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.

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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.

5. Kyle Busch, No. 5 Chevrolet: Next to Bowyer, young Kyle made the biggest jump in the Chase hierarchy, going from ninth to fifth by virtue of his fourth-place finish. Not bad for a guy who is a lame-duck driver at Hendrick Motorsports and will begin driving next season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

"We stayed out on tires [Sunday] and kept it up there. We got up from 13th or 14th to second and then the lead for a while, but couldn't hold it," Busch said. "Jeff was really good [Sunday], Tony were really good [Sunday]. I could catch Tony a little bit when he was getting into traffic. But of course, then when I got into that same traffic he would pull away from me again. Some things were just inevitable."

6. Martin Truex Jr., No. 01 Chevrolet: A strong run Sunday led to a fifth-place finish that enabled him to move up one position in the Chase standings. After qualifying second behind only the pole-sitter Bowyer, it capped a strong first Chase weekend for the only Dale Earnhardt Inc. entry in the Cup postseason.

"We did what we needed to do," Truex said. "We didn't have the best car [Sunday] and we got a great finish."

7. Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Ford: He should plan a trip to Las Vegas after starting the day seventh in the standings, finishing the race in seventh, and staying in seventh in the Chase as result. The 7-7-7 finish for the No.17 was typical of Kenseth -- workmanlike. But as long as several other Chasers ahead of him keep running better, it won't be enough.

"We can all strategize it to death, but the winner got the most points [Sunday]," Kenseth said. "We go out every week and we try to win and try to run as far up toward the front as we can and finish as high as we can every time out and not worry about the points. I couldn't have finished one spot higher no matter what I did."

8. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Ford: Although he dropped four spots from fourth to eighth in the Chase overall, he was generally pleased with his 12th-place finish in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during practice last Friday. He was unable to practice in the backup he had to run Sunday because Saturday morning's two scheduled practice sessions were rained out.

"With a backup car, that's pretty good," Edwards said. "But overall, it was not the kind of weekend we wanted. We need to run better than that -- but it's nobody's fault but my own for wrecking the primary."

9. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Chevrolet: He dropped three spots after struggling to a 15th-place finish and blasted the COT for what he said was its inability to produce side-by-side racing or passing capability.

"We know this is the car we're going to have to run until the end of my career. I don't know. This thing might drive me into an early retirement," said Hamlin, 26 and in only his second full Cup season. "It's just frustrating when you've got a car that you know is better than five cars in front of you, and you can do nothing to pass them. That's real frustrating to me."

10. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Chevrolet: After falling all the way to 25th at one point following a mid-race pit stop, he did what he could with what appeared to be an ill-handling car to eventually make his way back up to 17th, one lap down. That was enough to move him up one spot from 11th to 10th in the Chase standings, but now he's 88 points behind the leaders.

11. Jeff Burton, No. 31 Chevrolet: Like Harvick, his Richard Childress Racing teammate, he finished one lap down and had to live vicariously on this day through Bowyer -- their third RCR teammate. He swapped places with Harvick in the Chase standings and fell 91 points off the lead.

12. Kurt Busch, No. 2 Dodge: With 75 laps to go, Kyle's older brother was right behind Bowyer on the track. Problem was, he also was a lap down at the time. He lost a cylinder early in the race and never really recovered. His 25th-place finish was by far the worst of the Chasers and made him the big loser in the Chase standings on the day, dropping him seven spots from fifth to 12th, falling 102 points behind Johnson and Gordon.