Tension builds for drivers on Chase bubble

RICHMOND

Three years later, Elliott Sadler can't forget the gut-wrenching anxiety of trying to make NASCAR's title chase at Richmond. He recalls who he raced. And who beat him for the final spot that night.

"There's nothing fun about coming to Richmond on the outside looking in or even on the bubble knowing you have to be mistake-free to make your way to the Chase," Sadler said.

"I remember that 2005 season like it happened yesterday. That ought to tell you how much a driver thinks about it."

A few drivers will experience similar pain today at Richmond International Raceway. Among those who could miss the Chase are former champions Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Gordon must finish 24th or better, Stewart 36th or better and Kenseth 26th or better (without any bonus points for leading a lap) to clinch a spot. So, unless something major happens, they should make it.

Denny Hamlin, who is 11th in the season standings, also could miss out. Considering that Hamlin was on the way to a dominant victory at this track in May until a flat tire, only major problems would keep him from making the Chase.

This is realistically a three-man battle for one spot. Clint Bowyer holds the final spot, but he's only 17 points ahead of David Ragan and 48 points ahead of Kasey Kahne.

They are the ones who should feel the most pressure. Should, that is.

"I probably don't realize how big this race is," said Ragan, in his second full season in Cup. "We're tense, and we're thinking about it, and I think that you'll hear this from Clint and also Kasey, but we've just got to go out and run our race."

If all three do, then Bowyer would make the Chase. He won at Richmond in May after Kyle Busch bumped Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the lead and Bowyer got by both in the final laps.

Bowyer has never finished worse than 12th in five races at this track. Ragan finished third in this race a year ago, but fared no better than 17th in two other races here. Kahne won here in 2005 and has four top-10 finishes in the six races since.

Bowyer admits his biggest hurdle might have been last week at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., where he finished 10th.

"I was worried about California," he said. "That's a track where we haven't been running the best at. I had already had my mindset made up that it was going to be OK to go into Richmond behind (in points) and have to make it up. Now, we've just got to conserve what we've got."

Even so, there's hope for

Kahne. Jeremy Mayfield overcame a 56-point deficit by winning this race in 2004 to make the inaugural Chase.

That Kahne is outside the top 12 surprises him. He was eighth in the points after Watkins Glen last month, but back-to-back 40th-place finishes (one for a blown engine and another for an accident) has him facing today's challenge.

"I was really surprised to see how quickly we lost a lot of spots and ended up maybe having a shot at making it in," Kahne said. "It's going to be close to see if we can even get in the deal now."

Kahne has done this before. In 2006, he entered this race 30 points out of the Chase. He finished third and knocked Stewart out of the Chase.

"That was terrible," Stewart said. "At the time, it's a feeling of disbelief. "

It's a familiar place for Kahne, who has made the Chase once in his career.

If Kahne misses the Chase this time, it would mark the first time in the five years of the Chase that Dodge has not had a car contend for the crown.

"I just really think that we are down a little bit, whether it's power or the car or whatever it may be," Kahne said, "but that's kind of how we are as a manufacturer and kind of how it's been for the last five years."