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HAMPTON, Ga. — The fashionable pick lately on who will fall out of the top 12 in points and miss the Chase has been Kasey Kahne. It looks as though many people could be wrong.

While Kahne's victory Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway doesn't guarantee him a chance to contend for the Sprint Cup title, he's in a good position to make the field, which will be set at this weekend's race at Richmond International Raceway.

It didn't appear that way to many before Sunday. A 28th-place finish at Bristol two weeks ago left Kahne 11th in the points. A Kahne collapse became the rave to talk about. Kahne even heard his fate all but determined listening to people on satellite radio pick against him.

"Why me?" Kahne says he wondered. "We always do good at Atlanta and Richmond. You just look at Bristol, we had a bad race.

"I kind of listen to that (talk) and laugh and think I'm going to prove those guys wrong."

He'll do that by finishing 21st or better at Richmond (or 23rd or better if he leads a lap or 24th or better if he gets the bonus for leading the most laps). Should he have problems, though, it could get nerve-racking.

Fifth through 14th places in the season standings are separated by 122 points. Matt Kenseth holds the 12th and final transfer spot. He leads Brian Vickers by 20 points and Kyle Busch by 37 points.

Such deficits are not insurmountable at Richmond. Jeremy Mayfield entered this race 55 points out of the final transfer spot in 2004. He won the race and made the Chase. No one, though, has been further from the last transfer spot and made the Chase since.

Kahne, who has been knocked out of the Chase at Richmond and raced his way in, understands the pressure many will feel this week.

"You're just going to that race trying to focus as hard as you can &ellipses; but it's tough," Kahne said after his 11th career Cup victory. "It's kind of like you're racing for some type of championship."

At least the chance to race for a crown.

Vickers might have faced a larger deficit had his team not repaired a left rear axle on pit road Sunday night and kept him on the lead lap. That helped Vickers gain 10 spots in the last 65 laps to finish seventh.

"It's going to be a battle to the end," Vickers said of making the Chase. "We'd like to go into Richmond locked into the Chase, but to go there even in contention for a two-and-a-half year old team says a lot. No matter what happens, I think we have to walk away with our heads held high."

Busch's deficit also could have been greater had it not been for his final charge. He gained five spots in the last 11 laps to finish 13th. That gave him 15 more points.

The goal for Richmond?

"To go win," said Busch's crew chief, Steve Addington.

That's just what Busch did at Richmond in May.

Among the drivers Busch passed in those final laps Sunday was Kenseth, who is seeking to join Jimmie Johnson as the only drivers to make the Chase every year since its inception in 2004. Kenseth also is trying to avoid being the second consecutive Daytona 500 winner to miss the Chase after Ryan Newman did it last year.

"It got to the point about four weeks ago," said Kenseth's rookie crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, "you've done all that you can do. I can either get sick every night and worry about it or just work hard and the outcome is the outcome."

He and everyone else won't have to wait much longer to see what happens.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com

RACING FOR THE CHASE

The top four drivers in the season standings — Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin — have each clinched a spot in the Chase. Here are the drivers battling for the final eight spots heading into Saturday's race at Richmond:

Drivers are listed by current place in the standings, points after 25 races, points ahead of 13th place (for drivers 5-12) or points out of 12th (for drivers 13-14) and what a driver needs to do to clinch a Chase spot:

5. Carl Edwards (Roush) — 3,162 — +105
Clinches Chase spot by finishing 24th or better at Richmond

6. Kasey Kahne (Petty) — 3,153 — +96
Clinches if 21st or better

7. Kurt Busch (Penske) — 3,152 — +95
Clinches if 20th or better

8. Juan Pablo Montoya (Earnhardt Ganassi) — 3,145 — +88
Clinches if 18th or better

9. Ryan Newman (Stewart Hass) — 3,138 — +81
Clinches if 16th or better

10. Mark Martin (Hendrick) — 3,126 — +69
Clinches if 12th or better

11. Greg Biffle (Roush) — 3,125 — +68
Clinches if 11th or better

12. Matt Kenseth (Roush) — 3,077 — +20
Clinches if 2nd or better and leads a lap

13. Brian Vickers (Red Bull) — 3,057 — -20

14. Kyle Busch (Gibbs) — 3,040 — -37