CUP: Chase Down To Final Two

Sprint Cup

CUP: Chase Down To Final Two

Clint Bowyer finished sixth in Texas…

Tom Jensen | Posted November 04, 2012 Fort Worth, TX

Clint Bowyer had a terrific 2012. (Photo: Getty Images)

Coming into Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, there was an outside chance that third-place Clint Bowyer and/or fourth-place Kasey Kahne might jump into the championship discussion with points leaders Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski.

But after a 1-2 finish by Johnson and Keselowski at Texas, it’s all over for the other 10 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Bowyer had a decent day, finishing sixth, but he fell to 36 points back, which realistically is too much to make up in two races, especially with Johnson and Keselowski both running so well.

“I've said this all along — it's fun to be racing for the championship, but I'm more proud of where we're at contending for that championship, winning three races our first year together as a group,” said Bowyer. “Got a long time to work. We just keep polishing the edges and keep getting better fixing our program week-in and week-out. We'll be there.”

Kahne had an even tougher night, bouncing off the wall late and finishing 25th, which dropped him 58 points out of the lead. And with the most points a driver can make up in one race being 47, Kahne is now more than one full race behind the two leaders.

The big points winner on Sunday at Texas was Matt Kenseth, who moved up three spots in the standings to fifth on the basis of his fourth-place finish in the race.

“I didn’t think we would ever be standing here with a top-five the way our day started,” said Kenseth. “We started way off and these guys never gave up. They battled hard all day long and got me a good finish.”

Kenseth and 14th-place finisher Jeff Gordon are both 72 points behind Johnson. Then it’s Denny Hamlin (-73), Tony Stewart (-80), Martin Truex Jr. (-80) and Greg Biffle (-83).

Officially eliminated from championship contention on Sunday were ninth-place finisher Kevin Harvick (-101) and seventh-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-151). Earnhardt missed two races with a concussion.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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