DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson
CHASE POINTS: first, 5,718
CAR: No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet
TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports
POSITION CHANGE: None
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 14
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 1st (five times)
LAST WEEK: The two-time defending champion extended his lead over Carl Edwards to 72 points by avoiding The Big One on his way to a ninth-place finish at Talladega, proving he's not only good, he's lucky, too.
CHASE CHATTER: "I was afraid the horseshoe was going to fall out at some point," Johnson said. "I missed a lot of wrecks. We got our lap back. It was just a very emotional day, draining across the board."
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DRIVER: Carl Edwards
CHASE POINTS: second, -72
CAR: No. 99 Office Depot Ford
TEAM: Roush Fenway Racing
POSITION CHANGE: None.
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 7
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 3rd (twice)
LAST WEEK: Got a little too aggressive trying to bump draft Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle heading into Turn 3 at Talladega, creating The Big One that dropped him to 29th-place and allowed Johnson to pick up some breathing room.
CHASE CHATTER: "It's my fault," Edwards said. "I feel bad that I took my teammates (Biffle and Matt Kenseth) out. I know Matt's mad and I'm sure Greg's mad, but you just do the best you can and hope for the best. It just didn't work out today."
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DRIVER: Greg Biffle
CHASE POINTS: third, -77
CAR: No. 16 3M Ford
TEAM: Roush Fenway Racing
POSITION CHANGE: None.
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 11
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 2nd
LAST WEEK: Luck ran out at Talladega, thanks in part to an overeager bump from teammate Carl Edwards that started the crash that sent both of them into the wall and ended their day early. His 24th-place finish was his worst effort since Daytona in early July.
CHASE CHATTER: "We had been able to push around the corner all day and I don't know if I was moving down or he was moving up, but maybe when he came to push a little bit it just instantly slid," Biffle said.
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DRIVER: Jeff Burton
CHASE POINTS: fourth, -99
CAR: No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
TEAM: Richard Childress Racing
POSITION CHANGE: None.
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 29
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 1st (twice)
LAST WEEK: Keeps hanging around after a fourth-place finish at Talladega. Deftly avoided the massive crash on lap 174 that took out most of the Chase contenders but couldn't find enough help to catch Tony Stewart on the green/white/checker finish.
CHASE CHATTER: "Any time you get a top-five at Talladega you've got to be happy with it," Burton said. "Certainly, we would rather have a win but this is a tough place and just getting out of here with a top-five is always a good thing."
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DRIVER: Clint Bowyer
CHASE POINTS: fifth, -152
CAR: No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet
TEAM: Richard Childress Racing
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 2
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 5
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 2nd
LAST WEEK: Vaulted two spots with a fifth-place finish at Talladega as his roller coaster ride during the Chase continues. He's back where he started a month ago but will need some help to repeat last year's third-place finish.
CHASE CHATTER: "We did what we had to do," Bowyer said. "We were able to capitalize on some people's misfortunes. The Jack Daniel's Chevrolet lives to race another day."
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DRIVER: Kevin Harvick
CHASE POINTS: sixth, -171
CAR: No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet
TEAM: Richard Childress Racing
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1.
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 15
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 2nd
LAST WEEK: Karma caught up with him in Alabama. Harvick had reeled off nine straight top-10 finishes and escaped unharmed after spinning out on the infield late in the race at Talladega, only to be caught up in The Big One a few laps later as he finished 20th.
CHASE CHATTER: "I had a really good car all day and I wasn't going to just sit back and not race," Harvick said. "I think we had a car that was capable of winning today, but it is what it is. Talladega is a crap shoot and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."
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DRIVER: Tony Stewart
CHASE POINTS: seventh, -203
CAR: No. 20 Home Depot Toyota
TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 4.
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 19
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 1st (spring 2003)
LAST WEEK: Finally snapped his winless streak by picking up first-ever victory at Talladega, where he'd finished second six times. Needed a little luck in avoiding the Big One and some solid blocking on the last lap that nullified Regan Smith's desperate pass on the apron at the wire.
CHASE CHATTER: "(Smith) got a gap there off of turn four and that gave him a run and I just had to protect my line," Stewart said. "You hate to have to do that, but to win here at Talladega, I would just about wreck the whole field to win here at Talladega, finally."
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DRIVER: Jeff Gordon
CHASE POINTS: eighth, -232
CAR: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet
TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 2
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 31
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 1st (five times)
LAST WEEK: A 38th-place finish at Talladega pretty much ended any chance of making a serious run for the championship. Main goal now is to snap a streak that has him six races from first winless season since 1993.
CHASE CHATTER: "Talladega is behind us and there is nothing we can do about that now," Gordon said. "We'll focus on the race at Lowe's and go out there Saturday night and try to win. There's still a lot of racing left this year, and I'm not counting anybody out just yet.
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DRIVER: Matt Kenseth
CHASE POINTS: ninth, -245
CAR: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford
TEAM: Roush Fenway Racing
POSITION CHANGE: None.
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 18
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 1st (fall 2000)
LAST WEEK: Rode the wave all day, starting 31st but quickly moved to the front and spent most of the day shuffling through the field before getting caught up in The Big One when teammates Biffle and Edwards spun out in front of him. He finished 26th.
CHASE CHATTER: "(Biffle) got wiped out and he wiped me out somehow," Kenseth said. "At the end we kind of worked our way toward the front. You knew it was gonna be crazy, but I actually felt like we were almost home free."
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DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
CHASE POINTS: 10th, -249
CAR: No. 88 AMP Energy-National Guard Chevrolet
TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 2
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 18
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 3rd
LAST WEEK: In a make-or-break weekend for the series' most popular driver, it was break. Found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time during The Big One, getting caught right behind Edwards and Biffle to end up finishing 28th.
CHASE CHATTER: "We were already kind of a long shot for this thing," Earnhardt Jr. said. "But, we were running good (at Talladega). It is what it is. I will do whatever I can to help my teammates win it if I can't win it. That's the attitude for the rest of the season."
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DRIVER: Kyle Busch
CHASE POINTS: 11th, -331
CAR: No. 18 M&Ms Toyota
TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 9
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 3rd (twice)
LAST WEEK: Earned a little redemption with a 15th-place finish after getting tangled up with Dave Blaney during the Big One. Moved out of last in the Chase standings but his JGR team is far from the form it showed during his dominant run in the regular season.
CHASE CHATTER: "We got to the bottom and almost made it through, but the 22 (Dave Blaney) got me in the right-front," Busch said. "My guys did a great job getting it fixed so we could finish."
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DRIVER: Denny Hamlin
CHASE POINTS: 12th, -335
CAR: No. 11 FedEx Toyota
TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 2
CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 6
BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 8th
LAST WEEK: Scary weekend for Hamlin. Was leading on lap 98 when a blown tire sent him to the wall at over 190 mph. Was taken to a local hospital for a possible concussion and remained there overnight before being released with concussion-like symptoms. Finished 39th and dropped to last in the Chase standings.
CHASE CHATTER: "The tire went down and it was quite a shot he took when he hit the wall," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing.
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