By: Toby Christie – http://twitter.com/tobalical

Though only two drivers — Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. — have been mathematically eliminated from the 12-man Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kasey Kahne is the lastest driver to fall an insurmountable total of points behind the championship leader Jimmie Johnson.

On lap 322, while running inside the top-ten Kahne had a tire let go. He then slammed the wall, the damage was hard enough to force him to a lap down while his team made repairs on pit road. As a result Kahne would finish a disappointing 25th, after what was a really good run.

With just two races remaining in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Kasey Kahne now stares down a 58-point deficit to the point leader Jimmie Johnson. It is going to take a miracle for Kahne to dig out of that kind of hole.

Realistically the Chase for the Championship is now a two man race, as Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski are separated by just seven points atop the standings. Clint Bowyer is the only other driver within shouting distance at 36 points back in third spot. Bowyer finished sixth Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Here are the point standings after the AAA Texas 500:

1-48 Jimmie Johnson, 2,339 pts
2-2 Brad Keselowski, -7
3-15 Clint Bowyer, -36
4-5 Kasey Kahne, -58
5-17 Matt Kenseth, -72
6-24 Jeff Gordon, -72
7-11 Denny Hamlin, -73
8-14 Tony Stewart, -80
9-56- Martin Truex Jr., -80
10-16 Greg Biffle, -83
11-29 Kevin Harvick, -101 (Mathematically Eliminated)
12-88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., -151 (Mathematically Eliminated)

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com. You can also find his work at TheFinalLap.com this weekend.