FONTANA, Calif. -- David Reutimann saw Mark Martin's bumper in the mirror and took a deep breath.

It wasn't jitters exactly. Reutimann knew the NASCAR veteran -- considered one of the cleanest racers in the business -- wasn't going to cause any trouble as they battled side by side for most of last week's Sprint Cup event at Kansas.

Yet, Reutimann also knows the stakes are different for the 31 drivers on the outside of the Chase than for the 12 drivers like Martin who are vying for a title.

Sure, Reutimann was racing to win. He just wasn't going to risk Martin's shot at finally grabbing the championship to do it.

"It's nerve-racking to race a guy in the Chase because you don't want to touch the guy," said Reutimann, who finished eighth, one spot behind Martin. "You don't want to be the guy that, 'Well, if this hadn't have happened, such and such would have won the Chase or won the championship.' You don't want to be that guy, none of us do."

It's a fine line the non-Chase drivers must walk during the 10-race Chase, which continues Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. It doesn't mean non-Chasers have to pull over like they're making room for an ambulance when a Chase guy gets on their bumper.

Yet the non-Chasers like Reutimann know there are only two ways to ensure yourself time in the spotlight during the Chase, win a race or ruin a Chase guy's day. And considering non-Chasers rarely make it to Victory Lane -- Tony Stewart was the last to do it in 2007 -- the alternative isn't that appetizing.

"But you can't roll over for those guys," he said.

Maybe, but there is a certain amount of etiquette involved, a lesson Cup newcomer Brad Keselowski experienced at Kansas. Keselowski's No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was working near the lead when he found himself in close quarters with Stewart and Juan Montoya, both Chase drivers.

Stewart, perhaps agitated by the way Keselowski was driving, radioed his concerns to crew chief Darian Grubb. A short time later NASCAR officials sent word to Keselowski's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., that the 25-year-old driver needed to calm down. Stewart, however, didn't view it as situation where a Chase driver was getting preferential treatment.

"It was more a young rookie driver that was racing in the Nationwide Series or the Truck Series and that's how you race on Friday and Saturday, that's not how you race on Sunday," said Stewart, a two-time Cup champion. "I realize it's a longer race and there's more give and take. He's young. He's aggressive. He wants to do well. He wants to earn respect. He's got to understand you've got to be patient." (Continued)