NASCAR What If: The 2012 Chase Under 2015 Rules
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Round One Elimination In the opening round of the chase Brad Keselowski won twice and Denny Hamlin won once which allowed them both to advance. After the first three races of the chase 12 drivers moved on and four missed the cut as seen below, the drivers are ranked according to the points they had after the first three races even though points reset before the next round.
- Brad Keselowski
- Denny Hamlin
- Jimmie Johnson
- Clint Bowyer
- Kasey Kahne
- Tony Stewart
- Joey Logano
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ryan Newman
- Jeff Gordon
- Kyle Busch
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- 13th – Kevin Harvick (-2)
- 14th – Greg Biffle (-4)
- 15th – Matt Kenseth (-26)
- 16th – Marcos Ambrose (-30)
The 202 chase was extremely close after the first cut with only eight points separating 9th-place Truex Jr. and 14th-place Biffle. Kenseth struggling the way that he did and being knocked out might have been a surprise to some people.