Ryan Newman solidified his hold on the final Chase for the Nextel Cup spot Sunday. Credit: Autostock

Notebook: Chase chasers' chances take a hit

LOUDON, N.H. -- Six drivers came into Sunday's Siemens 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway within 200 points of 10th-place Ryan Newman, who still occupies the cutoff spot for the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

But after a classic, late-season points-chasing race, every driver that came into the day from seventh to 15th in the standings finished in the top-15, thus negating any real chance to make major gains.

With his victory, Kurt Busch jumped all the way from ninth to sixth, but is still only 48 points clear of Newman, in 10th. Newman, however, increased his advantage over Jeremy Mayfield to 106 points.

With seven races remaining until the cutoff, realistically only Mayfield, Dale Jarrett (127 behind Newman) and Jamie McMurray (134 behind Newman) have a realistic shot to reach the top 10.

Kasey Kahne is sitting in 14th, 162 points behind Newman.

Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears are all now more than 190 points behind Newman.

It appears that despite what Dale Earnhardt Inc. management deemed to be best for his health on Sunday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Monday he would take his participation in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 day-by-day.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

DEI teammate John Andretti was scheduled to get a seat mold made Monday morning to prepare to substitute for Earnhardt this weekend at Pocono Raceway. Earnhardt on Monday indicated he's as stubborn as his late father.

"The plan is to rest and take it easy this week so I'll be ready to do 500 miles Sunday," Earnhardt said. "The burns heal a little more every day, but I'm still in a lot of pain. I felt pretty good inside the car (in Sunday's Siemens 300), but I'm going to need all my strength.

"Pocono can wear you out even when you're 100 percent healthy. I couldn't have finished 300 laps (Sunday) but I'm going to do all I can to get through this and be ready to go this week (because) I owe it to my team. They've worked so hard for so many years to put us in a place where we're in position to grab a championship, and I owe it to my sponsors and especially my fans."

As part of TNT's first Nextel Cup Series broadcast of the second half of the season, pit reporter Marty Snider followed up with NASCAR owner and Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs; and the interview was shown Sunday during the Siemens 300 broadcast.

Tony Stewart

Gibbs commented on Stewart's on- and off-track confrontations with his No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, which have resulted in him currently being on NASCAR probation.

"He (Stewart) knows right now he's got two strikes against him he doesn't want," Gibbs said. "I told him, 'Tony, one thing we don't want you ever to do is drive the car with less emotion -- we love that.'

"He's the only guy I've ever seen that gets spun out in the back or something, and he doesn't care. He kind of loves it... So hopefully he'll never lose that. He also realizes right now he's got two strikes against him, and he doesn't want anything (else) to happen."

Gibbs also addressed that potential "third strike."

"I don't think he can afford a third strike," Gibbs said. "I think he knows it -- we all know it. You hate that we're in that situation, but we are; but at the same time... He knows he can't let himself get put in a bad position, and I hate that that's happened, but it's life and he understands it."

Count former Cup champion Rusty Wallace among the many driver that don't like NASCAR's newly mandated green, white, checkered finish rule in Nextel Cup racing. Wallace made this proclamation Sunday on TNT's broadcast of the Siemens 300.

Rusty Wallace

"I love the NASCAR guys, but I think they all held hands and jumped off the cliff together on this one," Wallace said. "It was an absolutely wrong decision (because) I have been in those situations where I have been hurt real bad, I've landed in a helicopter, I've been in the hospital for three days with tubes coming out of me because of a green, white, checkered restart, basically.

"There's nothing good that comes out of those things."

USG Corporation will sponsor a Chevrolet out of the MB2 Motorsports shops that road-racing veteran Boris Said will drive in next month's Sirius at The Glen. Said, a former Cup pole winner at the Infineon Raceway road course will drive the No. 36 Durock Brand Monte Carlo.

Said will be a teammate to MB2 drivers Joe Nemechek, in the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet and Scott Riggs, in the No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet. Said, of Carlsbad, Calif. has garnered three top-10 finishes in his last four Cup races, including a sixth place result in June at Infineon.

"This will be my third event with USG as a main sponsor and I hope it will be the charm race," Said said. "We definitely have the talent to make it happen."