Countdown to the Chase

The Race to the Chase is under way, continuing this weekend at Bristol:

Date	Track	Time	TV
Aug. 23	Bristol	7 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 31	Fontana	7 p.m.	ESPN
Sept. 6	Richmond	7 p.m.	ABC

All times ET

5 -- Top-12 drivers who are winless in 2008

Sixth-place Tony Stewart -- 102.4 Driver Rating at Bristol. Smoke has led the most laps in three of the past six Bristol races and has zero wins to show for it.

Seventh-place Greg Biffle -- 103.2 Driver Rating at Bristol. The Biff has finished in the top 10 in six of the past seven races at BMS and has an Average Running Position of 10.7.

Eighth-place Kevin Harvick -- 102.6 Driver Rating at Bristol. He finished second at BMS, and in the past seven races, including four top-10 finishes, has an Average Running Position of 10.3.

Ninth-place Jeff Gordon -- 101.4 Driver Rating at Bristol. He has five wins at Bristol (four in the night race), but has finished outside the top 10 in each of the past two races.

Tenth-place Matt Kenseth -- 109.0 Driver Rating at Bristol. He has series-high marks in Average Running Position (7.3), Fastest Laps Run (218) and Laps in the Top 15 (93 percent).

4 -- Drivers who can clinch a Chase berth at Bristol

Carl Edwards clinches if ...
• he finishes 25th or better,
• or if he finishes 27th and leads at least one lap,
• or if he finishes 30th and leads the most laps.

Jimmie Johnson clinches with ...
• a win,
• or second-place finish,
• or finishes third and leads at least one lap,
• or finishes fifth and leads the most laps

Dale Earnhardt Jr. clinches if ...
• he wins the race and leads the most laps.
• he loses less than 16 points to Clint Bowyer and David Ragan

Jeff Burton clinches if ...
• he wins the race and leads the most laps.
• he loses less than 20 points to Bowyer and Ragan.

3 -- Races remaining before the Chase

Only 82 points separate ninth-place Jeff Gordon from 14th-place David Ragan; positions six through 12 changed after Michigan.

Clint Bowyer and Ragan have identical point totals -- Bowyer wins the tiebreaker, thus the 13th spot -- and both trail Hamlin by only 26 points.

2 -- BMS night races decided by .102 seconds or less

The closest finish under the lights was the infamous 1995 race, won by Terry Labonte by .100 seconds over Dale Earnhardt.

Runner-up is the 1997 duel in which Dale Jarrett edged Mark Martin by .102 seconds.

1 -- Active driver with consecutive night race wins at Bristol

Matt Kenseth won the 2005 and '06 races to join Darrell Waltrip (1981-83) and Dale Earnhardt (1987-88) to win consecutive races under the lights.

Bristol will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the track's first night race, Aug. 26, 1978, with the 53rd consecutive sellout.