Power Rankings: For trio, Chase hopes in numbers only
Updated Sept. 6
Mathematically, two spots in the Chase are still up for grabs in Saturday night's "regular-season" finale at Richmond.
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| Mark Martin might be sitting out the Chase for the Championship this year. (Getty Images) |
Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer hold down 11th and 12th in the standings, while Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin are praying for a miracle to crash the party.
Biffle is all but locked in, even after wrecking and finishing 36th at Atlanta.
With a 161-point lead over Newman, Biffle clinches his spot in the Chase by either leading a lap or finishing 42nd or better. Even if he finished last without leading a lap, Newman would need to win and lead the most laps to overtake him.
Bowyer has a little less room for error, though strong runs the past couple of weeks have given him a bit more breathing room. Bowyer followed a fourth-place run at Bristol with a seventh-place finish at Atlanta to carry a 117-point lead over Newman into Richmond. McMurray trails by 128 points, and Martin is 147 back.
"Man, I tell you, it was a hard fought battle," Bowyer said of his run Sunday night. "The guys kept digging and kept digging. It was good in the daytime. As soon as it went to night, it got really, really loose. Just way down on grip. They kept adjusting on it and never gave it. The guys in the pits, they got us back up there where we needed to be. I am real proud of them. Not what we wanted, but darn sure what we needed."
Regardless of where Newman, McMurray or Martin finish, Bowyer is in the Chase if he finishes ...
- 28th or better without leading a lap
- 29th and leads at least one lap
- 31st and leads the most laps
Newman might have been in a slightly better position to catch Bowyer at Richmond if not for a dust-up with Kasey Kahne in the final laps that dropped him from fifth to eighth and also allowed Bowyer to slip past.
He seem resigned to the fact that he's likely going to miss the Chase after making it a season ago.
"How do you expect to make up in one race what we didn't do in 25 races?" Newman said. "Mathematically, we have a chance and for an engineering guy I guess that means something. But I can only try my hardest and I did that tonight."
Power Rankings after Atlanta:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Greg Biffle | 1 |
| Won the pole and led 74 laps on Saturday night but faded down the stretch to finish 12th. Still hanging on to the Sprint Cup Series points lead but by only a pair over Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth. | ||
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 2 |
| Climbed to within a whisker of the points lead with a sixth-place finish on Saturday night. Now the world awaits the announcement regarding the potential change of Kenseth's car number. Relax Kenseth fans, the 17 isn't going anywhere. | ||
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 7 |
| Roared back up the rankings and the points standings with his first win since October of last season and in the process gave team owner Rick Hendrick historic Sprint Cup victory number 200. Johnson's history has been to bunch up wins once he gets to victory lane. | ||
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 3 |
| Was in the mix for a second Darlington win but wound up settling for a fourth-place finish. Like Johnson Busch has returned to form in recent weeks and delivered on the expectations most had for the No. 18 team this season. | ||
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | 5 |
| Was behind the wheel of one of the coolest looking cars in recent weeks with a Cale Yarborough-inspired retro paint scheme on the No. 11 Toyota. Looked almost Yarborough-like at Darlington for a while but didn't have enough mustard to run down Johnson for the win. | ||
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | 6 |
| Wasn't exactly pleased with his team for some suspect pit work at one point of the race but kept his composure and battled back for yet another finish inside the top five. | ||
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 4 |
| It was a struggle for Junior to just finish 17th. Had a decent car early in the night but handling issues plagued the No. 88 squad, and you can be sure crew chief Steve Letarte won't bring the same set-up back to Darlington next season. | ||
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 8 |
| A rather quiet night for the Michael Waltrip Racing driver with an 11th-place finish. Still not bad when an "off night" can be within a hair of a top-10 run. | ||
| 9 | Tony Stewart | 12 |
| An interesting night for Smoke, who was very strong in spurts but had to fight through handling issues, a broken clutch and a fuel pressure problem during the 500 miles. Pretty solid performance to deal with all that and still come home third. | ||
| 10 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| A seventh-place finish and another top 10, but now that Johnson's 17-race winless drought has ended will the questions mount for Edwards on his not visiting Victory Lane for more than a year? | ||
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | 10 |
| Was the focal point of Darlington's promotional campaign trying to capitalize on Harvick's tussle with Kyle Busch last season. But overall a very quiet night for the No. 29 Chevrolet driver who left Darlington with a rather mediocre 16th-place finish. | ||
| 12 | Brad Keselowski | 9 |
| Hasn't performed well at Darlington during his Sprint Cup career and that remained intact on Saturday with a 15th-place Southern 500 effort. A downer for the Blue Deuce after Keselowski's Talladega win last weekend. | ||
| 13 | Ryan Newman | 13 |
| Was headed for a better night than what the results show when Newman got caught up in the aftermath of Kurt Busch's spin late in the race when he got punted from behind. The frustration overflowed once the checkered flag flew with both teams getting involved in a scuffle as well as Newman and Busch exchanging harsh words. | ||
| 14 | Paul Menard | 15 |
| A decent day with a 13th-place finish for the Richard Childress Racing driver. Continues to hang around on the fringe of the top 10 in the points standings. | ||
| 15 | Kasey Kahne | NR |
| Has finally completed the turnaround from his dismal start to the season and is knocking down consistent finishes on a weekly basis. Kahne's eighth-place run was his fifth straight top-10 finish. | ||
