Kahne could be left with two victories, but no shot (cont'd)

It's amazing that Kahne is even in this position at all, given that he won at Charlotte and Pocono and was a seemingly secure seventh in points as recently as a month ago. Then he finished 14th at Watkins Glen. His engine expired at Michigan. He was caught up in an accident caused by Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip at Bristol. And suddenly he was buried, a distant 14th in points, 56 points out of Chase position. Sunday night's eighth-place result at California barely made a dent.

"I was really surprised," Kahne said. "I went into Michigan kind of thinking that we had been running really strong, we had been right there every weekend. I felt like maybe we had a shot at maybe being sixth in points, maybe passing Jeff [Gordon] and Tony [Stewart], and then just racing happens. Things happen and we're 14th looking in now. Yeah, I was really surprised to see how quickly we lost a lot of spots and ended up maybe having a shot at making it in. It's going to be close to see if we can even get in the deal now."

For Kahne, missing the Chase would sting. This isn't Ragan, who's surprised everyone with his late-season rally, or even Bowyer, in just his second full season on the circuit. Kahne is a nine-time race winner who is widely viewed as Dodge's best championship hope. Only Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson have won more this year. His No. 9 team expects to contend. But when it comes to the Chase, the driver is still searching for the formula -- barring a miracle at Richmond, this would be the fourth time in Kahne's five-year Sprint Cup career that he's been left on the outside looking in.

"There's definitely some pressure, pressure that we've put on ourselves," he said. "Really, that was our goal and is our goal, to make the Chase this year. That was one of our big goals. Right now we are right on the outside. There's definitely pressure, I think, and that's a big part of the season is to make the Chase or not for the team and the company, for the sponsors. Everybody is a part of it and there's some pressure, and we'll do all we can and hopefully it will end up being enough. But you never know. Nobody knows until the end of Saturday night."