Mark Martin's 11th-place finish earned him a place in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Credit: Autostock

Roush teammates clinch spots in Chase

FONTANA, Calif. -- Roush Racing teammates Mark Martin and defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch are the latest drivers to clinch spots in the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup, following Sunday evening's Sony HD 500 at California Speedway.

The Chase, which begins in two weeks at New Hampshire with the top-10 drivers in the standings racing to determine the championship, now has five drivers definitely qualified: Championship leader Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Rusty Wallace and Martin.

Kurt Busch is virtually assured of a place in the Chase, provided he starts the race at Richmond. Credit: Autostock

Busch, who is 186 points ahead of 11th place Ryan Newman, is in if he starts next Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Martin started second and was in the top 10 for virtually the entire race, until two cautions in the last 13 laps contributed to him finishing 11th. He's 421 points behind Stewart and 35 ahead of Busch.

Martin and crew chief Pat Tryson made a call to take four tires on their final pit stop and in the end track position won out for race winner Kyle Busch, Kurt's younger brother who drives for Hendrick Motorsports; and a number of other competitors.

"We had a good car all night, but the decision was to take two or four and we took four, and it just didn't work out," Tryson said. "We lost a bunch of spots, but that's the way it goes.

"It was my decision and I guess it was the wrong one -- we should have done two. It seemed like track position was more important, but we didn't need that last caution there, either (because) we would have probably gotten back to pretty close to where we were."

With 15 laps to go in the original 250-lap distance, Martin was sixth. When a caution flew at lap 242 for debris on the backstretch, he was 14th on that restart two laps later. He started the final green-white-checkered in 11th.

Busch, who is 41 points ahead of seventh place Jeremy Mayfield, overcame a spin coming off Turn 4 at lap 145 and was 10th at lap 235.

After the penultimate of 11 cautions, he was glued to Martin's rear bumper and, after falling as deep as 22nd in the field after his spin, finished right behind Martin in 12th.

Wallace, who absolutely clinched his spot in the Chase by starting the California race, was relieved despite struggling to finish 15th in his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge after losing a lap when he was caught on pit road by a caution flag.

"We're in the Chase, and that's the big deal," Wallace said. "I'm glad I'm not in that mess next week. I've been thinking about that and I'm glad not to be under that pressure."