CHASE FOR THE CUP Driver capsules

JIMMIE JOHNSON

Chase points: first, 5,718 Car: No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports) Position change: None Career Charlotte starts: 14 Best Charlotte finish: 1st (five times) Last week: The two-time defending champion extended his lead over Carl Edwards to 72 points by avoiding The Big One on his way to a ninth-place finish at Talladega, proving he’s not only good, he’s lucky, too.

CARL EDWARDS

Chase points: second, -72 Car: No. 99 Office Depot Ford (Roush Fenway Racing) Position change: None. Career Charlotte starts: 7 Best Charlotte finish: 3rd (twice) Last week: Got a little too aggressive trying to bump draft Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle heading into Turn 3 at Talladega, creating The Big One that dropped him to 29th-place and allowed Johnson to pick up some breathing room.

GREG BIFFLE

Chase points: third, -77 Car: No. 16 3M Ford (Roush Fenway Racing) Position change: None. Career Charlotte starts: 11 Best Charlotte finish: 2nd Last week: Luck ran out at Talladega, thanks in part to an overeager bump from teammate Carl Edwards that started the crash that sent both of them into the wall and ended their day early. His 24th-place finish was his worst effort since Daytona in early July.

JEFF BURTON

Chase points: fourth, -99 Car: No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing) Position change: None. Career Charlotte starts: 29 Best Charlotte finish: 1st (twice) Last week: Keeps hanging around after a fourth-place finish at Talladega. Deftly avoided the massive crash on lap 174 that took out most of the Chase contenders but couldn’t find enough help to catch Tony Stewart on the green/white/checker finish.

Clint Bowyer

Chase points: fifth, -152 Car: No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing) Position change: Plus 2

Career Charlotte starts: 5 Best Charlotte finish: 2nd Last week: Vaulted two spots with a fifth-place finish at Talladega as his roller coaster ride during the Chase continues. He’s back where he started a month ago but will need some help to repeat last year’s third-place finish.

KEVIN HARVICK

Chase points: sixth, -171 Car: No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing) Position change: Minus 1 Career Charlotte starts: 15 Best Charlotte finish: 2nd Last week: Karma caught up with him in Alabama. Harvick had reeled off nine straight top-10 finishes and escaped unharmed after spinning out on the infield late in the race at Talladega, only to be caught up in The Big One a few laps later as he finished 20th.

TONY STEWART

Chase points: seventh, -203 Car: No. 20 Home Depot Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing) Position change: Plus 4. Career Charlotte starts: 19 Best Charlotte finish: 1st (spring 2003) Last week: Finally snapped his winless streak by picking up first victory at Talladega, where he’d finished second six times. Needed a little luck in avoiding the Big One and some solid blocking on the last lap that nullified Regan Smith’s desperate pass on the apron at the wire.

JEFF GORDON

Chase points: eighth, -232 Car: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports) Position change: Minus 2 Career Charlotte starts: 31 Best Charlotte finish: 1st (five times) Last week: A 38th-place finish at Talladega pretty much ended any chance of making a serious run for the championship. Main goal now is to snap a streak that has him six races from first winless season since 1993.

MATT KENSETH

Chase points: ninth, -245 Car: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford (Roush Fenway Racing) Position change: None. Career Charlotte starts: 18 Best Charlotte finish: 1st (fall 2000) Last week: Rode the wave all day, starting 31st but quickly moved to the front and spent most of the day shuffling through the field before getting caught up in The Big One when teammates Biffle and Edwards spun out in front of him. He finished 26th.

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Chase points: 10th, -249 Car: No. 88 AMP Energy-National Guard Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports) Position change: Minus 2 Career Charlotte starts: 18 Best Charlotte finish: 3rd Last week: In a make-or-break weekend for the series’ most popular driver, it was break. Found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time during The Big One, getting caught right behind Edwards and Biffle to end up finishing 28th.

KYLE BUSCH

Chase points: 11th, -331 Car: No. 18 M&Ms Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing) Position change: Plus 1 Career Charlotte starts: 9 Best Charlotte finish: 3rd (twice) Last week: Earned a little redemption with a 15th-place finish after getting tangled up with Dave Blaney during the Big One. Moved out of last in the Chase standings but his JGR team is far from the form it showed during his dominant run in the regular season.

DENNY HAMLIN

Chase points: 12th, -335 Car: No. 11 FedEx Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing) Position change: Minus 2 Career Charlotte starts: 6 Best Charlotte finish: 8th Last week: Scary weekend for Hamlin. Was leading on lap 98 when a blown tire sent him to the wall at over 190 mph. Was taken to a local hospital for a possible concussion and remained there overnight before being released with concussion-like symptoms. Finished 39th and dropped to last in the Chase standings.

Associated Press