August 24, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

After posting solid top-10 finishes in Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Nextel Cup drivers Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson are the first drivers to clinch spots in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

The Chase, now in its second year, is a playoff-style competition which begins after race number 26 in the 36-race season. The top 10 drivers in points, along with any drivers within 400 points of first place, will compete for the Cup title.

With three races left before the Chase begins, Stewart and Johnson, currently first and second in the standings, are mathematically locked in to the Chase, as long as they start the next three races.

Stewart entered the Michigan race with a lead of 105 points over Johnson. The Home Depot driver started the race from 36th, but managed to avoid the obstacles that plagued many of his competitors - including left rear tire issues, overheated engines caused by debris, and fuel strategies that failed some teams. Stewart brought home a 5th-place finish and increased his points lead to 126 over Johnson.

"I'm excited that we're in a position where we're locked in already," Stewart said after Sunday's race. "We're just trying to stay consistent and keep our team pumped up, and days like this will keep us pumped up going into the Chase."

Johnson started and finished the race in 10th despite having fallen back to 26th at one point. He is now second in the standings, although he had been in the points lead from race number 3 to race number 20 this year. Upon learning that he is locked into the Chase, Johnson remarked, "Yeah, that's nice. It's comforting to at least be in the top 10 in points. It's a testament to these guys to clinch it with three to go. I'm excited for it and it just means we've had a great season. We shouldn't be ashamed of anything."

There is uncertainty for a number of other teams hoping to qualify for the Chase by the Richmond cutoff. After Michigan, only 104 points separate 10th from 15th-place. The six drivers currently in that group are Jamie McMurray (10), Dale Jarrett (11), Jeff Gordon (12), Elliott Sadler (13), Kevin Harvick (14) and Matt Kenseth (15).

Jarrett, Gordon and Kenseth each gained a spot in the points standings after Sunday's race. Kenseth had the strongest run of the group at Michigan, finishing 3rd and leading 9 laps. "We were probably a fifth-to-tenth place car," he said after the race. "They did a great job on pit road on our pit stops. We made all the right adjustments and at the end we had all the fastest cars in the race up to that point beat, so I felt good about what we did."

Jeff Gordon was unable to capitalize on his outside-pole qualifying effort, finishing 15th. "It wasn't pretty, but it was a good points day for us," Gordon remarked. "I'm not exactly sure what it did for us in the points, but I know that (we gained). It was not a good day for us performance-wise. We've got a lot of work to do before we go to California, because we can't run like that. That part of it was disappointing."

While Jarrett, Gordon and Kenseth moved up in the standings, Kevin Harvick maintained his place at 14th. Jamie McMurray slipped one spot to 10th and Elliott Sadler dropped two to 13th.

Sadler, driver of the No. 38 Ford, lost the handle on Lap 82 and spent a number of laps in the garage before returning to the track to finish 39th.

A dejected Sadler commented, "I don't know what to say. I think my worst nightmare has come true. I've put us in a position where we've got to win the next couple of races to try and get into the Chase. My guys are doing a great job of giving me good race cars. I don't know what I'm doing as a driver to mess up so many times. I just got really loose behind the 45 and the 12 and it just came around. I was a little loose in traffic all day, but I didn't really expect it to be that loose. So, I just made a driver mistake and I have dug a hole that's maybe too deep for my team to get me out. I've got a great race team. We're not going to hang our heads. We're not going to give up. We're going to go to Bristol and try to sit on the pole like we did in the spring race, and try to lead some laps. It's not over with. Yeah, we're making our chances a long shot, but it's not over with yet. We've just got to be a little smarter on the race track."

The upcoming weekend's event is a Saturday night race at Bristol, the high-banked short track where anything can - and probably will - happen. As Dale Earnhardt, Jr., explained, "The thing about Bristol is you can be really good, but still caught up in a wreck. That's probably the main concern. Even if you're the leader, it's hard to miss wrecks sometimes because of all the lap traffic. That's just Bristol. You can't take a break at any time. The moment you think you're doing good, it'll jump up and deal you a nasty blow."

By this time next week, look for a number of positions in the Race for the Chase to be shuffled once again.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.