We're down to the last race before the Chase, and what's been resolved? Absolutely nothing! (Well, except that Junior is out. Sorry, Junior Nation.) Anyway, let's take a look at where things stand right now.
Standings: Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon (+1), Jimmie Johnson (-1), Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne (+5), Kurt Busch (-1), Juan Pablo Montoya (+1), Ryan Newman (-2), Mark Martin, Greg Biffle (-3), Matt Kenseth.
Who's up: Kahne, Kahne, Kahne! Winning a race in a tight chase for the Chase does wonders for your rankings, as Kasey demonstrated on Sunday. His victory in Atlanta boosted him up five spots. Also worth noting: Denny Hamlin locked himself into the Chase, the fourth driver to do so, with a solid performance this week.
Who's down: Bad news for Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle, who slid two and three spots, respectively. Both have run reliably well all season, but neither has exactly lit the sky on fire, and both are now in serious danger of missing the Chase. Kurt Busch has slowly slid from fourth to seventh, but should be able to hang on through Richmond.
On the bubble: Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth held serve, and Kenseth in particular looked sharp in rebounding from a poor early race to keep himself in the Chase. Just below the cut line, Brian Vickers vaulted over Kyle Busch and now sits just 20 points outside the Chase.
Outlook: Nobody's been stronger than Vickers over the last couple months, and Richmond could set up well for him to push his way into the Chase. The weakest Chasers right now appear to be Newman and Biffle, but all it takes is one unfortunate wreck at the wrong time to derail anybody's hopes, from Edwards on down. Going to be quite the race on Saturday night, eh?
Your turn. Which drivers do you expect to make the Chase, and who's going to be crying in their CoTs come Richmond?
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