In 2006, nothing or no one was to stand in the way of Kevin Harvick, who posted record-breaking statistics that season. Harvick primarily drove for Richard Childress Racing in 2006; however, he did spend a few Saturdays behind the wheel of the car that he fielded out of his Kevin Harvick, Inc. shop. All nine of his wins were with Richard Childress Racing, however. Following the August race at Michigan, Harvick would have watched his 484-point lead shrink to only five over Denny Hamlin, who qualified for his second consecutive Chase for the Championship. The championship standings would have appeared as below:



1)Kevin Harvick 5050, 2) Denny Hamlin 5045, 3) Carl Edwards 5040, 4) Clint Bowyer, 5035, 5) J.J. Yeley 5030, 6) Paul Menard 5025, 7) Greg Biffle 5020, 8) Kyle Busch 5015, 9) Johnny Sauter 5010, 10) Kenny Wallace 5005.

J.J. Yeley and Johnny Sauter would have been the only Chase for the Championship newbies.

Unlike Truex Jr the previous season, Harvick's supremacy persisted into the final ten races. He was invincible throughout the final ten races as he scored four wins, eight top five finishes, and a top ten finish in every race. Harvick made all of his competitors appear as also-rans. Nobody was even remotely close, and he would have clinched the championship with two races remaining. Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer were respectable in the final ten races, but neither driver ended up in the same zip code as Harvick, as the deficit to second place was a whopping 348 points. Chase or no chase, this was a lackluster championship battle.

Final Chase For The Championship Standings

1)Kevin Harvick 6778, 2) Carl Edwards 6430, 3) Clint Bowyer 6383, 4) Denny Hamlin 6276, 5) J.J. Yeley 6253, 6) Paul Menard 6202, 7) Johnny Sauter 6119, 8) Kyle Busch 6107, 9) Kenny Wallace 5947, 10) Greg Biffle 5940.

Actual Championship Standings

1)Kevin Harvick 5648, 2) Carl Edwards 4824, 3) Clint Bowyer 4683, 4) Denny Hamlin 4667, 5) J.J. Yeley 4487, 6) Paul Menard 4075, 7) Kyle Busch 3921, 8) Johnny Sauter 3794, 9) Greg Biffle 3789, 10) Reed Sorenson 3670.

11) Kenny Wallace 3626.

In 2007, NASCAR altered the Chase for the Championship format. It became a twelve-man championship tussle as opposed to only ten. Additionally, the drivers were seeded based on wins. Each driver in the Chase for the Championship started out with 5000 points and an additional ten points for every win prior to the Chase for the Championship.

Carl Edwards started the 2007 season on fire as he won four races in the first 15 events. He was shutout of victory lane over the course of the next ten races. However, he built an authoritative 700-point advantage over Kevin Harvick, who only competed in 18 of the first 25 events. Under the revised Chase for the Championship format, Edwards would have watched his lead completely evaporate, and find himself ten points behind Harvick Harvick had five wins, which equaled fifty bonus points. Edwards had four wins, which equaled forty bonus points. Edwards seemed to lose some steam as he finished 20th or worse in three of the five races leading up to the Chase for the Championship.

Heading into the championship fight in Bristol, the championship standings would have appeared as below:

1)Kevin Harvick 5050, 2) Carl Edwards 5040, 3) Matt Kenseth 5020, 4) Jason Leffler 5010, 5) Stephen Leicht 5010, 6) David Reutimann 5000, 7) David Ragan 5000, 8) Bobby Hamilton Jr 5000, 9) Marcos Ambrose 5000, 10) Greg Biffle 5000, 11) Mike Wallace 5000, 12) Dave Blaney 5000.

This would have been the championship chase that no one saw coming. Edwards was supposed to cruise to his first championship, even under the Chase for the Championship format. His perceived foremost threats were Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth, and neither driver competed in all ten Chase races. A 26th place finish at California was a setback for Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing, but it was consecutive finishes of 38th, 33rd, and 25th at Kansas, Charlotte, and Memphis that would have put a dagger in his championship aspirations. He found himself playing catch-up in the final three races.

Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann, a Chase for the Championship newbie, ceased the opportunity to capitalize on Edwards? misfortune. Despite scoring only three top ten finishes, including a win at Memphis, in the final ten races, Reutimann never finished below 23rd. In fact, he finished in the top 15 in seven of the final ten races. He was unspectacular, but he would have been the 2007 Nationwide Series champion under this format. Jason Leffler would have been Reutimann's chief threat, as he was only 42 points behind Reutimann heading into the season finale at Homestead. Leffler finished 14th while Reutimann finished one spot behind him in 15th.

Final Chase for the Championship Standings

1)David Reutimann 6304, 2) Jason Leffler 6265, 3) Carl Edwards 6232, 4) Matt Kenseth 6210, 5) Kevin Harvick 6130, 6) Stephen Leicth 6101, 7) Bobby Hamilton Jr 6090, 8) David Ragan 6048, 9) Greg Biffle 6002, 10) Mike Wallace 5977, 11) Marcos Ambrose 5976, 12) Dave Blaney 5239.

Actual championship standings

1)Carl Edwards 4805, 2) David Reutimann 4187, 3) Jason Leffler 3996, 4) Kevin Harvick 3993, 5) David Ragan 3739, 6) Bobby Hamilton Jr 3667, 7) Stephen Leicht 3603, 8) Marcos Ambrose 3477, 9) Greg Biffle 3466, 10) Matt Kenseth 3451, 11) Mike Wallace 3396, 12) Clint Bowyer 3269.

22) Dave Blaney 2491