An eighth-place finish Sunday at The Monster Mile in Dover, Del., was a marked improvement for Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser team, but it didn’t budge him out of 12th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup chase for the championship title.

“Our Budweiser Dodge was pretty decent today,” Kahne said. “We battled all day and I’m proud of all my guys for their effort today. We struggled a bit with the splitter hitting the ground all day. We didn’t pick up as many spots in the Chase like we’d like to, but we performed well and didn’t lose any ground. There’s plenty of racing left in the Chase and we’re going to give the guys in front of us everything we’ve got.”

Jimmie Johnson won the race, while Mark Martin finished second, helping him maintain a 10-point lead over Johnson in drivers’ standings.

Racing continues Sunday from Kansas.