NASCAR Cup Series

All attention was on Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon, the two drivers who would finish 12th (yes, I said 12th) in the standings that lead to NASCAR’s playoff, The Chase. It was an amazing turn of events and Gordon deserves most of the credit, but there were 41 other drivers out there and one (Bowyer) was making a statement for Michael Waltrip Racing that was just as amazing.

Richard Childress Racing teammates finished sixth (Jeff Burton), 10th (Kevin Harvick) and 23rd (Paul Menard). Harvick enters the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup seeded ninth, trailing point leader Denny Hamlin by 12 points. Menard ranks 17th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship standings, while Burton ranks 19th. Burton gained five positions over the final 40 laps, ranking him fourth in the NASCAR Loop Data statistic category of Closers.

The four-time champion is gearing up for another run at the championship. His fight for the championship this year will be very difficult. Gordon made the Chase as a wild card. Wild card drivers don’t get to use their victories as bonus points coming into the Chase.

Jeff Gordon drove the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet to a second place finish on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway and placed himself into the chase for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

With a second place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, earned a spot in the coveted 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Quaker State Chevrolet, likewise clinched a slot in the Chase with his 12th place race finish at Richmond.

Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 11th “As soon as we got started there after the rain we were a little bit free and then we just way tightened up and couldn’t do what we needed to do. Just didn’t have the long-run speed that we did early on. It’s unfortunate."

Joey Logano qualified his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota eighth for Saturday evening’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Richmond International Raceway.

Regan Smith finished 24th in Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400 Sprint Cup race, which had two major rain delays at Richmond International Raceway.

Camry driver Clint Bowyer earned his second victory of the season in Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Richmond International Raceway. With his victory, Bowyer secured the sixth seed for the 10-race 'Chase for the Sprint Cup' championship playoff with 2,006 points

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 QUAKER STATE CHEVROLET - FINISHED 12TH - 11TH SEED IN THE CHASE: ON HIS RACE AND HEADING INTO THE CHASE: "I feel really good. We had a great race car; really good team. We had awesome pit stops tonight. It's been getting stronger throughout the year. We had a small hiccup last week. But, other than that, we've been really strong for a while now. Looking forward to the Chase. Glad we made it. Jeff (Gordon) made there. Four Hendrick cars. Four Chevrolets. I'm just really excited to be part of it."