While it is becoming apparent that the top 10 will remain the top 10, with 11th place Kasey Kahne now 90 points behind 10th place Mark Martin it will be tough for the 9 team to break back into the icture, and near impossible for the 400 point window to come into play.
With 2 races to go until the chase cutoff, only 13 drivers are still mathematically alive for the 10 spots - but 12th place Greg Biffle and 13th place Carl Edwards are 251 and 261 back of 10th place, and they have to gain 100+ points on 10th at California to remain alive another week. Both are also 700+ points out of the lead, or all but eliminated from the 400 point window possibility. Kahne is the only one with a shot, but he has to hope to win each remaining race while the 10th place bar finishes 11th or worse.
The wild shows the 4th through 10th place drivers separated by only 48 points, with 3rd place Kevin Harvick 81 points in front of now 4th place Kyle Busch. The loser on the night was Mark Martin, who entered the race 4th in the points but fell to 10th place on the heels of a 28th place finish, 4 laps down to the leaders.
Jeff Burton led 263 laps, 2nd time this month he led the most laps, but like Indianapolis, he faded at the end to a 9th place finish, but that was good enough to move back up to 7th from 9th in the points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. moved up from 10th to 9th in points on the strength of a 3rd place finish. Jr. led 35 laps, and had strong pit stops all night, turning a 40th starting spot into a top-five. The fastest stop was 12.8 seconds on the next to last caution, seeing the 8 car jump from third to first on the stops.
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