Only 56 points separate 9th place #20-Tony Stewart, 10th place #9-Kasey Kahne, 11th place #07-Clint Bowyer, 12th place #29-Kevin Harvick and 13th place #17-Matt Kenseth. Harvick finished four spots ahead of Kenseth at Loudon and unseated him from the final “bubble spot” in the Top-12. Call it a fluke win on fuel mileage and weather forecasting, but 2004 Chase champ #2-Kurt Busch can use the victory at New Hampshire as a springboard to another comeback to make the 2008 Chase. He catapulted four positions forward to 18th and now sits 222 out of 12th place. This time last season, he was 236 points out, but was in 15th place. So, he’s got six cars to pass instead of three. Don’t count out the #2 car yet. Even though the pit rotation and weather cost #83-Brian Vickers a top five finish, the former Nationwide Series champ is THE turnaround story of the 2008 season so far, at 23 positions better in the standings than this time last year. This team is running good enough to stalk the Top-12 with 113 points to make up over the next nine races. #6-David Ragan had the misfortune of getting caught up in the McMurray/Dale Jr. mishap and it cost him big in The Race to The Chase, dropping 81 points to 12th place. #42-Juan Pablo Montoya’s extra-curricular move on points leader #18-Kyle Busch cost him a two-lap penalty and precious points he can’t afford to lose if he wants to stay in contention for The Chase. See more at my Chase Stats page and Chase News page.(7-4-2008)
