NASCAR's Chase for the Cup Begins

RICHMOND, Va. -- If the Chase for the Championship can live up to the race that launched it, NASCAR will be must-see TV for these last 10 races of the season. So let the games begin.

The 12-driver playoff field wasn't set until the final lap of Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway ending with a storybook scenario complete with heroes and villains, white and black hats, sentimental favorites and potential spoilers.

Mark Martin is in. Kyle Busch is out. Brian Vickers made it. Matt Kenseth did not.

Chevy Rock & Roll 400: Check Race Results | Series Standings

The 50-year old Martin starts the 10-race playoff as perhaps the most unlikely and most popular points leader in recent memory, not clinching his spot in the Chase until his fourth place finish Saturday night. Now as the points reset based on victories, he finds himself leading the championship standings thanks to a series-best four wins.

The other four-race winner, the season's fan-appointed villain Busch, missed making the playoffs by a mere eight points or two finishing positions -- and yet he climbed out of his car Saturday night never more gracious than in this defeat.

Kyle Busch

"We gave a valiant effort,'' Busch said. "Unfortunately it wasn't enough for tonight to get into the Chase, but it's not just tonight or the last week that kept us out. You can look at a whole different scenario or a different slew of things but what it boils down to is we missed it.''

Busch's older brother Kurt, Saturday's runner-up and Chase qualifier, was more sympathetic.

"When I did hear that he didn't make it, I sat down next to my car and thought for a moment what eight points means in this sport,'' Busch said.

"I was fortunate to win the championship by eight points in 2004. ... Eight points for him is tough, but his sun will rise again.

"It's a hard lesson to learn. You don't have to win them all, you have to run consistent. It's just tough not to see the kid make the Chase.''

Ten drivers came into the race vying for the final eight positions. Busch and Vickers exchanged the final 12th-place points position throughout the 400-lap race. It wasn't until the last lap that Vickers secured the spot, ultimately moving from 13th in the standings before the race to replace 12th-place Kenseth, whose fate was seemingly set very early in the night.

Kenseth, the 2003 champion, finished 25th and never contended, suffering from pit road problems and a car that could never make its way through the field after a disappointing qualifying effort.

Vickers meanwhile completed a pass with a lap remaining to give himself a cushion over Busch.

With the championship field set and the points reset, Martin takes the lead from Tony Stewart who had held a comfortable points margin for most of the season.

Now only 40 points separate Martin from 12th place Greg Biffle and the season essentially starts again."It's probably one of the most interesting starts we're going to have. It's really tough to give this to anybody or even pick a favorite.''
-- Jimmie Johnson

"It's probably one of the most interesting starts we're going to have,'' three-time reigning champion Jimmie Johnson said. "It's really tough to give this to anybody or even pick a favorite.''

And that's why the 12-driver lineup of Martin, Stewart, Johnson, Saturday night's race winner Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Vickers, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Biffle will provide one of the most competitive runs for the trophy in seasons.

Much of the hype leading into Saturday night's race centered on whether NASCAR needed the 24-year old Busch to make the playoffs to give the six-year old Chase format credibility and spunk. Nonsense.

In Martin, NASCAR has a 50-year-old that hasn't raced full time in the series for three years now leading the championship. It's got Tony Stewart trying to become the first owner-driver champion since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 -- and the first-year Cup owner has two shots at it, with himself and Newman, who will start 10th in the standings.

Johnson is trying to become the first Cup driver in history to win four consecutive titles. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon is going for a fifth championship and his first since 2005.

Kahne is hoping to help his team owner, NASCAR legend Richard Petty, to his first season title in 30 years.

Montoya, a Columbian native and former IndyCar champ and Formula One driver, is the first foreign driver to ever qualify for the Chase. It puts his team owner Chip Ganassi in championship contention in three major racing series -- NASCAR, IndyCar and the Grand-Am sports car circuit.

NASCAR doesn't need Busch to have compelling plot lines for the championship. It's got plenty of competition. And it's got a sentimental favorite in Martin. And watching the super-talented Busch play spoiler may actually turn out to be as fun.

"I feel like a whole new person, huge weight off my shoulders,'' Martin said. "It's like I said before, to make this thing is the icing and now we get to go race for the cake.

"This is certainly the best year of my career, the most fun.

"Anybody in this Chase can win this Chase. All it takes is the magic ten races and anybody can win.''

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Latest NASCAR Photos

Brian Vickers, right, sprays champagne on Jeff Gordon after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)

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RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota takes the checkered flag winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Denny Hamlin

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RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Confetti flies as drivers celebrate after making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: Drivers celebrate after making the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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RICHMOND, VA - SEPTEMBER 12: (Back row from L-R) Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Aflac Ford, Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford, Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet, (Front row L-R) Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, and Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, pose with the Sprint Cup trophy following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 12, 2009 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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The Sprint Cup Chase drivers pose in front of the trophy after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., Saturday Sept. 11, 2009. The drivers are from left to right top row Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bottom row, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers. (AP Photo/Scott k. Brown)

Chase drivers from left to right, Top row, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bottom row, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers pose after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Chevy Rock & Roll 400 auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va. Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason Hirschfeld)

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