Chase standings following the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
1. Carl Edwards (finished third Sunday): He had another strong finish and now has four top-five finishes in the five Chase races, with his worst run an eighth at New Hampshire. But it hasn't been enough to put much distance between himself and his Chase challengers. "If we can slowly build a little bit of a lead, that's the best thing we can do," he said. "It's so competitive right now. Everybody is so fast that you just take everything you can get."
2. Kevin Harvick (5 points behind, finished sixth): His best Chase finish and only top-five was a second at Chicago; his worst a 12th at New Hampshire. But when his 12 bonus points from the regular season are added in, he's neck and neck with Edwards for the points lead. "We have had a lot of goals that we wanted to achieve this year and that was one of the goals we wanted to achieve, to get through these first five races with not too much damage," he said.
3. Matt Kenseth (- 7, finished first): After a 21st-place finish at Chicago, where he ran dry on the last lap and was penalized for getting a push from a fellow driver, he has responded with Chase finishes of sixth, fifth, fourth and now a first. For a time, he was basically under most everyone's radar, but now he's in the spotlight, which isn't particularly important to him. "What's important to me is trying to win races and trying to be competitive and go do the best job we can do every week," he said.
4. Kyle Busch (-18, finished second): The regular season points leader kept his title hopes alive with a run at Charlotte that started at the back of the pack because of an engine change and ended with him battling Kenseth for the win. "We'll take it and if we can finish second from here on out, then we might win this deal," he said.
5. Tony Stewart (-24, finished eighth): The Charlotte pole-sitter was fast when he was in front, but once he got mired in traffic he found it hard to improve his position. He still feels like he can make a run for the title. "We still have half of the Chase races to go," he said. "A lot can happen."
6. Brad Keselowski (-25, finished 16th): After starting 26th, he languished in mid-pack for most of the race at Charlotte before moving up several spots near the end. Still, his three top-five finishes in five Chase races have him within striking distance of the leaders. "I feel like I know what was wrong. I wish could run this race again tomorrow and come back with a little different set-up," he said. "We just didn't catch the right breaks."
7. Kurt Busch (-27, finished 13th): A lackluster run by the Dover winner came a week after another 13th-place finish at Kansas. Add to that a 22nd-place finish at New Hampshire and it begins to look like the winner of the first Chase will have to wait another year to get his second champion's trophy.
8. Jimmie Johnson (-35, finished 34th): In the biggest Chase story of the weekend, the five-time and defending champion slammed the wall on Lap 317 and went from being among the leaders in the standings to the brink of elimination. "Promise you, this team and myself, we won't quit," he said. "We will go for every point we can from here on out and hopefully we are still champions at the end of the year."
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-60, finished 19th): The only Chase driver without a race victory this season had another mid-pack finish and needs a strong run at Talladega, combined with some misfortune for those at the top of the standings, to get back in the race. Much of his trouble can be traced to pit road and to mechanical issues. This time it was a problem with a wheel that put him two laps down at one point. "Not everybody is perfect and we will get that sorted and I am sure they will fight back next week and have a good week," he said.
10. Ryan Newman (-61, finished 10th): His second-best finish in the Chase (the best an eighth at Chicago) is good for team momentum, but he's still a long way from being a title contender. "We needed a solid run to build off of so we'll take it," said crew chief Tony Gibson. "It's a push in the right direction and we'll go to Talladega."
11. Jeff Gordon (-66, finished 21st): Many a NASCAR media member picked the four-time champ to win a fifth this year, but Gordon's finishes in the five Chase races have been uncharacteristically poor. His fourth-place finish at New Hampshire is his only top-10 in the Chase.
12. Denny Hamlin (-86, finished ninth): Last year's points runner-up and eight-time race winner seems destined to be this year's cellar-dweller. His Charlotte finish was his best in the Chase and his first Chase finish among the top 15. He's already focusing on improving his team for next year. "We're just trying to dig through some information right now and try to end on a good note so we have something for 2012," he said.
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