Following Sunday night’s Pep Boys Auto 500, the Race for the Chase is as tight as ever and with one race to go before the 12-man field is set there is no telling what can happen next week in Richmond. With all the action Sunday night, nine of the top-14 positions in the standings exchanged hands.

Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was strong early, leading twice for 17 laps, but a broken rear axle sent the No. 48 behind the wall for repairs on two occasions, allowing teammate Jeff Gordon to move into second heading to Richmond. While these two swapping positions does not amount to much since they are already locked into place, the other movement in the standings tightened things up significantly heading to the all-important Richmond race next weekend.

One race to go and ten drivers are vying for eight spots to make the Chase. Few will be able sleep easy this week as only the top four drivers in the standings are locked in. However, before we look forward to next week, let’s see how these drivers fared in Atlanta.

Roush Fenway Racing struggled mightily during Sunday night’s 500-mile race. Carl Edwards climbed behind the wheel with a broken foot, but it was a hole in the oil pan that wound up ruining the No. 99 team’s night. Finishing 37th, twenty-three laps down, Edwards did not lose any spots in the standings, but did lose significant ground. Add that to Kahne’s win and Edwards is only 85 points ahead of teammate Matt Kenseth in 12th.

While Edwards’ night was bad, Kenseth’s appeared to be a crushing blow to his Chase hopes. Fighting an ill-handling car early in the going, Kenseth tagged the wall and tore up the right rear quarter panel. Going a lap down on Lap 35, Kenseth caught a break when the first caution flew the very next lap. Getting the free pass, the No. 17 team went to work repairing the damage and adjusting on the car. Refusing to give up and knowing what was on the line, the former champion went to work making up for his mistake.

Using a bit of strategy, Kenseth stayed out and led during the third caution of the day on Lap 85, giving him five bonus points. From there the crew kept adjusting and Kenseth kept moving his way through the field. After green flag pit stops cycled through on Lap 191, Kenseth was ninth on the board and looking for more. When the checkered flag flew, the No. 17 had slipped back to 12th, but considering the adversity they overcame, this team proved how bad they want to make this Chase.

"Well, it probably would have been (a great comeback) if we would have finished fifth or sixth or seventh, but at the end there we just couldn't go anywhere on restarts because we had something in the car wrong,” a disappointed Kenseth said after the race. “The splitter would drag so hard that there was no possible way you could turn.  I lost five, six or seven spots on that restart, so it's pretty frustrating."

Kenseth and the No. 17 team leave Atlanta right where they were before, on the bubble in 12th. The only problem is this time the margin to Brian Vickers in 13th is only 20 points. While Vickers was able to move past Kyle Busch into 13th and gained ground on Kenseth, his night was not without its drama as well.

A consistent top-10 car, the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota spent much of the evening battling with rival Kyle Busch and using the high line to move towards the front. Coming into the pits in sixth under the eighth caution of the night, Vickers’ broke a rear axle as the team dropped the car off the jack – ironically, the same stop Johnson had his issues. Incredibly, the team was able to make the repair on pit road and sent their driver back on the track on the lead lap, saving their chances at making the Chase. With Busch’s car fading in the closing laps, Vickers was able to climb his way back to the seventh-spot when the checkered flag flew.

“We were running second and our night turned sour on us there on a pit stop,” Vickers explained. “We had a left-rear axle break. Don’t really know why yet. The guys did a tremendous job getting that fixed. To be able to change an axle and not go a lap down and come all the way back to finish seventh. We passed a couple of the guys we’re racing for the ‘Chase,’ which is most important – I guess we’re 20 points out now. (I am) disappointed that we had that failure because we had a really good car. We probably could’ve been competing for a win. I’m so proud of the guys tonight. Nobody gave up. Ryan stayed on top of the calls as far as the handling of the car. The guys did a great job on the stops and getting the axle fixed and salvaged a top-10.”

Despite leading three times for a total of 24 laps, Kyle Busch’s frustrations got the best of him Sunday night. Fighting tough conditions and an ill-handling car, Rowdy’s temper came out as his confidence gave way. The No. 18 Pedigree Toyota would be strong one run and then fade the next. Inconsistent runs left the driver that entered the day 13th in points upset with his car, his crew and himself. 

“It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to -- everybody saw that,” Busch stated. “The start of the race there, the car was pretty decent. The track temps came down, we made adjustments and you saw it all across the board with the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) car. He was up there with us leading the race and then they went backwards. It was that way for a lot of people. The 9 (Kasey Kahne) car was real good all night long. The 29 (Kevin Harvick) hit on something and they were fast. We fought the set-up all night long. We need to go back and reevaluate where we were. Everybody worked hard at Joe Gibbs Racing these past couple weeks -- with the weekend off and everything -- and we came here with what we thought was a good car. We just battled it.”

Coming home in the 13th-spot, Busch lost one position to Vickers in the standings and is now 37 points out of 12th. Heading to Richmond this weekend, Busch’s goal is simple and clear – win.

“We got to go there and win and let the chips fall where they may,” Busch explained. “We’ve been working hard -- nothing we can do now. We can’t control what everybody else does we can only control what we do. We need to go to Richmond and win the race.”

Greg Biffle fell the furthest in the standings following Sunday night’s event. Down a lap at one point, Biffle and his No. 16 crew fought hard and was able to get the free pass to get back on the lead lap. While he was able to make it to tenth at the end of the night, it was not enough considering Kasey Kahne’s win and Juan Pablo Motonya’s third-place finish. Biffle dropped three spots to 11th and is 48 points ahead of Kenseth.

One race to go to determine it all, who’s in and who’s out? Only 112 points separate Carl Edwards in fifth and Kyle Busch in 14th. Headed to the short track where fenders rub and tempers are known to flare, anything can and probably will happen. One thing is for sure, next weekend’s race will be one you will not want to miss.

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