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Still in the hunt

Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards believe they can win the Chase

BY JIM UTTER

McClatchy Newspapers

As the number of races remaining in the Chase for the Sprint Cup drops, what Jimmie Johnson's nearest competitors need to stay in the hunt continues to grow.

Giving up is not an option, even in the face of what may appear to be insurmountable odds. "You start to think, 'Man, it's going to be another whole year.' It's like if you have a bad game bowling or something and you think, 'All right, this game will be over in a couple frames and we'll just start over,' but there is no starting over," said Carl Edwards, who now trails Johnson by 198 points with four races remaining.

"You have to dig until the end. It's interesting that way. It crescendos pretty big the whole year and now we've got to essentially go out and win the next four races."

Edwards isn't the only one staring down difficult odds

entering Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

In the first four years of the Chase format, twice the eventual champion led the standings with four races left and twice the eventual champion has overcome a deficit to win, but the largest margin was Johnson's comeback from 53 points back in 2007.

Currently, Johnson's nearest competition is Greg Biffle, who trails Johnson by 149 points.

"I'm still confident we can catch him, for sure," Biffle said after Sunday's race at Martinsville, Va.

In defense of his optimism, Biffle has been one of the most consistent performers in the Chase this season, starting off with two wins and a third in the first three races.

Of the four tracks remaining on the schedule - Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead - Biffle has won on two of them, but none since the 2006 season.

"We can catch them. I don't think it's over," Biffle said. "We're leaving Martinsville not exactly where we wanted. We wanted to be in the top 10 and we were 12th. We were hoping (Johnson) wouldn't win.

"He's not going to have flawless races, I'm telling you."

Actually, Johnson is already close. Dating back to before the start of the Chase, Johnson has no finish worse than ninth since his 33rd place finish in August at Bristol, Tenn. - a string of eight straight top- 10s. Included in that span is four of his six wins this season.

Edwards said one needs to look no further than at Kyle Busch's season to see the potential for a stark and quick turnaround in fortunes.

"Those guys seemed unbeatable and they just had the bad luck," Edwards said of Busch's run in the Chase, which has produced just one top-10 finish. Busch racked up eight wins in the first 22 races of the season, but none since Aug. 10 at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

"This isn't over until the last lap at Homestead, that's for sure," Edwards said, almost to reassure himself.

Carl Edwards, left, and Greg Biffle, right, both trail Chase points leader Jimmie Johnson. Johnson leads Edwards by 198 points and Biffle by 149 points.

AUTOSTOCK

PEP BOYS AUTO 500

Where:Atlanta Motor Speedway, a highly banked paved quad-oval located in Hampton, Ga.

When: Sunday at 2 p.m. (all times ET). Qualifying is 6:45 p.m. Friday.

TV: ABC.

Radio: Perfomance Racing Network.

Purse: $6,234,316.

Last year's winner: Jimmie Johnson.

Worth mentioning:Atlanta Motor Speedway will honor Bill Elliott's 1988 Melling Racing team to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the team's 1988 Cup championship as part of the pre-race activities for Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500. Many of Elliott's crew members from the 1988 championship team will join the driver on stage for a recognition ceremony.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

Who do you think has a better chance at winning the Chase, Greg Biffle or Carl Edwards?

Cast your vote at: www.thatsracin.com

LAST WEEK'S QUESTION

Jimmie Johnson is out front in NASCAR's Chase playoff, but Jeff Burton has closed the gap. How's this going to shake out?

Number of votes: 3,352

Response	No. of votes	Percent
Johnson will win his third straight title.	1,872	56%
Burton will win it all.	778	23%
Someone else will be the 2008 Cup champ.	702	21%

WHO'S HOT

Havrick

Jimmie Johnson: The Chase is winding down and Johnson is taking charge. Sound familiar?

Greg Biffle: Don't count him out, but he has a tough job ahead.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Too late for a championship this season, but team and driver have been improving in recent weeks.

Clint Bowyer: Can take a big step this week in nailing down his first Nationwide Series championship.

WHO'S NOT

Kyle Busch: As good as he was in the first 26 races, he has been that bad in the final 10.

Weather: Anyone remember the last Cup qualifying session we got in?

Jamie McMurray: The poster boy for bad luck this season.

- Jim Utter

SPRINT CUP POINTS LEADERS

The top-40 drivers as of Oct. 19:

Rank/Driver Points Rank/Driver Points

1. Jimmie Johnson . 6073
2. Greg Biffle . 5924
3. Jeff Burton . 5921
4. Carl Edwards . 5875
5. Clint Bowyer . 5831
6. Kevin Harvick . 5817
7. Jeff Gordon . 5798
8. Tony Stewart . 5735
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5694
10. Matt Kenseth . 5665
11. Denny Hamlin . 5653
12. Kyle Busch . 5628
13. David Ragan . 3802
14. Kasey Kahne . 3656
15. Brian Vickers . 3412
16. Martin Truex Jr. 3411
17.Ryan Newman . 3380
18. Kurt Busch . 3231
19.Jamie McMurray . 3158
20. Bobby Labonte . 3147
221. Casey Mears . 3082

22. Elliott Sadler . 3066
23. Juan Montoya . 3023
24. David Reutimann 2983
25.Travis Kvapil . 2977
26. Paul Menard . 2826
27. David Gilliland . 2805
28. Mark Martin . 2677
29. Michael Waltrip . 2615
30.Reed Sorenson . 2557
31.Dave Blaney . 2535
32. Scott Riggs . 2505
33.Robby Gordon . 2445
34.Regan Smith . 2383
35. Sam Hornish Jr. 2274
36. A.J. Allmendinger 1985
37. Joe Nemechek . 1848
38. Patrick Carpentier 1794
39. Michael McDowell 1466
40. J.J. Yeley . 1263

NATIONWIDE SERIES POINTS LEADERS The top-20 drivers as of Oct. 10: Rank/Driver Points Rank/Driver Points
1. Clint Bowyer . 4552 2. Carl Edwards . 4356 3. Brad Keselowski . 4266 4. Mike Bliss . 4017 5. David Ragan . 4013 6. Kyle Busch . 3931 7. David Reutimann 3882 8. Mike Wallace . 3633 9. Jason Leffler . 3599 10.Marcos Ambrose. 3574	11. Jason Keller . 3458 12. David Stremme . 3446 13. Kelly Bires . 3303 14. Steve Wallace . 3216 15. Bobby Hamilton Jr.3142 16. Kenny Wallace . 2789 17. Kevin Harvick . 2685 18. Scott Wimmer . 2675 19.Denny Hamlin . 2316 20. Brad Coleman . 2271
NEXT RACE: Saturday, Kroger On Track For The Cure 250, Memphis, Tenn.

TRUCK SERIES POINTS LEADERS The top-10 drivers as of Oct. 18: Rank/Driver Points Rank/Driver Points
1. Johnny Benson . 3178 2. Ron Hornaday . 3113 3. Matt Crafton . 2951 4. Todd Bodine . 2946 5. Mike Skinner . 2896	6. Erik Darnell . 2877 7. Rick Crawford . 2856 8. Dennis Setzer . 2694 9. Jack Sprague . 2668 10.Terry Cook . 2575
NEXT RACE: Saturday, E-Z-GO 200, Hampton, Ga.

THAT'S RACIN'S TOP PICKS

1. Jimmie Johnson (car No. 48):Even Achilles had a spot on his heel. It's hard to find a weakness here. Last week: 1.

2. Greg Biffle (car No. 16): Needs four top fives, at least, to even put any pressure on Johnson's team. Last week: 2.

Carl Edwards (car No. 99): Comes back strong after bad day at Charlotte but the hole may be too deep. Last week: 4.

4. Jeff Burton (car No. 31): Pit road mistake was costly, but the car needed to be better to start with. Last week: 3.

5. Clint Bowyer (car No. 07): Has Fifth in the points because he still hasn't had a really bad Chase race. Last week: 5.

6. Kevin Harvick (car No. 29): In Seventh at Martinsville is good but not good enough for this team this year. Last week: 7.

7. Tony Stewart (car No. 20): One of several teams that battled issues with tires during Martinsville race. Last week: 6.

8. Jeff Gordon (car No. 24): always good at Martinsville, but Johnson again was a little bit better. Last week: 9.

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (car No.88): Strong runner-up at Martinsville in what was this team's best run in weeks. Last week: 11.

10. Matt Kenseth (car No. 17): Twelve points ahead of Denny Hamlin in battle for the last top-10 Chase spot. Last week: 10.

For the rest of the top-40 rankings, go online and visit www.thatsracin.com

Five things you may have missed in auto racing

JOHN SMIERCIAK/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Kyle Busch is 445 points behind the Sprint Cup points leader.

BY JIM PEDLEY

McClatchy Newspapers

Here's a rundown of a what's happening in the world of motorsports:

1. Not even "Carl Burffle" seems capable of getting between Jimmie Johnson and a third straight championship. The pattern for those chasing Johnson in the Chase - Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle - seems to be taking turns of taking a step forward one week and then a step back the next. Johnson keeps stepping forward.

2. After putting together one of the greatest NASCAR seasons ever, Kyle Busch could be mathematically eliminated from this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship after next Sunday's race in Atlanta. If he comes out of Atlanta 484 points behind the leader, he will be out.

JASON SMITH FOR NASCAR

Scott Speed finished 30th in his first Sprint Cup race at Martinsville on Sunday.

3. Scott Speed made his Sprint Cup debut, and it was inauspicious. Speed, the last American to drive in the Formula One series, started 35th and finished 30th at Martinsville on

Johnson heads to Atlanta with a 445- point lead over Busch. Sunday. He was seven laps off the pace. The problem, he said, was with his brakes.

They were not working. That is trouble at any track, but especially at Martinsville.

4. Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday and put himself in position to become the youngest world champion. Hamilton, 23, needs to finish only in the top five of the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks to become the 2008 champion. The win was the fifth of the season for the McLaren Mercedes driver from England.

5. The Audi team of Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner wrapped up the LMP1 championship by winning the American Le Mans Series race Saturday in Monterey, Calif. The LMP2 championship was won by Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who drove a Porsche.