NASCAR Cup Series

Charlotte race to define title contenders

Published Oct. 14, 2010 6:59 p.m. ET

foxsports

Last week’s race was a heartbreaker for several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers. Now, the attitude those men and teams bring to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend could determine whether or not it was the fatal moment in their run.

Some reacted swiftly to setbacks with comments that their title hopes were over. Others found the brighter spots and immediately turned their thoughts to a rally. Through it all, one thing became increasingly clear: The men at the front of the pack are slipping away from those who are not. And those that are at the front seem to be getting more confident and tenacious in how they approach the races.

So now, with just six races remaining in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the battle for position and points becomes even more critical.

Four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson leads the pack with a 36-point edge over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. Richard Childress Racing’s Kevin Harvick, leader in the standings for much of the opening 26 races of the season, is third and 54 points back. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate Jeff Gordon is 85 points back and Tony Stewart, by virtue of his win last Sunday, is fifth and 107 back.

Now they head to Charlotte Motor Speedway, a fast 1.5-mile track that hosts three Cup events a year – two points races and the all-star event – for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500. The track is very temperature sensitive, which makes the race that runs into the night there all that much more difficult. This is the kind of track where a crew chief is key and where drivers must relate well the changes they are feeling in their cars.

Several of the Chase drivers carry wins and strong performances at the track.

Johnson leads all active drivers with six wins there. That ties him with all-time leaders Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. Gordon follows with five wins. Jeff Burton has three and Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch each have one win there. In fact, Busch is going for a piece of history there this weekend. No driver has every swept both points races and the all-star race at the track in a season. Busch has already won the first two legs of it this year.

Can he make it three? Can Stewart win two races in a row and break back into the true heart of the Chase? Will Johnson extend his record there?

As drivers prepare for the lone night race in the Chase, they face a series of questions. A look at past history shows that some title contenders must really be looking forward to racing in Charlotte Saturday night. Here’s a look at the drivers that, based on past performance in points races at the track, could fare well this weekend:

Jimmie Johnson: The defending champ is strong everywhere, but he has pretty much owned Charlotte during his Cup career. When the track shared the name of his sponsor, Lowe’s, it was often referred to as “Jimmie’s House.” That moniker could come back into play this weekend. Johnson leads all active drivers with six wins at the track. He has 13 top-10 finishes, nine of them top fives, in 18 races there. He not only brings an average finish of 10.2 at the track into the weekend, but also has led 1,370 laps at Charlotte. One really shouldn’t discount his potential this weekend.

Carl Edwards: One doesn’t necessarily think about Edwards when looking at races and top performances at the track – but you should. Edwards has seven top-10 finishes at the track, four of them top fives, and boasts an average finish of 13.2 at the site. He has finished third there twice in his career and has been running well in the Chase this season, boosting his potential Saturday.

Tony Stewart: Fresh off a Chase win, Stewart is suddenly gaining ground on the field and flashing the style that already netted him a pair of Cup championships. He won last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in California. He has a previous points win at Charlotte. He has 11 top-10 finishes, six of them top fives, at the 1.5-mile track and has led 596 laps there. Stewart has earned an average Charlotte finish of 13.4.Watch out for him Saturday.

Jeff Gordon: Hendrick teams must be psyched to see Charlotte next on the schedule. Gordon closely follows Johnson with five wins at the track. He has 20 top-10 finishes, 16 of them top fives. Despite nine DNFs there over the years, he has an average finish of 15.4 at Charlotte. If he can stay out of trouble, look for him to be contending for the win once more.

Based on their previous runs, other drivers are probably a mite less thrilled to see Charlotte looming on the schedule. Who has traditionally not run as well in points races there?

Kevin Harvick: Although he's a winner of the all-star race, Harvick just hasn’t mastered this 1.5-mile track. He’s suffered through a series of inconsistent finishes without much in terms of top runs to offset that. He has just three top-10 finishes in 19 starts at the track, one of them a top five, in an uncharacteristic series of struggles for he and his team. Overall, Harvick has an average finish of 20.7 at Charlotte, worst among the Chase field.

Greg Biffle: A week after suffering an engine failure, Biffle and his Roush Fenway team need to rally. Charlotte, traditionally, hasn’t been the best place for them to do that. Biffle has five top-10 finishes in 15 starts at the track, two of them top fives. He also has a pair of DNFs for an average finish of 19.1.

Denny Hamlin: The Joe Gibbs Racing driver and his Mike Ford-led team are sitting second in the standings and hanging close to Johnson. They’ll need to continue that this weekend, unfortunately at a track that is one of Johnson’s best and that has been mediocre, at best, for Hamlin. He has three top-10 finishes in 10 starts there. That, combined with a DNF, has netted him an average finish of 18.5. But Hamlin has certainly run better than that in races there and could significantly outperform that this weekend. He’ll need to in order to remain in the heart of the title battle.