Roush Locks Up Five Cars for the Chase

The “Drive for Five” is alive, but not for Jeff Gordon. Instead, it’s Carl Edwards, the surprise Nextel Cup title contender who gives car owner Jack Roush five chances to win the Chase for the championship.

The second year of NASCAR’s 10-race, playoff-style finish will feature five Roush Racing cars in its 10-driver field after Edwards and Matt Kenseth locked up two of the final spots with solid runs Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

“I never thought in a million years we’d be in the top 10 of this deal,” Edwards said after locking up the eighth spot in the Chase. “Nobody would have picked us to be here at the start of the year.”

No, it was Gordon who topped the list of probable candidates for the title. After all, he started the season on a “Drive for Five” campaign to add to his four NASCAR championships.

But he won’t be eligible for the championship this season. His shot at making the Chase ended midway through the race.

“I’m done now,” Gordon radioed to his crew after his Chevrolet hit the wall in a race in which he had to be nearly flawless to qualify for the championship hunt. He finished 30th, and is assured of his worst points finish since his rookie season.

“The bottom line is we’re way off and we’ve got a lot of work to do for next season,” Gordon said.

The season is just beginning for Roush, who is looking for his third consecutive Cup title. He heads into the Chase with momentum after Kurt Busch won Saturday night’s race and was followed by Kenseth and Greg Biffle. It gave Roush a sweep of the top three -- the first team to do so since 1997.

“I’m sure Jack is pretty happy right now,” Kenseth said. “He gives us everything we need to run up front.”

The Roush contingent of Ford cars will be led by Busch, the defending Nextel Cup champion, Biffle, Mark Martin and Edwards.

In his first full Nextel Cup season, Edwards pulled into Chase contention by winning two races. Once he got into the top 10, he began to believe he belonged there and did his best to stay there by staying out of trouble.

He had one close call Saturday, escaping serious damage by skirting through a seven-car accident with 44 laps to go.

“That was just pure focus and stress and all that, man,” Edwards said after finishing 21st. “I almost went insane in the car there, just ... so nervous.”

Kenseth had to work to get into the Chase, needing to climb out of a huge hole over the last 10 weeks to qualify and started the race ninth in the standings.

He worked his way to the front Saturday, then capitalized when teammate Busch was out front by briefly passing him to gain a five-point bonus for leading a lap.

Then there was Ryan Newman, who had to fight to make it in, starting the race 11th in the standings, one point behind Jamie McMurray. He had a setback during Friday’s practice session when he crashed and had to use his backup Dodge.

It didn’t seem to matter for Newman, who finished 12th and passed McMurray’s Dodge for the final qualifying spot.

The Chase starts next Sunday in New Hampshire with Tony Stewart as the points leader, followed in five-point increments by Biffle, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Busch, Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Edwards, Kenseth and Newman.