Five questions as the regular season wraps at RIR

In the wake of Tony Stewart's win in Sunday night's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, only one race remains before the 2010 Chase commences.

With that in mind, here are five questions lingering in the aftermath of Atlanta as NASCAR's top two touring series head to Richmond this weekend:

1. Do Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and/or Mark Martin have any chance of catching Clint Bowyer for the 12th and final Chase berth?

Chase Bubble

Race for 12th position

Pos.	+ / -	Driver	Behind
11.	--	G. Biffle	+161
12.	--	C. Bowyer	+117
13.	+2	R. Newman	-117
14.	-1	J. McMurray	-128
15.	-1	M. Martin	-147
16.	+1	D. Reutimann	-186

• Complete Standings

Um, in a word ... no.

While none of the above has been mathematically eliminated as of yet, none was able to gain any ground on Bowyer at Atlanta. Newman waged a gritty battle and ran into and over anyone who got in his way in an attempt to "make something happen," but the best that netted him was an eighth-place finish that was one spot behind the steady Bowyer.

So now, heading into Richmond, Bowyer holds a virtual lock on the 12th position no matter how much hype may be applied to make folks feel otherwise. The most points Newman, now in 13th, can register is 195 if he leads the most laps and wins the race -- and even then, all Bowyer would have to do is finish no worse than 28th.

McMurray, who entered the Atlanta race 100 points behind Bowyer in 13th, finished 15th on Sunday night and dropped 28 points to Bowyer. Martin finished 21st and dropped another 46. That means even if McMurray leads the most laps and wins at Richmond, all Bowyer would have to do is finish 32nd or better; of if Martin leads the most laps and wins, all Bowyer would have to do is finish at least 38th.

Unless something catastrophic happens to the No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Bowyer almost as soon as Saturday night's race starts, it's over.

• Biffle, Bowyer close in on final two Chase spots

2. What about the rest of the Chase field?

It's set, or about as close to it as it could be. The top 10 Chasers already have clinched -- points leader Kevin Harvick, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin. All Greg Biffle has to do to clinch the 11th spot is start the race at Richmond and not finish last.

But that doesn't mean there isn't anything at stake at Richmond. By virtue of their five wins apiece thus far, four-time defending champion Johnson and the slumping Hamlin will be seeded 1-2 with 50 bonus points apiece in their firesuit pockets heading into the Chase. Each would like to break the deadlock and grab the 10 bonus points that would come with a win at Richmond, as would each of the other Chasers. It could end up making a difference in who winds up champion.

• Busch goes from lap down to back in Chase

3. What about Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Sitting 19th in points after a 22nd-place finish at Atlanta, he's about to miss the Chase for the third time in the past four seasons and for the fourth time in the past six. Folks, it is what it is and he is what he is as the most popular driver in the Cup Series.

Quite honestly, it appears that at age 35 his best days as a Cup driver may be behind him. Certainly it is going to require yet another shakeup of some sort for the No. 88 team by the powers-that-be at Hendrick Motorsports to change that fate -- and for Earnhardt himself to figure out what he can do differently.

But let's forget all that for a moment. It was still a great weekend for Earnhardt -- whose No. 88 twin in the Nationwide Series won at Atlanta with McMurray behind the wheel. Earnhardt appears to be getting more tuned in than ever with what's happening on the ownership side at JR Motorsports, and that's a good thing. If his best days as a driver may be behind him, maybe his best as a car owner are still laying in front of him like a wide-open country road.

• Earnhardt, McGrew staying together, for now
• McMurray's first of season keeps Busch from 11th

4. Does Sunday's win validate Stewart as a true Chase contender?

It's hard to say. Maybe he's gaining momentum at just the right time. But it was his first victory of the season and his first in 31 races, since Oct. 4, 2009 at Kansas.

So while it's certainly encouraging for Stewart and his No. 14 Chevrolet team and it moved him up two spots in the point standings at least for this week, let's not overstate its importance. Unless he wins again at Richmond, he'll drop behind multiple race winners Johnson, Hamlin, Harvick, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch once the standings are re-set for the Chase -- and he hasn't shown the consistent speed that it will take to run up front and come out on top of everyone else in the final 10 races.

It does make it more interesting, though.

• Stewart pulls away for first victory of season
• Restarts an issue all race for AMS winner Stewart

5. So who are the championship favorites as the Chase beckons?

You can never count out Johnson, whose third-place finish at Atlanta served as a reminder that the defending champ isn't going anywhere. He's proven to be the best in the final 10 races four years running -- and until someone else proves differently, he's still the one to beat.

If you're looking for top challengers, however, this corner likes Kyle Busch and Edwards as the pair most likely to rise up and give Johnson a run for the money -- and the championship hardware. Busch is having another phenomenal year across the board of NASCAR's three top national touring series and seems to have a determination about him that matches the will he displayed in his successful pursuit of last year's Nationwide title. Edwards has yet to win a race this season, but has in the past seven weeks scored more points than anybody with his consistently strong runs -- including a second at Atlanta.

While the younger Busch and Edwards seem to be heading into Richmond with loads of positive momentum, five-time 2010 race winner Hamlin heads to what he calls his home track fighting a trend that is exactly the opposite. A win Saturday night would go a long way toward changing that and putting him back in the mix as a possible Johnson challenger -- but the trick is that you've got to be really good the entire final 10-race stretch, and not just now and again or for a stretch earlier in the season when it means a whole lot less.

• Caraviello: Amid the chaos, Johnson remains a constant

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.