He needs a high finish to secure his next start.
The Mexican lashed a high finish home, before Samaras doubled the lead with equal force.
Last year he started in 29 Busch races, with no victories and a high finish of fourth.
After a strong opening round, he felt a high finish was in his reach.
The five scoring Lions had a gap of only 34 seconds, showing excellent pack running that could lead to a high finish at the N.C.A.A. meet.
With a high finish and the overall lead there for the taking, disaster struck and he was next to go, in circumstances that left him seething.
For an emerging second-tier runner, victory or a high finish could have meant a six-figure increase in a shoe-company sponsorship.
Of the others, Riley (only four strokes off the lead), Cink and Verplank would each need a high finish to qualify on points.
In the top leagues of each country, a high finish qualifies a team for one of the pan-European competitions the Champions League and the UEFA Cup that run in parallel with national contests.
But Lehman (who missed the cut here on Friday), Cink, Furyk and Hoch are vulnerable to a high finish in the P.G.A. by any or all of the following -- David Toms, Paul Azinger, Chris DiMarco, Brad Faxon, Scott Verplank and Steve Lowery.
