Johnson remains on top, but Gordon closes gap

LOUDON, N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson clung to the top of the leaderboard in the Chase for the Nextel Cup after the Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway on Sunday, but others, including Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammates, closed the gap.

In fact, Jeff Gordon technically closed it all the way.

Johnson and Jeff Gordon each have 5,210 points following the opening race in the Chase, which was won by Clint Bowyer. But Johnson currently owns the tie-breaking edge over Gordon by virtue of his six race wins this season to four for Gordon.

Bowyer made the biggest move of the Chasers by claiming his first career Cup victory at the most opportune of times. He entered the event as the 12th and last seed among the Chasers, and jumped all the way to fourth in the point standings as a result of the victory.

Here is the breakdown of how the day went for the 12 Chasers, in order of how they now sit in the Chase standings heading into Week 2 next Sunday at Dover:

Lap-by-Lap

Clint Bowyer started from the pole at NHIS, relinquished the lead at only brief intervals and cruised to his first Nextel Cup victory in the Sylvania 300.

• Lap-by-Lap, click here
• Race Video, click here

1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet: The top seed entering the day, he barely held onto the Chase pole position by battling to finish sixth after qualifying fourth. Much like the rest of the field that grew exasperated attempting to catch the dominant Bowyer, he appeared satisfied enough to get through the afternoon with a finish that left him ready to legitimately fight for a win another day.

2. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet: The second seed coming in, he picked up the 20 points he had lost when the points were reset after the final regular-season race at Richmond. And after trying in vain to catch the bullet-like Bowyer all afternoon, he was ecstatic to finish second in the race.

"If we had run 7,000 laps, I wasn't going to catch him unless his motor blew up. Honestly, I'm happy with second," Gordon said.

3. Tony Stewart, No. 20 Chevrolet: He started and finished the day third in the Chase standings, and did so by finishing third in the race. He considered the three-of-a kind three-peat not only a great feat, but said the whole weekend was an absolute relief after a whirlwind week that included two days of Car of Tomorrow testing at Talladega and two days of a Chase media blitz in New York City.

"We would have all rather mowed our grass or stained our decks or done something, done somebody's paper route, than be at Talladega for two days. And then they sent us to New York to deal with a bunch of media and we all had to wear suits," said Stewart, who is only 10 points behind Johnson and Gordon heading into Dover. "So you can imagine by the time we got to this weekend, we were all pretty stressed out being four days in places we really didn't want to be. So yeah, now we're pretty relaxed, being outta there."

4. Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Chevrolet: After racing for the lead with Denny Hamlin early in the regular-season finale at Richmond a week prior and spinning himself out when he admittedly got too aggressive going into a turn, Bowyer said that one day "all the stars in the sky will align" and that then he would win a race for himself and team owner Richard Childress. Well, it wasn't even dark by the time he crossed the start/finish line at NHIS, proving that he won on skill and because of a superior car and not by his lucky stars. Furthermore, he stated correctly that it proves he belongs in the Chase after taking some heat for being the only Chaser without a victory entering Sunday.

"We did the things we needed to do to get into the Chase. Once you're in, you've got to go for broke. I went for broke in Richmond and lost. This time, I did it and it paid off," said Bowyer, who is only 15 points out of the Chase lead now. (Continued)