A bad finish in the chase doesn't necessarily put you out of contention. It depends how you rebound from it. Clint Bowyer did exactly what he could not afford to do after being docked 150 points by NASCAR, which is another storied and ended up finishing laps down. However, Jimmie Johnson came back in blazing colors, led the most laps, stayed out of trouble and won the race.
An intriguing story that goes with the race was the way the 43 performed. I was hoping that Allmendinger, or "DINGER" as the broadcast booth obnoxiously has been calling him, would show that there are more drivers out there than the 12 racing for a title. (However, had a flat tire and had to come in and went a lap down. Came back and posted a strong top 10.)
But at this point though can you really say that there is 12 racing for the championship? In my opinion, there is only 11 now. 235 points is just too many to overcome in eight races. Even if Hamlin didn't race the next race, he would still be ahead of Bowyer in the standings. 161 is the max points you can make up to any one driver in a race, leading the most laps and the other driver finishing 43. But you're not racing one person, you are racing 11.
Today Johnson showed us exactly why he's the reigning 4 time champ.
Chaser finishes - taking 5 of top 6 positions.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Burton
4. Kurt Busch
5. Carl Edwards
6. Kyle Busch - unable to pull of a season sweep of winning three of four races and a 6th. Not a bad effort for sure...
9. Denny Hamlin
11. Jeff Gordon
15. Kevin Harvick
18. Matt Kenseth
19. Greg Biffle
21. Tony Stewart
25. Clint Bowyer
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