NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings as of Amp Energy 500 at Talladega

With a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS, extended his lead in the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
 
The three-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion took the cautious approach in today’s race running and avoided two major multi-car incidents to take the checkered in the back of the field throughout the majority of the race.  He made his move toward the front late in the face to secure the top-10 finish at the checkered.
 
Johnson holds a 184-point lead over second place Mark Martin with three races remaining in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season.

 
Mark Martin, No. 5 Pop Tarts/CARQUEST Impala SS, was the victim of the final accident of the day and relegated to the 28th finishing position. He lost 63 points to Johnson to remain in the runner-up spot in the standings.
 
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, remains third in the points order, eight points down to Martin after finishing 20th in the final shuffle that forced the race to a green-white-checkered finish on lap 191, three laps over the advertised distance.
 
Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Impala SS, moved to fourth in the Chase points order after finishing 19th today.

RANK	DRIVER	POINTS	STARTS
1	Jimmie Johnson	6248	33
2	Mark Martin	6064	33
3	Jeff Gordon	6056	33
4	Juan Montoya	6009	33
5	Tony Stewart	5969	33
6	Kurt Busch	5936	33
7	Greg Biffle	5908	33
8	Ryan Newman	5846	33
9	Kasey Kahne	5834	33
10	Carl Edwards	5811	33
11	Denny Hamlin	5800	33
12	Brian Vickers	5697	33
13	Kyle Busch	4043	33
14	Matt Kenseth	3986	33
15	Clint Bowyer	3932	33
16	David Reutimann	3854	33
17	Jeff Burton	3539	33
18	Marcos Ambrose	3519	33
19	Joey Logano*	3494	33
20	Casey Mears	3471	33
21	Kevin Harvick	3380	33
22	Jamie McMurray	3286	33
23	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	3197	33
24	Martin Truex Jr.	3139	33
25	Elliott Sadler	3134	33
26	A.J. Allmendinger	3084	33
27	David Ragan	2985	33
28	Reed Sorenson	2964	33
29	Sam Hornish Jr.	2948	33
30	Bobby Labonte	2942	33
31	David Stremme	2919	33
32	Paul Menard	2742	33
33	Michael Waltrip	2612	31
34	Robby Gordon	2474	32
35	Scott Speed*	2435	32
36	John Andretti	2381	31

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