Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon each expect to make the Chase this year. Credit: Autostock

Stewart, Junior, Gordon all in tight points battle

Second trip to Pocono pressure-packed as Chase draws nearer

Rookie Denny Hamlin returns to the site of his first Cup points victory, but more of the focus at Pocono will be on his teammate.

Tony Stewart goes into Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, TNT) out of the top 10 in points for the first time since the fourth week of the season.

Pocono Raceway Driver Rating Pos. Driver High Rating 1. D. Hamlin 137.1 137.1 2. B. Vickers 142.1 120.3 3. Ku. Busch 150 115.7 4. C. Edwards 129 105.4 5. M. Martin 123.7 104.5 6. T. Stewart 116.4 98.1 7. G. Biffle 111.6 97.4 8. K. Harvick 113.2 96.9 9. R. Newman 113.8 95.1 10 J. Johnson 100.1 89.6 Average Running Position Pos. Driver Average 1. B. Vickers 5.839 2. Ku. Busch 7.401 3. D. Hamlin 8.360 4. M. Martin 8.424 5. R. Newman 10.023 6. T. Stewart 11.626 7. G. Biffle 12.204 8. K. Harvick 12.735 9. C. Edwards 13.280 10. J. McMurray 13.409 • Stats reflect past three races at Pocono; current drivers only

Stewart, whose sizzling summer a year ago culminated in his second Cup championship, is 11th in the standings after his 37-place finish last week. Stewart has had finishes of 25th or worse in six of the past eight races.

Despite the funk, Stewart isn't overly concerned.

"Let's not overreact, because we're not," said Stewart, who is just 11 points out of 10th place. "It's not like we're not running well, because we are. We've just had some circumstances that haven't gone our way. You'll have that.

"We were fifth in points seven races ago, so who's to say we won't be fifth in points or better seven races from now?

Pocono is a good starting point for Stewart. He finished third there in June and has one victory, four top-fives and 10 top-10s in 15 career starts.

"We plan on doing the same thing we do every week," Stewart said. "Even with the situation of where we're at in the points, we're not changing our approach. Every week our goal is to win the race, and that's not going to change. That's how we've won two championships.

"We'll try to go out and win the race each weekend, and at the end of the day we'll look at the point standings and see where we're at."

Stewart fell four spots in points after last week, as did Dale Earnhardt Jr. A failed engine resulted in a last-place finish last week, dropping Earnhardt to seventh in the standings.

"We seem to be able to bounce back strong," Earnhardt said. "What happened at New Hampshire, man, it's life. Fact is you don't get in this business without having mechanical stuff happen every now and again.

"I've got a good team -- a really, really good team. Even on our bad days we feel like we can finish 10th. We'll keep our heads up and get the points back that we lost this past weekend."

Earnhardt finished 14th at Pocono in June, nearly three spots better than his 16.9 average finish there.

"I feel like I've got something to prove at Pocono, because I've not felt comfortable there in several years, if ever. Not sure why," Earnhardt said. "Our last race there a month ago was probably the best I've felt there in a while, but it still wasn't great. We ran in the top-five, had some issues at the end and finished 14th.

"I think this weekend is probably going to be our best shot at getting that track figured out for the first time.

Junior will take the same car he had top-five runs with at Michigan and Chicagoland.

"Tony [Eury] Jr. has taken it back to the shop, cut it up a little bit and made it better," Earnhardt said. "And we're probably bringing the most confidence we've had there in a long time."

Jeff Gordon also is battling to remain in the top 10. Gordon officially moved up one spot to ninth, but has the same point total as 10th-place Greg Biffle.

"It's definitely tight for those final spots into the Chase," Gordon said. "I think Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are the only two who are comfortable right now.

"There are about 12 guys fighting for the last eight spots, and that's too many to worry about. And we never want to focus on what they're doing or where they're running during a race."

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Gordon also wants to focus on finishing at Pocono. In June, a brake rotor failure with less than 10 laps to go resulted in Gordon slamming hard into the wall.

"I don't want to take another hit like that, and I definitely don't want to take another hit in the point standings," said Gordon, who has yo-yo'd recently back and forth in the top 10.

Gordon has won two of the five races between Poconos, but sandwiched a 40th-place finish inside the two victories.

"We must focus on things we can control, and that's getting the best finish possible for us," Gordon said.

Only 154 points separate third-place Jeff Burton from 12th-place Hamlin -- who was masterful at Pocono in June -- with seven pressure-packed races to go before the Chase.

"I'd feel pressure if I was on a mediocre team, but I'm not," Earnhardt said. "I feel like we've got one of the best teams in the garage, and we're still in a good position to finish in the top 10, and we also happen to be running well.

"If we weren't a top-10, top-15 team every week, then I'd be worried. Then I'd feel the pressure."