Just three races remain until the cut off for The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. It will be a tricky weekend for some as the Sprint Cup Series heads to Thunder Valley for unarguably the biggest race on the current schedule outside of the Daytona 500 -  “the night race at Bristol” Motor Speedway.

photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

We know far too well short tracks equal short tempers, but we also know every point is crucial for any championship hopefuls. Following Richmond, the drivers in the top-12 in the standings will qualify to compete in the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

After his win last week at Michigan International Speedway, points leader Kevin Harvick is the only driver to have already officially clinched his spot in the 10-race championship run.

“I think winning races helps keep everybody pretty motivated. I think everybody knows what we need to do. A lot of us have been in this position before, whether it’s the Nationwide championship, racing for wins, whatever the case may be. We’ve all experienced things before and know what we need to do. We just got to finish the deal with the championship hopefully at the end,” Harvick said earlier this week. “You can’t sit on your hands in this sport or you’ll get passed pretty quick. Everybody is doing a great job. We just have to keep doing the things we’ve been doing to get us to this point.”

The #29 team should have great momentum heading into the weekend. Harvick along with his team owner, Richard Childress, made a major sponsor announcement this past Tuesday.

“It’s great coming in off of a win like Kevin had at Michigan to any announcement,” Childress said. “Budweiser will be our sponsor for the next three years on the 29 Chevrolet. We couldn’t be prouder to be associated with a company that has such rich history in our sport. They’ve been in our sport for three decades. Kevin has won two of the Bud Shootouts, Busch championship, which is Anheuser-Busch. We won our first race at Riverside with Ricky Rudd. He was sponsored by Budweiser. We’ve been in their family for awhile, but to have them in our family today is great.”

Harvick has put down solid numbers at Bristol. In his 19 cup races there, he has produced 11 top-10 finishes including a win in 2005.

“Somebody has to beat Jimmie this year, and it might as well be RCR (Richard Childress Racing),” Harvick said about four-time reigning series champion, Jimmie Johnson. “You never say, ‘We’re the team to beat’. You got to have confidence, but so many factors play in. We know we’re going to be a contender. That’s all we can ask for is to be a contender. If we’re that, we’ll have a shot at winning it.”

Behind Harvick in the standings sits Jeff Gordon, on his hunt for his fifth series championship. Gordon has yet to win a race this season, but will have a shot to clinch his berth in The Chase following Saturday night’s race if he secures a 391-point lead over 13th place. Gordon currently has a 387-point advantage over 13th in the standings.

“We’ve struggled here (at Bristol) ever since they changed (resurfaced) the track,” Gordon said. “I just feel like I had a knack for the old configuration – a groove and a feel and a setup that really worked well for us. Ever since the change, none of that has seemed to work. It’s about reinventing myself as a driver – trying to find a different groove that works and giving good feedback to the team to get the car to work the way we need it to. We feel like we get a little bit better each time we race here.”

Gordon along with Kurt Busch lead all active drivers at Bristol with five wins each. Busch dominated the spring race, but a four-versus-two tire call during the final pit stop lost him the lead. Busch had to settle for a 3rd place finish.

“We’re hoping to get back to Bristol and have just as strong of Miller Lite Dodge Charger as we had there in the spring,” said Busch. “We want to be that dominant again, only this time around we certainly don’t want to let the win slip through our fingers like it did there in March.”

And something should be said for his younger brother, Kyle. Kyle Busch is the only driver with multiple wins in the past 5 races there. Combined, the Busch brothers have won 8 races at the .533 mile short track, but it’s Kyle who returns as the defending race winner this time around.

“I always look forward to going there,” the younger Busch said. “I struggled there in the spring, for some reason. All of JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) did. We all blew right-front tires out, we all got in the fence, but we salvaged a decent day. We ended up ninth. I’m looking forward to going back. I hear there’s a different tire again, so I’ll get my first taste of it Wednesday night in the truck race. We’ll run the Truck race, then Nationwide and Cup. We’ll be there for all three. I’m looking forward to going back to Bristol and, hopefully, being able to make it – I think – three in a row in the Truck Series and three out of the last four in the Cup Series there.”

The Stats:

driver	races	poles	wins	top-5′s	top-10′s	DNF	avg start	avg finish	laps led
Kevin Harvick	19	0	1	9	11	2	18.000	12.211	390
Jeff Gordon	35	5	5	14	20	5	6.257	11.686	2438
Kurt Busch	19	1	5	6	11	2	19.105	13.211	840
Kyle Busch	11	0	3	5	8	0	21.091	10.091	935

It’s not just about the drivers currently in the coveted top-12 in points, but several drivers sit “on the bubble” looking to race their way into The Chase.

After finishing 28th at Michigan last week, Mark Martin dropped one spot in the standings and now finds himself currently 13th, 35 points outside the top-12.

“All we can do is run the best race we can,” Martin said about the upcoming night race. “It’s a great race and we all look forward to it. I think we’ll be really good, you just can’t count out something crazy happening at Bristol.”

Clint Bowyer moved up one to 12th in the standings following Michigan.

“I think Bristol is definitely one of those races, but any of these races anymore are wild cards,” Bowyer said. “You have to be able to get it all through the whole race. You can run well, but with the way these things are shaking out at the end, it doesn’t matter. You have to be there at the end. You have to make the right decision to put yourself in right position to have a good finish.”

Nothing is guaranteed yet. Only 105 points currently separates the drivers from 12th to 15th in the standings.

On The Bubble:

12. Clint Bowyer	—————————–
13. Mark Martin	-35 points from 12th
14. Ryan Newman	-103 points from 12th
15. Jamie McMurray	-105 points from 12th

All three of NASCAR’s top touring series will be in action at Bristol Motor Speedway. Keep an eye out for three drivers who’ll attempt all three events: Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Elliott Sadler.

The lineup:

·         NASCAR Sprint Cup – Irwin Tools Night Race, Saturday at 7 p.m. on ABC
·         NASCAR Nationwide  – Food City 250, Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN
·         NASCAR Camping World Truck – O’Reilly 200, Wednesday at 8 p.m. on SPEED