WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -There are just four more races before the cutoff for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, and there's a lot of worrying going on.
On Sunday at Watkins Glen International, the top 10 didn't change, but the first three drivers on the outside looking in probably don't like the view now.
Greg Biffle's chances probably ended. After crashing in qualifying and being forced to start from the back of the field in his backup car, Biffle decided to play it cautious and try for a respectable finish. But Kyle Petty clipped the left rear of the No. 16 National Guard/Subway Ford entering a curve midway through the 90-lap race and did extensive damage to the front of the car, forcing it to the garage area.
Biffle finished 38th, lost 65 points, and sits 180 behind 10th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr.
``I don't have any (chance),'' Biffle said. ``We'll just see what happens.''
Kasey Kahne, who started on the front row, wound up 22nd, kept his No. 11 spot but lost 17 points. And polesitter Kurt Busch, who dominated the first half of the race before being penalized for pitting too soon under a caution and was sent to the back of the field, finished 19th and lost eight points. He sits 172 out.
His younger brother Kyle, on the other hand, was one lucky guy. He fell several laps down after a broken sway bar sent him to the garage for repairs, but with 10 cautions made it back on the lead lap, finished ninth, and remained fifth in the standings.
Earnhardt, who salvaged a sixth-place finish with pit strategy last week at Indianapolis, wasn't so lucky at The Glen. He finished 18th after spinning out with less than 10 laps left.
``It wasn't a disaster,'' said Earnhardt, who started 11th. ``I'm very thankful we finished where we did. We know we're not in a great position to be in 10th, but we've got a lot of guys who would be glad to be in our position, so we've got to take advantage of it.''
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ELEPHANT MEMORY EDWARDS: Say this about Carl Edwards - he has the memory of an elephant.
A year ago, Zachary Winkle, of Eolia, Mo., and his father had pit passes at Kansas Speedway, courtesy of friends related to driver Mike Wallace. After signing a couple of hats, Edwards told 8-year-old Zachary, who is confined to a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, he'd give him the trophy if he won the race.
Edwards didn't, and that was that. Or so 8-year-old Zachary thought.
Two weeks ago at Gateway International Speedway in Madison, Ill., Edwards overtook Denny Hamlin with nine laps left and held on to win the Busch Silver Celebration 250.
Edwards knew Zachary was at the track because he saw him during practice and told him not to forget the promise. And even though it was the first victory for Edwards at Gateway, which he considers his home track, he kept his word, presenting the trophy to Zachary in Victory Lane.
``I'd always seen him at the races, and he seemed like a really nice kid,'' said Edwards, a spokesman for The Dream Factory, a charity for critically and chronically ill children that sent the Winkles to Disney World in 2001.
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GORDON'S LESSON:Tony Stewart said earlier this year that he wished Dale Earnhardt were still around too reign in all the young Cup drivers who seem to race too hard too early.
Four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon said things really haven't changed since his rookie year in 1993. He says a lot of the culprits haven't been the fuzzy-faced guys.
``I've seen it with veterans as much as I've seen it with young guys,'' said Gordon, who bumped Matt Kenseth out of the way with four laps to go to win at Chicagoland last month. ``It happens. It's just one of the lessons that goes on as a young competitor. It happens to all of us.''
Gordon was quick to add, though, that the Intimidator had a big impact on his driving attitude.
``My lesson was learned by Dale Earnhardt, and I was able to go to school early,'' Gordon said, recalling a race during his rookie year. ``It taught me a lot in a hurry.''
And where was that? ``Phoenix. Turn three,'' Gordon said as if it had happened yesterday. ``I remember.''
Gordon led that race 13 years ago for 48 laps but ended with a DNF because of handling problems, compliments of Earnhardt.
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SPARK PLUGS:Kevin Harvick's Watkins Glen victory gave Chevrolets eight in the last nine races on the 2.45-mile road course. Stewart, who raced a Pontiac in 2002, is the only non-Chevy driver to win since Geoff Bodine took the 1996 race in a Ford. ... Mark Martin has been running at the finish in all 18 of his races at Watkins Glen, a NASCAR record.
