Richmond, Va. – Let’s cut to the Chase.
Defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart won’t win his third championship, and Kasey Kahne – this year’s winningest driver who was in jeopardy of missing the third edition of the Chase for the Nextel Cup – will have a chance to win his first title.
The participants of NASCAR’s third-year playoffs were determined Saturday night after the regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway, where Kevin Harvick overtook Kyle Busch on the second-to-last lap to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
Making up for Stewart’s absence in the Chase are four-time champion Jeff Gordon and megastar Dale Earnhardt Jr. The sport’s two most popular drivers locked in two of 10 playoffs spots after failing to qualify for the postseason field last year.
Kahne clinch a spot by finishing third Saturday, good enough to kick Stewart out of the season’s top 10 and take some of the spotlight away from Harvick, who also won Friday’s Busch Series race. Stewart finished 18th, dropping from eighth to 11th in the season standings.
Kahne went from 11th to 10th and completes a 10-man playoff field, with each driver separated from the next by just five points to begin the final 10-race stretch.
In a pre-Chase year, Kahne would be trailing leader Matt Kenseth by 466 points. But now he is just 45 points behind.
“I just wanted to pass cars, get up front as soon as possible and lead a lap,” said Kahne, who leads the series with five victories. “We had one run where we were really fast, and we led a lap there (to gain five bonus points).
“We had to run up front to make the Chase, and with about 15 (laps) to go I knew I wasn’t going to get second. At that point it was all about just bringing it home. I just kind of raced my race, and when it was over I was told we were in.”
The temperamental Stewart, who started 40th in a backup car after wrecking his primary car in a practice accident on Friday, took his bad news in stride.
“It takes 26 weeks to get to this point,” he said after climbing out of his car. “We just missed tonight. We couldn’t get it to turn in the center. All we did was make it loose on the exit. I’m still proud of our Home Depot team. …We still have 10 more races to try to go out and win.”
Harvick probably found reason to celebrate more than Kahne. Harvick, who started fifth and clinched a Chase spot early in the race, had more to lose than gain by running down Busch at the end.
Harvick had no chance of climbing from third to second in the standings, but said he was focused on winning the race.
“I’d rather flip over and run 10th in the Chase than give up a chance to win a race,” he said. “They are too hard to come by. Everything is secondary at that point.”
Busch seemed destined to win, leading five times for 248 of the 400 laps and running about five car-lengths ahead of Harvick down the stretch.
“Our car was so awesome, we should have won that race,” Busch said. “Overall, it was pretty much a dominant car but not quite enough there at the end.”
Johnson, who led four laps early, was one of two drivers to begin the night with Chase spots locked up. He remains second in the standings and begins the Chase five points behind Kenseth.
