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 (through 19 races)
The top contenders
		Kyle Busch Points: 2,881 Points behind first: -- Last race: First at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 10th, 7th, 4th Avg. finish at Indy: 7.0 (3 starts)
		Dale Earnhardt Jr. Points: 2,619 Points behind first: 262 Last race: 16th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 43rd, 6th, 34th Avg. finish at Indy: 21.1 (8 starts)
		Jeff Burton Points: 2,590 Points behind first: 291 Last race: 19th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 20th, 15th, 8th Avg. finish at Indy: 18.4 (14 starts)
		Carl Edwards Points: 2,509 Points behind first: 372 Last race: 32nd at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 12th, 9th, 18th Avg. finish at Indy: 13.0 (3 starts)
		Jimmie Johnson Points: 2,494 Points behind first: 387 Last race: Second at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 38th, 1st, 39th Avg. finish at Indy: 23.5 (6 starts)
		Jeff Gordon Points: 2,384 Points behind first: 497 Last race: 11th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 8th, 16th, 3rd Avg. finish at Indy: 8.9 (14 starts)
		Greg Biffle Points: 2,318 Points behind first: 563 Last race: Fourth at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 21st, 33rd, 15th Avg. finish at Indy: 19.2 (5 starts)	4
		Matt Kenseth Points: 2,317 Points behind first: 564 Last race: Seventh at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 5th, 2nd, 10th Avg. finish at Indy: 13.2 (8 starts)	1
		Kevin Harvick Points: 2,308 Points behind first: 573 Last race: Third at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 19th, 3rd, 7th Avg. finish at Indy: 7.7 (7 starts)	4
		Tony Stewart Points: 2,305 Points behind first: 576 Last race: Fifth at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 1st, 8th, 1st Avg. finish at Indy: 7.6 (9 starts)	2
		Kasey Kahne Points: 2,295 Points behind first: 586 Last race: 15th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 2nd, 36th, 40th Avg. finish at Indy: 20.5 (4 starts)	3
		Denny Hamlin Points: 2,283 Points behind first: 598 Last race: 40th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: N/A, 10th, 22nd Avg. finish at Indy: 16.0 (2 starts)	5
Outside looking in
		Clint Bowyer Points: 2,256 Points behind first: 625 Last race: 22nd at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: N/A, 4th, 13th Avg. finish at Indy: 8.5 (2 starts)	3
		Brian Vickers Points: 2,188 Points behind first: 693 Last race: Sixth at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 3rd, 17th, 21st Avg. finish at Indy: 17.5 (4 starts)	1
		David Ragan Points: 2,185 Points behind first: 696 Last race: Eighth at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: N/A, N/A, 16th Avg. finish at Indy: 16.0 (1 start)	1
		Ryan Newman Points: 2,094 Points behind first: 787 Last race: 10th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 34th, 13th, 42nd Avg. finish at Indy: 23.7 (7 starts)
		Martin Truex Jr. Points: 2,050 Points behind first: 831 Last race: Ninth at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 42nd, 19th, 12th Avg. finish at Indy: 24.3 (3 starts)	1
		Kurt Busch Points: 2,038 Points behind first: 843 Last race: 28th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 18th, 12th, 11th Avg. finish at Indy: 14.9 (7 starts)	1
		Bobby Labonte Points: 1,905 Points behind first: 976 Last race: 29th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: 40th, 40th, 19th Avg. finish at Indy: 15.6 (14 starts)
		Juan Pablo Montoya Points: 1,863 Points behind first: 1,018 Last race: 18th at Chicagoland Last three at Indy: N/A, N/A, 2nd Avg. finish at Indy: 2.0 (1 start)