NASCAR Sprint Cup: Evaluating The Chasers After Kansas
Another race in the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup is in the books, and Greg Biffle earned a much-needed boost with his second victory of the season in the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway Sunday.
However, he was far from the only Chaser to keep himself in the hunt with a great finish in the Jayhawk State, as drivers such as Tony Stewart earned much-needed top 10 results.
On the other hand, one Chaser's "rowdy" driving style came back to bite him at a time when poor finishes are the difference between staying the hunt and looking forward to 2011.
Here's a look at how the 12 drivers in contention who performed in the 400-miler last weekend.
12. Clint Bowyer (-252 Points Behind Leader)
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After Richard Childress Racing lost its appeal of the penalties levied against them by NASCAR after the New Hampshire race, a bad week got a bit worse for Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 Chevy team.
Despite a 15th-place finish, 10 Chasers still managed to finish ahead of the Emporia, Kansas native when the checkered flag flew. In fact, Bowyer had an additional 17 points piled onto his already deep hole in the points standings.
At this point, the No. 33 team will need at least one win and a string of top-five finishes for the rest of the season to even be in the hunt.
11. Matt Kenseth (-149 Points Behind Leader)
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Matt Kenseth had a productive day at the Price Chopper 400, leading 26 laps en route to a seventh-place finish.
Even though No. 17 team fell into its usual habit of quietly building up solid finishes, the Roush Fenway Racing operation is in danger of falling out of Chase contention next weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
Working in the team's favor is the fact that Kenseth has three wins at the track in 17 starts, the most recent coming in February of last season.
10. Tony Stewart (-127 Points Behind Leader)
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Despite dropping four positions in the points standings, Stewart had a great day at Kansas Speedway. The No. 14 Chevy paced the field for 76 of 267 laps, more than any other driver.
While Stewart is also in danger of fading away this weekend, he has never finished outside of the top 10 at Auto Club Speedway in a Stewart-Haas Racing machine.
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9. Jeff Burton (-101 Points Behind Leader)
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Jeff Burton never played a factor in Sunday's Price Chopper 400, lingering around the top 20 for most of the race en route to an 18th-place finish.
However, he earned five valuable points after leading two laps during a set of green-flag pit stops, making him five points closer to the leader at the end of the day.
A promising sign going forward for the No. 31 Chevy team is a third-place finish at Fontana last February.
8. Greg Biffle (-85 Points Behind Leader)
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Greg Biffle took the lead at lap 207 and led 58 of the final 60 laps to earn his second victory of the season at Kansas on Sunday.
After a pair of mediocre finishes to begin the Chase, the much-needed victory kept the No. 16 Ford within 100 points of the leader.
Biffle has a chance at winning another race at Fontana next weekend, as the 40-year-old has one win and four top-five finishes at the two-mile oval.
7. Kyle Busch (-80 Points Behind Leader)
6 of 12The video to the left describes Kyle Busch's day in a nutshell.
After punting David Reutimann earlier in the race, Busch suffered severe damage to his rear end housing after the No. 00 Toyota slammed into him in retaliation.
The No. 18 Toyota fought back to salvage a 21st-place finish, instead of facing an even worse finish had the team decided to pack it in for the day.
Busch has a chance to rebound next weekend at Auto Club Speedway, where the Las Vegas native has eight top-10 finishes in 12 starts.
6. Kurt Busch (-70 Points Behind Leader)
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Meanwhile, Kyle's older brother Kurt had a quiet day at Kansas, finishing 13th.
Busch will attempt to continue a string of three consecutive top-five finishes at Auto Club next weekend.
5. Jeff Gordon (-58 Points Behind Leader)
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Jeff Gordon continued his string of impressive finishes with a fifth-place result at Kansas. The four-time Sprint Cup champion led 29 laps and stayed inside the top 10 for most of the race.
The search for his first win of the season continues at Fontana, where Gordon has three career wins.
4. Carl Edwards (-53 Points Behind Leader)
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Speaking of drivers quietly putting together consistent finishes, Carl Edwards tallied yet another top-10 finish by placing sixth at Kansas. He also led for a pair of laps during a run of green-flag pit stops.
Edwards will look for his first win in nearly two years at Fontana, where he scored a victory in Feb. 2008.
3. Kevin Harvick (-30 Points Behind Leader)
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In addition to both Gordon and Edwards, Kevin Harvick has flown under the radar to maintain a presence in the points hunt.
The Bakersfield, California native led 16 laps en route to a third-place finish, keeping him in prime position to take the Chase lead should the top two have issues.
Harvick finished runner-up at Auto Club Speedway in February.
2. Denny Hamlin (-8 Points Behind Leader)
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Hamlin finished 12th at Kansas, causing the No. 11 Toyota to relinquish the Chase lead.
The Midlothian, Virginia native will look for his first career win at Auto Club Speedway next weekend.
1. Jimmie Johnson (Leader)
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Well, it certainly seemed inevitable, didn't it?
After a runner-up finish at Kansas, four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson now holds a slim lead in the Chase.
To make manners worse for the other 11 drivers, Johnson has won four of the last six races at Auto Club.
Only time will tell if he makes that "five of the last seven."
Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section below.
Ryan Papaserge is a junior Journalism/Mass Communication student at St. Bonaventure University and a writing intern at Bleacher Report.
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