Greg Biffle is finding it difficult to make up ground on Chase leader Tony Stewart. Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: Atlanta

An average of six title contenders have finished in the top 10 through seven Chase races. Four times the top 10 has included Tony Stewart, who padded his point standings lead to 43 after a ninth-place showing at Atlanta on Sunday.

It's widely accepted that Nos. 8-10 in the standings -- Rusty Wallace (-257), Kurt Busch (-260) and Jeremy Mayfield (-310) -- have no chance to take a champagne shower at Homestead. With only three races remaining, the same can be said for sixth-place Mark Martin (-143) and seventh-place Matt Kenseth (-155).

	ALSO Greg Biffle was hoping to make his move at Atlanta. He finished seventh, but gained only eight points on Chase leader Tony Stewart, who placed ninth.  •   Complete story, click here

That leaves only five drivers with what generously could be considered legitimate title hopes. Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards, both 107 points behind, need divine intervention if they are to catch front-runners Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle (-75).

Among the top three, Stewart and Johnson have five top-10 finishes in the Chase, while Biffle has four. Bottom line: It's virtually impossible to make up ground on the leaders when the competition also is finishing in the top 10.

"We just have to make up points on the 20 [Stewart]," said Biffle, who finished seventh Sunday. "We made up a little bit on the 48 [Johnson] and a little bit on the 12 [Newman], but we've got to finish more than one spot ahead of the 20 to gain anything on him."

Stewart, who finished ninth, picked up 28 points on 16th-place Johnson, while Biffle carved only eight points off his deficit but did leapfrog into third place after Newman rolled home 23rd, two laps down.

"Obviously, we wanted to run a little better than we did," Stewart said. "But at the same time, we did what we needed to do. We needed to gain some points and we did. A 43-point lead with three races to go isn't a cakewalk by any means, but it gives us a small amount of breathing room."

Flags

• Red -- Rusty Wallace began the Chase with two top-10 finishes -- sixth at Loudon and third at Dover -- but has fallen from contention with an average finish of 22.4 in the past five races.

• Yellow -- Ryan Newman has five top-10 finishes in the playoffs, but two 23rd-place finishes in the past four races have but him behind the 8-ball with only three races remaining.

BASS PRO SHOPS MBNA 500 •   Race Results •   Point standings Victory LaneCarl Edwards celebrates his Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 win Top 10 for TonyTony Stewart battles to get a top-10 finish Top 10Greg Biffle comes home seventh Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500Catch all the racing highlights from Atlanta Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

• Green -- Jeff Gordon is out of the Chase, but he's within 42 points of pocketing the $1 million bonus for finishing 11th in the point standings after back-to-back top-two finishes.

Quote, Unquote

"I'm just glad we saw the checkered flag. We've had a lot of great cars here the last month and a half and haven't been able to show it, so to see the checkered flag and get a top-10 was a big relief to this team."
-- Elliott Sadler, whose 10th-place finish was his second top-10 in the past 17 races.

Around the Track

• Carl Edwards posted the third sweep in 2005 joining Jimmie Johnson (Charlotte) and Jeff Gordon (Martinsville), and Edwards' victory marked the first sweep at Atlanta since Bill Elliott in 1992.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran on point for 142 laps Sunday, leading the most laps for the first time this season. Prior to Atlanta, Junior had led only 27 laps this year. The last time he led the most laps in a race: Nov. 7, 2004, at Phoenix.

• Anyone else notice that Jeff Burton has three consecutive top-15 finishes, including back-to-back top-10s? It's the No. 31 team's best showing since Races 7-9: Texas (12th), Phoenix (third) and Talladega (10th).

Up Next

Texas Motor Speedway

• Four Chase drivers have won at Texas: Greg Biffle, who took the checkers April 17 for his only top-10 finish in three races at TMS; Matt Kenseth (2002); Mark Martin (1998); and Ryan Newman (2003), who will make his 150th Cup start Sunday.

• In five races at Texas, Kurt Busch has four top-10 finishes -- including the last three -- with an average finish of 9.8, tops among all drivers with at least five starts at the 1.5-mile track.

• Seven of the nine races at Texas have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only Matt Kenseth in 2002 (started 31st) and Elliott Sadler in 2004 (started 19th) have won from a starting spot outside the top 10.

Mail Call

	Some fans would like to see Ward Burton return to a ride next year; others would like to see Michael Waltrip go away. Credit: Autostock
	SILLY SEASON •   Keep tabs of all the team and driver changes for 2006

Can someone please tell me why Ward Burton cannot take Jamie McMurray's place in the No. 42? I am not a big fan of Burton, but I cannot figure out why he does not have a job; he can drive. Did he seriously annoy someone somewhere?
-- Stephen Perry

Ward has had the opportunity to drive this year, albeit in Busch and Truck series rides. He doesn't want to be a seat-filler; he wants a competitive Cup ride. The 42 car would fit that bill, but apparently Ward doesn't fit Chip Ganassi's M.O. ... Annoy? Nah, unless you're wildlife, in which case you don't want Ward setting his sites.

I know, I know -- you're all sick of talking about the whole "blockbuster trade" with Kurt Busch, McMurray, driver to be named, etc, but what do you think of Scott Wimmer to the No. 42? I mean, the kid's a pretty solid driver who's never really been in decent Cup stuff, nothing against Bill Davis Racing. He's young, he's a known commodity, he's marketable, and Chip Ganassi doesn't seem to have anyone ready in the developmental pipeline.
-- Ian

With Wimmer riding out the string in the No. 22, you'd think he would be a commodity for a team looking to build for the future. Does Wimmer see himself as a stop-gap? I doubt it. Three years ago he finished third in Busch Series points. Last year he showed promise (one top-five finish among two top-10s), but this year has been remarkably vanilla: zero top-10s, seven DNFs and an average finish of 26.3.

Hmm, Tony Stewart calling Greg Biffle an "idiot." I wonder if Tony has a rewind button on his past on- and off-track behavior? "Rock 'em, sock 'em" NASCAR -- don't ya just love it.
-- Richard Aubrey

E-MAIL •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

Call it heat of the moment, but Smoke railing on Biff after last week's race at Martinsville was classic Stewart. These guys have selective memories, just like fans. As NBC's Marty Snider said Sunday, Stewart and Biffle "kissed and made up" -- and we can only assume their next tiff will be over who bows out after the River card is shown during their poker game.

I'm a big Bobby Labonte fan and the thought of seeing him in a different ride is heartbreaking. However, for some time he has seemed like the stepchild at Joe Gibbs Racing. Not counting the bad luck Labonte has had, his cars have not been competitive. I don't know what happens around the garages but it seems like they've taken everything away from the No. 18 team and put it to the No. 20. I can see why a class act like BL is chewing the inside of his lip. I'd like to see JGR step up to the plate and give BL some love but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.
-- Jason R. Bedke

J.D. Gibbs said last week that Bobby's still under contract with JGR for three years, and Bobby said he was going to honor the deal. For a guy who's never had more than seven DNFs in a season (and that was 1994, his second full season), 2005 will go down as Labonte's nadir; he's had 10 -- five crashes, five engine failures -- and seven of those came in the first 14 races.

It appears that Kurt Busch doesn't like Michael Waltrip much. Maybe Busch realizes some of the same things about Mikey as I do including: 1.) He runs his mouth almost as much as Darrell Waltrip, only spitting out his sponsor's names faster and with more regularity; 2.) He thinks he is a much better driver than he really is, which probably explains his next ride (Bill Davis Racing); 3.) His "on-track attitude" always seems to get him into wrecks because of point No. 2; 4.) He has, in my opinion, already been in the best equipment he will ever have (DEI). I wonder what his excuse will be next year when he finishes out of the top 20. Good luck, Mikey; you're going to need it.
-- Steve Servison

I think that just about covers it. Anyone have anything else to add?

Fantasy Perspective

• In seven races at Texas, Tony Stewart has four top-10 finishes. He finished 31st in April, posting his second DNF in his past three races at TMS.

• Jimmie Johnson has finished ninth or better in his four races at Texas Motor Speedway, the longest current top-10 streak among active drivers.

• Only Dale Jarrett (13.1 average finish) and Ken Schrader (20.4) have been running at the finish in all nine races at Texas.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.