7-Kevin Harvick +160 and 8-Tony Stewart +138 are in great shape, 9-Matt Kenseth +109, 10-Jeff Gordon +102, and 11-Denny Hamlin +93 are in pretty good shape, and 12-Clint Bowyer +17 will have a long week. Bowyer’s 10th place at California gained him 5 points on 13th place David Ragan (who finished 13th but led a lap), but he lost 8 points to 14th place Kasey Kahne (who finished 8th). Last year was the first year that a driver didn’t drop out of The Chase at Richmond. 2004-Jeremy Mayfield roared back from 14th place and 55 points out to unseat 9th place Kasey Kahne with a dramatic win vs. Kahne’s 24th place finish. 2005-Ryan Newman entered Richmond one single point off Jamie McMurray in 10th place. Newman managed a 12th place finish while McMurray bowed out with a 40th. 2006-Kasey Kahne went to Richmond 30 points out of 10th place Jeff Burton and 75 points out of 8th place Tony Stewart. Kahne stormed to a 3rd place finish, Burton registered a 9th, but Stewart saved Burton by falling to an 18th and missed the Chase. 2007-13th place Dale Earnhardt Jr. rolled into Richmond 128 points out of 12th place Kevin Harvick and 141 points out of 11th place Kurt Busch. There was no drama to be found that night as Dale Jr. limped to a 30th place finish, Harvick was 7th and Busch was 9th. Clint Bowyer can land in his second straight Chase by repeating his May win at RIR. David Ragan finished 3rd in the September race last year and Kasey Kahne won the spring race in 2005 and got a 3rd in the fall race in 2006. CLINCH SCENARIOS[a little different then what NASCAR has below] (need a 196 point advantage over 13th place going into Richmond) 1″Kyle Busch, +783, clinched at Michigan 2″Carl Edwards, +575, clinched at Bristol 3″Jimmie Johnson, +414, clinched at California 4″Dale Jr,, +351, clinched at California 5″Jeff Burton, +262, clinched at California 6″Greg Biffle, +187, only needs to start Richmond 7″Kevin Harvick, +160, needs to finish 42nd 8″Tony Stewart, +138, needs to finish 35th 9″Matt Kenseth, +109, needs to finish 25th 10″Jeff Gordon, +102, needs to finish 23rd 11″Denny Hamlin, +93, needs to finish 20th 12″Clint Bowyer, +17, needs to win [or finish ahead of Kahne & Ragan] See more on my Chase Stats after California page.(9-5-2008)
