Updated Sept. 1
And then there was one.
One race for a handful of drivers to keep their championship dreams alive.
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| Bowyer heads to Richmond with one victory in '08 -- at the Virginia track. (Getty Images) |
A maximum of 161 points can be gained by one driver on another, so that leaves Tony Stewart (138 points ahead of 13th David Ragan), Matt Kenseth (+109), Jeff Gordon (+102), Denny Hamlin (+93) and Clint Bowyer (+17) within range of losing their spots in the top 12 should disaster strike at Richmond.
Hamlin knows as well as anybody how quickly fortunes can turn there. Back in May he dominated at the track, leading the first 381 laps only to be derailed by a flat tire less than 20 laps from the end.
"We led every lap it seemed like in the spring and ended up finishing 28th or something (24th)," Hamlin said. "So, you never know what can happen. I wish I had probably a 130-point lead, you pretty much lock yourself in when you have a buffer like that."
Kasey Kahne, 48 points behind Bowyer in 14th, joins Ragan as the only other driver outside the top 12 who could sneak his way into the Chase if things fall his way.
| Chase standings | |||
| Driver | Points | Deficit | |
| 1. Jimmie Johnson | 6,684 | --- | |
| 2. Carl Edwards | 6,615 | -69 | |
| 3. Greg Biffle | 6,467 | -217 | |
| 4. Kevin Harvick | 6,408 | -276 | |
| 5. Clint Bowyer | 6,381 | -303 | |
| Complete Chase | Traditional points | |||
"We gained a little in the points tonight, but not enough to make that much of difference," said Kahne, who finished eighth at California on Sunday, two spots ahead of Bowyer and five in front of Ragan. "I said earlier in the week that not only do we have to run well to catch the guys in front of me, but they have to stumble a little to help us make up points. Tonight was pretty much a draw."
Kahne has actually been in this position before, racing his way into the Chase with a third-place run at Richmond in 2006. With only 10 drivers making it that season, Kahne ousted Stewart, who had entered the race eighth, 45 points ahead of Kahne. But Stewart finished a distant 18th, not nearly good enough to save his title hopes.
While Bowyer mathematically is the easiest for Ragan and Kahne to catch, at the very least, he can take solace in knowing he's the most recent winner at Richmond.
That's right, Bowyer was the one able to take advantage of Hamlin's flat -- as well as a little dustup between Earnhardt and Busch -- to steal the victory back in May.
"It's going to be a battle right down to the end," Bowyer said. "Anything can happen in Richmond. But nonetheless, there is a little bit of confidence knowing you're coming off a win there."
Power Rankings after California:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Tony Stewart | 1 |
| It's only fitting that he won the race after hogging the lead most of the night. | ||
| 2 | Jeff Gordon | 2 |
| He was having issues with blistering tires before getting tangled up in the big mid-race wreck. | ||
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 3 |
| Earns his first top five and just his second top 10 in seven races at Daytona since winning the Daytona 500 in 2006. | ||
| 4 | Kurt Busch | 4 |
| Continues to knock on the door for a win at a restrictor-plate track. He has finished fourth or better in four of his past five trips to Daytona. | ||
| 5 | Carl Edwards | 6 |
| No doubt he was having flashbacks to Talladega. "It was a crazy, crazy finish," Edwards said. "I thought I wanted to be up there racing with those guys, then I saw that [Kyle Busch wrecking] and I was just fine with where I was at." | ||
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 7 |
| He now has eight top 10s on the season with five coming in the past seven races. | ||
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| He and Stewart were the class of the field. But with Stewart snagging the win, Hamlin had to settle for his third top-five finish in the past four races. | ||
| 8 | Mark Martin | 5 |
| Since picking up his third win of the year back at Michigan, Martin has followed with finishes of 35th, 14th and 38th. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 8 |
| He has hit a little bump in the road with four consecutive finishes of 17th or worse. | ||
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| Wreck in the last lap left him with his fifth finish outside the top 10 in the past six races. | ||
| 11 | Greg Biffle | 9 |
| Never a factor at any point, spending just 14 laps in the top 15 all night. | ||
| 12 | Kasey Kahne | 12 |
| The sensational image of his collision with Kyle Busch notwithstanding, Kahne was able to leave Daytona with a 15th-place finish and move up one spot to 12th in the standings. | ||
| 13 | David Reutimann | 13 |
| After starting at the rear of the field because of an engine change, he had managed to work his way into the top 15 before being collected in the mid-race big one. | ||
| 14 | Matt Kenseth | 14 |
| Gets a much-needed top 10 after four consecutive finishes of 16th or worse had him tumbling down the standings. | ||
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 15 |
| He had just joined the top 10 when he became a victim of the mid-race carnage. | ||
