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Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson clinch Chase spots

GEICO 500

GEICO 500

Chris Trotman

Both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson clinched Chase for the Sprint Cup spots Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. They join Kevin Harvick, who clinched a spot the previous weekend at Kentucky Speedway.

All will make the Chase provided they start each of the remaining seven races before the Chase begins.

Also, Joey Logano has clinched a spot in the top 30 in points. Since he has one win this season - the Daytona 500 - he could still conceivably not make the Chase if there were more than 16 different winners before the Chase field was set. That is highly unlikely.

Earnhardt clinched his Chase spot after finishing fifth at New Hampshire. Johnson clinched after placing 22nd. Logano clinched a spot in the top 30 in points with his fourth-place result.

The 16-driver Chase will be set after the Sept. 12 race at Richmond International Raceway. There are 10 drivers who have won a race this season and are Chase eligible.

Kyle Busch has three victories but is not yet Chase eligible. He’s 58 points out of 30th in the points. At the current rate, he needs to average about a 20th-place finish to climb into the top 30 in points and be Chase eligible.

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