Kahne, Johnson, Earnhardt still look to 'finish up the year strong'

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were all elimiated from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Sunday.

But it wasn't for lack of effort.

"At least we went down swinging," Johnson said. "I’ll take some pride in that.”

All three drivers led at least 12 laps at Talladega Superspeedway, with Johnson leading the most laps and Earnhardt the second-most during the event.

But at various points of the race, all three drivers were shuffled back into the middle of the pack, and it made the the task of getting back to the front that much harder.

"It was tough if you weren’t in the top few spots," Kahne said. "Once we were up there early on we could race. We had a great Farmer’s Insurance Chevy - led laps and ran in the top-three and back to the lead. Once I was 10th or eighth, it was just really difficult to get back to that point."

Though a championship in 2014 is now out of reach for all three drivers, their goal for each and every weekend for the rest of the Chase won't change.

"We will just go try to win some more races before the year is out," Earnhardt said. "We've had a good season and have a lot to be looking forward to."

And there's still an opportunity to finish as high as fifth in the final points standings.

Johnson said it "would mean the world" to him.

"The worst I’ve finished is sixth in the points, so it’s not time to put our feet up," he said. "We need to finish strong and try to be in the top five.”

"Definitely disappointed but we'll dig in deep and finish up the year strong and look forward to 2015."