Atlanta race becomes moving day for Chase contenders

HAMPTON, Ga. - As Greg Biffle hustled to the adjoining airport near the Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night, he took enough time to send a text message that read: "What a comeback!"

There was a reason Biffle was happy with a 10th-place finish after the Pep Boys Auto 500. A rally in the final 50 laps kept him from finishing out of the top 20 - and it may have saved his chances to qualify for the upcoming Chase for the Championship.

Sunday's race, the second-to-last chance to qualify for the 12-driver playoffs, proved to be moving day for a lot of contenders. Biffle, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin helped their chances. Kyle Busch (who finished 13th) and Clint Bowyer (29th) struggled, putting their Chase hopes in peril.

Kahne did the best to help himself by winning the race. He beat Kevin Harvick in a double-file restart with 11 laps to go, then ran away to a 40-yard win to give Richard Petty Motorsports its second victory of the year.

Kahne came to Atlanta ranked 11th in the standings. Now he's fifth heading to Saturday night's Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at the Richmond International Raceway. Instead of agonizing for 400 laps on Saturday to be one of the top 12 drivers, he only needs to finish 21st or better to lock his spot in the playoffs.

"It has been a while where the points have been so close from sixth to 14th, 15th, 16th, so yeah. We were able to move up tonight with is pretty awesome," Kahne said.

Kahne's pass was the last of 31 lead changes. Atlanta attracted about 115,000 fans and sold out all of its camping spots with its new spot in the schedule, which also included a nighttime start.

Of the 13 different leaders, 10 are involved in the race to make the Chase.

Vickers goes to Richmond ranked 13th, but he's only 20 points behind Kenseth for the final qualifying spot. When he broke a rear-left axle with 76 laps to go, any hope seemed to vanish.

But his Red Bull Racing team replaced the axle and kept him on the lead lap. From there, he drove to a seventh-place finish.

"I'm so proud of the guys tonight," Vickers said. "Nobody gave up. It's going to be a battle to the end, I'm sure. It's going to be wild. I'm looking forward to it.

"Nights like tonight, that's the reason we're in contention."

Kenseth and Biffle also made remarkable recoveries. Kenseth hit the wall early in the race and was 31st, one lap down. Biffle struggled with his car all night and spent the first 450 miles running outside the top 20.

Both managed top-12 finishes to keep their playoff hopes alive.

"We dodged a bullet tonight," Biffle said.

Biffle will make the playoffs if he finishes no worse than 13th on Saturday night.

Kenseth finished 12th. He needs to finish second or better at Richmond to lock up his spot in the Chase.

"Well, it probably would have been 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," Kenseth said. "I just want to run good and be back up front where we belong. We have a championship-caliber team as far as personnel."

Harvick settled for second, while Montoya was third after bouncing off the wall with 100 laps to go. Harvick already has been eliminated from playoff contention, but Montoya moved up one spot to eighth in the standings. If he finishes 18th or better at Richmond, the former Indianapolis 500 and Indy-car champion will qualify for his first stock car playoffs.

"It doesn't change my approach, but it just makes life easier," Montoya said. "I think today was big."

David Reutimann was fourth at Atlanta, followed by Martin in fifth, Denny Hamlin in sixth, Vickers in seventh, Jeff Gordon in eighth and Newman in ninth. Hamlin's finish clinched his spot in the Chase, where he joins Tony Stewart, Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.