After winning at Dover, Kurt Busch was asked whether the Chase is more competitive than ever.
"I would say it's a slippery Chase," he said, "because you can slip just one little bit and the next thing you know, you are fighting from behind."
Carl Edwards is the only Chaser with top-10 finishes in the first three Chase races. He and Harvick have the same number of points, but Harvick gets the edge for having more wins overall (four) than Edwards (one).
"It feels like the pressure's up and the anxiety is up," Edwards said yesterday on a conference call. "Everybody knows that one mistake can cost them a shot at [the title]."
This is Edwards' fifth consecutive Chase and sixth overall.
"I'm more at ease with the whole situation," said Edwards, whose best finish was second in 2008. "I'm having more fun competing than in 2008. We led the points [this year] for 13 to 15 weeks, so I know I can lead the points. Our qualifying is better; our teamwork is better. Somebody's going to have to beat us."
It's likely the final three drivers in the Chase - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (behind by 34 points), Ryan Newman (behind by 41) and Denny Hamlin (68 behind) - already are out of contention this year. Under the old points system last year, after three Chase races, Tony Stewart was 127 points off the pace, Matt Kenseth was minus-149 and Clint Bowyer was 252 behind. Stewart finished seventh, Kenseth was fifth and Bowyer last. (Bowyer won the Chase opener at New Hampshire, then was penalized 150 points for a chassis violation and plummeted to the bottom of the standings).
BUSCH BROTHERS RULE
With Kurt Busch winning two races and younger brother Kyle winning four, the Busches have won 20.6 percent of this year's 29 races. Every time I see Kurt Busch's yellow No. 22 Dodge and Bowyer's yellow No. 33 Chevrolet, I think of Yellow Cabs: "Driver, how much to take me a few laps around Dover?"
