"Elite among the Elite"

Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson remain the "elite among the elite" as the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ hits it mid-point with Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET ABC, Performance Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio).

The pair retained its one-two rankings but Kenseth’s advantage shrank to three points over Johnson following his 11th-place finish at Kansas Speedway where Johnson ran sixth.

But make no mistake; they are hardly prohibitive favorites to claim this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Seven Chase qualifiers are within 47 points of the top spot. That’s one race worth of championship points.

In 2006, Johnson was ranked eighth after four Chase races. He roared back to erase a 156-point deficit – about 37 points under the current system – to win his first of five consecutive championships.

Sunday’s Kansas victory – his third of the season – provides Kevin Harvick with a huge boost of momentum. He’s third in the standings, 25 points behind Kenseth. Harvick won May’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a race in which Kenseth finished 15th and Johnson 22nd.

With four stops remaining in the NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign, both driver and owner championship races remain tight heading into Friday night’s Dollar General 300 (7:30 p.m. ET ESPN2, Performance Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio). Austin Dillon leads Sam Hornish Jr. by eight points while Penske Racing’s No. 22 Ford holds a five-point advantage over the No. 54 Toyota team of Joe Gibbs Racing.