Johnson stormed into the Chase for the championship by winning his second consecutive race Sunday, getting a big boost as he starts his pursuit of a third consecutive title.

The two-time defending Cup champion passed Tony Stewart and Martin Truex for the lead with 32 laps to go at Richmond International Raceway, then held off Stewart’s late challenge over the final 10 laps.

“I think this … car is going to be ready for this championship battle,” Johnson said in Victory Lane. “I think chances are high. We’re in the show and we’re going to give 100 percent and try to make history.”

Johnson is seeking to become the first driver to win three consecutive titles since Cale Yarborough (1976-78).

It was the final event before NASCAR’s 10-race title hunt begins next week in New Hampshire, and everyone had to wait a day to see which 12 drivers would make the Chase after NASCAR postponed the Saturday start because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

New Chase arrivalsDavid Ragan and Kasey Kahne were the only two drivers mathematically eligible to race their way into the Chase field. Ragan put on a gutsy push before contact with other cars ended his run with a 32nd-place finish.

Kahne finished 19th, giving the final Chase spot to Clint Bowyer.

“I drove everything I could all day,” Kahne said. “It was a long day in the pits — we came out close to last almost every time. But we were never going to beat Clint.”

The Chase field is Johnson, Stewart, Busch, Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Bowyer.

Busch goes into the Chase seeded first based on his eight Cup victories this season. He had a rough day at Richmond in his final tuneup for his title run. He was wrecked by Dale Earnhardt Jr. while leading midway through the race, and was later wrecked a second time by Elliott Sadler. Busch finished 15th.

Edwards also had a long day after an early tire problem relegated him to the pack. He finished 13th but is still the second seed in the Chase based on his six previous victories. Johnson is seeded third, with four victories.

The three are the only Chase drivers with multiple victories — five of the title contenders are winless this season — and an intense fight for the championship is expected.

Among the winless drivers are Stewart and Gordon, who have never before gone this deep into the season without a victory. Stewart was visibly frustrated after failing to catch Johnson and end his 39-race winless streak.

Chase Standings
Tiebreaker is best finishes beyond race victories

Pos. Driver Points

1. Kyle Busch 5,080
2. Carl Edwards 5,050
3. Jimmie Johnson 5,040
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5,010
5. Clint Bowyer 5,010
6. Denny Hamlin 5,010
7. Jeff Burton 5,010
8. Tony Stewart 5,000
9. Greg Biffle 5,000
10. Jeff Gordon 5,000
11. Kevin Harvick 5,000
12. Matt Kenseth 5,000

Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Speedway – September 14, 2008

Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA at Dover International Speedway – September 21, 2008

Kansas 400 at Kansas Speedway – September 28, 2008

Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway – October 5, 2008

Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – October 11, 2008

TUMS QuikPak 500 Martinsville Speedway – October 19, 2008

Pep Boys Auto 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway – October 26, 2008

Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway – November 2, 2008

Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil Phoenix International Raceway – November 9, 2008

Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway – November 16, 2008

Jimmie Johnson won the battle and took a huge step forward in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup by winning the SUBWAY 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Martinsville Speedway Sunday.

 With the .544-second win over Denny Hamlin, Johnson climbed from seventh to third in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup standings.  “I’m happy to finish where we should have,” Johnson said after his 23^rd career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory and his second Martinsville win in three years. “We’ve been running up front the last three or four races and haven’t been able to close the deal and today we did.”  It was a topsy-turvy day in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup standings, with nine of the 10 Chase drivers changing positions.

 Jeff Burton, who led the Chase coming into the SUBWAY 500 on the demanding Martinsville half-mile oval, was drop kicked back to fifth after finishing 42^nd. Burton was felled by engine trouble before the half-way point of the race.     Kevin Harvick finished ninth in the race but climbed a spot to second in the points while rookie Hamlin jumped two spots up to fourth with his finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was poised to make a huge jump in the points when he got caught up in a spin late in the race. Earnhardt turned around in fourth turn while trying to get past Kasey Kahne. If he had made the pass, he would have moved into second in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. He wound up finishing 22^nd and dropped one spot to sixth in the points.  “I made a mistake coming down in to turn three. I went into three and locked the brakes … a mistake on my part,” said Earnhardt. 

Bobby Labonte had the feel-good run of the day, finishing third in a Richard Petty-owned Dodge. Last year’s champion and Martinsville’s spring winner Tony Stewart was fourth, followed by Jeff Gordon.

Hamlin took a shot at getting past Johnson with less than five laps remaining. He got Johnson out of shape, but Johnson recovered and pulled away for the win.  “I knew being the leader we’d get a shot at some point and once I got pushed to the outside, I really felt like I was in trouble,” Johnson said of Hamlin’s challenge. “But I was able to rally back from the outside and get going. Once I got back going I knew I had a better car and could get away from him.”   Casey Mears had a strong sixth place finish, followed by Kahne, Jeff Green, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Petty. It was the first time since 1999 that Petty Enterprises had two cars finish in the top 10. It was a caution-filled day, with 18 yellow flags flying for a total of 107 laps. There were 16 lead changes among five drivers.

Kurt Busch started on the pole, but didn’t lead the first lap after being passed by Gordon.

The Bank of America 500 was not much different than the many other races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The same familiar face; Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Kyle Busch; were running up in the front for most of the race. The race itself was clean and drama-free until lap 243 when Mark Martin suffered from a race-ending wreck.
To the dismay of other drivers, that event created a domino effect that impacted others like Jeff Gordon who with 33 laps to go suffered an engine failure. The other championship drivers faired as follows:
1. (Leader) Jeff Burton, or “Ice Man” as Earnhardt Jr refers to him, finished 3rd and posted yet another top 5 finish in this year’s Chase for the Championship. In 5 races, Burton has 1 win, 2 top 5’s, and 2 top 10’s.
2. (-45 points) Matt Kenseth finished 14th and captured five bonus points for leading the race. Kenseth will need to finish much higher in the remaining 5 races if he hopes to catch Burton
3. (-89 points) Kevin Harvick was busted for speeding on pit road late in the race. The penalty proved too costly for him to overcome and he finished in 18th place.
4. (-102 points) Mark Martin had a car that could win, and it showed early. At different points during the race, Martin had actually climbed high enough to take over the points lead. That came to end when on lap 243 when he wrecked with J.J. Yeeley. Martin was listed in 30th place when the checkered flag waved.
5. (-106 points) Dale Earnhardt Jr was strong for much of the night. He finished the race in 4th place, and collected 5 bonus points for leading the race.
6. (-137 points) Denny Hamlin’s “Golden Boy” status was lost in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500. The rookie wrecked on the first lap of the race, and never fully recovered from it. He finished 28th.
7. (-146 points) Jimmie Johnson finished 2nd and gained 10 points on leader Jeff Burton. Jimmie’s chances of winning the championship are now improved, but he’ll have to gain more than 10 points every week to catch Burton.
8. (-160 points) Kasey Kahne has posted back-to-back strong finishes by winning the Bank of America 500, and by finishing 2nd last week at Talladega. Let’s see if NASCAR’s most eligible bachelor can string together 5 more strong finishes to finish the season strong.
9. (-195 points) Kyle Busch is no longer pulling up the rear. Kid Vegas finished in 6th place and moved in front of Jeff Gordon in the points.
10. (-147 points) Jeff Gordon must be under a hex. The last three races must have been torturous for the 4 time NASCAR champion. In each race, Jeff ran strong only to have a disastrous finish at the end. Saturday night, Gordon lost an engine with 33 laps to go and finished 24th.

When the green flag flew Dale Jarrett dropped down from the outside line to lead lap one. However he quickly got shuffled back as Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon traded the lead back and forth.

The smooth repaving job seemed to really help stabilize the cars. The drivers made it all the way to lap 72 before the first yellow flag flew. That incident was for a blown tire and not “The Big One.”

Talladega Superspeedway was repaved this summer. The new pavement is much smoother than the old surface. Before, the cars would bounce around as they went over the bumps. This would unsettle the cars and sometimes would even cause a wreck.

With the new surface drivers seemed to have much more control and this UAW-Ford 500 was a safer race because of it.

We still had “The Big One” as Jimmie Johnson got into the back of Carl Edwards causing him to wiggle and make contact. This triggered a multi-car wreck that damaged Chasers Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

This the story of restrictor plate racing. One car has to lift off the gas, then somewhere five or six cars behind him someone can’t check up in time and the wreck is on. Maybe the “Car of Tomorrow” that NASCAR is working on will allow NASCAR to be done with the plates? We can only hope.  

With 22 laps to go Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled low and took the lead with a strong three-wide move. What made this so impressive is that Dale Jr. made that pass without any drafting help! Clearly Jr. had a fast horse and was biding his time for most of the day.

The final restart came with just ten laps to go. Dale Jr. lead them to the green over Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne and point leader Jeff Burton. On that final restart Jeff Burton pulled down out of line with a flat tire. This was a big event for the point standings.

On the backstretch of the final lap Jimmie Johnson got a run and pulled down to pass Earnhardt for the win. Johnson’s teammate Brian Vickers pulled down to go with him but misjudged it. Vickers clipped Johnson and both Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Junior wrecked.

The yellow flag flew and froze the field while Brian Vickers was still leading. This victory was Vickers’ first in the NEXTEL Cup series. Unfortunately it was won on a mistake. The fans were brutal as Vickers tried to celebrate his first NEXTEL Cup win.

Emotions are running high now, but it is important to remember that this was clearly just a mistake. Vickers had no intention of wrecking his teammate or Earnhardt to take the win.

1. Brian Vickers
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Kurt Busch
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Jeff Green
8. Mark Martin
9. Carl Edwards
10. Bobby Labonte

Jeff Burton’s late race problems allowed his Chasers to cut into his point lead significantly. We now have a real battle on our hands as the top five drivers are only 51 points apart. This battle is going to come down to the wire.

The top ten in points are now:

1. Jeff Burton -0
2. Matt Kenseth -6
3. Mark Martin -10
4. Kevin Harvick -33
5. Denny Hamlin -51
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -106
7. Jeff Gordon -147
8. Jimmie Johnson -156
9. Kasey Kahne -185
10. Kyle Busch -185

Next week the NEXTEL Cup series heads back to Lowes Motor Speedway for the only night race in The Chase. This Saturday night shootout under the lights is in NASCAR’s backyard. The majority of NASCAR teams are based in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Everybody wants to win at Lowes because all of the teams’ friends and families are able to make it out to the race. The pressure is on as The Chase points have tightened dramatically.

All the stats are available HERE

Stewart Ran Out Of Gas But Was Able To Coast Across The Line For The Kansas Win

Kansas Speedway was long criticized for not providing exciting racing. That all changed today as drivers were two and three wide all day long. The finish was exciting too as Tony Stewart coasted across the line out of fuel to take the win. The 2006 Banquet 400 had it all strategy, great racing and a thrilling finish. Kansas Speedway has finally arrived.

The front row was all Dodge as Kasey Kahne put his Evernham Motorsports Dodge on the pole with teammate and fellow Dodge driver Scott Riggs along side in second.

The second row was all Chevrolet as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers qualified third and fourth. J.J. Yeley rounded out the top five in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet.

On lap fifteen Ryan Newman spun right in front of Chaser Jeff Burton.

In order to avoid the wreck Chasers Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick turned hard to the left and spun through the infield grass. None of the four cars involved seemed to take on any significant damage, but this could have been a huge event in the 2006 Chase For The Cup.

Jimmie Johnson took over the lead from Kasey Kahne after that incident. Then Scott Riggs and Clint Bowyer took their turns at the point.

After the early excitement that nearly eliminated three Chase For The Cup contenders there was much more Chaser excitement in this race.

Matt Kenseth struggled all day trying to make his car handle. Matt limped home in 23rd.

Rookie Denny Hamlin was caught speeding on pit road and had to fall to the rear of the field. Hamlin was involved in a wreck shortly after his pit road error and finished 18th.

Jeff Gordon also had problems as he had a fuel pressure problem late in the race. He coasted to pit road under green late in the race and couldn’t get the car running. Gordon suffered a DNF and finished 39th.

Late in the race Kasey Kahne ran out of fuel, dove towards pit road and spun the car. Kahne finished 33rd after he got the car righted, fueled and restarted.

Jimmie Johnson lead the most laps during the race and had a healthy lead late in the race over Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Because of the timing of the previous yellow everyone was just a few laps short on fuel. This caused a scramble late in the race as everyone had to dash to pit road for a splash of fuel.

Jimmie Johnson was headed for the pits when Kahne spun. Johnson turned back up onto the track assuming that the yellow flag was going to come out. When it didn’t Johnson lost a bunch of time on the track. When he did pit next time by he was penalized for too fast on pit road. Johnson ended up 14th.

Tony Stewart decided to try to stretch his fuel and steal the win. Tony ran out of fuel on the back stretch of the final lap. He coasted around on the apron and took the victory. Second place Casey Mears also ran out of fuel on the last lap and coasted home on the apron.

This bizarre finish was very exciting as it was in doubt right to the checkers.

Top Ten

1. Tony Stewart
2. Casey Mears
3. Mark Martin
4. Dale Jarrett
5. Jeff Burton
6. Carl Edwards
7. Kyle Busch
8. Brian Vickers
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The Points

Jeff Burton held onto his point lead with a strong fifth place finish. Mark Martin was the top finisher among the Chasers and was rewarded with a jump from sixth up to third in points. Jeff Gordon was the biggest loser as he fell four places in the points to sixth.

The top ten in points are now:

1. Jeff Burton -0
2. Denny Hamlin -69
3. Mark Martin -70
4. Matt Kenseth -84
5. Kevin Harvick -96
6. Jeff Gordon -120
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -123
8. Jimmie Johnson -165
9. Kyle Busch -233
10. Kasey Kahne -273

The 2006 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup is now 3 races old. Jeff Burton extended his slim point lead a little with another strong top-five finish in Kansas last week.
Now The Chase enters it’s two most interesting, and challenging, races as Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway will challenge the Chasers with NASCAR’s longest and shortest race tracks in back-to-back weeks. How do the ten Chase For The Cup contenders stack up as the series heads to Talladega?
1) Jeff Burton
Jeff Burton has an average finish of 4.3 through the first three Chase races of 2006. If he can avoid a disaster this weekend in Talladega he will be well on his way to the 2006 Championship.
In 2004 and 2005 Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart had average finishes of 8.9 and 8.7 during The Chase. Burton is well above that average right now as The 2006 Chase heads to race number four.

2) Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin stumbled a bit in Kansas and finished eighteenth. However his top ten runs in New Hampshire and Dover have him sitting in second place. Hamlin is getting the job done with such poise and confidence that it is hard to remember that he is just a rookie in NEXTEL Cup racing.

3) Mark Martin
Mark Martin is still on track for what he needs to do to keep his Chase hopes alive. Mark is now in third, just one point out of second place and seventy points behind Burton.
In 2005 Martin was in a similar situation. However, bad finishes in Talladega and Martinsville dashed his NEXTEL Cup dreams for last season. Mark is here again facing the same two tracks back-to-back. If Mark can escape the next two races with top ten finishes then he will be a force all the way to the end.

4) Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth just couldn’t find the handle in Kansas this week and even spun at one point during the race. Embarrasing for a team that was my pick to win it all this year.
That was unusual for Kenseth’s Roush Racing team. They are normally on top of every detail. For them to be that far off the mark just isn’t like them. Was Kansas a fluke? Or was that race the beginning of the unraveling for a team that has been solid the entire second half of the season.

5) Kevin Harvick
After posting a big win in New Hampshire Kevin Harvick blew the motor in Dover and fell back to fifth in the points. Then in Kansas this week Harvick was again not a factor as he limped home to finish 15th.
Harvick is now fifth in points 96 points out of the lead. Kevin Harvick will need to regain some of his magic from September if he is going to climb back to the top.

6) Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon started out his 2006 Chase with back-to-back third place runs in New Hampshire and Dover. However Gordon’s fuel pump failure in Kansas caused him to finish 39th in the race. Gordon dropped four places in the standings.
Jeff is currently 120 points out of first. He still has a shot at the title but he will need to start clicking off great finishes and collecting bonus points. Jeff Gordon is fully capable of winning every remaining 2006 race and taking the title.

7) Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted his best finish of this 2006 Chase with a tenth place effort in Kansas. Only 123 points behind Junior is still in this battle but he’ll need to continue to improve on his finishes. A big win in Talladega would be a great start to his title run.

Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson has surprised everyone with his lackluster performance in this 2006 Chase For The Cup. He started out The Chase with an unfortunate 39th place run in New Hampshire. Since then his best effort was a 13th place run in Dover. Johnson dominated most of 2006 but he just hasn’t been able to keep his momentum up during The Chase.
Johnson’s 165 point deficit isn’t fatal yet. However, it is time for Johnson to go on a tear if he wants to get himself back into this title hunt.

9) Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch is 233 points out of first place. Kyle has a boatload of talent but 2006 will not be the year that he wins his first NEXTEL Cup Championship.

10) Kasey Kahne
With yet another terrible finish in Kansas Kasey Kahne’s Chase dreams have been thoroughly dashed.