Greg Biffle's points run took a hit when he and Robby Gordon touched. Credit: AP

Breaking point: Indy could influence Chase

Brickyard dramatically changes bottom half of point standings

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Separate last-lap crashes involving Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle in Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard did more than bend up a couple of fast cars.

Allstate 400 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Jimmie Johnson Chevy 2. Matt Kenseth Ford 3. Kevin Harvick Chevy 4. Clint Bowyer Chevy 5. Mark Martin Ford 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 7. Kyle Busch Chevy 8. Tony Stewart Chevy 9. Carl Edwards Ford 10. Denny Hamlin Chevy • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Final lapsJimmie Johnson avoids last-lap wreck taking the win Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

They put serious dents in both drivers' chances at the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

While the cars can be repaired to run again, Kahne's 36th-place and Biffle's 33rd-place finishes may be more than either driver will be able to overcome with five races remaining before the Chase.

Both drivers started up front and fully expected to make gains with good finishes. Instead, they came away frustrated from Indianapolis with golden opportunities lost.

Kahne gave up four positions in the standings, dropping to 37 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 10th and final spot in the Chase. Biffle, who had hopes of moving back into the top 10, is now 12th, 122 points behind Junior.

The beneficiaries of Kahne and Biffle's misfortune Sunday were Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Earnhardt -- all of whom had to consider themselves lucky to not be in the same situation, after each had their own troubles.

"It's unfortunate we're dwindling out of the Chase hunt, but that's the way it goes," Biffle said.

"I haven't seen the points, but I imagine it puts us in it pretty deep," Kahne said. "We've been trying hard, but we haven't had the best of breaks in probably the last two months."

After taking four tires on the final round of pit stops, Biffle restarted 12th. Unfortunately, while the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick were able to pick their way to the front, a frustrated Biffle was mired in the pack.

	Kasey Kahne's hit in Turn 3 may cost him more than just a top-10 finish. Credit: AP
	CAUTION TO THE WIND Marty Smith thinks NASCAR could have prevented the wreck that took Kasey Kahne out of the top 10 Sunday at Indy.  •   Complete story, click here

"Track position [Sunday] was way more important than tires, and we decided to put four tires on instead of keeping track position," Biffle said. "It cost us, obviously. Just cost us our finish."

On the final lap, he ended up in a no-win situation -- behind a spinning Robby Gordon with nowhere to go.

"I don't know what happened," Biffle said. "I saw the No. 7 spinning out and he hit me. There was nothing I could do about it."

Kahne seemed to have a car worthy of winning Sunday's race early on, as he battled Jeff Burton for the lead. But in the middle of the race, Kahne began sliding back.

"We have a chance to win every race after practice and you get in the race and you can't do anything," Kahne said. "That's just the way our cars have been lately. We haven't figured it out.

"It makes you mad. You want to race good."

Instead, Kahne found himself going hood-first into the wall when the racing got rough.

"I was trying to get in a battle with all those guys for position, sixth, seventh, eighth," Kahne said. "I had to block [Carl] Edwards and come back to Stewart. Trying to pass Stewart I got loose and then I just tried staying off Tony, I guess I ran into the wall.

	Jeff Gordon's back-and-forth day turned out better than he might have expected. Credit: Autostock
	NOT-SO-BAD ENDING Jeff Gordon's storybook Sunday at Indy was thwarted by a sway bar problem in the early laps. Still, the day wasn't all bad.  •   Complete story, click here Hendrick's hard timeGordon and Johnson both have trouble at The Brickyard Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

"It hurt. It still hurts, but that's racing. I can't believe it happened. We battled that car, battled the tires, battled everything all day trying to get a top-10 and didn't make it back."

Gordon, Stewart and Earnhardt somehow made it back, as each picked up one precious position in the standings despite their own misfortune.

Gordon was down as many as three laps to the leader after replacing a broken sway bar bolt before the race was 20 laps old. Finally getting back on the lead lap after the Lap 87 caution, the four-time Brickyard winner wound up a happy 16th, moving up one place in the standings to eighth.

"That was one hard-fought 16th," he said. "To have a car as good as ours and not be able to race up front for the lead and for those top positions is pretty frustrating. I guess we should just be fortunate we got back on the lead lap."

Stewart dropped as far back as 36th after making an extra pit stop to tighten loose lugnuts. He avoided the aftermath of Kahne's accident to finish eighth, putting him ninth in the points.

"I think we passed 60 cars or more [Sunday], so I'm pretty happy with it," he said. "We went to the back and battled our way back into the top 10.

"This is not how we wanted this day to go, by any means, but to have us get back into the top 10, it was an awesome day for us."

Earnhardt's sixth-place finish was easily the most amazing of the three. Mired deep in the pack all day and seemingly little hope of a decent finish, the No. 8 team decided to stay out when the leaders pitted on Lap 143. When the green flag came out again with 13 laps to go, Earnhardt was second behind Kyle Busch.

Track position paid off, as Earnhardt was able to hang on for sixth and put himself back into 10th place in the standings.

"We took a chance and made it work and we just got lucky," Junior said. "We're thanking the Lord tonight."