Chase for the Championship

The first 26 races determine which drivers, based on overall points, will compete for the Nextel Cup championship during the final 10 races. All drivers in the top 10 in points and any other drivers within 400 points of the leader qualify.

Before Race 27, the points are adjusted for all drivers who qualified for the Chase. The first-place driver in the standings begins with 5,050 points; the second-place driver starts with 5,045, and so on, with five-point drops continuing through the list of title contenders. If at the end of the final 10 races there is a tie, the first tiebreaker is number of wins, then number of second-place finishes, then number of thirds, etc.

(Standings under the traditional points system)

Official Standings (after Chase Race 4)
Championship contenders
		Jimmie Johnson Points: 5,718 Points behind first: -- Last race: Ninth at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 10th, 14th, 39th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 9.1 (14 starts)
		Carl Edwards Points: 5,646 Points behind first: 72 Last race: 29th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 15th, 5th, 9th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 7.6 (7 starts)
		Greg Biffle Points: 5,641 Points behind first: 77 Last race: 24th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 43rd, 27th, 2nd Avg. finish at Lowe's: 19.3 (11 starts)
		Jeff Burton Points: 5,619 Points behind first: 99 Last race: Fourth at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 24th, 4th, 6th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 14.9 (29 starts)
		Clint Bowyer Points: 5,566 Points behind first: 152 Last race: Fifth at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 29th, 2nd, 25th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 19.6 (5 starts)	2
		Kevin Harvick Points: 5,547 Points behind first: 171 Last race: 20th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 21st, 33rd, 14th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 20.7 (15 starts)	1
		Tony Stewart Points: 5,515 Points behind first: 203 Last race: First at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 6th, 7th, 18th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 13.2 (19 starts)	4
		Jeff Gordon Points: 5,486 Points behind first: 232 Last race: 38th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 41st, 1st, 4th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 16.4 (31 starts)	2
		Matt Kenseth Points: 5,473 Points behind first: 245 Last race: 26th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 12th, 34th, 7th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 15.3 (18 starts)
		Dale Earnhardt Jr. Points: 5,469 Points behind first: 249 Last race: 28th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 8th, 19th, 5th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 16.3 (18 starts)	2
		Kyle Busch Points: 5,387 Points behind first: 331 Last race: 15th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 30th, 3rd, 3rd Avg. finish at Lowe's: 23.3 (9 starts)	1
		Denny Hamlin Points: 5,383 Points behind first: 335 Last race: 39th at Talladega Last three at Lowe's: 9th, 20th, 24th Avg. finish at Lowe's: 16.3 (6 starts)	2