Kurt Busch (Right) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Left) both need solid finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Speedway to make it into the Chase. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

7. KURT BUSCH, Penske Racing. Chase status: Needs to finish 20th or better, 22nd and lead at least one lap, or 24th and lead the most laps. In 17 races at RIR, Busch has a victory, two top-five and five top-10 finishes. He has led 348 laps and his finishing average is 18.706.

8. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Chase status: Must finish 18th or better. He can also get in by finishing 20th and leading a lap or 21st and leading the most laps. Montoya has just one top 10 in five RIR starts. He has average finish of 27.800 and has never led a lap here.

9. RYAN NEWMAN, Stewart-Haas Racing. Chase status: He needs to finish at least 16th at RIR, 17th and lead a lap or 19th and lead the most laps. Newman has one pole, one victory, five top fives and nine top 10s in 15 starts. He has led 433 laps and has an average finish of 11.733.

10. MARK MARTIN, Hendrick Motorsports. Chase status: Must finish 12th or finish 14th and lead a lap, or 15th with the most laps led. In 47 RIR starts, Martin has three poles, a victory, 16 top fives and 26 top 10s. His average finish here is 11.936 and he’s led 417 laps.

11. GREG BIFFLE, Roush Fenway Racing. Chase status: Needs to finish 11th or better at Richmond, 13th with a lap led or 15th with the most laps led. Biffle has made 14 starts at RIR, with one pole, two top fives, five top 10s and 71 laps led. His average finish is 15.786.

12. MATT KENSETH, Roush Fenway Racing. Chase status: To lock himself into the Chase, he needs to either win at Richmond or finish second and lead a lap. Kenseth has 19 starts here, with one victory, three top-five and nine top-10 finishes. He has led 192 laps here and has an average finish of 16.737.

13. BRIAN VICKERS, Red Bull Racing. Chase status: Vickers needs to gain 21 points on Kenseth and stay ahead of Kyle Busch to clinch a Chase spot. In 10 RIR starts, Vickers has two poles and one top 10. His average finish is 27.800 and he’s led 53 laps.

14. KYLE BUSCH, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch needs to gain 17 points on Vickers and 37 points on Kenseth to make the Chase. In nine RIR starts, Busch has one victory, three runner-up finishes and seven top fives. His average finish of 6.111 is the best in the field and he’s led 398 laps.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to