Kenseth secures place in Chase

Kenseth was on a different pit strategy to the majority of the field before he got a lucky break, when a caution was called on lap 160 of the 200-lap encounter, just two laps shy of when he would have had to make a green flag pitstop.

When the field went back to racing again, he passed Clint Bowyer for the lead, and pulled away to take a comfortable victory.

Jeff Gordon began to chase him down as the laps wound down, but he didn't have enough pace to put himself in contention for the victory.

The situation mirrored last month's Chicagoland race, where Gordon caught Kenseth, before the pair collided, Kenseth spun out and Gordon took the win.

"I was hoping he wasn't going to catch me again," Kenseth joked afterwards. "I was having flashbacks!

"I just didn't want to use up my front tyres, so I decided to go slow at the start of the run to save my tyres.

"I knew everybody had to pit one more time. I gave Robbie [Reiser, crew chief] so much crap because of our pit strategy after Watkins Glen. I'm glad he got it right today."

Gordon was content with second, a result that moved him up three spots in the points standing to sixth.

"We needed this day," Gordon said. "It was a great fight. We made some great adjustments - I couldn't be more proud of everyone.

"I would have liked to have caught Matt - to show everyone I can pass him cleanly! But congratulations to him, he did a great job."

Tony Stewart also had a strong points day with third from 33rd on the grid, moving him up two positions up to fifth in the current standings.

"We did an awesome job today," Stewart said. "We had a tight car at the beginning and battled our way through. The pitstops separated a bunch of people, so we didn't have to pass all those cars."

Kasey Kahne, who won at the same track back in June, finished a strong fourth, however it wasn't enough to put him back in the top ten provisional Chase spots.

Mark Martin moved up two spots in the standings with fifth place, just beating yesterday's Busch series race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr, by just over one hundredth of a second.

Some Chase contenders had a poor day, however. Kyle Busch retired after a tyre puncture, and he collided with the wall on lap 41, and pole-sitter Jeff Burton parked up with engine problems on lap 26.

Kurt Busch all but eliminated himself from Chase contention with a crash 73 laps from the end.

Like Kenseth, championship leader Jimmie Johnson secured his place in the Chase with his result. He finished 13th, having recovered from a first lap crash where he slid wide and into the wall on his own.

Pos  Driver               Make        Laps
 1.  Matt Kenseth         Ford        200
 2.  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet   200
 3.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet   200
 4.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge       200
 5.  Mark Martin          Ford        200
 6.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet   200
 7.  Greg Biffle          Ford        200
 8.  Reed Sorenson        Dodge       200
 9.  Denny Hamlin         Chevrolet   200
10.  Elliott Sadler       Dodge       200
11.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet   200
12.  Robby Gordon         Chevrolet   200
13.  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet   200
14.  Scott Riggs          Dodge       200
15.  Brian Vickers        Chevrolet   200
16.  Casey Mears          Dodge       200
17.  Jamie McMurray       Ford        200
18.  Ken Schrader         Ford        200
19.  Bobby Labonte        Dodge       200
20.  Paul Menard          Chevrolet   200
21.  Travis Kvapil        Chevrolet   200
22.  Carl Edwards         Ford        200
23.  Michael Waltrip      Dodge       200
24.  Dave Blaney          Dodge       200
25.  Ryan Newman          Dodge       200
26.  Joe Nemechek         Chevrolet   200
27.  Jeff Green           Chevrolet   200
28.  David Stremme        Dodge       200
29.  Sterling Marlin      Chevrolet   199
30.  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet   199
31.  Kyle Petty           Dodge       199
32.  Tony Raines          Chevrolet   199
33.  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet   197
34.  Derrike Cope         Dodge       197
35.  Hermie Sadler        Ford        197
36.  Dale Jarrett         Ford        166
37.  J.J. Yeley           Chevrolet   158
38.  David Gilliland      Ford        145
39.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet   132
40.  Kurt Busch           Dodge       127
41.  Kevin Lepage         Dodge       103
42.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet    18
43.  Todd Kluever         Ford         10

CURRENT POINTS STANDING

Secure position for the Chase:
------------------------------
 1.  Jimmie Johnson       3365
 2.  Matt Kenseth         3307 -  58

Current Chase contenders:
-------------------------
 3.  Kevin Harvick        3048 - 317
 4.  Mark Martin          2970 - 395
 5.  Tony Stewart         2959 - 406
 6.  Jeff Gordon          2931 - 434
 7.  Kyle Busch           2922 - 443
 8.  Denny Hamlin         2920 - 445
 9.  Jeff Burton          2916 - 449
10.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   2881 - 484

Still with a chance for the Chase:
----------------------------------
11.  Kasey Kahne          2832 - 533
12.  Greg Biffle          2692 - 673
13.  Carl Edwards         2637 - 728
14.  Kurt Busch           2602 - 763
15.  Brian Vickers        2484 - 881
16.  Jamie McMurray       2455 - 910
17.  Casey Mears          2452 - 913
18.  Ryan Newman          2444 - 921
19.  Clint Bowyer         2414 - 951