I thought Gordon was also in, based on where they were running prior to the Bowyer spin? Looks like MWR antics may have cost Gordon a spot in the chase. They should have docked each MWR driver enough points so Bowyer is out. 100 points would do it. That would take Bowyer out and Gordon in. Maybe then teams will think twice about pulling this crap. But as someone stated, that may not be fair, since Gordon ran like sh*t all year long and Bowyer was fairly consistent.
Your right, Gordon WAS in at the time of the caution.
However, your other idea, I don't care for.
If Gordon runs like crap most of the year, but is still good enough to get in ... whats that say about those others, they just weren't good enough, if they ran consistanly in 13 and down, thats not good enough.