Bottom line at Chase line? Try to relax and just race

Burton, Edwards know a little about pressure their teammates are under

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008

• David Poole's blog | Postponement, double bill hardly the easy way out
• Cup lineup | How they start Sunday
• Nationwide lineup | How they start at Richmond
• Friday's story | NASCAR moves both races to Sunday as storm near
• Count 'em, fans | There are 12 in the Chase, not two (or three)
• Friday's practice | Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet fastest so far at Richmond
• Slideshow | Images from Richmond
• Cup debut delayed | Rain means no Cup race for Logano, Marlin, Raine

RICHMOND, Va. - Thanks to the fact that they've already locked down their spots in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup, Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton can be interested by-standers in Sunday's weather-delayed Chevy 400.

The race at Richmond International Raceway, pushed back from Saturday night to 1 p.m. Sunday (ESPN) by Tropical Storm Hanna, is the final race before the field for the Chase is set.

David Ragan, one of Edwards' teammates at Roush Fenway Racing, comes in 17 points behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer, who like Burton drives for Richard Childress Racing, on the cut line for the Chase field.

"I'm watching David Ragan really close," said Edwards, who will be the No. 2 seed behind Kyle Busch when the Chase starts next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "I know how that feels. ...It doesn't get any more stressful than that."

Edwards made the Chase in his first full season as a Cup driver in 2005, but not without some consternation. He came to Richmond 86 points clear of the Chase cut, needing only to dodge disaster to get into the playoff.

"I will never forget it," said Edwards, who'll start second Sunday. "That was the most stressful race I've been a part of because there was a wreck over in Turn 3 and I was real close to getting caught up in it. ...I think Dale Jarrett was behind me and he was doing everything he could stop. I was all jacked up and I thought, 'It's over.'

" ... I kind of saw my whole career flash there because I knew that making it to the Chase and having a good season was really going to help us get a sponsor for the next year. We were still up in the air."

Edwards finished 21st that night but made the cut easily. He then went on to finish third in the final standings, actually with the same number of points as teammate Greg Biffle, just 35 behind champion Tony Stewart.

"I felt like that Richmond race in 2005 was a bottleneck," said Edwards, who missed the Chase in 2006 but then made it and wound up ninth in the final standings last year.

"When you don't make it, you're just gearing up for the next season," Edwards said. "The phone kind of quits ringing and unless you go out ... and win a bunch of races it's real hard to have any real positive things going on in the Chase, morale-wise, media-wise or whatever. It's a big deal to make it."

Burton said he can't speak to what Bowyer is feeling as he tries to fend off Ragan and Kasey Kahne, who's 48 points out of the Chase and also could race his way in. But he does know how stressful it can be to come here not knowing for sure if you're in.

Two years ago Burton came in trying to make the Chase for the first time feeling physically and mental drained from the pressure in the weeks leading up to this event. That night - and again after last year's far less dramatic regular season finale, when no Chase positions changed hands - the relief among those who made the cut was palpable.

"What's important to remember is that the reason you're in this position is because you and your team are pretty good," Burton said. "It's important to remember that if you go out and do your job and it doesn't yield a result then you didn't choke. You didn't mess up. It just didn't work out for you.

"You can't worry your way into a championship. You can't stretch yourself into a championship. But you sure can worry yourself and stretch yourself out of one. I think it's important to kind of relax about it."

Bowyer, who starts 12th Sunday, said this race doesn't present the most pressure he's faced in his career.

"No, that was probably last year trying to figure out how to beat Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to win the championship," Bowyer said. "That's a lot of pressure. But I like pressure. Pressure is good. There's no way of getting around it."

Ragan is also trying to play it cool.

"If we make the Chase, it'll be great, but if we don't make the Chase, we've still got 10 races to go to try win some races and finish up strong in points," Ragan said. "So I'm looking forward to the race. So far, so good."

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