CONCORD, N.C. -- Maybe this kid really isn't going to go away in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Despite finishing second in the Bank of America 500 Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Clint Bowyer lost ground to Chase leader Jeff Gordon. But he gained more respect throughout the garage for the way he battled throughout a night in which he led 79 laps and gave Gordon all he could handle at the end after it was Ryan Newman's race to lose -- and Newman lost it by spinning out in Turn 2 with three laps from the scheduled finish.

It left Bowyer third in the Chase, which is where he was coming in. But because Gordon won the race, he's now 78 points out of the lead after entering the night only 63 back. He did close the gap between himself and Jimmie Johnson, who is in second in the Chase, cutting Johnson's edge on him from 54 points to only 10.

In three previous career starts at LMS, Bowyer had never finished higher than 19th. So even though he obviously wanted to win after leading so many laps, Bowyer was all smiles when the race was over.

"It was a good run for us," Bowyer said. "There is no secret that this has been a struggle for me, coming to this place. I always seem to find a place to spin out and get into the Turn 4 wall.

"Finally finishing the race here and taking second, it's a loser -- but in the big picture it's a points save for us. I didn't qualify the best [started 25th] and we were able to get up high."

Bowyer has been especially impressive during the five Chase races, capturing his first career win in the Chase opener at Loudon and following that up with finishes of 12th at Dover, second at Kansas, and 11th at Talladega prior to Saturday night. He had entered the Chase as the 12th and last seed and as the only driver in it who had yet to win a single race this season.

"He's incredible. He's impressing a lot of people right now," Gordon said. "To me, when you're going to measure a driver's talent and abilities and what they're capable of, it's, No. 1, are you consistent? Are you able to run good at a lot of different tracks? He's been showing that he can do that."

Gordon said perhaps the most telling evidence of Bowyer's arrival as one of the top drivers at the Cup level is the fact that he has been running at the end of each of the 31 races this season.

"Zero DNFs. You've got to be impressed with that," Gordon said. "That's a measure of consistency right there."

But what is even more impressive to Gordon about Bowyer is what Bowyer has done in his No. 07 Chevrolet over the last five weeks.

"To me, the real key is when the moment comes, when the Chase for the championship is on, do you have what it takes to step it up?" Gordon said. "Every year we see guys do that, and he's doing that this year. He's stepping it up and it's been impressive."

While that's nice and all, Bowyer said now the challenge is to step it up even more over the final five races.

"I think Jeff has been the guy to beat all year long -- not necessarily just in the Chase," Bowyer said. "Both of those guys [Gordon and Johnson] have been on top of the game all year long. The whole [Hendrick Motorsports] organization has.

"But you know, for me and my team and our organization, we've just got to pick it up a little bit. They are going to have to stub their toes a little bit for us to catch them. I've just got to go out and win races and lead the most laps and run them down, because even then they are going to finish right behind you.

"So it's going to take quite a bit of luck. But you know, we've seen stranger things happen."

Meanwhile, Bowyer said that he appreciates the position he's currently in. After all, this is only his second full-time season at the Cup level with Richard Childress Racing.

"It's very gratifying," Bowyer said. "This is only our second year together. We're running up front and doing what we're paid to do. You know, we won a race; we're running for a championship. It's been an awesome year so far.

"We have five races to go. We have to keep this momentum strong and keep everybody with a pep in their step."

After another strong run Saturday night, anything seems possible.

"I'm just thrilled that I made it through here without hitting that Turn 4 wall, to be honest with you," said Bowyer, laughing. "You just go to the racetrack and race as hard as you can and control what you can. It's going to take a lot of luck on our part and a lot of misfortune on their part. But if that happens on their end, we've got to be able to take advantage of it. That's the only thing we can do."