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Big names may not make Chase

Strap on your HANS device, everybody.

It's going to be a wild ride with six races to go before the 12-driver field is set for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

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The top seven guys are safe. But once you get below Jeff Gordon, now seventh, there's a lot of jockeying for the last five slots, especially since the last two will place a premium on victories.

That could eliminate Tony Stewart (ninth), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th), Clint Bowyer (12th) and Greg Biffle (13th). None of those guys has a victory, leaving them in a precarious position to qualify. They will be driving without a safety net. Any major mistakes will take them out of the running.

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As always, much of the drama will revolve around Earnhardt. After finishing 16th at the Brickyard 400, Earnhardt dropped another spot in the points. If he remains winless and continues his downward spiral, Earnhardt won't qualify.

"We'll try not to worry about it," Earnhardt said after Sunday's race. "We'll go to Pocono and try not to let that overwhelm us or consume us and try to focus on the next racetrack. We're going testing and try to go to Pocono and do better than we did last time."

However it plays out, it will make for one dramatic finish in the regular-season finale at Richmond.

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