Chase for the Nextel Cup: Dover

Pardon the cliché, but Jeremy Mayfield and Tony Stewart were certainly in the wrong place at the wrong time this past Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Because of that, they find themselves in an unwanted place this week -- at the tail end of the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings, looking at a sizable point deficit after only one week of the 10-race "Chase."

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The cars driven by Mayfield (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) and Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) were damaged in an early-race accident. Both cars returned, their drivers desperately trying to recoup some valuable track position. Stewart couldn't maintain the minimum speed mandated by NASCAR, and left the race for good after completing only 83 laps, relegating him to 39th place. Mayfield stayed out until the end and ended up 35th after completing 251 laps.

Going into Round 2 of the Chase this weekend at Dover International Speedway, Mayfield is 10th in the Chase standings, 142 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet) and New Hampshire race winner Kurt Busch (No. 97 IRWIN/Sharpie Ford), who each have 5,210. (Earnhardt is the official leader this week, via NASCAR's tiebreak -- he has four victories this season compared to Busch's three.) Stewart, fourth going into Round 1, has fallen all the way to eighth place, 124 behind Earnhardt and Busch.

Neither deficit is insurmountable, but both are disconcerting, given the fact that going into Round 1, the Chase's format had reset the top-10 drivers' totals, making the difference between first and 10th only 45 points. Mayfield, ninth going into the Chase, lost 102 points on first place. Stewart lost 109 points on first.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Tony Stewart's disappointment about Round 1 of the Chase is tempered by the anticipation of Round 2 at Dover. Stewart has had a remarkable run of success there. In 11 starts at Dover, he has nine top-five finishes and 10 top 10s. Two victories are included in that string -- he swept the 2002 races there.

Here are other Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers with impressive histories at Dover:

Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman (No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge) also has to feel like he can bounce back from his 33rd-place finish at New Hampshire. In only five Dover starts he has two wins, three top-five finishes and four top 10s, plus one pole. "No matter what happened at Loudon, we're still going in to every race with the goals of winning, leading the most laps and getting every bonus point possible," Newman said. "I look forward to the opportunity for the last nine races. I think we've learned a lot getting up to these last 10 races. I think you'll see a lot stronger No. 12 car in the last 10."

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet), like Newman, has two victories in only five starts at Dover and three top 10s overall.

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) and Mark Martin (No. 6 Viagra Ford) each have four Dover victories, tied for the second-best total among active drivers (Rusty Wallace leads with five.). And of course, don't discount the fact that Martin's last Dover victory came in the series' last Dover event, on June 6.

THE PRESSURE'S ON

Dover has been less-than-friendly -- or at the least, fickle -- to the following Chase competitors:

The stat sheet indicates that Kurt Busch may have a hard time following up on his New Hampshire victory. In eight Dover races, Busch has only one top-10 finish. He also has three DNFs and an average Dover finish of 22.750, the lowest of the Chase drivers.

Elliott Sadler (No. 38 M&M's Ford) has 11 Dover starts -- and only one top-10 finish.

Reigning series champion Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Power Tools Ford) has yet to post a Dover victory, in 11 tries. He has led a total of one lap in those 11 races.

WE HAVE A NEW LEADER(S)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch head into Dover with identical point totals -- 5,210. But Earnhardt, who finished third at New Hampshire, is your series leader, because he has four victories this season compared to Busch's three.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

No matter how you cast the deadlock, though, both drivers are happy about their position coming out of Round 1.

"It's kind of nice to be leading the points again, even though I'd prefer to be up there by myself," Earnhardt said. "Seriously, to lead the points this early in the Chase probably doesn't mean that much, because we still have a long way to go, but it sure beats the hell out of being anywhere else in the standings. I was real proud of my team at New Hampshire. The Eurys (crew chief Tony Sr. and car chief Tony Jr.) did a great job, and I think we can make a serious run for this championship.

"For me mentally, it's more intense [now than in the first 26 races of the season], because what we've worked so hard for is within our grasp if we can just put together a better string of races than nine other guys. [New Hampshire] was a good start. This weekend at Dover will be a whole new ball game. We've got to run good. We weren't very good there last time, but somehow we avoided all the wrecks and finished third [in June]. We tested there last week, and it went pretty well."

Adds Busch: "Before the [New Hampshire] race I joked about us coming out with the points lead. I didn't think it was possible, but we're really excited to kick this thing off with a win. But there's so much work ahead of us. This was a great effort for the team. The Chase is on, and we're ready for Round 2 at the 'Monster Mile.'

Kurt Busch

"When I first started out in the Cup series, Dover was one of my favorite tracks. I made my first Cup start there in 2000 and we qualified well at 10th place, and went on to finish 18th, so it was a solid way to kick off our Cup series efforts. I had won earlier that weekend in the inaugural truck series race at Dover, but since then we haven't had the same success there. It's a track similar to Bristol, almost like a bigger brother to that track being a mile in length at Dover versus a half-mile in Bristol, but our success at Bristol hasn't translated as well to that track."

QUOTABLE

"We are at the point in the season where we can go for it - and that is exactly what we are going to do." -- Elliott Sadler.

"I don't think any of us are going to get mulligans." -- Tony Stewart, in the aftermath of an incident at New Hampshire that he worries will cost him dearly in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

"Dover demands so much from a driver, both physically and mentally, which is why I enjoy it so much. There is no 'relaxation' time, except for cautions." -- Ryan Newman.