Making up ground in Chase difficult with everyone running up front

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - As Tony Stewart pulled away for a 50-yard victory over Jeff Gordon Sunday in the Price Chopper 400 at the Kansas Speedway, the sight of Gordon - and the rest of the teams in the Chase for the Championship - never left his rearview mirror.

It's been difficult for anyone to make significant gains in the playoffs because the Chase teams continue to run up front. All three playoff races have been won by Chase drivers and together, they've combined to fill 24 of 30 top-10 positions.

"The top-12 guys are in the Chase for a reason, they are all great teams and put up good performance," Gordon said. "You know how it is going to be. You are going to be racing those guys for points and for race wins."

Stewart gambled on a two-tire pit stop with 29 laps to go to gain track position while other leaders took two tires. Once Stewart got out front, he used clean air - and the traction that comes with it - he stayed there.

But the rest of the Chasers weren't far behind.

Gordon was second, followed by Greg Biffle in third, Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth, Denny Hamlin in fifth, Kasey Kahne in sixth, points leader Mark Martin in seventh, Jimmie Johnson in eighth, David Reutimann in ninth, Carl Edwards in 10th and Kurt Busch in 11th.

The only driver in the top 11 who wasn't in the Chase was Reutimann.

"When you look at the leader board and see (10) out of the top (11) guys Chase drivers, it makes it really tough to gain spots and earn points," Busch said. "We'll take our notes, learn from them and head to California."

There now are seven drivers within 103 points of each other. Not only were nine top-10 Chase drivers a record, the number of contenders within 103 points also is a playoffs-best.

Montoya is the only driver with a top-five finish in all three Chase races and he's lost ground to the leaders.

"It shows how competitive this Chase is," Stewart said. "Guys that were up front (of the standings) there had average days, and a lot of guys closed on them today. It just shows that you're going to have to be on for 10 weeks to win this thing. And if you have a bad day, there's going to be guys that are going to capitalize on it."

Martin had a 10-point lead over Johnson before the race. While that advantage stretched to 18 points, the number of drivers within 103 points swelled from four to seven. And don't forget Biffle, who's only 114 points back.

"We finished as high as we could," Martin said. "We raced our guts out and that's what you've got to do in all of them and see how they (points) tally up. I extended on the 48 (Johnson) but I didn't on several guys. Look at it however you want.

"What is there, seven more to go? I don't think we should be getting all hyped up about the tally right now, you know. We've got a lot of racing to go. The races are actually what determine it."

Drivers who have trouble know it's going to be difficult to make up ground with so many playoff teams running up front. Kahne blew an engine in the first Chase race and he's bounced back with two top-10 finishes. And yet he's still 190 points behind.

"We're definitely a ways back, but we gained a little today," Kahne said. "It was an all-right day. This is a really good team. They do a great job. Last week, we fought hard and got eighth. This week, we actually had a good car. It's just tough battling all those guys; they run so good. California is another good track for us, a track we're pretty good at. We'll try to be solid top-10 again."

Just like the other drivers in the Chase.