See how the 2013 Chase stacks up against other championship battles since 1975
RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
For all the ground covered and for all the chances for title hopes to be dashed, one would think stock-car racing's playoffs might be a runaway. Instead, it's a seven-point lead for five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and 2003 champ Matt Kenseth all even, making it the second-closest Chase in history with two races left.
Johnson and Kenseth enter Phoenix International Raceway for Sunday's AdvoCare 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the series' winningest drivers this year -- Kenseth with seven victories in 2013, and Johnson with six, meaning that Kenseth would hold the tiebreaker if the season were to end in a deadlock.
Such a finish wouldn't be unprecedented: Tony Stewart edged Carl Edwards for the 2011 Sprint Cup crown on a tiebreaker as he won the Homestead-Miami Speedway season finale.
Two rounds to the finish, with two evenly matched heavyweights on their "A game," making the turn for home atop the standings. A look inside NASCAR's closest season finishes:
| With two races remaining | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Points margin | Leader | Second place | Eventual champion |
| 2011 | 3 | Carl Edwards | Tony Stewart | Stewart |
| 2013 | 7 | Jimmie Johnson | Matt Kenseth | ?? |
| 2012 | 7 | Jimmie Johnson | Brad Keselowski | Keselowski |
| 1979 | 8* | Richard Petty | Darrell Waltrip | Petty |
| 2006 | 17 | Jimmie Johnson | Matt Kenseth | Johnson |
| With one race remaining | ||||
| Year | Points margin | Leader | Second place | Eventual champion |
| 1979 | 2* | Darrell Waltrip | Richard Petty | Petty |
| 2011 | 3 | Carl Edwards | Tony Stewart | Stewart |
| 1990 | 6* | Dale Earnhardt | Mark Martin | Earnhardt |
| 2010 | 15 | Denny Hamlin | Jimmie Johnson | Johnson |
| 2004 | 18 | Kurt Busch | Jimmie Johnson | Busch |
*pre-Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
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