Updated June 23
While in theory every race is equally important, urgency grows as the races wind down ahead of Chase.
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| Kasey Kahne leads the pack early at Sonoma, but it doesn't last for long. (US Presswire) |
The biggest losers were Kasey Kahne (33rd) and Kevin Harvick (30th).
Kahne had been on a pretty good roll since Charlotte with three finishes of first or second in the four races prior to Sonoma, but he dropped like a rock after starting from the pole and leading the first four laps Sunday.
"It just wasn't our day," said Kahne, who slipped two spots to ninth in the standings. "The car was extremely loose. I was pretty much spinning my tires everywhere on the track. It's just unfortunate given the fact that we started on the pole. I really can't explain what happened today."
Harvick, on the other hand, had a great car, but a late mistake proved costly, not only to him, but Jamie McMurray and Tony Stewart as well. Running in the top-five with three laps left, he overdrove his car trying to overtake McMurray for position.
"I made a mistake late in the race and drove the car in too deep and wheel-hopped it," Harvick said. "I feel bad for involving the No. 26 (McMurray) and the No. 20 (Stewart). Hopefully we can turn things around next week at Loudon."
Harvick's error dropped him to 13th in the standings, two points behind Matt Kenseth, who finished eighth and rejoined the top 12 for the first time since the fifth race of the season.
"I don't know if it's ever too early to look at [the point standings]," Kenseth said. "You always look at it on the way home, especially if you're moving up to see where you're at and see what happened.
"But, the bottom line is really you do the best you can every week, and try to finish as high as you can and try to lead laps and do all that and the points take care of themselves -- the higher you finish, the more points you get. So, really, it's not a strategy, when you race hard and try to be smart and do the right things and hopefully get some good finishes and get back in it."
The revolving door at the rear of the top 12 is likely to continue over the coming weeks, which will include another road-course event (Watkins Glen). Only 173 points separate Kahne in ninth from Martin Truex Jr. in 17th.
Power Rankings after Sonoma:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Next to Martinsville, there probably isn't a better track for Johnson and his 48 team to try to rebound than Phoenix, where he has three wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s and an average finish of fifth in 12 starts. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| Martin was OK in the first half of Sunday's race but really came on in the second half to snag a top five. That allowed him to close the gap on Johnson from 184 to 73 points. And there's even more good news for the 5 team as the series shifts Phoenix: Martin won at the track in April. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| Troubles at Talladega and Texas left him outside the top 10 in back-to-back races for the first time since May. | ||
| 4 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| A good, solid effort from the 14 team throughout at Texas, just didn't have enough to challenge the Busch brothers for supremacy. | ||
| 5 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 |
| He started 20th and had made gains into the top 10 until he got loose running next to Carl Edwards, taking them both out. | ||
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| He was stout early, racing from 25th into the top five, but poor pit stops and contact with the wall had the 11 car reeling in the second half of the race. So his team gambled and won on fuel mileage to pull out second. | ||
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| Not only did he have a great car, but great fuel mileage as well. He was always one of the last to pit after every long green-flag run at Texas. | ||
| 8 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| On the verge of an historical triple victory weekend at Texas, he runs out of fuel just a couple laps from the finish. Tough way to end Dave Rogers' first race as crew chief of the 18 car. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| Struggled with a loose car at Texas, running just 61 laps in the top 15. | ||
| 10 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| His 17 team continues to show late-season improvement. He had the best finish (third) of those who pitted for gas instead of gambling. | ||
| 11 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| A steady run for Bowyer, who finishes in the top 10 at Texas for the third time in his past four visits. | ||
| 12 | Greg Biffle | 13 |
| Notched his second consecutive top 10 and third of the Chase. | ||
| 13 | Kasey Kahne | 8 |
| After starting second, he dropped like a rock. Ran in the teens most of the day until his engine went sour in the waning laps, leading to a 33rd-place finish. | ||
| 14 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| Four consecutive finishes outside the top 10 including two finishes of 39th. There wasn't a whole lot he could do to avoid Montoya getting up into him Sunday at Texas. | ||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| Earns his fourth top five of the season at Texas, his first since a second-place run at Atlanta in early September. | ||
