Carl Edwards (6 wins, 11 top 5’s, 19 top 10’s, 105.6 driver rating)

Why He’s Here: Six backflips plus four 2nd place runs mean Cousin Carl has been a front runner all season. He has only led 636 laps (less than Dale Earnhardt Jr), but he makes them count. While one of his wins won’t count towards his Chase points, he still begins in 2nd place only 30 behind Kyle Busch. After a lackluster 2007, all of the Roush cars(well, except for Jamie McMurray) have rebounded on the intermediate tracks.

Best Tracks: Edwards has been spectacular at the intermediate tracks all season. Five of his six wins have come at the high speed, downforce-intense tracks like Las Vegas, Texas and Michigan. With half of the Chase schedule comprised of 1.5 mile tracks, this will suit Edwards nicely. He also runs well at Dover and Phoenix.

Achilles Heel: Two tracks represent the major hurdles for Edwards’ title hopes. When it comes to Talladega, the Roush cars have not been as fast as the Chevy’s and Toyota’s at restrictor plate tracks. Edwards is certainly capable of finding his way to the front of the draft, but Roush’s lesser plate car also leaves him susceptible to the Big One. Edwards’ other rough patch is the paperclip-shaped Martinsville track. He has only one top ten in eight career starts and zero laps led. Not only are these two tracks question marks for Edwards, but they are also excellent tracks for his nearest rivals, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

Outlook: Some drivers are capable of racking up top tens and top fives, but Edwards is capable of winning several races. It’s the difference of a football team that relies on a strong ground game compared to one with a vertical passing game. A deep threat covers up a lot of other weaknesses. Because of that factor Edwards has a great chance to win the Chase.

Kyle Busch (8 wins, 15 top 5’s, 17 top 10’s, 118 driver rating)

Why He’s Here: The first 26 races of 2008 have been nearly perfect for Kyle Busch. After his switch to Joe Gibbs Racing, and maybe more importantly an extra year of experience, Busch has had a career year. 15 top 5’s and 17 top 10’s and 1580 laps led and a spot atop the standings thanks to his eight wins. Not only has Busch won a lot of races, but he’s won at almost every type of track: 1.5 mile high banked (Atlanta), 1.5 mile flat (Chicago), restrictor plate (Talladega, Daytona), 1 mile (Dover). Busch will see each of these types of tracks during the Chase.

Best Tracks: Busch won races at Talladega and Daytona earlier this year, and led the most laps at the Daytona 500. He also excels at high-banked tracks like Dover and Atlanta, both on the Chase menu. While he hasn’t run as well at flat 1 mile tracks this year, he has also been very strong in the past at Loudon and Phoenix.

Achilles: Busch hasn’t traditionally run well at Homestead, which could be a vital race. While he’s never finished better than 20th at Homestead, he also hasn’t had a lot to run for in previous years. With a championship trophy to serve as a carrot, Busch will have plenty of incentive.

Outlook: It’s hard to say much wrong about the #18 team so far this year. They have won races by dominating start to finish (Darlington, Sonoma), via fast pit stops (Dover), daring late passes (Chicago) and overcoming adversity (Talladega). The other small issue is Busch’s temperament. In the past he’s allowed his emotions to get him into bad situations and it’s possible again. If he has a bad day, will he sulk and not race for maximum points? It’s nitpicking at this point because Busch has lived a charmed life this year and there are no signs of that changing during the Chase. He will face stiff competition from both Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, but the tracks line up well for Busch.

Now that was a race! Tight racing all day, lots of lead changes, a smattering of payback and a close finish between two top drivers. Jimmie Johnson won again in his typical economical style: work on the car all day and find your way to the front in the final 25% of the race.

Now the talk turns to the Chase and who has a chance to win it. The top three drivers have won 18 of the 26 races so far and no other Chase driver has more than one win. Last year the Chase began as a three man contest among Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. This year it remains a three man show with Johnson, Kyle Busch and Edwards.

The other big buzz word in September is “momentum”. A driver wins a race or scores several top tens and suddenly they get a boost of momentum. No one is sandbagging at this time of year which means that no one is going to whimsically fall into a consecutive top fives. The teams that are running well right now are doing so because they have spent all season improving their fleets, getting comfortable setups and excel at the current tracks. Does Jimmie Johnson have momentum right now or did the #48 spend all season looking forward to the Chase? On the flipside, based on his last two results Kyle Busch may be viewed as having lost momentum. Which is also ridiculous. Each week is a different race, and while some weeks do have carry over (Richmond/Loudon and Atlanta/Texas are similar tracks), you tell how someone will fare based on last week’s result.

• It didn’t look like Dale Earnhardt Jr sought payback and intentionally wrecked Kyle Busch, but he got quite the ovation when he did so. Right before the incident I thought to myself, “If there was ever a setting for revenge with little repercussions, this is it.” And then the #18 car went for a spin.

• Another strong run for David Reutimann. He scored back to back top tens and had a car capable of winning the race. The final pit stop showed the difference between the elite Cup teams and one like the #44 that is still learning. Reutimann is up to 25th in driver points and making a strong case for a better ride in either 2009 or 2010.

• After the race the announcers talked a lot about the seedings for the Chase. To clarify, there aren’t 12 seeds like in an NCAA basketball region. After the first three drivers (Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson) were seeded according to their respective win totals, everyone else is either a 4 seed or 5 seed. The four drivers with one win start with 5010 points and the four with zero wins begin on 5000 points. It sounded like a big gap between 1st and 12th, but in reality it’s only 80 points separating all the Chase drivers.

• Remember when Elliott Sadler made the Chase? Seeing him wreck every other week makes 2004 seem like another career.

• Prior to the season I made my Chase predictions and picked 10 of 12 correctly. It sounds impressive, but when you see that 10 drivers made the Chase in 2007 and 2008. While the final spot was still up for grabs between Clint Bowyer and David Ragan, it was still between two powerhouse teams.

Be sure to check back daily for driver previews of all 12 Chase drivers.“

Sylvania 300

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway History

• Groundbreaking for New Hampshire International Speedway, as New Hampshire Motor Speedway was originally named, was Aug. 13, 1989. It was the first superspeedway to be constructed in the United States since 1969.
• The official opening was June 5, 1990 with the first race being a NASCAR Nationwide Series race on July 15, 1990.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on July 11, 1993.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck series race was on Sept. 9, 1996.
• The track was renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2008.

Track Numbers

• NASCAR Cup Series Races: 27
• Pole Winners: 15
• Race Winners: 17
• There was originally one race a year from 1993 through 1996 and two per year since.
• Four drivers have competed in all 27 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek.
• Mark Martin won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole.
• Rusty Wallace won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
• Ryan Newman has the most poles (four). Qualifying has been canceled three times.
• Jeff Burton has the most wins at New Hampshire with four.
• Jimmie Johnson (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004) are the only drivers that have posted season sweeps. Those are also the only back-to-back winners.
• Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have each won six races, more than any other organization.
• Chevrolet has won 12 races – including five of the past seven.
• 14 of 27 races have been won from the top-10 starting positions, including four from the pole.
• The deepest in the field that a New Hampshire race winner started was 38th by Jeff Burton in 1999.
• All NASCAR Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire have been scheduled for 300 laps.
• There has been one postponed/rescheduled race at New Hampshire. The 2001 fall race was run as the season finale in November, after being rescheduled following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
• There have been eight different pole winners in the past nine New Hampshire races (qualifying was canceled once in the nine-race period).
• There have been seven different race winners in the past seven New Hampshire races.
• There have been three shortened races at New Hampshire: July 2002 (273 laps), September 2002 (207) and June 2008 (284).
• Jeff Burton led all 300 laps raced in the 2000 fall race.
• Clint Bowyer led 222 laps and scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 in last year’s fall New Hampshire race.
• In the Chase era, the eventual champion has an average finish of 12.0 in the first race of the Chase, which has always been held at New Hampshire. Kurt Busch won in 2004, Tony Stewart finished second in 2005 and Jimmie Johnson finished 39th and sixth in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Track Records

• Track qualifying record: Ryan Newman (133.357 mph, 28.561 secs., 9-12-03)
• Track race record: Jeff Burton (117.134 mph, 7-13-97)

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2007 pole winner: Clint Bowyer (130.412 mph, 29.206 seconds)
• 2007 race winner: Clint Bowyer (110.475 mph, 9-16-07)

New Hampshire Race Day Data

• Estimated Pit Window: 70-78 laps, based on fuel mileage
• # 27 of 36 (9-14-08)
• Track Size: 1.058 miles
• Race Length: 317.4 miles (300 laps)
• Banking/Corners: 12 degrees
• Banking/Straights: 2 degrees

Stewart-Haas Racing made another personnel move this week. Darian Grubb will bring his strong engineering background from Hendrick Motorsports to the top of Stewart’s pit box. He was the interim crew chief for Chad Knaus in 2006 when Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500 and the Las Vegas race. Last year he got the full time crew chief job for #25 car and led Casey Mears to his best season at the Cup level.

What do you think of the hire? Does Grubb have enough experience for a top crew chief position? What happens to Bootie Barker and matt Borland? Was there someone better available? Can Stewart win a race next year?

Because of Tropical Storm Hanna, Joey Logano couldn’t qualify for the Cup race on Friday and his debut will have to wait at least a week. Said Logano, “I can’t change the weather, so I just go with it.

Joey, Joey, Joey. If you are truly NASCAR’s messiah you will need to figure out how to at least alter the weather.

OK, so the title is a little misleading, but at least it rhymes. Earlier this week Penske Racing officially announced the hiring of David Stremme for the #12 car. Like every other Silly Season announcement, it’s been known about for weeks.

Between Stremme and Reed Sorenson’s new rides it will be interesting to truly see where Ganassi cars are. In two years in Ganassi’s #40 car Stremme managed three top tens. Was it the car or is Stremme a good Nationwide driver but can’t cut it at the Cup level. I have a feeling both questions could be answered in 2009. Stremme definitely deserved another chance at the Cup level, and Penske is definitely a step up from Ganassi, albeit a small step. While Stremme gets a deserved second chance at the Cup level, he needs to make the most of it. He has never won a NASCAR race at any of the top three levels (203 starts) and has never even finished in the top ten in points in the Busch/Nationwide Series. There is the chance that with 75 Cup starts Stremme now has the experience to run up front or that he is some kind of late bloomer. It’s possible, but unlikely.

The hire is also an indictment on how far Penske’s prestige has fallen. Three years ago they were able to lure the defending Cup champion, Kurt Busch, to drive for them. Now when they need to replace Ryan Newman the best they could do was a winless Cup driver. Even with the organization’s struggles in recent years, Newman never finished lower than 18th in the points. Either Penske has unrealistic expectations for Stremme, or they have lowered them to unprecedented lows. It will certainly be an interesting year for Penske, especially to see whether Busch is willing to stick around with the team’s current standing on the Cup ladder.

Other Notes

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Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, VA.

Richmond International Raceway History

• October 12, 1946: Driving an open-wheel car, Ted Horn wins the first race at Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds over 1/2-mile dirt track.
• 1955: Paul Sawyer and legendary racer Joe Weatherly buy the property. Track is known as “Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds.
• 1959: The track begins hosting two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events each season and has continued to do so since.
• 1967: Track becomes known as “Virginia State Fairgrounds.
• 1969: Track becomes known as “Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway.
• September 7, 1969: Track is re-measured at .542-mile, a distance that would remain constant until the track was rebuilt to its current .75-mile configuration in 1988. Race length is 462 laps.
• March 11, 1979: Dale Earnhardt makes his debut at Richmond.
• 1988: Track becomes known as “Richmond International Raceway.
• September 11, 1999: Future NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Tony Stewart wins his first ever NASCAR Winston Cup Series race by defeating teammate Bobby Labonte.
• Summer 2003: Improvements for the drivers are made, including SAFER wall barriers, a new infield care center, freshly concreted pit stalls, a centrally located spotter’s stand and a new perimeter racetrack fence.
• September 11, 2004: Jeremy Mayfield wins the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 in dramatic fashion, as he races his way into the top 10 and a berth in the inaugural Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
• May 6, 2007: Richmond International Raceway hosts its 31st consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series sellout, which coincides with the all-new Commonwealth Tower and TORQUE Club. The three-tiered grandstand addition is a hit among fans, giving them an unprecedented view of the Crown Royal Presents The Your Name Here 400 race, which ran a day later than scheduled because of inclement weather.

Track Numbers

• NASCAR Cup Series Races: 104
• Race Winners: 45
• Richard Petty has the most wins of any driver with 13.

Track Records

• Track qualifying record: Dale Earnhardt Jr (129.983 mph, 5-15-04)
• Track race record: Dale Jarrett (109.047 mph, 9-6-97)

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2007 pole winner: Jimmie Johnson (126.298 mph, 21.378 seconds)
• 2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson (91.813 mph, 9-8-07)

Richmond Race Day Data

• # 26 of 36 (9-6-08)
• Track Size: .75 miles
• Race Length: 400 laps/300 miles
• Banking/Corners: 14 degrees
• Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees
• Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees

“Is there a better track for stock cars than Richmond?

Aside from the Daytona 500, it’s hard to picture a race with greater anticipation than the September Richmond event.

• It’s only 400 laps.
• A Saturday night race.
• Passing is possible but is tougher than simply ducking under a car and going.
• Richmond is always packed.
• Four or five drivers will develop ulcers during the weekend trying to make the Chase.

Let the Bleeding Ensue

Clint Bowyer and David Ragan are only 17 points apart for the final Chase spot.

Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon are all pretty safe bets to make the Chase.

Some just need to start the race while others like Kenseth and Gordon need to finish 24th or better to ensure their passage.

Denny Hamlin (from Virginia) needs a finish higher than 21st to control his own destiny, but can also make it with other scenarios. See Foxsports for every permutation or simply watch the pretty green, yellow and red colors on Saturday night.

What Happened Last Year

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson alternated at the front leading a combined 295 laps.

In the end Johnson jumped on everyone on one of the final restarts to cruise to his second straight win. Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr also staged an excellent three-way battle up front before Junior blew another engine.

Over/Under

Tell me how many times each of these things will get mentioned by the ESPN crew on Saturday night.

• Denny Hamlin is from Virginia.
• Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are rivals.
• Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr have bad blood from the last Richmond race.
• Joey Logano is only 18.
• Michael Waltrip is the worst driver in NASCAR, period. (just kidding, Clint Bowyer will be too busy to be in the booth)

Notes and Thoughts

• Speaking of Logano, he will hopefully make his Cup debut in the #02 car that Brandon Ash has made so famous. I say hopefully because tropical storm Hanna may affect the qualifying schedule. With no owner points to rely on Logano would be axed.
• While Logano will garner most of the hype this weekend, two other top prospects will make their NASCAR debuts. Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, will make his Nationwide debut at Richmond and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Marc Davis will make his Truck debut with Randy Moss’ team.
• One of the small things that adds some fun to the Chevy Rock and Roll weekend is usually a few cool Rock and Roll paint schemes. For some reason there aren’t any this year. What gives? No Kiss, No Elvis, not even Usher for his legion of NASCAR fans.

Who Will Win?

Denny Hamlin was almost untouchable this spring. He won the pole and led 381 of the first 382 laps. Of course then he was touched, got a flat tire and 24th. This time around he will take care of business and lead 403 (Green-White-Checker) laps. Did I mention he’s from Virginia? Wow!

Meanwhile the final Chase spots will pretty much take care of themselves. The only driver with any real concern is Bowyer, but he is very good at Richmond and will hold off that young whippersnapper, David Ragan. Unless Ragan takes offense to such a derogatory nickname and it motivates him to finish in the top 5.

“p>Ryan Newman and Barry Sanders Huddle up for the Alltel Racing Podcast.

The latest installment of the Alltel Racing Podcast switched gears and pulled up to the gridiron when Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders stopped by to chat with 2008 Daytona 500 Champion, Ryan Newman.

Newman and Sanders compared the speeds and quickness of their respective sports. Sanders however won’t be joining Randy Moss Motorsports or any other race team as the pro football legend said he had trouble getting his license.

In response, Newman joked, “There are a few guys on the track who might want to look into getting their licenses renewed.

For the chance to travel to any college or pro football game via private jet with 10 friends and join Sanders for a VIP tailgate experience, fans can enter the Alltel “My Circle Gridiron Getaway” sweepstakes, text JET to 57533 or log onto alltelfootball.com