With only 15 points separating the top two drivers, the closest championship in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s seven-year history won’t be won easily.
The only way points leader #11-Denny Hamlin can guarantee a clinch of his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship is by either finishing second while leading the most laps or winning next Sunday’s season finale Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
#48-Jimmie Johnson, in second, and #29-Kevin Harvick, in third, are the only other drivers still eligible to win the 2010 title. Harvick trails Hamlin by 46 points.
If Johnson wins and leads the most laps, nothing Hamlin or Harvick can do to win the championship.
If Harvick wins and leads the most laps, #11-Hamlin would have to finish 4th or worse and #48-Johnson would have to finish 7th or worse and Harvick would win the Championship.
Hamlin’s 15-point lead is the closest margin between first and second in Chase history, bettering the 18-point difference Kurt Busch held over Johnson in 2004.(NASCAR)
