| Chasers Struggle On Home Turf |
| Written by Lindsey Marks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, 19 October 2009 11:12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 After leading early in the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway Denny Hamlin blew his motor and lost two spots in the point standings. Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/GettyImages for NASCAR
Congratulations to the No. 48 team and their never-ending success.
Must be nice.
Not many teams can dominate four years in a row. Just ask all the other Chasers and the guys who did not even make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Even the drivers who were successful in Saturday’s race could not gain on Johnson’s points lead. Jeff Gordon moved up from 5th in the point standings to 3rd following Saturday night’s event but went from 105 points behind Johnson to 135 points back.
Kasey Kahne, who was mathematically eliminated from championship contention prior to this event due to poor performances and bad luck early in the Chase, rallied with a 3rd place finish at Lowe’s that moved him up two spots in the point standings to 9th, 331 points behind Johnson.
 Juan Pablo Montoya's night was unfortunate, getting into the back of Clint Bowyer on lap 126, and spinning himself out on lap 163 and then losing his right-rear quarter panel later on. Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/GettyImages for NASCAR Kurt Busch was the only other Chaser to finish in the top-10. Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart finished 11th and 13th, respectively.
The rest of the Chase drivers suffered from on-track incidents or mechanical problems that earned them less than stellar finishing positions.
Greg Biffle crossed the stripe 16th after spinning following contact with Newman on lap 312 and maintained his 7th place points position.
Mark Martin started his day off well, only 12 points behind Johnson in the standings and led the first lap of the race. Unfortunately, a restart debacle involving Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin on lap 126 gave Montoya and Martin damage that affected them for the rest of the event. He wound up 17th while Montoya ended up 35th, 4 laps down after spinning himself out on lap 163 and then losing his right-rear quarter panel later on.
Martin is now 90 points behind Johnson in the standings and remains second to the three-time champion. Montoya, on the other hand, lost three spots in the points and now sits 6th, a dismal 195 points out of first.
Brian Vickers ended his day in 34th and has been eliminated from championship contention, as have Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin who are 10th and 11th in the standings after finishing 39th and 42nd, respectively, after blowing their engines.
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Martinsville, VA for the Tums Fast Relief 500, only eight of the 12 original Chasers are still eligible for the Sprint Cup Series championship.
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