For the last couple years the Chase has, to put it nicely, been lackluster.  With no drama leading up to the Chase and the fleeting drama during the first few races, the Chase has been  far from exciting. 

In recent years, two drivers end up pulling away from the rest of the field. In 2007 Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson battled the entire season and in the Chase, Johnson won it all.

In 2008 it was all about Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards until the Chase. When it came down to the final races of the year, Busch struggled and Edwards and Johnson were battling for the championship. Johnson won again but Edwards did not go down easy.

The Chase field is 12 drivers; the very best of this sport battling it out for the championship.

The result is through bad luck or poor runs, week by week the championship comes down to one or two drivers.

2009 will be different.  I believe what we have been seeing is the buildup for one of the best Chase series since its inception in 2004.

So far in 2009 the competition has been at its best, with 13 different winners.  35 different drivers have scored top 10 finishes.

When the Chase starts in a week, seven different organizations will be represented in the Chase, an increase from the four organizations that were represented in 2008.

The struggling car manufacturers in 2009 are all well represented with every manufacturer having a car in the playoffs.  In 2008 Dodge was the only manufacturer to not have a car represented.

Unlike years past, only 40 points could separate the first place seeded driver and the last place driver. That could change if Busch makes the Chase and wins at Richmond, or if Mark Martin wins then it will be 50.

With the possibility that only 50 points separate the Chase drivers at New Hampshire, every race in the Chase will be critical. Minimizing mistakes will be crucial for the contenders to keep in touch with the leader.

Now usually the point spread has been as large if not larger of a gap. The difference this year is the competition is at its best.

Last year after the point reset, five of the 12 drivers had not won a race.

Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne was on the outside looking in with two wins and still missed the Chase. This year Busch could be the driver looking in with four wins.

We will still run into the same issues that we have seen in past Chases For instance, one bad race can knock a driver out of contention, but one good race can put a driver back into contention.

Take the Atlanta race; if you look at the top 10, most of the drivers were Chase contenders, often including David Reutimann, Busch or Brian Vickers who all still have a shot at making the Chase.

The close competition also plays a lot into the fact of this new car, lack of testing and strict rules that put both the driver and the crew chief in a box.  Because of that the speeds and times are so close no team has an advantage.

Last year Edwards won the most races during the season and the Chase, but Johnson won the trophy. In 2007 Gordon was one of the most consistent drivers all year long, but in the Chase Johnson won the most races and won the trophy.

In 2009 to win the championship, a driver has to be both consistent and win a fair amount of races. For the first time in the Chase though, consistency might be the deciding factor.

With only two drivers having the possibility of not winning, the points spread is close and the 12th place driver coming in could be leading the standings by the checkered flag at Loudon.

This weekend’s race at Richmond will be the most important race of the year, for 15 drivers. Some drivers will be fighting for bonus points, while others will be fighting for their season.

History could be made this year.

Can Johnson win four in a row?

Will Tony Stewart be the first owner/driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the championship?

Can Gordon finally win his fifth title, in a hall of fame career?

Can Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman or Juan Pablo Montoya pull out an upset and win their first title?Can Kyle Busch race his way in? Or will Vickers?

These questions will have to be answered. Richmond this weekend begins to answer some of these questions.

Even so there will the critics who still are not happy with the current system.

Think about it without the Chase, Stewart has this title run all but finished.

Where is the drama in that?

There is no excitment when your driver is 400 points out of first and they are sitting in fourth, fifth, or sixth place.

Why tune in and watch, when it was over in September?

Criticizing the Chase has increased in popularity over the years for good reason. It’s not perfect and changes could be made, but this year the Chase might take us by surprise. 

As far as competition goes, it can make or break the success of the Chase, but in 2009, it could be the best we have seen yet.

The Chase brings drama and this year the drama has been building for the last two months. Now fans can sit back and cheer on their favorite drivers as they battle for our sports biggest prize.

2009 has not gone well for Jeff Burton.

During a resurgence in the last couple years, Burton has been a contender for the Championship. So far, though, 2009 has been a struggle not only for Burton but for his whole organization at Richard Childress Racing.

With making the Chase out of the picture, it's time to start looking forward to next year and building some momentum.

Saturday was a very busy day for Burton-not only was he preparing for the Cup race on Sunday, he was preparing for the Nationwide race Saturday night. With Nationwide being a one day show, Burton was non-stop all day long.

On the Cup side of things, the team struggled with a loose race car due to weather conditions which included a red flag for rain. The track is so weather-sensitive that brief cloud cover can throw off the handling of the car.

Burton ran a total of 48 laps in the practice. His fastest lap was his first lap, a time of 31.2 seconds. The team ended up 26th on the charts heading into the final practice.

Burton and his team went to work and ran a fast lap of 31.1 seconds on lap 29 of the 33 he had run. Late in the practice many teams were focusing on qualifying and making short runs to find the right set up.

Burton and his crew drew an early draw for qualifying in going out fifth-which for many was a disadvantage.

Burton would end up starting 24th.

As the race went green, Burton was battling a very loose race car; he started to drop back a bit and reported to the team that he had no rear grip and that he needed to turn better in the corners.

That was lap 11; by lap 22 he was still needing rear grip under throttle, but he didn't want to hurt his entrance and exit off the corners.

Sam Hornish Jr. brought out the first caution and the call was for four tires, air pressure adjustment, and a track bar adjustment; he cycled through to 19th. Burton started moving forward but still was complaining about being way to lose.

By lap 100 he had worked his way up to 15th. Just a few laps later he reported a being loose getting on, tight in the middle, and that he couldn't run the bottom. The team talked about a wedge adjustment on the next stop.

By lap 117 he was dropping in the field, reporting an issue on the No. 31. A vibration forced them onto pit road under green and dropped them a lap down; the caution waved while they were on pit road.

Burton drove through instead of pitting and NASCAR caught him speeding.

From here on the rest of the night for Burton would be one to forget.

On lap 200, Burton had already been lapped again; he pitted but once again got caught speeding. At this point the frustration had begun to show.

Burton was adamant that he was not speeding, and NASCAR black flagged him for not serving the penalty.

By lap 268 he was running in 35th and still three laps down-and was still pleading his case that he did not speed. They continued to struggle with an ill-handling race car.

On a late caution they took advantage of the wave around and did not pit getting one of their laps back to finish 34th and two laps down.

This was not the night that Burton had hoped for. Sitting 18th in the standings, the team is focused on getting better for the remainder of the year and for next year.

Burton and teammate Kevin Harvick are examples of how the year has gone for the Richard Childress Racing stable: Either they are right on with the setups and they have strong runs and finishes like Harvick's second tonight...or they are just a bit off and a already long night is even longer.

Burton was expected to be a threat for the championship this year; instead he is trying to salvage a season that has gone in the wrong direction.

Check out Denny Hamlin Lugnut Report by Jen Preston.

Well the drivers headed to Atlanta to race under the lights, where the speeds are quicker and the drama is heightened. Racing is back on Labor Day weekend in the south, and the Sprint Cup boys rolled into Atlanta with a lot on the line.

Check out this week's winners and losers.

Winners

 

Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kahne has been in this position before. Two races before the Chase starts and he is just hanging on, just on the outside. Last year Kahne failed to make the Chase after a string of bad races made him the first driver with multiple wins looking in on the Chase last year.

This year Kahne is sitting in a better position than last, but the standings are so close he needed to come home with a solid finish just to keep pace. He had a good car, started on the outside pole and stayed near the front all night long.

They struggled with the handling but Kahne was good on the short runs. He could pull away for 10-15 laps and that's exactly what it came down to after a late caution. Kahne took the lead and never gave it back earning his second victory of the year.

This win catapulted him in the standings as his fellow contenders for a Chase spot struggled. Kahne now just needs to survive at Richmond and he will be there.

Strange stat: Kahne has won more races in the last two seasons than Jeff Gordon; four to one.

Points: Fifth

Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick must love Atlanta. After dominating the Nationwide race, Saturday night, Harvick came out and almost stole the show. This following a dismal year in 2009.

Starting in 18th on Sunday night, the team struggled early with the handling and pit stops. Harvick though, was able to run the bottom better than anyone out there. He made most of his time up on the bottom of the track, while others searched around the top.

Harvick was good on the long runs. It was evident when he would fall back early on in the run, but charge back up to the front. He had the lead and his sights on the win before a late caution, as teammate Clint Bowyer spun out.

Harvick's engine was overheating. A caution was the last thing he needed. Kahne was able to pass him on the restart and Harvick had to settle for second. Overall though this was a solid run and a positive sign for this team.

This is the first time in a long time that they were competitive start to finish in a race and the most laps Harvick had led for since Las Vegas in the spring.

Points: 23rd

David Reutimann

A year ago a finish like this would have been surprising, but David Reutimann had a strong car on Sunday night. The only surprise is that mathematically he could make the Chase.

Reutimann's night was a bit of a roller coaster, having more ups than downs though. He like a lot of other teams struggled with a finicky race car. The team made good adjustments to the race car and they were able to take advantage of solid pit stops and good track position.

Reutimann's late charge earned him a fourth place finish after starting in 28th. The speed was there for the team. They were able to work on the car and get it better as the night wore on.

Reutimann still has a fighting chance to make the chase, should the drivers in front of him struggle. If he has a repeat performace, or better, he could make the chase.

Nicknamed "The Franchise," Reutimann was looking like it tonight, driving his way to the front.

Points: 15th

Losers

 

Carl Edwards

For Carl Edwards tonight didn't go as planned, he hoped to be pulling into victory lane for Jody-a young girl battling cancer who won a contest to design Edward's car for the race.

Edwards also could have clinched it, but now has to be worried heading into Richmond.

The night started off well as Edwards moved forward, running in the top 10. They were having solid pit stops until smoke started coming from under the hood. The liquid they were dropping brought out the caution and forced them to pit.

The team lifted the hood and a piece of debris that punctured a hole in the radiator meant they returned 20 laps down after heading to the garage. Edwards finished 37th.

Edwards needs a win, but should make the chase. Going in without a win will hurt this team when it comes to seeding.

Atlanta was one of his best chances to finally notch that win and instead he was logging laps and trying to collect as many points as possible.

The story leading up to the green flag was Edwards' broken foot. Edwards was hoping the story would be a win.

Points: Fifth

Kurt Busch

It has been a rough couple weeks for Kurt Busch. Busch downright dominated the race here in the spring leading over 250 laps. Surprisingly the team used the same setups from spring, although the conditions were drastically different.

Busch was never a factor. He started from sixth, but the team was unable to adjust the car and make it better. He fell back early. He was on the lead lap until he and Reed Sorenson tagged. Busch hit the wall hard, sending him to the garage and out contention. He finished 38th.

Busch had already slipped back in the standings in recent weeks. He was sitting fourth in the standings just one month ago. Now he is sitting just over 100 points in front of 13th which means Busch can't have any issues coming into Richmond.

Maybe Busch is getting the bad luck out of the way, two races before the Chase. Yep that's what he's doing.

Points: Seventh

Clint Bowyer

Bowyer had an outside chance of making the chase, but his run at Bristol really hurt his chances. He slipped further behind Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers and more importantly Matt Kenseth in 12th.

He needed a strong finish just to even have a chance at Richmond. It didn't happen.

After a poor qualifying lap he sat at the back of the pack and were lapped early. The setup was completely wrong. The team were unable to make the adjustments on the car. While long green runs meant many cars went a lap down, Bowyer never made up any ground.

They finished 29th.

Bowyer spun out late and caused the final caution of the race, systematically bringing teammate Harvick back to the field after he had pulled away. Bowyer though was RCR's only hope to make the chase. They now have to wait until next year.

No need for the media to hunt Bowyer down, Bowyer had left the building, quickly.

Points: 16th

Lucky Dog...

Matt Kenseth

Kenseth was sitting 12th in the standings and barely hanging on to the final position for the playoffs.

Early on it didn't look good as the car was wicked loose, hitting the wall hard and causing damage to the quarter panel.

The team needed a caution to come in and fix the damage to the car. They got a break with early cautions and were able to tape the car back together.

Slowly but surely the team made up ground and positions. They found themselves racing in the top before the day was over. They finished 12th. Kenseth could not afford to have a poor finish and he was able to rebound from a rough start.

If they make the Chase, Atlanta will be the race they look back on and realize just how close they came to missing it.

Points: 12th

Final lap...

 

That was a pretty good race out there on Sunday. We saw tons of passing and great battles all the way to the checkered flag. Drivers were able to use the pit road to their advantage and take the lead while others lost the lead because of the pit road. Overall it was a great race, one of the better races this year.

It was also nice to see the stands packed. It wasn't a sell out, but pretty close. NASCAR fans love racing on Labor Day weekend and they love racing in the south on Labor Day weekend.

It didn't hurt that for the first time since the inception of the Chase only three drivers were locked in going into Atlanta.

The standings are the closest they have ever been at this point. Atlanta paved the way for what is guaranteed to be a showdown next weekend at Richmond.

Richmond is shaping up to come down to the checker for the setup for the Chase this year. This is exactly what NASCAR needs to help promote the chase during the kickoff weekend of football.

Richmond has turned out to be the most important race of the year for every driver first through 15th. Some drivers will be fighting for wins and bonus points. Others will be fighting for the season.

See you in Richmond.

In a rare late-season off weekend for the Sprint Cup, drivers and crews get the chance to regroup and begin to focus on the final stretch of the year.

Whether you are fighting for a championship or trying to solidify yourself in the standings, though, this off week may or may not be a welcome break.

Sprint Cup driver and former champion Bobby Labonte and his sponsor, official NASCAR search engine Ask.com, have teamed up to promote NASCAR OFF WEEKEND.

Fans can log on and search "NASCAR Off Weekend" on Ask.com and find out what Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed, Kyle Busch, and many others are doing on the final off weekend.

For example, the recently married Speed is going on his honeymoon.

Others who just can’t get enough racing will be competing in the Camping World Truck Series in Chicagoland or the Nationwide Series in Montreal, like Busch and Paul Menard.

I got the chance to interview Labonte recently about the program and what the off weekend can mean to not only the drivers going for the championship but the rest of the pack.

"It’s an opportunity for them to tell the fans what they are doing on the weekend off," Labonte said.

Fans will also get the opportunity to suggest what their favorite driver should be doing this weekend. They can email the ideas to DriverOffWeekend@ask.com and be entered to win autographed merchandise from Labonte.

Ask.com's current promotion is just another example of them reaching out to the fans, and really giving fans access to the drivers even when they are away from the track in a unique way.

"It’s great for the sport; it’s interactive and it doesn’t cost anything," Labonte said. "It’s great for the fans."

Every driver has a different agenda going into this off weekend in preparation for the race in Atlanta.

For the drivers, an off weekend can abruptly end any momentum you have going into the next race. For the Chase drivers, those who are inside the Chase and those who are fighting to get in, an off weekend may or may not be welcomed.

"The guys that are in the Chase that are trying to get in the Chase in the last two weeks, it might be more nerve-racking for them to have another weekend off," Labonte said.

But in such a long season, both the drivers and the fans need an off weekend, not only for drivers to regroup but to keep fans interested and wanting to come back for more.

NASCAR is the longest season in sports, and Labonte acknowledged that sometimes an off weekend isn’t so bad for the fans that travel to all the races.

"Thirty-six points races a year...it’s a long season for everybody," he said.

For Labonte, 2009 hasn’t been very easy; the team came together right before Daytona. With no testing and just a short time for Labonte and his crew chief Todd Parrott, they were starting from scratch.

The new team couldn’t find the success it had hoped for, it struggled coming out of the gate. His only top 10 finish came at Las Vegas where he scored a fifth-place finish.

In an effort to turn around their season, Yates Racing announced that Ben Leslie, former crew chief for the No. 28 Ford, would take over as the crew chief in late April. Parrott would move into a different role with Yates Racing.

Labonte acknowledged he didn’t expect a change.

"I didn’t know it was going to happen until it happened," he said.

"As far as the performance being off this season, all the Fords have not been quite there all year long."

Their results didn’t improve even with the crew chief change.

But Labonte knows that, even though they are not running for the championship in 2009. Using the final 12 races to learn and improve, the car will be key to finding success in 2010.

"You’re trying to build momentum for next year; you’re trying to find the right people to make your team better," he said.

While the season winds down, questions still remain about Labonte future with Hall of Fame Racing in 2010. Both his contract and his Ask.com sponsor deals go through 2009.

Right now, though, Labonte is focused on this year and showing signs of improvement with consistent finishes each week, then building this team from there.

For Jeff Gordon, Bristol is one of his best tracks with five career wins at the track. Gordon has found ways to win whether it was with bump and run on Rusty Wallace to pull off a win or just dominating the race.

Tonight though would not be easy for this team.

The weekend though started off strong for Gordon with sitting 11th fastest on the speed charts on Friday and then in final practice they were sitting in the top five in speeds.

Gordon had an early draw for qualifying but a very tight race car that relegated them to a 33rd starting position.

Gordon dropped back early, struggling with a tight race car. On the first caution Gordon came in they changed tires and made adjustments.

The car was still too tight, and Gordon would be good for a few laps on a restart but would tighten up as the run went on.

The team used every caution to come in and work on the car, making tire pressure adjustments and on the fourth caution for Bobby Labonte, Gordon came down pit road and they continued to make adjustments on the car.

With fresher tires they quickly made their way into the top 10. On the fifth caution for debris, he lost a couple positions on pit road.

Gordon unhappy with the adjustments quickly began to drop back in the field. Gordon went down a lap to the leader Jimmie Johnson and needed a caution to make a massive adjustment on the car.

The car though just would not handle well; the team was struggling just to keep positions. They got lapped again on lap 405 and systematically there day was over.

Gordon was not happy with the car he said the car was nothing like the car they had at the beginning of the race. They went back on adjustments on the car, but still nothing would help with the handling.

Crew Chief Steve LeTarte decided to stay out and use the wave around rule and hope for a quick yellow. After numerous yellows, Gordon was racing to get back on the lead lap late in the race.

They never did get the lucky dog.

LeTarte did mention that when they got back to Charlotte and tear down this car, they will look for something mechanically wrong with the car. With every adjustment they were unable to correct the handling.

Tonight wasn't easy and with their place in the standings a rough race like this didn't hurt them as much as they had been father back in the standings.

For Gordon he couldn't catch a break both for a caution or to have a better handling racecar.

The only highlight for this team is they clinched a spot in chase but slipped back to third. The one thing they are lacking is bonus points, sitting with only 10 when the chase reseeds.

In 2009 the short tracks have what has been this team's biggest issue. They have struggled with setups, although Gordon has been able to have decent finishes.

On Saturday though all they could muster was 23rd.

With Richmond and Martinsville still ahead, Gordon and his team need to regroup and try and find the missing piece that has cost them at the short tracks with this new car.

Gordon looks to Atlanta to not only rebound from a rough night at Bristol, but to get 10 more bonus points for the Chase.

 

For Reed Sorenson Lugnut Report click here. If you missed the very first Lugnut Report from Michigan click here for Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya.