Carl Edwards took over the championship points lead away from 2-Time Champ Jimmie Johnson as Jimmie had a vicious crash near the end of the race. Carl’s teammate Matt Kenseth won the race and took the bonus points along with it to try and climb back into the championship battle with just five races left to go in the season. The standings now look like this:
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[/media-credit]1.Carl Edwards LEADER
2.Kyle Busch – 15 (Finished 2nd to Kenseth. Led most laps. Earned extra point. Talladega will be make it or break it for Kyle.)
3.Jimmie Johnson – 25 (Still has chance to get #3, but will have to wait until after Talladega to see for sure.)
3.Kevin Harvick – 25 (Sixth Place Finish has him tied for third with Johnson.)
5.Matt Kenseth – 32 (Win helps his cause, but maybe out of contention.)
6.Kurt Busch – 76 (Another ho-hum finish dampens championship hopes.)
7.Jeff Gordon – 78 (Started to come on late, but was involved in a spin when David Ragan tried making it three wide into one. Kahne was also involved, but they still finished well. Gordon finished 21st and it looks like the Drive for 7 will have to wait until 2012.)
8.Tony Stewart – 111 (Too little too late for the Two-Time Champion.)
9.Ryan Newman – 117 (One win won’t get you a title.)
10.Brad Keselowski – 140 (Under the lottery system, you have a shot at the title, but you need to be consistent all year not just in the middle of the season to be a contender, but big rebound from 2010! I will give you that!)
11.Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 154 (Well a big rebound this season for Jr. compared to 09-10, but the crew can’t seem to put their nuts in place and Jr. has little or no confidence in himself. That alone will destroy a championship run.)
12.Clint Bowyer – 210 (The departing Bowyer is the only bright spot on RCR besides Harvick.)
Who is missing? Denny Hamlin.
