Since the Chase began, Burton has finishes of seventh (New Hampshire), first (Dover), fifth (Kansas), 27th (Talladega, where he blew a tire with 10 laps to go), and third on Saturday night at Lowe's. Everyone's entitled to one blip in a title run, especially when the good finishes are as good as Burton's are.
By contrast, the rest of the Chasers haven't been so lucky, each suffering early exits at one point or another.
- Kenseth ran out of gas at Dover trying to hold off Burton and finished 10th. The driver of the No. 17 has only one top-5 at Talladega (fourth) to his credit so far in the Chase.
- Kevin Harvick may have the Busch championship already, but the Cup title is going to be another story despite his win at New Hampshire. He was 18th at Lowe's and also has a 32nd at Dover and 15th at Kansas since then.
- Mark Martin may have found some degree of pressure relief after getting clipped by J.J. Yeley at Lowe's and finishing 30th. He's fourth heading into Martinsville and still can wear the crown if he wants it badly enough. In his other Chase races, Martin has been 11th, 14th, third, and eighth.
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was fourth at Lowe's and is fifth in the Chase. He saw past Jeff Gordon's whining about his bump-drafting episodes at Talladega, but the finish on Saturday was needed. The driver of the No. 8 was 13th, 21st, 10th and 23rd in the first four Chase races.
- Denny Hamlin is proving to be merely mortal after the super-rookie impressed everyone by winning twice at Pocono to help him reach the Chase. He started well with a fourth-place run at New Hampshire and ninth at Dover, but has finished 18th, 21st, and 28th since.
- Jimmie Johnson will win a Nextel Cup title before he's through. Sadly, it won't be in 2006. He was runner-up to Kahne on Saturday (as he was in the May race at Lowe's) and that was a needed boost, albeit a small one.
Johnson's previous Chase runs have been 39th, 13th, 14th and 24th. In the races at New Hampshire, Kansas and Talladega, he started inside the first four rows (seventh and two thirds). We know what happened with his ex-teammate at Talladega, too.
- Kasey Kahne. God bless him, but his six wins will not add up to a Nextel Cup title. Even with five wins before the Chase began, his desperate run down the stretch - a win at California and third at Richmond just to get in as the 10th and final qualifier - makes me believe he won't have enough gas left in the emotional tank.
He's had a second at Talladega to go with the Lowe's win on Saturday, but he started the Chase with runs of 16th, 38th, and 33rd.
Miracle rallies are possible, but extremely difficult.
- Kyle Busch had similar bad luck befall him in the Chase. The driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet was sixth at Lowe's, his best run in the Chase so far. The previous ones weren't pretty - 38th, 40th, 7th and 11th.
- Only three words need to be said about Jeff Gordon's Chase chances - Did not finish. Three straight races. (whoops! Two sets of three words each!)
Because we can say this, Gordon's Chase runs have been flat-out ugly. After a pair of third-place runs pushed him to second in poiints, the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet has been 39th, 36th and 24th.
Hey, Jeff...stop whining about what everyone else is doing.