In order to have a shot at winning the Championship drivers must be in the top ten in points after the race in Richmond. There is only one race remaining until the cutoff for The Chase. Who is in, who is out and which drivers are on the bubble as the 2006 Race to The Chase rolls into Richmond?
- Driver Name (-+) points from tenth
- Matt Kenseth +459
Kenseth is guaranteed a spot in The Chase. Matt has his team firing on all cylinders. He took over the point lead in California and is ready to make a run for his second Championship.
- Jimmie Johnson +450
100% clinched. Johnson needs to get his team fired up and return to his dominating ways from the majority of the season if he wants to take the title.
- Kevin Harvick +117
Still in third Harvick has a nice cushion over tenth. Harvick just needs to avoid a complete catastrophe in Richmond to clinch his spot in The Chase.
- Jeff Gordon +72
Jeff Gordon has been solid for these last few races. He only needs to keep the rest of the top eleven in sight to slip safely into The Chase.
- Kyle Busch +65
Kyle Busch's biggest friends in the sport are the six drivers behind him in this battle. Kyle only needs to beat one of them on Saturday night in order to make The Chase.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. +47
Junior missed The Chase last year but I think he has a good shot at holding on for a run at the Cup in 2006. Dale Jr. normally runs well in Richmond and there's no reason to expect that he'll have problems that will prevent him from making The Chase this season.
- Denny Hamlin +46
Denny continues to impress in 2006. I'm looking forward to seeing how well Denny handles the pressure of The Chase.
- Tony Stewart +15
The first of the three drivers most likely to slip from a Chase spot.It is hard to imagine that the defending Champ he won't find a way to hold onto this slim margin and make his way in.
- Mark Martin +2
At this point it's just down to one race. One bad finish and Mark is done. One good finish and he's in. Mark Martin knows how to points race, but he has a history of bad luck. If Mark can avoid the demons he'll be ok.
- Jeff Burton +0
Anything could happen here. Burton will need to keep his eyes on the scoring pylon. He needs to know where Kahne, Martin, Stewart and Hamlin are at all times.
- Kasey Kahne -30
Kasey Kahne made a strong move in California. Kahne scored the maximum number of points available by leading the most laps en route to the win. Kahne is still on the outside trying to scrape his way in, but he closed the gap considerably. Kasey will need to continue where he left off in California. Lead laps to score bonus points and go for the win.
- Everybody Else Mathematically eliminated
No other drivers have a shot to make the 2006 Chase.
