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Ryan Newman picked up one position and a net 29 points on the leader with his overpowering victory Sunday at Dover Downs. But despite being 107 off the pace with eight races to go, Newman knows he has to stay as steady as he was Sunday, and that he'll need some help in the form of trouble for the eight men ahead of him.
Tony Stewart did himself no favors by taking a couple of return swings at Robby Gordon, who took him out with a foolish move last week at New Hampshire. He dented the nose on his car in ramming Gordon's bumper Sunday, making the car a handful, yet he still managed sixth place and lost only 12 addtional points to the lead.
Less lucky were Jimmie Johnson and Elliott Sadler, both of whom had tire trouble and both of whom were penalized by NASCAR for speeding on pit road when they stopped for repairs. Johnson's trouble happened early enough to where he was able to make up some of the ground, finishing 10th, a lap down. Sadler's misfortune came late, and he finished 20th, suffering a net loss of 58 points.
The leader in the playoffs, meanwhile, now coincides with the leader in the "classic" standings -- the way the points would read had the season continued without contrivance after Richmond. Jeff Gordon finished third at Dover, pulling to a too-close-too-call one-point lead over Kurt Busch, last week's co-leader. The other co-leader, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished ninth Sunday and is 18 points behind with eight races to go.
The "classic" standings show three drivers -- Gordon, Earnhardt and Johnson -- within 112 points with eighth races to go, with the rest fading. The "playoff" standings show eight within that margin, but still with three 100 points or more out of the lead.
As they are:
1) Jeff Gordon, 5371 points
2) Kurt Busch, 5370. -1
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr., 5353, -18
4) Jimmie Johnson, 5314, -57
5) Mark Martin, 5314, -57
6) Elliott Sadler, 5275, -96
7) Matt Kenseth, 5272, -99
8) Ryan Newman, 5236, -107
9) Tony Stewart, 5236, -135
10) Jeremy Mayfield, 5214, -157
As they would have been:
1) Jeff Gordon, 3923
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3854, -69
3) Jimmie Johnson, 3811, -112
4) Kurt Busch, 3659, -264
5) Tony Stewart, 3611, -312
6) Matt Kenseth, 3579, -344
7) Elliott Sadler, 3566, -357
8) Mark Martin, 3512, -411
9) Jamie McMurray, 3473, -450
10) Ryan Newman, 3445, -478
11) Jeremy Mayfield, 3397, -526
12) Kevin Harvick, 3374, -549
13) Bobby Labonte, 3367, -556
14) Kasey Kahne, 3360, -563
15) Dale Jarrett, 3342, -581
