Defining moments in the season that decided Chase

In the course of a season, each team goes through many peaks and valleys. That's understandable, given the level of competition, each team's success rate at different tracks and the length of the schedule.

But given the opportunity for 20-20 hindsight, it's possible to look back and see moments that could be considered a momentum shift either contributing to the success or failure of each team's chances of making the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

• Send Mark your thoughts

In the case of four teams -- two which made it, two which did not -- there were specific instances that proved to be a key to where they stood in the standings after Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, and not all occured on the racetrack.

Ryan Newman: Lap 21, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

Newman was 30 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 12th and final spot in the Chase field heading into Indianapolis. He qualified third and expected big things when the race started.

However, he quickly dropped back in the field with handling issues after the drop of the green, and his day went from bad to worse when he made contact with David Stremme in Turn 4, spun and made heavy contact with the wall, sidelining the No. 12 Dodge for the rest of the day (watch video).

"I just got hit in the left rear quarter panel," Newman said. "Stremme tried sticking it underneath me when he shouldn't have and spun us around. It's unfortunate. We took a pretty good lick to the wall and ended our day."

Newman knew at the time, the resulting 42nd-place finish was a huge blow to his Chase hopes. He dropped behind Kurt Busch into 14th, 59 points behind Junior. Still, with six races remaining, he believed he could rally.

"It was definitely a devastating blow in more than one way, but we can come back," he said. "It's just a matter of how far we can come back now."

Newman did rally the next weekend at Pocono, finishing seventh. Unfortunately, Busch and Earnhardt finished first and second. And despite putting together four consecutive finishes of 16th or better, Newman steadily lost ground to Busch.

He was eliminated from Chase contention at California when he suffered engine problems and finished 39th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Lap 63, Centurion Boats at the Glen

Earnhardt had been fighting engine issues at different times during the season, including a 34th-place finish at Indianapolis, but was seven points behind Kurt Busch heading to Watkins Glen.

Starting 14th, Earnhardt quickly showed he had one of the best cars on the track, moving up five spot in the first six laps and breaking into the top five at the midway point.

Running third with less than 30 laps to go, the caution flag came out for an incident involving Newman and Clint Bowyer. At exactly the same time, the No. 8 Chevrolet slowed on the track, a victim of another broken powerplant (watch video).

However, in this instance, Earnhardt took the blame. (Continued)