Kasey Kahne bumped from Chase at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Kasey Kahne entered Sunday's Geico 500, the final race in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, in the eighth and final cutoff spot for the next round of the playoffs.

It was almost as close for Kahne at the end of Sunday's race, but the numbers were on the negative side. He lost the final round-two qualifying spot to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon by three points.

Kahne had a strong car Sunday, leading 12 laps (the same number as race winner Brad Keselowski), but he was just another driver lost in the jumble of the huge drafting pack in the race's final minutes. He finished 12th.

The closing laps were frantic, but Kahne said the day was simply another Sunday at Talladega – normal and wild.

"It was just Talladega – not any different," Kahne said.

Despite a season that produced a win and 11 top 10s, Kahne won't be in the Chase group for the final four races of the season.

"I knew exactly what I needed," Kahne said. "I knew I was within one point of one guy going into the weekend."

Kahne bounced around in the fierce traffic jams produced by the pair of two-lap dashes near the end but couldn't get traction in the draft.

"Everybody just goes as hard as they can and hope they have the momentum and good air wherever you're headed," he said. "It was just kind of the way it was."

Kahne led the 45th lap and then 11 straight from lap 51 to 62 but wasn't a factor at the end.

"We had a great car," he said. "The second-to-the-last restart, we went backward rather than forward, just because the cars in front of me parked it getting into (turn) one. I tried to go around them, and it ended up being a bad decision. I never got back to where we needed to be."

It was a tough final Chase run for the team.

"I feel sick," tweeted Kevin Hamlin, Kahne's spotter, after the race.