Chase News from NASCAR Scene

Chase For The Sprint Cup: Homestead-Miami Speedway

NASCAR's Chase For The Sprint Cup heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. Here's a look at where the 12 drivers in the championship-determining field stand and how each has traditionally performed at the track.

CHASE STANDINGS

CHASE DRIVERS AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

DRIVER CAPSULES: HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson: The refrain you’ll hear often heading into the season finale: “Anything can happen.” True, but with a 108-point lead over Mark Martin and needing only a 25th-place finish, Johnson is poised to make history at Homestead. 

2. Mark Martin: The fairy-tale finish many fans hoped for is dying a slow death. Martin’s title hopes are still alive, but Johnson looks to be leaving everybody – including the author of this year’s best feel-good story – in his wake.

3. Jeff Gordon: Gordon’s bid to capture a fifth Cup crown will have to wait until 2010. Try as he might, the mentor can’t muster enough in terms of performance to slay his protege. He’ll never have to look far to see his chief title threat.

4. Kurt Busch: Busch said he thought it was “cute” that some observers were already handing Johnson the title midway through the Chase. He probably had a point there somewhere, but it’s now lost in the 211 points separating him from Johnson.

5. Tony Stewart: Smoke was fuming after Dale Earnhardt Jr. appeared to cause a multicar crash, letting loose a stream of invective over his team radio toward NASCAR’s most popular driver. It’s been a long year for everyone, especially Junior.

6. Juan Pablo Montoya: Biggest surprise outside of Mark Martin this year, Montoya is still searching for his first win of the season. With the improvement his team has made on intermediate tracks, it could come at Homestead. Seriously.

7. Greg Biffle: Biffle said he is excited about 2010, and at this rate, it can’t come soon enough. After finishing 14th at Phoenix, he said, “What we got is what we got. It’s been that way all year. There was no light at the end of the tunnel.” 

8. Denny Hamlin: Third-place run was solid, but Hamlin made more headlines off the track. Hamlin started by saying NASCAR needs to listen to suggestions from all drivers. Then he rekindled his feud with Brad Keselowski on the Nationwide side.  

9. Ryan Newman: Newman was a non-factor at Phoenix, where he started and finished near the middle of the pack. His first-year team did well by making the Chase For The Sprint Cup, but clearly it needs improvement to crack the top echelon.

10. Kasey Kahne: Kahne is trying not to let off-track issues surrounding Richard Petty Motorsports distract him, but they certainly can’t help. Perhaps better days are ahead once RPM finalizes its merger and runs Fords.

11. Carl Edwards: Edwards enters the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the defending race champion. That’s the good news. The bad news? He hasn’t been in victory lane following a Cup race since then.

12. Brian Vickers: Vickers was involved in a multicar wreck and finished lowest among all Chase drivers at Phoenix (38th place). Unfortunately, for him, he’ll finish lowest in the Chase standings, too.