As a result of his fourth-place finish in the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway Tony Stewart remained the leader in the 2005 Chase for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup by 75 points over second-place Ryan Newman. The 10 drivers will race over the remaining six races to determine the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion who is expected to win in excess of $5 million.
Six drivers in the Chase changed positions at Kansas.
Kurt Busch (35th at New Hampshire, 23rd at Dover, eighth at Talladega and 14th at Kansas) started the 2004 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup by scoring a victory at New Hampshire and then followed with top-10 finishes in the first six races of the Chase. Busch remained 10th in the point standings, 224 points behind point leader Tony Stewart.
Nine of the 10 drivers competing in the 2005 Chase for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup have scored at least one victory in the 2005 season. Rusty Wallace remains winless in 2005. Five of the 10 drivers have scored multiple victories led by Stewart and Biffle each with five.
Four of the Ford Five of Jack Roush Racing finished in the top five: Mark Martin (first), Greg Biffle (second), Carl Edwards (third), and Matt Kenseth (fifth).
Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart each have scored three top-five finishes in the first four races in the 2005 Chase for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
Kevin Harvick (24th) remained 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings by just one point over 12th-place Jamie McMurray.
Tony Stewart (third) scored his 15th top-10 finish in his last 16 races. Stewart remained first in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings and has led the point standing in nine of the last 10 races, dropping to fifth after Dover for one race two weeks ago.
Matt Kenseth (fifth) scored his seventh top-10 finish in his last eight races.
Rusty Wallace (seventh) extended a 43-race streak of running at the finish that began at Bristol in August 2004. Wallace has scored 24 top-15 finishes in 30 races in 2005.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(10-9-2005)
