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Rivalry, Star Power Could Make This The Best Chase

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 27, 2008

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are winning all of the races - well, they have won seven of the past nine and 14 of 24 overall - and neither has much tolerance for the other.

Their budding rivalry has become the talk of NASCAR, but it isn't the only reason the upcoming Chase for the Sprint Cup should be the most interesting since the inaugural one in 2004.

There's also Jimmie Johnson's bid to become the first three-peat champion since Cale Yarborough in 1976-78, fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. having a realistic shot for the first time in years and Tony Stewart taking probably his last crack at a third title for a while.

"As the Chase gets closer, everybody that has a shot at this thing is going to find ways to motivate themselves and look for areas where they can play mind games, be that on or off the track," Johnson said Tuesday.

"You're going to see the pressure bring out the best and worst from everybody."

Two races remain before the Chase, a 10-race quasi-playoff in which 12 qualifying drivers get their points reset to 5,000, plus 10 points for every race they've won.

All of the biggest stars should be in, unless you put Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch in that category. It would be the first Chase since 2004 with Jeff Gordon, Stewart and Earnhardt all getting in.

Busch and Edwards have been the class of the field in 2008, with the young and oft-brash Busch winning eight races and the generally well-liked, back-flipping Edwards winning six, including three of the past four.

They've had run-ins in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series (where, by the way, they have won a combined nine races). Since neither has a short memory, there could be more.

"If we're always racing around one another and we bump into each other occasionally, it will probably be pretty fun for the fans," Edwards said. "I'm just glad I'm fast enough that we are up there racing like that."

If Edwards and Busch didn't have a rivalry before Saturday night at Bristol, they do now. They do because Edwards, citing history with Busch, bumped Busch out of the way with 30 laps remaining to win the Sharpie 500.

Afterward, Busch ran into Edwards on the cool-down lap, and Edwards retaliated with contact of his own. If that wasn't enough, J.D. Gibbs, Busch's boss and president of Joe Gibbs Racing, had a few words for Edwards.

"He just explained to me that you reap what you sow, which I believe, and I explained to him that that's why that happened that way," Edwards said. "I'm honestly not too worried about it. I feel like I was extremely justified to do what I did.

"Let's make this real clear: I'm not apologizing for it, and that's it."

Johnson is fourth in the standings with two victories, and though he hasn't been as fast as Busch or Edwards, nobody could rightfully call him an underdog. Ferocious finishers, Johnson and the No. 48 team have won more than a quarter of the 40 Chase races.

Three consecutive titles would give him a feat that even Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. didn't manage.

Earnhardt Jr. hasn't been a championship factor since 2004, a career-best season in which he won six races and finished fifth in the points. He'll have a fighting chance with Hendrick Motorsports, a team that has kept him in the top five in the points all year.

Stewart will race for a championship with Joe Gibbs Racing for the last time. He'll become half-owner and driver of a lower-rung team next year, and it could be a while before he's a contender again.

The sum is a Chase that may well live up to its hype.

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