1. Jeff Gordon - 6,201 points
2. Jimmie Johnson -9
3. Clint Bowyer -111
4. Carl Edwards -261
5. Tony Stewart -322
6. Kyle Busch -328
7. Kevin Harvick -392
8. Jeff Burton -400
9. Kurt Busch -419
10. Denny Hamlin -424
11. Matt Kenseth -448
12. Martin Truex, Jr. -513

1. Jeff Gordon - 6,050 points
2. Jimmie Johnson -53
3. Clint Bowyer -115
4. Tony Stewart -249
5. Carl Edwards -288
6. Kyle Busch -290
7. Kevin Harvick -369
8. Denny Hamlin -374
9. Jeff Burton -406
10. Kurt Busch -420
11. Martin Truex, Jr. -447
12. Matt Kenseth -462

In the race for 13th, Ryan Newman moved into 14th, and is only 66 points behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for that first spot below the Chase drivers.

With one bold move, Jeff Gordon took another big step towards claiming his fifth championship.

Gordon started 34th, and for most of the race, languished towards the back of the field. Things looked even worse for him when he was penalized for having his hose hanging from his car after a pit stop.

But, he benefitted from a caution, and from there, found his way near the front with teammate Jimmie Johnson going into the final lap.

Tony Stewart made a move on the outside, and that’s when Gordon took his chance, sliding from behind Johnson and in between his teammate and the #20 to take the lead. Then, Gordon held Johnson off as he tried to go low, and took the checkered flag for his fifth win of the season, and first since June.

Johnson finished second, and the top five was rounded out by Dave Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman. Casey Mears finished sixth, Kurt Busch seventh, Stewart eighth, Tony Raines ninth, and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 10.

After a bad week for many of the Chasers last week, good weeks for Hamlin, Busch, and Stewart were big lifts for those guys, but couldn’t prevent them from falling even further behind in the standings.

Clint Bowyer finished 11th, and remained third in the points, but fell 63 behind Gordon, who retook the points lead. Carl Edwards finished 14th, and behind 20th-place finisher Kevin Harvick, the rest of the drivers finished 26th or worse.

Matt Kenseth had another subpar week, finishing 26th. Kyle Busch had poor weekend, starting 36th and finishing 36th, after his involvement in the big one put him out of the race with less than 45 laps to go. The big one was one of nine cautions in the race, and involved 11 cars, including Chasers Hamlin, Kenseth, and Busch. Busch, obviously, came out the worst of the Chasers, and Kenseth was a little worse for wear as well. Hamlin, however, was able to rebound to finish well. That caution was the one that helped Gordon get back into contention, following the pit road penalty just a few laps prior.

Martin Truex, Jr. was one of several DEI cars to have engine trouble, and finished 42nd, while Jeff Burton brought up the rear in 43rd. It was a bad day for DEI/RCR cars, as Bowyer was the only one that avoided trouble.

Gordon, Johnson, and Bowyer put more distance between the rest of the Chasers. After Bowyer, the nearest Chaser is 154 points behind (Tony Stewart).

Here are the complete Chase standings:

1. Jeff Gordon (5,690 points)
2. Jimmie Johnson -9 points
3. Clint Bowyer -63 points
4. Tony Stewart -154 points
5. Kevin Harvick -202 points
6. Carl Edwards -205 points
7. Kurt Busch -215 points
8. Kyle Busch -260 points
9. Denny Hamlin -262 points
10. Martin Truex, Jr. -300 points
11. Matt Kenseth -318 points
12. Jeff Burton -336 points

It’s shaping up to be a three-man race, with six races to go. Next up we have the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s next Saturday night. Kasey Kahne is the defending champion of the race, while Casey Mears won the Coca-Cola 600 in May.

Here are the full results from last night’s race at California - click!

And, here are the updated standings as well, which only matter for another week - click!

Also, here are the results from this weekend’s Busch race at California, the Camping World 300, which Jeff Burton won - right here

Here are the updated Busch standings. Carl Edwards is still running away with it with eight races to go, but Kevin Harvick is now second, moving past David Reutimann.

Things are really, really tight now in the Craftsman Truck Series. Johnny Benson won last weekend’s race, but it was runner-up Ron Hornaday who benefitted the most. Hornaday came into the race second in points, started from second and finished there, while polesitter and previous points leader Mike Skinner finished 28th, which means Hornaday now leads the standings by four points with eight races to go.

The official results from the race are right here, courtesy of NASCAR.com, the official site of everything NASCAR - clicky clicky linky linky.

And, the updated standings are right here, also courtesy of NASCAR’s official site - double the clicking fun!

As you can see, despite having three straight weeks where luck hasn’t quite been on his side, Jeff Gordon and the #24 team continue to maintain a healthy lead in the points (which will be pretty irrelevant come a few weeks from now), and he’s also still tied for the series lead in wins, so he’s still set to be in a favorable position come the start of the Chase.

And, as you can also see, things aren’t looking too good for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or Ryan Newman, who have a lot of ground to make up in a very, very short time. And Greg Biffle, well, it’d take two last-place finishes by Kurt Busch, two poor finishes by Junior and Newman, and two wins (with maximum points) by Biffle to sneak in, and well, I’ve seen some crazy things happen, but that would be beyond the realm of crazy.

And, Gordon joined Kevin Harvick as the only two drivers in the series to go over $5 million in earnings so far this season, though four more (Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Burton) are getting close to the mark, and there’s a chance a few other guys could do it as well. Cha-ching!

And, as a bonus, here are the latest Busch Series standings (once again courtesy of NASCAR.com), following Friday night’s Food City 250 at Bristol - click! Carl Edwards is well on his way to claiming the championship, and hey, who knows, maybe he’ll be able to have twice the celebrations come November?

NASCAR Points Standings as of Race #15 of 36: Citizens Bank 400 Race Results