It’s a chance to make a move

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- With one quarter of NASCAR’s regular season in the books, the battle to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup title run resumes tonight at Phoenix International Raceway.

The top 12 drivers in points after 26 races qualify for the 10-race playoff in the fall. Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing are first and second, respectively, followed by Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and two-time champion Tony Stewart.

Three other former champions -- Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch -- are just outside the top 12.

But all three are former Phoenix winners and could make a move in the standings at the Subway Fresh Fit 500, a 312-lap race on the one-mile PIR oval with a 5:30 p.m. scheduled start. Ryan Newman of Penske Racing is on the pole.

Here’s what to look for tonight in the Valley of the Sun:

Childress Express -- Burton and Harvick not only lead the points, they know their way around PIR.

Burton is a two-time winner here (2000-2001) and so is Harvick, who swept the spring and fall race at PIR two years ago. Harvick, a Bakersfield native, also cut his teeth here when he was driving in NASCAR’s minor leagues.

“I’ve got a lot of experience here, the track hasn’t changed a lot and we’ve had a lot of success,” Harvick said.

Neither qualified their Chevrolet particularly well for today’s race: Harvick was 17th and Burton starts way back in 39th. But that’s of little consequence for Burton, who excels at patiently moving through the field to contend at the finish.

Forget Texas -- Last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway was a nightmare for Gordon, who finished last for the only the second time in his stellar career with a car so ill-handling that he said, “I haven’t felt this lost since my rookie year.”

No matter. Look for Gordon to bounce back in the desert and, perhaps, give Hendrick Motorsports its first win of the season. Gordon starts 11th tonight.

He won the race here a year ago to tie the late Dale Earnhardt for career Cup victories, then saluted Earnhardt by waving a “3” flag outside his Chevrolet on his victory lap.

Speaking of Earnhardt - Phoenix would be as good a place as any for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to score his first points-paying victory in nearly two years.

Earnhardt won here in 2003 and again in 2004 when he drove for his late father’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and now it’s generally agreed that his No. 88 Hendrick Chevy is even more potent. He starts 13th tonight.

“It’ll happen,” Earnhardt said of reaching Victory Lane. “I’m in the best position possible to make that happen.”

But there’s one driver in particular who could force Earnhardt to wait another week: Carl Edwards.

Edwards’ Burn -- Edwards has three wins in seven races this season -- at California, Las Vegas and last week at Texas -- and was poised to win a fourth, at Atlanta, if the engine on his No. 99 Ford hadn’t failed.

“They’ve been incredible,” Burton said of Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing team.

Edwards also seems even more determined to win in the aftermath of Las Vegas, where his team was penalized after his officials found his car’s oil-tank lid was missing in post-race inspection, which might have given him an aerodynamic edge.

NASCAR docked Edwards 100 championship points and suspended his crew chief, Bob Osborne, for six races. But Edwards’ team has rarely missed a step since then, and “when Bob comes back, we’ll actually get better,” he said.

PIR Itself -- The track is celebrating its 20th year of hosting Cup races; the late Alan Kulwicki won the first one in 1988. Before that, the speedway -- built in the mid-1960s -- was best known for Indy car races. PIR is a quirky, relatively flat track nestled against the desert foothills just west of Phoenix. It’s an oval but shaped like a bean, with a slight kink in the back straightaway. And the banking and curvature of turns one and two is different than those of the third and fourth turns.

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james.peltz@latimes.com

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SUBWAY FRESH 500

at Phoenix Int. Raceway

5:30 p.m., Ch. 11