Kasey Kahne could still race his way into the Chase. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images Photo) » More Photos

LAST CHANCE Although Kasey Kahne is 48 points away from the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, don’t count him out, said Tony Stewart, who thinks the Washington driver could race his way into the Chase in Sunday’s Chevy Rock ‘N’ Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. “The kid is one of the best competitors that I've ever been around,” Stewart said of Kahne. “If anybody can race their way in, it's him. And at this point, you learn that nothing surprises you in this series after a while. You become immune to the shocks of this. But anything can happen. And we're not locked in, and we only have to finish 36th or better, and we know that that could be turned, and the confidence that we have that we're going to make it can be turned upside down in a matter of one corner. So you know, nothing will surprise me right now.”

NO FUN Jeff Gordon has been adamant about not competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as so many of his peers have. Gordon, who has an extremely full schedule with appearances, hospitality and sponsor obligations, has another reason this season for skipping the Nationwide races: They aren’t fun, now that NASCAR has cut about 80 horsepower out with its tapered spacer that fits between the carburetor and the intake manifold.

“I can't tell you how happy I am not to be in that race,” Gordon said when asked about the Emerson Radio 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway. “ … All I can tell you is that there's not one driver I've talked to this year that said that they've enjoyed running the Nationwide races. With that spacer on them, they said they're terrible, and they cannot compare the cars at all to the Cup cars.”

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 Senior NASCAR Editor 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 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

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