Today at 2:00 p.m ET from Chicago, Illinois, the NASCAR Chase for the Cup kicks off with the Myafibstory.com 400 from the Chicagoland Speedway. Fans can watch the race on ESPN or live stream it free by clicking this link.

Kyle Busch may be eighth in the Chase standings to start, but he will be at the front of the pack to begin this race. He's followed by Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards, who are second and third respectively, which adds some intrigue. All three are in the middle of the pack or near the bottom of the Chase to start, so they'll be hoping to use their advantage today to shoot to the top.

"We definitely saw the radar and the forecast," Newman said of his qualifying lap, which threatened to be rained out. "Made one (practice) run and switched it over, spent the rest of the time doing mock qualifying runs, knowing we had a chance of that being our actual qualifying position."

Edwards thanked his crew chief for the exceptional starting position. "We started the day thinking this might happen and Jimmy did a great job with a strategy," Edwards said.

"I think that's what all of us are going to have to do thought the Chase -- we're just going to have to get every little bit you can every race weekend."

Chase Standings

RKDRIVERPOINTSMONEYWINSPOLESTOP 5TOP 10
1Brad Keselowski2012$5,687,802441113
2Jeff Gordon2009$5,396,93532917
3Dale Earnhardt Jr.2009$4,980,554301116
4Jimmie Johnson2009$5,190,26031816
5Joey Logano2009$4,957,925311015
6Kevin Harvick2006$4,882,01225813
7Carl Edwards2006$3,851,92720611
8Kyle Busch2003$4,691,3121269
9Denny Hamlin2003$4,447,75112611
10Kurt Busch2003$3,142,3691067
11Kasey Kahne2003$3,577,64410310
12Aric Almirola2003$3,891,2611026
13AJ Allmendinger2003$3,308,8521024
14Matt Kenseth2000$4,922,844011016
15Greg Biffle2000$4,147,88400310
16Ryan Newman2000$3,233,76400210

Starting Grid

POSDRIVERMANUFACTURERCARSPEED
1Kyle BuschToyotaN/A
2Ryan NewmanChevroletN/A
3Carl EdwardsFordN/A
4Ricky Stenhouse Jr.FordN/A
5Matt KensethToyotaN/A
6Clint BowyerToyotaN/A
7Jimmie JohnsonChevroletN/A
8Jeff GordonChevroletN/A
9Paul MenardChevroletN/A
10Kyle LarsonChevroletN/A
11Jamie McMurrayChevroletN/A
12Kevin HarvickChevroletN/A
13Dale Earnhardt Jr.ChevroletN/A
14Kurt BuschChevroletN/A
15Austin DillonChevroletN/A
16Brian VickersToyotaN/A
17AJ AllmendingerChevroletN/A
18Danica PatrickChevroletN/A
19Kasey KahneChevroletN/A
20Greg BiffleFordN/A
21Marcos AmbroseFordN/A
22Tony StewartChevroletN/A
23Aric AlmirolaFordN/A
24Denny HamlinToyotaN/A
25Brad KeselowskiFordN/A
26Justin AllgaierChevroletN/A
27Martin Truex Jr.ChevroletN/A
28Joey LoganoFordN/A
29Casey MearsChevroletN/A
30David GillilandFordN/A
31Ryan TruexToyotaN/A
32Michael McDowellFordN/A
33Cole WhittToyotaN/A
34Josh WiseChevroletN/A
35Michael AnnettChevroletN/A
36Reed SorensonChevroletN/A
37Alex BowmanToyotaN/A
38Landon CassillChevroletN/A
39David RaganFordN/A
40Mike BlissChevrolet37N/A
41Joe NemechekToyotaN/A
42Travis KvapilChevroletN/A
43Joey GaseFordN/A