Standings and Chase Bubble Headed Into Richmond

Well, this is it. The last chance for a few folk to get their behinds in gear and get into the chase.

At least they'll be able to say they were in the chase, behind Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards!

With that said, take a look at the spread of points around 12th spot. No one from 6th on back can make any mistakes this weekend if they want to keep their spot where they're at.

Where as those guys in 13th and 14th need, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne both need to win the race and let luck lay where it may. As they say, do the Jeremy Mayfield.

The most obvious question: Can Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin keep it together to stay in the chase, for what it's worth?

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	Bubble Spread
1	--	Kyle Busch	3755	Leader	766
2	--	Carl Edwards	3547	-208	558
3	1	Jimmie Johnson	3386	-369	397
4	-1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	3323	-432	334
5	--	Jeff Burton	3234	-521	245
6	1	Greg Biffle	3159	-596	170
7	1	Kevin Harvick	3132	-623	143
8	-2	Tony Stewart	3110	-645	121
9	1	Matt Kenseth	3081	-674	92
10	-1	Jeff Gordon	3074	-681	85
11	--	Denny Hamlin	3065	-690	76
12	--	Clint Bowyer	2989	-766	0
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP THRESHOLD & BUBBLE
13	--	David Ragan	2972	-783	-17
14	--	Kasey Kahne	2941	-814	-48
15	1	Brian Vickers	2799	-956	-190
16	-1	Ryan Newman	2789	-966	-200
17	--	Martin Truex Jr.	2698	-1057	-291
18	--	Jamie McMurray	2583	-1172	-406
19	--	Kurt Busch	2488	-1267	-501
20	--	Elliott Sadler	2425	-1330	-564

Bubble Spot Headed Into Fontana

And this is how things are shaping up for the Chase Bubble.

6th through 14th are all looking at each other through the glass maze walls, wondering who's gonna git to the spot first!!

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	AWAY FROM BUBBLE
1	--	Kyle Busch	3609	754
2	--	Carl Edwards	3397	542
3	1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	3193	338
4	-1	Jimmie Johnson	3191	336
5	--	Jeff Burton	3117	262
6	--	Tony Stewart	3013	158
7	--	Greg Biffle	2984	129
8	--	Kevin Harvick	2972	117
9	--	Jeff Gordon	2951	96
10	--	Matt Kenseth	2921	66
11	1	Denny Hamlin	2900	45
12	1	Clint Bowyer	2855	0
		CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP - CURRENT CONTENDERS
13	1	David Ragan	2843	-12
14	-3	Kasey Kahne	2799	-56
15	2	Ryan Newman	2674	-181
16	-1	Brian Vickers	2672	-183
17	-1	Martin Truex Jr.	2592	-263
18	--	Jamie McMurray	2492	-363
19	--	Kurt Busch	2442	-413
20	--	Elliott Sadler	2364	-491

Drivers Standings -Cup Bubble Going Into Michigan

Have you noticed that NASCAR.com isn't putting the 'Out of Contention' line in their standings anymore? Must have been too negative on the outsiders looking in.

Here's my table of what's up with the bubble to get into the Chase for the Cup contention.

Watkins Glen had it's affect on folks.

Tony is pulling away from the bubble spot, while Biffle and Kahne are creeping towards it. The big "race" to watch, Kenseth and Bowyer: 22 points apart, with Kenseth 'in' the chase and Bowyer snapping at his heels like an angry, hungry dog... Nah, Bowyer doesn't give me that feel... He's patiently trying to perform consistently to overtake Kenseth. OK, that's better.

Check out Hamlin and Biffle, all tied up.

Without any more banter, here's the numbers, as they look today:

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	CUP BUBBLE
1	--	Kyle Busch	3254	Leader	626
2	1	Carl Edwards	3012	-242	384
3	1	Jimmie Johnson	3010	-244	382
4	-2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2985	-269	357
5	--	Jeff Burton	2945	-309	317
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2754	-500	126
7	2	Tony Stewart	2744	-510	116
8	-1	Kasey Kahne	2713	-541	85
9	1	Denny Hamlin	2689	-565	61
10	-2	Greg Biffle	2689	-565	61
11	--	Kevin Harvick	2670	-584	42
12	1	Matt Kenseth	2628	-626	0
SPRINT CUP BUBBLE BUMP
13	-1	Clint Bowyer	2606	-648	-22
14	--	David Ragan	2539	-715	-89
15	--	Ryan Newman	2424	-830	-204
16	1	Martin Truex Jr.	2419	-835	-209
17	-1	Brian Vickers	2418	-836	-210
18	--	Kurt Busch	2269	-985	-359
19	--	Jamie McMurray	2231	-1023	-397
20	1	Elliott Sadler	2159	-1095	-469
21	-1	Bobby Labonte	2121	-1133	-507

Driver Standings After Pocono: The Chase Bubble

We've got 4 races left to "The Chase".

I think Kyle Busch can take it easy and even though Jr is looking good, he needs to stay up on the wheel for a little bit longer.

Cousin Carl moved up two spots to third and it's a crazy Chase Bubble (Am I the only one using that term? Did I actually coin a term? Hotdog! If I did.) around the 12th spot as positions 7th through 14th are all within striking distance of each other or a 126 point spread!

I'm not sure I can even predict who is going to fall out of or into the top twelve in as much as it will more than likely be bad luck that dictates this outcome.

We just have to keep watching to see what happens and maybe a little later on, I might take a guess at who will be in and who will be out.

After the

Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 | Pocono Raceway | Race 21 of 36
RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	AROUND
1	--	Kyle Busch	3059	Leader	BUBBLE
2	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2883	-176	371
3	2	Carl Edwards	2874	-185	362
4	--	Jimmie Johnson	2859	-200	347
5	-2	Jeff Burton	2833	-226	321
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2678	-381	166
7	2	Kasey Kahne	2592	-467	80
8	-1	Greg Biffle	2589	-470	77
9	1	Tony Stewart	2569	-490	57
10	-2	Denny Hamlin	2547	-512	35
11	2	Kevin Harvick	2520	-539	8
12	--	Clint Bowyer	2512	-547	0
		CHASE FOR CUP
13	-2	Matt Kenseth	2501	-558	-11
14	--	David Ragan	2466	-593	-46
15	1	Ryan Newman	2339	-720	-173
16	-1	Brian Vickers	2309	-750	-203
17	--	Martin Truex Jr.	2264	-795	-248
18	--	Kurt Busch	2135	-924	-377
19	1	Jamie McMurray	2116	-943	-396

The Cup Bubble Update Headed to Pocono

Well, this kind of says it all as it stands....

The bubble keeps seeing drivers flit around it, depending on the performance and on-track incidents that they get caught up in...

While Kyle Busch leads the front 5 with a 253 point lead, he can relax headed into the Chase... When the Chase starts is when we see how cool and level headed he can remain!

For now, it seems like it might be his to lose, but we're headed into race 21 of 36, so we still have time for that to change.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2,544	182
7	--	Greg Biffle	2,460	98
8	4	Denny Hamlin	2,453	91
9	2	Kasey Kahne	2,441	79
10	--	Tony Stewart	2,399	37
11	-3	Matt Kenseth	2,366	4
12	1	Clint Bowyer	2,362	0
		CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP BUBBLE
13	-4	Kevin Harvick	2,360	-2
14	1	David Ragan	2,306	-56
15	-1	Brian Vickers	2,230	-132
16	--	Ryan Newman	2,218	-144
17	--	Martin Truex Jr.	2,146	-216

Driver Standings After the LifeLock.com 400

These are preliminary stats until it becomes official:

The top 6 spots stayed put, with Kyle Busch extending his lead over 2nd place driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. to 262 points.

Greg Biffle moved up 4 spots with his 4th place finish to 7th, now 35 points in front of the Cup Bubble.

Denny Hamlin dropped to 12th after his 40th place finish from mechanical difficulties.

Clint Bowyer dropped 3 spots to 13th, outside the top 12 by 27 points from his 22nd place finish.

The contention for the Cup is closing in on the drivers and there's only a 155 point difference between 7th and 13th places. There's only 7 races to go until the chase erupts on us.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	+/- Bubble
1	--	Kyle Busch	2881	Leader	598
2	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2619	-262	336
3	--	Jeff Burton	2590	-291	307
4	--	Carl Edwards	2509	-372	226
5	--	Jimmie Johnson	2494	-387	211
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2384	-497	101
7	4	Greg Biffle	2318	-563	35
8	1	Matt Kenseth	2317	-564	34
9	4	Kevin Harvick	2308	-573	25
10	2	Tony Stewart	2305	-576	22
11	-3	Kasey Kahne	2295	-586	12
12	-5	Denny Hamlin	2283	-598	0
		CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP BUBBLE
13	-3	Clint Bowyer	2256	-625	-27
14	1	Brian Vickers	2188	-693	-95
15	-1	David Ragan	2185	-696	-98

Complete Driver Standings
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The Chase Bubble - After New Hampshire

Who'd a thunk that New Hampshire would affect the points as much as it did?

After NH, Biffle, Kahne, Bowyer and Kenseth all dropped a spot, but the impact is more on Kenseth since he slid out of the top 12. The saving grace with that is that he is only 15 points out of the Chase Bubble.

Everyone from Biffle (8th) on back needs to stay on their toes, as Tony did by pulling off the finish he did. It wasn't a win, but it was good enough to help push him away from that dark looming lump of the bubble.

The big chargers in the standings were Martin Truex Jr., and Kurt Busch. Truex moved up 3 spots and is only 71 points from the bubble while Kurt moved up 4 spots to 18th, but unless he can start plugging top 5's, that 222 point deficit is looking pretty big from his spot right now.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	Bubble Pts
1	--	Kyle Busch	2496	Leader	480
2	--	Jeff Burton	2432	-64	416
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2352	-144	336
4	--	Carl Edwards	2262	-234	246
5	--	Jimmie Johnson	2220	-276	204
6	--	Jeff Gordon	2171	-325	155
7	1	Denny Hamlin	2150	-346	134
8	-1	Greg Biffle	2119	-377	103
9	2	Tony Stewart	2042	-454	26
10	-1	Kasey Kahne	2031	-465	15
11	-1	Clint Bowyer	2021	-475	5
12	1	Kevin Harvick	2016	-480	0
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP BUBBLE
13	-1	Matt Kenseth	2001	-495	-15
14	3	Martin Truex Jr.	1945	-551	-71
15	1	Ryan Newman	1905	-591	-111
16	-1	Brian Vickers	1903	-593	-113
17	-3	David Ragan	1888	-608	-128
18	4	Kurt Busch	1794	-702	-222
19	-1	Travis Kvapil	1731	-765	-285

Driver Standings and Chase Bubble after Sonoma

Looking at the standings after Sonoma, sometimes you expect big change, and there was some change as the top 12 was invaded by Matt Kenseth busting over the Chase Bubble into 12th, bumping out Kevin Harvick.

Don't count out Kevin yet because he is only 2 points behind 12th, in 13th. David Ragan is 47 points off the bubble.

The biggest mover in the top 12 was Jeff Gordon, leaping over three spots to 6th with his 3rd place finish last weekend.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2408	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2305	-103
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2256	-152
4	--	Carl Edwards	2150	-258
5	--	Jimmie Johnson	2082	-326
6	3	Jeff Gordon	2041	-367
7	1	Greg Biffle	2019	-389
8	-2	Denny Hamlin	2008	-400
9	-2	Kasey Kahne	1958	-450
10	2	Clint Bowyer	1924	-484
11	--	Tony Stewart	1908	-500
12	2	Matt Kenseth	1892	-516
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP BUBBLE
13	-3	Kevin Harvick	1890	2
14	-1	David Ragan	1845	47

Drivers Standings After Pocono 6-11-08

Pocono saw a big move in the points with Denny Hamlin moving up 4 spots to 5th while the biggest drop in the top 12 was Clint Blowyer, falling three spots to 11th!

Meanwhile, David Ragan quietly sits outside of 12th by 7 points, waiting for someone to stumble. Ryan Newman is just three points behind him, also stalking that spot for now.

12th is our new bubble spot excitement zone!!

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2084	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2063	-21
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1939	-145
4	--	Carl Edwards	1856	-228
5	4	Denny Hamlin	1800	-284
6	1	Jimmie Johnson	1799	-285
7	-2	Greg Biffle	1781	-303
8	-2	Jeff Gordon	1767	-317
9	3	Kasey Kahne	1719	-365
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1690	-394
11	-3	Clint Bowyer	1679	-405
12	-1	Tony Stewart	1614	-470

Here's the Chase Bubble Spot Look:

8	-2	Jeff Gordon	1767	153
9	3	Kasey Kahne	1719	105
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1690	76
11	-3	Clint Bowyer	1679	65
12	-1	Tony Stewart	1614	0
13	--	David Ragan	1607	-7
14	--	Ryan Newman	1604	-10
15	1	Matt Kenseth	1580	-34
16	-1	Martin Truex Jr.	1558	-56
17	2	Brian Vickers	1502	-112