Matt Kenseth, the last driver to win a title under the old points system, also will fail to win the Sprint Cup under the four-year-old Chase for the championship format.

All is not lost for the two former champions: They each have five races left to make it to Victory Lane and extend lengthy winning streaks. Kenseth has won at least one race every year since 2001, and Gordon's streak stretches all the way back to his 1993 rookie season.

But both are currently mired in long losing streaks.

Kenseth hasn't won in 31 races, dating back to last year's finale at Homestead. Gordon just hit the one-year anniversary of his last victory, which came last October at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

''It's a big deal to win, and it's really hard to win,'' Kenseth said. ''If we don't win a race this year, I'll be really disappointed in that. But I can't do anything special to try to get a win. I race as hard as I can race every single race.''