RICHMOND, Va. – NASCAR will have a new champion at the end of the season. For now it has yet another conspiracy.

Reigning champion Brad Keselowski failed to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship Saturday night when an ill-timed caution ruined his run at Richmond International Raceway.

The same thing happened to Ryan Newman, who used a pass on the eventual winner, Carl Edwards, with 10 laps to go to take the lead for what should have been enough to get him into the Chase.

Then Clint Bowyer spun three laps later to bring out a caution that ruined Newman’s race. The benefactor? Martin Truex Jr., Bowyer’s teammate at Michael Waltrip Racing, who struggled the entire race.

Newman and Truex were locked into a race for the second of two wild cards into the 12-driver Chase field, and the race win would have given it to Newman. But he lost the lead on pit road and wound up finishing third, and Truex grabbed the final spot in the Chase.

Conspiracy theorists immediately accused Bowyer of spinning on purpose to help his teammate.

A despondent Newman wasn’t sure.

“They are teammates. I don’t know if he looked at the scoring pylon, knew I was leading, it doesn’t matter,” Newman said. “If that was the case, I’ll find out one way or the other. At the same time we still had the opportunity to make our own destiny and win it on pit road and we didn’t. That being said, we’re out.”

Truex, who broke his right wrist two weeks ago in a crash at Bristol and has been racing with a cast, said he had no idea who even caused the caution.

“I don’t know. I don’t have any thoughts on it. I raced my (butt) off all night long, that’s all I can do. I didn’t even know (Bowyer) brought out the caution until after the race.”

Kasey Kahne claimed the first wild-card berth, and Joey Logano, Keselowski’s teammate at Penske Racing, qualified for the Chase for the first time by rounding out the top 10 in points. Logano edged four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon by one point.

FORMULA ONE: Points leader Sebastian Vettel grabbed the pole position for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

NASCAR TRUCKS: Ross Chastain took the pole for Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway, edging Erik Jones.

Chastain had a lap at 137.147 mph in the No. 19 Ford owned by Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski on the 0.875-mile oval. It’s his first pole in 36 series races.

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