Jimmie Johnson had a bad day yesterday, but he still managed to increase his points lead over Mark Martin, to 118.  Denny Hamlin won the race, and managed to move up in the standings, by two positions, but really, he didn't make any kind of progress on Jimmie.  In fact, no one did.  Even if Jimmie has a disasterous finish this coming weekend at Talladega, and finishes last, no one could really make any kind of a move on his first place standing.

The top five of the race wasn't stuffed with Chasers.  In fact, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray had their best finishes in some time.  JD Gibbs was pleased after the race, with Hamlin in Victory Lane and Kyle in 4th.  Juan Pablo Montoya showed that he deserves to be where he is, in the Chase, by finishing third,

All of the Richard Childress Racing cars finished in the top twenty.  All of the Roush Fords finished in the top 25.  And Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr both had tires blow, sending them into the wall and relegating both to low 20's and laps down.

But this recap is all about the Chasers, so where are they?  Who moved up and who moved down?  Well, the Chase didn't shake up too much, although there were some changes.  Of course, Jimmie Johnson stayed on top, and he gained points on Mark Martin, who also retained his second place in the standings.  And, the good news for Mark is that Jeff Gordon, in third, is a full 150 behind Jimmie and 32 behind him.  It isn't the close race us fans want to see.

Tony Stewart remains in 3rd, at 192 points out of first, and Juan Montoya, moving back up one position after his disaster at Charlotte, is 200 points out of first.  He is the surprise of the Chase for many, but he is proving that he belongs here week after week.  If anyone can give Jimmie Johnson some competition, I honestly believe JPM will be the one.  He may not be the one to challenge this year, but watch out for him next year, for sure.

As we move further down the rankings, most of the positions changed places.  Kurt Busch dropped one position to 240 points out of first, while Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle swapped spots, with Ryan moving up.   Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne also swapped spots, on either side of Carl Edwards, Denny moving up by virtue of his win, while Kasey and his blown tire dropped two. 

Brian Vickers finishes off the top twelve.  Realistically, none of the drivers back of 6th has any hope of a Championship, and it is getting more and more unlikely that anyone out of the top three has even more than a dream. The one exception may be Juan Pablo Montoya, but with no wins so far this season, his dream may be unravelling as well.

Has NASCAR gotten what they wanted when they created the Chase?  First it was ten, or the drivers within 400 points of first place.  Then it was expanded to the top twelve.  The whole idea of the Chase was to reward wins and prevent a Championship without wins.  Unfortunately, this year has done somewhat the opposite, with Kyle Busch missing the Chase.  Then too, Juan Pablo Montoya hasn't won, and yet sits 5th in the points.  If it wasn't for his bad luck at Charlotte, he could very likely be in 3rd.

The sad thing about this kind of a Chase is that fans are losing interest.  Football season is here, and honestly, the races and the Chase standings are not giving the fans the kind of "edge of your seat" action they want to see.  The same cars are up front every weekend, and Jimmie Johnson has all but wrapped up the Championship.  The one exception, and trust me, it is an exception, will be Talladega this coming weekend.

Well maybe.

Talladega is the crap shoot.  It's been seen time and again.  A driver running up front makes a poor move, either by choice or by accident, and we get the "Big One".  Every race seems to have one.  Anyone can get caught up in one, and the drivers hate them.  The fans seem to love the wrecks, and the racing is certainly edge of your seat, if you are sitting at all.  Jimmie Johnson knows this as well as we all do, so his strategy will likely be to stay in the back of the pack, supposedly out of the way of the wrecks, and wait for the end of the race to make his move to the front.  Of the Chasers, Jimmie, Jeff, Tony and Brian Vickers have won here before.  Oh, and so has Mark Martin, but that was back in 1997 Any one of them, or any one of the other 43 drivers on the track could win here.   It isn't a race about skill necessarily, so much as it is about luck and being at the right place at the right time. 

There are four more races to go in the Chase for the 2009 Sprint Cup.  By the end of Sunday, we should know who our Champion will be, maybe not mathematically, but realistically.