The Other Chase
Approximately $1 million will be paid to Jamie McMurray who will finish 11th in the final NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings – an increase of more than $400,000 from over one year ago. That includes a $250,000 bonus, which will be paid to the 11th-place finisher. Additionally, McMurray will also join the top-10 drivers on the stage at the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Awards Ceremony in New York in December. McMurray holds the 11th-place position by 226 points. He has scored top-10 finishes in 11 of the last 13 races.

The Key to the Chase
Jimmie Johnson was ninth in the point standings with six races remaining (after Race No. 30 at Kansas), 247 points behind point leader Kurt Busch. Johnson is now second, 18 points behind.

The Results

Week No. 1, Race No. 27 - Kurt Busch won the Sylvania 300 and led the most laps in the first race in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, earning 190 points. Jeremy Mayfield and Tony Stewart were involved in an early accident, both failed to finish the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished third and led laps, leaving him tied with Busch in the point standings - both with 5,210. Earnhardt Jr., became the points leader based on the tie-breaker (four victories for Earnhardt; three for Busch.

Week No. 2, Race No. 28 - Ryan Newman won and led the most laps in the MBNA America 400. He gained 29 points and one position in The Chase. Matt Kenseth was involved in a single-car incident on lap 119 and posted the third DNF by a Chase driver. When Dale Jarrett passed Kurt Busch for fourth place on lap 395 of the 400-lap event, Jeff Gordon took over the lead in the point standings. Gordon finished third and led Busch by a single point following the race.

Week No. 3, Race No. 29 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the EA Sports 500 and led the most laps in the race, earning 190 points. For the second time in three races, Jeremy Mayfield was involved in an early accident that resulted in a poor finish. Jimmie Johnson retired due to overheating on lap 157, posting the fifth DNF by a Chase driver. Kurt Busch finished fifth and earned 160 points, leaving him and Earnhardt as the only drivers with net positive points in The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. NOTE: Earnhardt Jr. was fined 25 points for post-race comments changing the top-two positions in The Chase with Busch taking over the top spot by 12 points.

Week No. 4, Race No. 30 - Joe Nemechek won the Banquet 400 and became the first non-Chase driver to post a victory in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Elliott Sadler was the highest finishing Chase driver, finishing fourth and moving from eighth fourth in the point standings. Jeremy Mayfield, who had yet to lead a lap in a Chase race, led five times for 72 laps - leading the most laps in a race for the second time this season. Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman both posted their second DNF in the four races of The Chase.

Week No. 5, Race No. 31 - Jimmie Johnson won the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway - posting his second track sweep of the season. Johnson also swept both races at Pocono. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., both finished ahead of Kurt Busch but posted only minimal gains as Busch remained first in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with a 24 point lead over Earnhardt Jr. and 74 over Gordon. Jeremy Mayfield continued to slide out of contention for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, failing to finish for the second time in the first five races of the Chase. Mayfield lost 92 points to Busch, the biggest drop in the standings among the top-10 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and dropped to 349 points behind the leader.

Week No. 6, Race No. 32 - Jimmie Johnson won the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his sixth victory in 2004 and his second in the Chase. Johnson gained four positions in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, moving from eighth to fourth. Johnson and Ryan Newman both finished ahead of point leader Kurt Busch, but Dale Earnhardt Jr., suffered his first DNF of the Chase. Jeff Gordon moved into second in the point standings while Earnhardt Jr. dropped to third, 125 points off the lead. Elliott Sadler was involved in a late race accident and posted his first Chase DNF, which dropped him three spots in the standings.

Week No. 7, Race No. 33 - Jimmie Johnson won the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his third consecutive Chase victory. Johnson gained two positions in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, moving from fourth to second and has climbed from ninth in the past three races. Mark Martin finished second and moved up one position – eighty-one points behind the leader. Point leader Kurt Busch, suffered engine failure after just 51 laps and posted his first Chase DNF – resulting in a point swing of 148 points for Johnson. Jeff Gordon also had problems during the middle laps and finished 34th, 26 laps off the pace. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s, problems came late in the race but still relegated the Budweiser Chevrolet to a 33rd-place DNF. Gordon lost one position while Earnhardt Jr. dropped two.

Week No. 8, Race No. 34 – Dale Earnhardt Jr., won the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, his second Chase victory and sixth on the season. Earnhardt Jr., led the most laps and dominated the race leading except for a period in mid-race when the field ended up on multiple pit cycles. Ryan Newman came back from a lap down to finish second followed by Jeff Gordon in third. Kurt Busch also overcame being a lap down to post his seventh top-10 finish in eight Chase races. Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler suffered DNFs that left them far behind in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.

Week No. 9, Race No. 35 – Jimmie Johnson won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, his fourth Chase victory in the past five races. Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon all finished ahead of point leader Kurt Busch. Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 11th, but the 82-points from first to fifth makes for the closest ever five-way battle for the championship entering the final race of the season. Ryan Newman was the only Chase driver that failed to finish.

Looking Ahead

Point Leader at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Kurt Busch has competed in four races at Homestead scoring just one top 10 finish, a victory in 2002. He finished 19th or worse in the other three races. His 19.75 average finish there is seventh among the top-10 drivers.

Chase Success at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Homestead “The Spoiler” for Some of the Top 10?

First
Kurt Busch finished sixth in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and remained first in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. Busch, who lost 23 points of his lead, has lost 78 points of his lead in the last three races, dropping from a 96-point lead after Martinsville to an 18-point lead over second-place Jeff Gordon with one race remaining. Busch is the only driver to score top-10 finishes in eight of the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Busch has scored three victories and 20 top-10 finishes in 2004. Busch has scored bonus points in eight of the nine races of the Chase. Busch leads all drivers, scoring 50 bonus points in the first nine races of the Chase. Busch has a 9.3 average finish in the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, the best of all drivers. He has competed in four races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and has scored one victory there (2002), his only top-10 at the Florida superspeedway. Busch has a 19.75 average finish at Homestead and ranks seventh among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. He finished 36th in this race one year ago.

Second
Jimmie Johnson finished first in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and climbed from fourth to second in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. It was his sixth top-10 finish in the Chase. Johnson has scored eight victories and 19 top-five finishes this season, both the most among all drivers. He is just 18 points behind first-place Kurt Busch and just three ahead of teammate and third-place Jimmie Johnson. Johnson has a 11.1 average finish in the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Johnson has competed in three races Homestead-Miami Speedway, scoring two top-10 finishes there. Johnson has a 12.0 average finish at Homestead and ranks third among the top-10 drivers there. Johnson finished third in this race one year ago.

Third
Jeff Gordon finished third in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, his sixth top-10 finish in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. He dropped from second to third in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. Gordon has five victories in 2004. His 24 top-10 finishes are the most of all drivers. Gordon is just 21 points behind point leader Kurt Busch as the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gordon has a 10.3 average finish in the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and ranks second among the top-10 in average finish. Gordon has scored four top-10 finishes in his five races at Homestead, the most of any Chase driver. Gordon has a 11.0 average finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, second among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. He finished fifth in his last two races at Homestead.

Fourth
Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 11th in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington and dropped from third to fourth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. Earnhardt Jr. has scored six victories and 21 top-10 finishes in 2004. He is 72 points behind first-place Kurt Busch and 51 behind third-place Jeff Gordon. Earnhardt Jr. has an 11.4 average finish in the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, fifth among the top-10 drivers. He has competed in four races at Homestead-Miami Speedway scoring finishes of 13th or worse. Earnhardt Jr., has an 18.25 average finish at Homestead and ranks sixth among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. He finished 24th in this race one year ago.

Fifth
Mark Martin finished second in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, his eighth top-15 finish in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Only three of those finishes were top 10s and they were all second-place finishes. He remained fifth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. He is just 82 points behind point leader Kurt Busch and just 10 behind fourth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Martin has scored one victory and 15 top-10 finishes in 2004. Martin has a 10.4 average finish in the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Martin has competed in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway scoring three top-five finishes. He has a 13.6 average finish at Homestead and ranks fifth among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. He finished 33rd in this race one year ago.

Sixth
Tony Stewart finished 17th in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and remained sixth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings for the seventh straight race. Stewart has scored two victories and 18 top-10 finishes in 2004. Stewart is 185 points behind first-place Kurt Busch and 103 behind fifth-place Mark Martin. He has competed in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, scoring two victories and three top-10 finishes there. Stewart has a 9.2 average finish at Homestead, the best among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. Stewart finished seventh in this race one year ago.

Seventh
Ryan Newman finished 34th in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and remained seventh in the point standings. It was his third DNF finish in the Chase. Newman has earned 45 bonus points in nine races of the Chase, second only to Kurt Busch with 50. He has scored two victories and 14 top-10 finishes in 2004. Newman is 244 points behind first-place Kurt Busch. He has competed in two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, posting one top-10 finish. Newman has a 21.5 average finish at Homestead, eighth among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. He finished 37th in this race one year ago.

Eighth
Matt Kenseth finished 20th in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He climbed from ninth to eighth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings and is tied with ninth-place Elliott Sadler, each with 5,963 points. He ranked fourth after the first race in the Chase at New Hampshire. He has scored two victories and 16 top-10 finishes this season. His 21.0 average finish in the first nine races in the Chase ranks ninth among the top 10. Kenseth has ranked in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top 10 since Rockingham in 2003, 70 straight races and is tied for ninth with Jimmie Johnson on NASCAR’s Top 10 list for consecutive races in the top-10 under the current points system. He has competed in four races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, scoring finishes of 21st or worse there. He has a 32.75 average finish at Homestead and ranks last among the top-10 drivers in average finish there. He finished 43rd in this race one year ago, his second straight DNF at Homestead.

Ninth
Elliott Sadler finished 23rd in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and dropped from eighth to ninth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings. It was his sixth finish of 20th or worse in the Chase. Sadler has scored two victories and 14 top-10 finishes in 2004. He is 383 points behind first-place Kurt Busch and is tied with eighth-place Ryan Newman. Sadler has a 21.1 average finish in the first nine races of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, the worst among all drivers. Sadler has competed in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and has scored just one top-10 finish there. Sadler has a 22.4 average finish at Homestead, ninth among the top-10 drivers there. He finished 21st in this race one year ago. He has been running at the finish in all of his races at Homestead.