Jamie McMurray's history at Bristol lends itself to a solid run Saturday night. Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Bristol may prove to be make-or-break race

Bristol Motor Speedway has the reputation for turning sheet metal into Ebay auction items. While that perception is well-founded, several drivers in Chase contention have shown the ability to escape Northeast Tennessee with the fenders intact.

Among Chase-eligible drivers, Rusty Wallace has the best finishing average (9.7) at the .533-mile track -- and nine victories, tops among active drivers.

	Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images
	Running at the Bullring Chase-eligible drivers at Bristol Rank Driver No. W Avg. 1. T. Stewart 13 1 17.2 2. J. Johnson 7 0 11.3 3. G. Biffle 5 0 11.8 4. R. Wallace 43 9 9.7 5. M. Martin 37 2 12.5 6. J. Mayfield 21 0 18.7 7. K. Busch 9 4 13.3 8. R. Newman 7 0 20.0 9. C. Edwards 2 0 29.5 10. J. McMurray 5 0 10.6

Wallace is fourth in points, 289 behind leader Tony Stewart and 37 behind third-place Greg Biffle, but a shake up could be on the horizon for the drivers at Nos. 8-10.

Ryan Newman is eighth in points, but he has not fared well at Bristol. Newman has three top-10s and an average finish of 20th in seven starts.

Ninth-place Carl Edwards has struggled in two starts at the track, finishing 33rd and 26th.

That brings 10th-place Jamie McMurray into the spotlight.

"This weekend's race at Bristol is incredibly important for us," McMurray said. "We were able to put a little distance between us and 11th on back in the points last week, but we also lost a little to the guys just in front of us.

"This will be an interesting race because so much can happen at Bristol and most of it is out of your control. This race could definitely change up the points significantly, especially the guys from seventh to 13th. Hopefully we'll miss the wrecks, run up front all night and get a good solid finish out of it.

In five starts at BMS, McMurray has three top-10 finishes. However, he is coming off his career-worst finish at Bristol -- 24th in April. Nonetheless, he only has two DNFs in 15 short-track starts.

"We've run well at Bristol in the past and we had a strong test there just a couple of weeks ago," McMurray said. "We're taking one of my favorite cars and I'm counting on it to run good this weekend. I know the guys will do a great job getting it race ready, so from there is just making smart decisions on the track and on pit road."

	Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
	Inside the Numbers Top active drivers at Bristol (minimum 10 starts) Rank Driver No. W Avg. 1. R. Wallace 43 9 9.7 2. T. Labonte 53 2 11.7 3. J. Gordon 25 5 11.9 4. M. Martin 37 2 12.5 5. M. Kenseth 11 0 13.2 6. D. Earnhardt Jr. 11 1 13.8 7. S. Marlin 41 0 14.1 8. R. Rudd 55 0 14.7 9. D. Jarrett 38 1 15.6 10. T. Stewart 13 1 17.2

McMurray will drive chassis No. 403 this weekend. The car previously has run 10 races this season, with top-10 finishes at California (fourth), Texas (second), Darlington (sixth) and in the first Pocono race (10th).

Newman is 495 points behind Stewart and only 15 ahead of Edwards, who admits contending for a Chase berth in his first full season is "more than I deserve at this point in my career."

"I love night racing and I'm extremely excited for Bristol," Edwards said. "The Office Depot team needs to have a good run at Bristol and I think we are due for one. We had some bad luck there earlier this year and I think I'm going back to the track a lot smarter than I was several months ago.

"I love the track and I have run well there [one win in two Truck Series starts; one top-10 in two Busch Series races], we just need to do everything we can to control as many of the variables as we can and have a good solid race."

Newman said Bristol may prove too much for some of the current contenders. "Just like last season, Bristol will be the race that makes it or breaks it for a lot of teams, as far as getting into the Chase is involved," Newman said. "We went into last year's race with that mentality and came out with our best ever finish there [second to Dale Earnhardt Jr.].

"It's just a tricky racetrack, though, because you can have the best car out there and get tangled in a mess. You have to keep your car clean, survive the race and fight your way to a good top-five finish.

"We're about 120 points ahead of 11th place, which isn't great, but it's a better position than we were in last year," Newman said. "There's no 'safe' racing. We're still out to win every race."

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