Who will be joining Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch in this year's photo after Saturday night's race? Credit: Autostock

Mayfield's mission again is to Race into the Chase

Jeremy Mayfield is the defending champion of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, and he returns to Richmond a year later with the same objective: race into the Chase.

Mayfield's victory last year was a dramatic capper to his Race to the Chase. He was 14th in the point standings -- 55 points out of 10th -- and beat back the challenges of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon to earn a berth in the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Race to the Chase Points entering Richmond Pos. Driver Pts. Behind 7. J. Mayfield 3,073 -- 8. C. Edwards 3,014 -- 9. M. Kenseth 2,939 -- 10. J. McMurray 2,929 -- 11. R. Newman 2,928 -1 12. J. Gordon 2,899 -30 13. E. Sadler 2,877 -52 14. D. Jarrett 2,812 -117 15. K. Harvick 2,798 -131 16. J. Nemechek 2,794 -135 Note: T. Stewart, G. Biffle, J. Johnson, R. Wallace, M. Martin and Ku. Busch have clinched berths in the Chase. Fantasy ReportMarty Smith and Danielle Frye on who to watch for at Richmond! FedEx PreviewNBC/TNT pit reporter Marty Snider looks ahead to Richmond Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

This year, Mayfield sits in seventh place, 144 points in front of 10th-place Jamie McMurray, and needs to finish 39th or better to clinch a spot in the Chase.

"We came into Richmond last year as the underdog, then came back and won the race that helped get us in the top 10," Mayfield said. "This year we don't really have that pressure, but we still have to run hard week-in and week-out and we've got to get good finishes.

"We had a great test [at Richmond] a couple weeks ago [Aug. 29-30]; the car was good. We're just going in there to win the race and get all that we can."

Mayfield was 13th in the spring race and has a checkered history at Richmond. In 23 starts at the 3/4-mile track, he has one win, three top-five finishes and six top-10s. His average finish is 21.0, including two DNFs.

"I like Richmond," he said. "It's probably one of my favorite places, and obviously we won there, which always makes it your favorite. There is something about the little, not really short track, but it seems like a short track, under the lights."

Mayfield was as low as 26th in points this season, after Las Vegas, but has been a top-10 staple since a sixth-place finish at Chicago vaulted him into ninth.

"The season seems to be split in two segments," he said, "the first 26 races and then the final 10. We are judging our season off the performance of the first half and then the performance of the second half. The first part, you look at how you've done and then hope to accomplish what you want in the last 10."

Mayfield also knows that teams will be rolling the dice Saturday night. With four Chase spots available, 10 drivers still are mathematically alive to make the final 10-race playoffs.

"I drive every lap as hard as I can go. I don't know how much harder I can run. I just think that guys will be taking chances on pit road with staying out and working with tires."

"It should be a good race for the fans," Mayfield said. "[But] I don't know if it's going to be good, bad or different for the teams, though. I'm not going to predict anything crazy going into it, as far as people wrecking each other or anything like that. I think it's going to be good racing at Richmond."