Mayfield earns first win in more than four years

RICHMOND, Va. -- The task was clear for Jeremy Mayfield: Win the race and don't worry about the race to make NASCAR's playoffs.

Mission accomplished.

Mayfield won his first race in over four years Saturday night, taking the Chevrolet 400 at Richmond International Raceway after leader Kurt Busch ran out of gas eight laps from the finish.

The victory locked Mayfield into NASCAR's race for the Nextel Cup title in the final qualifying event, but he was the only driver to jump into the chase. Kasey Kahne, his teammate at Evernham Motorsports, finished 12th and dropped out of the top 10.

Jamie McMurray felt the same way, finishing in ninth place and narrowly missing the chase: He's 11th in the standings, but just 31 points out of the 400-point window that would have qualified him.

Bobby Labonte, Kevin Harvick and Dale Jarrett were the only other drivers with mathematical shots at racing into the playoff picture, but ended up as also-rans after poor performances.

The chase will start with Jeff Gordon as the points leader, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Busch, Mark Martin, Mayfield and Ryan Newman. The drivers are separated in five-point increments.