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Sprint To The Finish

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By RALPH N. PAULK

Media General News Service

Published: September 5, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. - For much of this decade, NASCAR officials have talked incessantly of the parity that exists in the Sprint Cup series.

However, the sport's popularity grew largely because of three superstar drivers - four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, two-time champion Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

This year, parity is hardly a topic of discussion, in part because four drivers - Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne - have combined to win 19 of 25 events heading into Saturday's regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway.

Busch has a series-leading eight wins. Kahne, who will have the Chase-qualifying odds stacked against him in Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400, has two wins, one more than Gordon, Stewart and Earnhardt combined.

"So far, it's been a little bit frustrating and disappointing," said Gordon, who is struggling through a 30-race winless streak. "We want to win. We want to be competitive."

Unless something bizarre happens at Richmond, Gordon will secure a spot in the Chase along with Stewart and Earnhardt. That, though, isn't consolation enough for Gordon, who posted six wins last year before Johnson chased him down in the postseason to deny him a fifth Cup title.

"There's no doubt the pressure is on us to win," Gordon said prior to his fifth-place showing last month in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. "We want it real bad, but it doesn't change how we approach each race. We have to put each race behind us and focus on the next one.

"We came off such a great season last year. Our team has been phenomenal this year, we just haven't had the runs, haven't had the cars and when we did have the cars, we haven't been able to put it all together."

And it has come unglued for Gordon the past three races. He slipped from sixth to 10th in the points standings, putting himself on the Chase bubble ahead of 11th-place Denny Hamlin and 12th-place Clint Bowyer.

"It's not as comfortable as I'd like it to be, and I don't even know what the points are, but I think we are going to be better at Richmond than we were" at Fontana, Calif., Gordon said after a 15th-place finish in Sunday's Pepsi 500.

"Right now, our focus is making the car go fast. We want to run our race and not focus on anything else. It's part of the expectations on this team."

Earnhardt and Stewart also have great expectations. Like with Gordon, hardly anyone expected them to have such uneven seasons.

Earnhardt, fourth in points, endured a 76-race winless streak before taking the checkered flag in the Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Raceway on June 15. Since then, he has finished outside the top 10 in nine of 10 events.

Yet he comes to Richmond feeling energized and confident.

"We're going to take back our normal setup that we ran there last time and try to improve on it," said Earnhardt, who led 15 laps near the end of the Dan Lowry 400 in May before a brush with Busch left him with a 15th-place finish. "I feel really good about Richmond.

"I'm glad we made the Chase this year. A lot of people would have expected us to make it, but we didn't know when the season started. We'll try to improve a little bit and win some more races before it's over with and battle like hell for that championship."

Stewart, riding out a lame-duck season with Joe Gibbs Racing, has three second-place finishes. He's eighth in points but isn't satisfied with making it into the Chase.

"It's about winning," said Stewart, who has gone 39 races without a victory. "It's always about winning."

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