fans who think he’s been handed a racing career by his grandfather, but perhaps he’ll get more respect now.

Seven still possible. Johnson looked like he was on his way to winning his 11th career Dover race, but his team made a costly mistake and jumped over the wall too early on a pit stop. It was the latest in a series of mishaps for the once-perfect No. 48 team, which has found more speed lately but can’t seem to put a full race together. If Johnson and his crew can stop the errors, he might be able to contend for his record-tying seventh championship.

James: Fickle Chase again shows no margin for error

Fords still lurking. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano sailed through the first round, but the Team Penske drivers have been overshadowed by Toyota’s dominance this season. It will be interesting to see how they stack up when the intensity of the Chase starts to increase over the next couple weeks. Can they both make it to Homestead? Logano advanced to the finale in 2014, finishing fourth.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck