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Chase for Cup to be Junior-less for second time in three years
Kevin Harvick got the luck that Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed last night at Richmond International Raceway.
As a result, Harvick is in the Chase for the Nextel Cup along with Kurt Busch, and Earnhardt is on the outside looking in for the second time in three seasons.
Harvick had plenty of things that could have sidelined him in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. On Lap 242, Busch's car was rear-ended by Juan Pablo Montoya, who said he was pushed into Busch from behind. The ensuing mayhem sent Harvick to the infield grass to try to avoid any damage.
That, in turn, covered his splitter in grass, which limited the air that could get to his engine. His car began to steam as the red flag came out.
Just over eight minutes later, when the race returned to caution, Harvick had to pit to have his splitter cleaned off by three crew members. That dropped him from second to 29th in the race, and left him just 34 points ahead of Earnhardt.
On Lap 257, David Gilliland checked up, which allowed Reed Sorenson to rear-end him. Harvick was behind those two, but again avoided catastrophe to earn his second Chase berth.
Harvick only had to finish 32nd or better to lock out Earnhardt. He finished seventh. Earnhardt was running well until late engine trouble relegated him to a 30th-place finish.
"There were a lot of cars that wrecked and a lot of things that happened," Harvick said. "In my head I kind of knew where we were, and knew we could step it up a notch.
"We haven't had a whole lot go right in the past month, tonight we were on the verge of having a whole lot of things going wrong as well. . . . We had a good enough car not to get mired back in traffic."
Busch sustained mostly cosmetic, but severe-looking, damage to his rear end in the collision with Montoya. He restarted 10th, and was never really in danger to fall out of the Chase.
"It's great to be back and to hear we finished 10th overall, that's a little feather in the cap," Busch said. "We're poised to be a threat in this deal."
First or 10th doesn't matter now. The points are reset. Defending champion and race winner Jimmie Johnson will start the 10-race Chase in first place with 5,060 points after six regular-season victories, including the past two. Hendrick Motorsports teammate and four-time champ Jeff Gordon is second (5,040), and two-time champion is Tony Stewart (5,030). Carl Edwards and Busch will be tied for fourth with 5,020 points. Six drivers are tied with 5,010 points -- Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. Clint Bowyer will start 12th with 5,000 points.
There is a distinctly younger flavor to this Chase. One-fourth of the drivers have fewer than two full seasons of Cup racing under their belts.
Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer are the two drivers making their first appearances, and former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin returns to the fold after finishing third last year.
That was the best finish by a rookie in the modern era of NASCAR.
Truex said he hopes he's up for the challenge.
"This is all our first time in this deal," Truex said. "I'm real excited, looking forward to it. I feel like I have a good team, and hopefully we can put 10 real good weeks together and then when we get to Homestead, be in a position where we can really go for it."
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