The Cheez-It 355 at The Glen produced its share of drama Sunday afternoon as multiple cautions over the closing laps provided the opportunity for Ford to place three drivers in the top ten. Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag just ahead of Joey Logano and BradKeselowski; Trevor Bayne finished 9th, keeping his playoff qualifying hopes alive. Keselowski was running 4th coming out of the final turn when he tapped the rear bumper of Martin Truex Jr. causing his car to lose traction and spin into the wall. Truex Jr. recovered to finish 7th. Just behind them A.J. Allmendinger nudged Kyle Larson from behind to steal 4th place, Larson could not recover after crashing into the inside wall and fell to 29th place.The Larson wreck had a significant impact on the season long point standings as Larson saw 25 points disappear just a few hundred yards from the finish line, while he still holds the final playoff spot, Trevor Bayne is only eight points behind. Tony Stewart finished 5th, all but locking him into the playoffs as he now sits 94 points ahead of 30th place. Chris Buescher, the other winner that must finish in the top 30 to qualify for the playoffs, moved to within three points of David Ragan who currently holds the 30th spot. If Buescher can pass Ragan it will push Larson out of the final playoff position. Larson, Bayne, Kasey Kahne and Wood Brothers Ford driver Ryan Blaney are all within 18 points of each other with just 4 races left until the Chase begins.The Sprint Cup series takes its summer vacation next week, but returns on Saturday night August 20 for 500 grueling laps on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway. The difficult half-mile short track on the Virginia-Tennessee border may very well jumble the standing again as drivers battle for those final playoff spots.
