The Chase across North America - What have the title contenders been up to this week?

NASCAR's Chase drivers have been very busy this past week. What exactly is it they've been doing? Well you name it, they've probably done it.

Jimmie and Jr. head to NYC and LA

Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson has been hanging out in New York City, serving as a guest on The TODAY Show, Kelly & Michael, CNBC’s Power Lunch and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. His teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sent to LA and got to take a tour of the FOX studios. After appearing on a handful of Fox Sports shows, the Daytona 500 winner was on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Gordon and Edwards leave the country

So we got Jimmie in the NYC, Jr. in LA, and then there's Jeff Gordon who is outside the USA completely. Gordon is visiting a number of iconic locations in Toronto, Canada. Of course, being in Canada, he played some hockey as well. Carl Edwards went down south ... Way down south, all the way to Mexico City for a similar tour.

High School pep rallies

Kurt Busch's journey took him to San Antonio, Texas to visit the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center, meeting with wounded soldiers and their families. Matt Kenseth was in the same state, participating in a pep rally with six schools, representing four districts and over 3,000 students at Texas Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman also took part in a HS pep rally, but he was in Martinsville with 150 marching band members, cheerleaders, football players and other students.

SportsCenter takeover

The other Busch was up in Chicago and made a special appearance at GB Swift Specialty School as part
of The NASCAR Foundation’s education initiative. He ended up on SportsCenter and took part in the Chase Grid Live kickoff event with Chicagoland Speedway president Scott Paddock. Kevin Harvick was taken for a tour of the ESPN headquarters Connecticut and also appeared on SportsCenter. Kasey Kahne is in New Hampshire, hanging out with basketball broadcasting legend Dick Vitale and bracket expert Joe Lunardi to discuss the new Chase format. 

Helping kids in need

Greg Biffle met with patients at Nemour’s/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, a hospital that cares for over 250,000 children annually. Chase underdog ended up out in Kansas, making the rounds on a number of radio and television outlets. Joey Logano met with patients as well, but he was at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham. 

Brad didn't go too far

Denny Hamlin was sent to Phoenix, Arizona to participate in the 'Breakfast with Champions,' hanging out with former Indy 500 champion Tom Sneva. Brad Keselowski didn't stray too far from home, going on a  radio tour in Raleigh on some of the state’s largest sports, country and adult listening programs. He then joined CMS general manager Marcus Smith and North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest for a fan event before ending his day with some TV interviews.

Oh, and Aric Almirola did this...