Kurt Busch won Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond. Credit: Autostock

Roush rolls five cars into 10-car Chase field

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- The "Drive for Five" is alive, but not for Jeff Gordon. Instead, it's Carl Edwards, the surprise Nextel Cup title contender who gives car owner Jack Roush five chances to win the Chase for the championship.

The second year of NASCAR's 10-race, playoff-style finish will feature five Roush Racing cars in its 10-driver field -- including Saturday's winner Kurt Busch -- after Edwards and Matt Kenseth locked up two of the final spots with solid runs at Richmond International Raceway.

Credit: Autostock

Results Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Pos. Driver Make 1. Kurt Busch Ford 2. Matt Kenseth Ford 3. Greg Biffle Ford 4. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 5. Rusty Wallace Dodge Complete results, click here Standings, click here Victory LaneKurt Busch celebrates his win at Richmond Bubble troubleEdwards gets wrecked and McMurray's day ends No drive for fiveJeff Gordon's ill-handling car gets knocked into the wall Bubble burst?Chase bubble driver Elliott Sadler spins on Lap 115 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"I never thought in a million years we'd be in the top 10 of this deal," Edwards said after nabbing the eighth spot in the Chase. "Nobody would have picked us to be here at the start of the year."

No, it was Gordon who topped the list of likely candidates for the title. After all, he started the season announcing a "Drive for Five" campaign to add to his four NASCAR championships.

But he won't be eligible for the championship this season after faltering yet again in a high-stakes situation. His shot at making the Chase ended midway through the race in a fit of frustration.

"I'm done now," a dejected Gordon radioed to his crew after slapping the wall in a race he had to be nearly flawless in to qualify for the championship hunt. He finished 30th, and is assured his worst points finish since his rookie season.

"It was a disappointing night along with a disappointing season," Gordon said after the race. "Now we can put this behind us and just go on and try to make this a better race team. The bottom line is we're way off and we've got a lot of work to do for next season."

The season is just beginning for Roush, who has a 50 percent chance to win his third consecutive Cup title. He heads into the Chase with momentum after Busch won Saturday night's race and was followed by Kenseth and Greg Biffle. It gave Roush a sweep of the top three -- the first team to do so since 1997.

"I'm sure Jack is pretty happy right now," Kenseth said. "He gives us everything we need to run up front."

The Roush contingent will be led by Busch, the defending Nextel Cup champion, Biffle, Mark Martin, and Edwards -- the shock of the group. Ever the pessimist, Roush refused to accept the role as favorite.

"I think my chances are not one-in-two, probably one-in-three at best," he said. "And my drivers all have a one-in-10 chance. We'll see what happens."

In his first full Nextel Cup season, Edwards pulled into Chase contention by winning two races this season. Once he got into the top 10, he began to believe he belonged there and did his best to stay by keeping out of trouble.

He had one close call Saturday night, narrowly escaping serious damage by skirting through a seven-car accident with 44 laps to go.

"That was just pure focus and stress and all that, man," a visibly relieved Edwards said after finishing 21st. "I almost went insane in the car there, just ... so nervous."

Even before the near-miss, the tension began to get to Edwards, who radioed crew chief Bob Osborne begging for a Chase update.

"If you could, Bobby, just let me know where we're at in the points deal. I mean, if I gotta make something happen, I gotta make it happen, you know?"

In a calm tone, Osborne reassured his audibly rattled driver: "Ninth place right now. Just keep running where you're running, pick up the spots when you've got room on the track, don't take any chances and we're going to be fine."

"Alright, buddy, I'm just real nervous about it," Edwards replied.

Kenseth had to work to get into the Chase, needing to climb out of a huge hole over the past 10 weeks to qualify and started the race ninth in the standings.

He slowly worked his way to the front Saturday, then capitalized when teammate Busch was out front by briefly passing him to gain a five-point bonus for leading a lap.

"It feels great to come from as far behind as we did," Kenseth said. "We're back in it and running real good right now. Our cars came back to life in the second half of the season."

Then there was Ryan Newman, who had to fight to make it in, starting the race 11th in the standings, one point behind Jamie McMurray. His battle hit a setback during Friday's practice session when he crashed and had to pull out his backup car.

It didn't seem to matter for Newman, who finished 12th in the race and passed McMurray for the final qualifying spot.

Jeff Gordon will finish out of the top 10 for the first time since his rookie season. Credit: Autostock

"I've never driven so conscious since this race a year ago," Newman said. "We have 10 races to prove ourselves if we're a championship team."

For the second consecutive year, McMurray came up short in the final qualifying event. He crashed with 37 laps to go to end his chances and leaves Richmond 13th in the standings, eligible only to battle Gordon and the rest of the also-rans for NASCAR's consolation prize.

"There's a lot more worse things in life right now than not making the Chase," McMurray said.

The Chase will start next week in New Hampshire with Tony Stewart as the points leader, followed in five-point increments by Biffle, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson, Busch, Martin, Edwards, Kenseth and Newman.

Shut out this year after making it last season are Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, Elliott Sadler, and of course, Gordon.

By not qualifying, Gordon will not finish any higher than 11th in the standings -- marking the first time he will not finish in the top 10 since his rookie season in 1993 when he was 14th.

Things went wrong for him when he pitted during a caution period early in the race and his crew sent him back out with a loose lug nut on his left rear tire. Gordon had to make a second stop to have it repaired, and it dropped him to 29th on the restart.

Unable to make up any ground, tensions began to run high in radio communications with his team.

"Come on buddy, fight for it," crew chief Robbie Loomis said.

"Give me something to fight with," he snapped back.

He hit the wall shortly after.