The final race of NASCAR's regular season is here.  The 25 races run in 2008 thus far have led us to Richmond for 400 laps, where it's do or die.  As long as Clint Bowyer takes the green flag Saturday night, there are only 2 drivers outside the top 12 who can possibly make it into the Chase.  Who's hot and who's not leading into this weekend's disaster waiting to happen?  Check out this week's power rankings.

NEW THIS WEEK: A.J. Allmendinger & David Reutimann
DROPPED OUT: Kurt Busch & Juan Pablo Montoya
BIGGEST GAIN: Jimmie Johnson & Kasey Kahne
BIGGEST LOSER: Tony Stewart

20. Martin Truex Jr. (-3): Truex needed a great run and some disasters by the drivers in front of him.  That didn't happen, and the good fortune of his closest competitors along with finishing 19th himself was the final blow to Truex.  No Chase for DEI this year.  You can thank your 100-point penalty for that, because you'd...oh wait, nope, that would still leave you 191 points out of 12th.  Sorry Truex, you just stunk it up this year along with the rest of DEI.  What makes your season even worse is the fact Mark Martin has run 8 less races than you and has more top 10 finishes!

19. Ryan Newman (-3): The Rocketman was more like a plain old rock that couldn't move.  The Daytona 500 champion won't finish in the top 10 in points...not even in the top 12.  Congratulations, Newman, that puts you on the same page as Michael Waltrip who finished 15th in points in 2003!  Aren't you proud of yourself?

18. David Reutimann (previously NR): Reutimann wound up with his 2nd top 10 finish of the season, starting 12th, running near the front all night long, and ending the night in 9th.  See what happens when you don't blow up or get caught up in someone else's mess every week?

17. A.J. Allmendinger (previously NR): He continues to impress.  He shocked the hell out of everyone by qualifying on the front row in Fontana, and while the race didn't go as well as he'd hoped, he still managed to stay in the top 15 all night.  I know it sounds like a broken record by now, but compared to not even being able to get the car into the field most of last year, it's a huge improvement.  ATTENTION TEAM RED BULL: You are a bunch of idiots if you don't resign A.J. for 2009!

16. Jamie McMurray (-5): Jamie Mac, did you have too much Crown before the race?  The last 2 weeks you and the rest of the Roushketeers all finished in the top 11.  This week your teammates all finished 13th or better, but you had to go screw it up with a tire rub after only 3 laps and wound up 24th.  I do have to give ya credit though, at least you didn't ride around for 5 laps like Leffler in the Nationwide race.

15. Jeff Burton (-1): Sorry, Jeff.  I know you were roasted for your accomplishments this past weekend and all, but you got roasted on the track too.  At least you're in the Chase, so instead of riding along, go out and try to win some more races damnit!

14. Brian Vickers (+1): Vickers got himself a 12th after starting 19th...not bad.  Unfortunately it wasn't good enough.  He's 190 points out, which eliminates him as long as Bowyer starts on Saturday night.  Give it up for Vickers though.  In his 2nd year with this team he's become a weekly contender.  Look for Team Red Bull to continue to improve heading into 2009, and don't be surprised to see Vickers in victory lane before the end of this year.

13. Kasey Kahne (+6): Kasey had to run well to avoid elimination, and he did.  But after the race, the Allstate girls were almost saying "I'm super sorry about Kyle Busch."  Yeah, Busch nearly wrecked off the final corner, and had he not saved the car, Kasey would've been eliminated from Chase contention because of someone else's mistake, kind of like he got knocked out in Bristol.

12. Jeff Gordon (-1): Gordon had high hopes...and lost a spot in the standings...and now is one step away from being Tony Stewart in 2006.  Remember hos everyone thought Smoke was a "lock?"  Gordon is further ahead of 13th than Smoke was ahead of 11th a couple years ago, but if Gordon has trouble, he better pray someone else below him does too.

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+2): The 88 mustered up an 11th place finish, small victory for Jr. at one of his suckiest tracks.  Fortunately he's in the Chase and everything is right with his world.  Now maybe he can start finishing with top 5s and top 10s like he did at the beginning of the year, otherwise he'll become the laughing stock of the Chase faster than his drunken fans can yell "I hate Shrub!"

10. Tony Stewart (-7): Smoke finished a dismal, and I do mean dismal 22nd in Fontana...thankfully he only needs to finished 35th or better in Richmond to make the Chase.  He was driving the Subway car, anybody think some of Jared's lost weight was bogging the car down?

9. David Ragan (-1): AAA denied David's request to insure him a few extra points after Fontana.  He's not dropping down because he finished all that bad, after all 13th isn't horrible, but unfortunately for David, the 2 drivers in 9th & 10th in last week's rankings finished 1st and 3rd this week...hence the reason Ragan takes a slight tumble.

8. Clint Bowyer (-2): It's hard to drop someone in the rankings when he gets a top 10 finish, but again last week, Johnson, Hamlin, and Biffle were all behind him...yeah, they were the top 3 in California, sorry Clint!

7. Denny Hamlin (+2): Denny, FedEx fans want to know why you didn't win...oh that's right, nobody could race with Johnson and Biffle.

6. Greg Biffle (+1):   Now we know how to catch the class of the field, put some paper on the grille!  With all his bad luck this season, Biffle's 2nd place finish at Fontana got him into the Chase.  All he has to do is take the green flag at Richmond and he's officially locked in.  Can you hear the sigh of relief from the 16 team?

5. Jimmie Johnson (+5): Johnson completely obliterated the field on his home turf.  He was already in Beverly Hills while the other 42 drivers struggled to find their way out of LAX.

4. Matt Kenseth (+1): Kenseth finished 5th after coming all the way up from 37th, talk about your comeback of the week award!  As we've heard many times, this was "a Matt Kenseth race."  Take it easy, work your way up through the field, don't ask about him all night, and BAM, by the end of the night he's in the top 5.

3. Kevin Harvick (+1): Much like Kenseth, Harvick worked his way forward from the drop of the green flag.  However, unlike Kenseth, Happy got to the front in a hurry, and was well into the top 10 by the first round of pit stops.  Thanks to his great run, he's locked into the Chase by starting, just like his "buddy" Biffle...okay so he has to technically finish 42nd or better...he's in.  When's the last time Harvick had a bad day at Richmond?  I looked it up so you didn't have to.  Since Sept. 2004 he hasn't finished worse than 12th...yeah, like I said, he's in.

2. Kyle Busch: Shrub somehow wound up with a 7th place finish.  Can you say lucky horseshoe?  He never led a lap at Fontana, wasn't even in the top 10 for most of the night because the car sucked for his standards, and somehow still drove it home for a decent finish.  When Kyle Busch complains his car is loose, it's LOOSE!  Exhibit A: racing Kasey Kahne coming to the checkered flag

1. Carl Edwards: Cousin Carl had his work cut out for him to win 3 in a row.  He started 26th and picked up 20 positions by the end of the night.  He tried like heck, but he didn't have a rats chance in hell to catch the 16 & 48.  He still keeps his top spot with another solid finish, and he now knows he'll start 2nd, right behind Shrub.  Stay tuned, this is gonna get interesting!

5 drivers are locked in.  2 more are locked in by taking the green flag on Saturday (okay technically just one, and Harvick is 99.99999% locked in.)  We'll say Smoke is pretty much safe as well needing to finish 35th or better.  Sooo, that sets the stage for one crazy night behind Tony Stewart.  6 drivers, 4 spots, 400 laps, and one unforgiving short track...don't miss the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on ABC this Saturday night.

Until then, I'm your NASCAR VP looking forward to some fast-paced short track action under the lights at Richmond!

BK over and out