Two Down - Eight To Go

This weekend Dover hosted race number two of the ten race Chase For The Cup playoff system. Ryan Newman bounced back from his mechanical troubles in week one with a win in Dover. Mark Martin ended up second with Jeff Gordon third. Other contenders Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield were fifth, sixth and seventh while Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson came home ninth and tenth. Eight of the top ten drivers finished in the top ten in the race.

The two big losers this weekend in the Chase standings were Elliott Sadler who finished 20th and Matt Kenseth who wrecked and ended up 32nd. Kenseth's error while trying to pit dropped him three spots to seventh overall in the championship standings. Sadler's bad day didn't drop him any spots, but he did fall farther behind as he trails the leader by 96 points.

Currently Jeff Gordon holds a slim one point lead at the head of the Chase over Kurt Busch. Dale Jr is 18 off the lead while both Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin are 57 points behind. Here are the official points standings from NASCAR Online as the drivers head into Talladega this weekend.