Ryan Newman Finished 11th At Richmond's Chevy Rock and Roll 400

Ryan Newman had a pretty good night at Richmond finishing 11th after starting 4th.

Newman ran in the Top 10 for the first half of the race. He even led 25 or so laps and was looking really strong.

On lap 242 Newman spun and collected Kurt Busch and Juan Montoya. Montoya's No. 42 caught on fire in the infield. Busch ended up with damage to the rear of his car. This ultimetly resulted in the red flag being thrown on lap 245.

Caution #9 came when Sorenson spun after getting into the back of Gilliland when he slowed up. Newman ended up in the back of Sorenson and then managed to dive out of the way to avoid further damage.

After that Newman spend the rest of his evening getting back up to his finishing position of 11th.

Newman was officially out of the Chase for the Nextel Cup before this race started, so the race at Richmond did not have any effect on that.

Newman now sits in 14th position 64 points behind Dale Earnhardt JR in 13th place. JR did not make the Chase either but also had a fantastic night at Richmond before his engine blew with only 5 laps to go. That is JR's fifth DNF this season due to engine failure.

The 2007 Chase For The NEXTEL CUP is now set in stone. The contenders for the cup are -

1 -- Jeff Gordon
2 -- Tony Stewart
3 -- Denny Hamlin
4 +2 Jimmie Johnson
5 -- Matt Kenseth
6 -2 Carl Edwards
7 -- Jeff Burton
8 -- Kyle Busch
9 -- Clint Bowyer
10 +1 Kurt Busch
11 -1 Martin Truex Jr.
12 -- Kevin Harvick