In recent years, anything that can happen, has happened at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Credit: Craig Jones/Getty Images

Chase Line: Charlotte

NASCAR.COM's Ryan Smithson gets inside the Chase for the Nextel Cup every Monday.

Charlotte is another unpredictable race

Inside the Chase Point standings after Kansas Pos. Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 5,684 -- 2. R. Newman 5,609 -75 3. G. Biffle 5,596 -88 4. R. Wallace 5,594 -90 5. J. Johnson 5,592 -92 6. C. Edwards 5,589 -95 7. M. Martin 5,571 -113 8. M. Kenseth 5,568 -116 9. J. Mayfield 5,527 -157 10. Ku. Busch 5,460 -224 • Race results, click here • Cup standings, click here Victory LaneMark Martin celebrates his 35th career win at Kansas On the moveGreg Biffle gains two spots in the point standings Banquet 400Catch all the highlights of the Chase in Kansas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

It's been a weird year at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. In case you forgot, they had 22 cautions in the May event, which was the first one after the track used a controversial diamond-grinder to smooth the track.

For whatever reason, things didn't get much better when Nextel Cup teams hit the track for testing last month, when six cars crashed in only two days. Two of the victims were Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle.

Goodyear will have its hands full when it comes to supplying a tire for the weekend. It hasn't been an optimal year for tires -- the compound is softer this year, and the cut tire count seems to be up -- and teams have got to be worried about that heading into a 500-mile event with an uncertain asphalt.

There will be plenty of chances for mistakes to happen. Even though the UAW-GM 500 is on Saturday night, teams will have no fewer than four practice sessions before the event.

Teams always welcome additional practice time, but with five on-track sessions (including qualifying), there should be some drama before the green flag even falls at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Biffle's favorite car appears to be intact

One of the testing crash victims at Charlotte was Greg Biffle, who figured he lost his favorite car when he hit the fence at 170 mph.

The car, Chassis 239, has been responsible for a handful of Biffle's wins, and the team completely rebuilt it from the ground up after the crash. Biffle used it at Kansas, led 47 laps and finished second. It was his fifth top-five in seven races.

I know Biffle was relieved the car performed so well. Initially, he thought his favorite chassis was headed for the scrap heap, and even after the team saved it, they had no idea how it would respond at Kansas.

The fact that it ran well in ever-changing weather was another good sign.

With all due respect to Ryan Newman, I feel Biffle is the best bet to challenge Stewart for the title. Four of the next six races are on 1.5-milers, and I don't think Biffle will slip up too much at Martinsville or Phoenix.

Biffle and Stewart have been the two best cars all season, and I expect Biffle to finish second in the standings.

Stewart appears unflappable

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I just don't see how anyone can beat Stewart. He was 14th in the standings after Phoenix after scoring just one top-five in his first eight races. He's had 14 in the 22 races since then. That is simply amazing.

Stewart looks awfully relaxed. How he won the title in 2002 is still beyond me because he was facing 10 times more pressure than he is now. In 2002, he had the awful anger-management issue hanging over his head, but his laid-back demeanor this summer has worked wonders.

He never looks tired, and even when his car has been off a tad, he still finds a way to get to the front.

Busch and Mayfield are done

Kurt Busch is one of the few drivers with the capability to go out and do what Jimmie Johnson did late last year, but with Stewart and Biffle racking up top-fives every week, even that wouldn't help much.

He is 224 points out, which is bad enough, but he has to pass nine guys, and that is just too many.

It is very ironic that Busch is running better than he did last year. Busch has been as fast as Stewart and Biffle all year, but for some reason, he is overdrawn at the luck bank.

If Busch gets out of his contract, he can look back at 2005 as a tremendous season.

A lack of top-five finishes is what will keep Jeremy Mayfield from making a serious run for the title. I thought Mayfield would start making a serious push this week after his outstanding run at Chicagoland in July, but he never got going at Kansas.

He's been decent in the Chase run, but everyone seems to have stepped it up a notch, and the Dodges that he has been driving simply haven't been handling well.

Inside the Chase Drivers' career stats at Lowe's Motor Speedway Pos. Driver Races Wins T-5 T-10 Avg. Finish 1. Tony Stewart 13 1 6 9 10.7 2. Ryan Newman 9 0 3 4 19.1 3. Greg Biffle 5 0 0 1 18.6 4. Rusty Wallace 47 2 8 22 16.2 5. Jimmie Johnson 8 4 5 7 7.4 6. Carl Edwards 1 0 1 1 3.0 7. Mark Martin 41 4 5 19 16.4 8. Matt Kenseth 12 1 4 6 14.8 9. Jeremy Mayfield 23 0 2 7 21.8 10. Kurt Busch 10 0 1 1 20.4

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