INDIANAPOLIS – Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman hung onto the final two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff berths that were still up for grabs on Monday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, advancing to the postseason on points as everyone who was chasing them was unable to steal a win.

The two Hendrick Motorsports teammates knew coming into the 25th annual Brickyard 400 that if they stayed out of trouble and there was no surprise winner standing in victory lane at the end of the day, both of them would advance to fight for a championship.

Ultimately, that’s exactly what happened, though Bowman’s position seemed slightly precarious at times during the 160-lap event.

Bowman entered the day 16th on the playoff grid, and while he couldn’t be caught on points, the Arizona young gun was the driver most at risk if a driver outside the top 16 pulled off a miracle.

That situation was compounded on lap 67, when Bowman was involved in a crash with A.J. Allmendinger that caused heavy damage to the right side of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet that forced the team to exhaust the NASCAR damaged vehicle clock in order to make repairs.

Despite being able to make minimum speed and continue, Bowman ended up being relegated outside the top 35, multiple laps down and unable to defend the final playoff position.

At that point, his fate was in the hands of his competitors, but Brad Keselowski went on to steal Monday’s race win from Denny Hamlin, effectively protecting Bowman from being overhauled and securing Bowman’s first postseason appearance in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports even with a 33rd-place finish on Monday.

Bowman added after the race that he was keeping one eye trained on the front of the field, hoping that someone wouldn’t sneak up and break his heart in the final laps.

“I was watching the scoreboard a little bit,” admitted Bowman. “If the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) won, he deserved to be in it more than we did. I kind of had that attitude all weekend. If somebody else wins, we can’t control that, you know?

“It was a pretty miserable day. I hate it for my guys,” Bowman continued. “I hate it for the No. 47 (Allmendinger) as well. I don’t know if I came down on his door too much or if he just got loose. Whatever it was, it was a bummer for both of us. I hate that. We’ll move on from it, though. It wasn’t a good day, but at least we finished and we move on to Vegas with a shot to fight for this championship.”

Meanwhile, as Bowman faded through the running order and out of contention to contend up front, Johnson’s place in the playoffs was sealed. He came in 19 points clear of Bowman, needing only to stay ahead of his young protégé in points in order to advance to the playoffs without question.

Once Bowman dropped deep in the field, as crew chief Chad Knaus noted over the radio, the No. 48 team had nothing to worry about even after a less-than-stellar day at a track where they’ve won four times before.

“We raced up into the top 10 a couple of times. The restarts were key, but we just didn’t have the speed to run up front,” Johnson said. “I can say we worked our butts off. We were very well-prepared to come in here and have as much speed as possible, and we’re going to go home and work hard and be ready for Las Vegas.”

Johnson continued his streak of making every NASCAR postseason since the inception of the playoffs in 2004, a run of 15 straight years.

“I’m just proud that I’ve made every playoff since NASCAR started them. That’s a big honor for me,” noted Johnson. “Now we just need to go the rounds and get hot at the right time.”

Johnson and Bowman will be seeded 15th and 16th in the playoffs. Neither driver enters the opening round with any bonus points, starting at the base total of 2,000 and sitting 50 points back of co-leaders Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

On the flip side of the situation, Ryan Newman ended the day as the first man below the cut line. The Richard Childress Racing driver landed 17th in the playoff standings, 58 points back of Bowman.

Newman, who made the Championship 4 and finished second in points in the elimination format four years ago, just simply didn’t have the pace to contend at the front of the field. He finished 10th.

“Our laps times in clean air were as good as the top-five cars, but we just needed the track position and a shot at the end,” said Newman. “Fortunately for us, our strategy paid off and we were in contention with 10 laps to go. We lined up sixth on the final restart, but with all that dirty air, it just wasn’t going to happen for us.

“All in all, for having absolutely no practice or qualifying, it was a great job by my crew chief Luke Lambert and the rest of the No. 31 crew for unloading a competitive car for me this weekend. Our regular season may be over, but our plan remains the same: win. We’ve got 10 more chances to win.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin Sept. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.