Kasey Kahne is 90 points behind 10th place with two races remaining until the Chase field is set. Credit: Autostock

Will Chase trio's 'bubble' burst at California?

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With the Chase for the Nextel Cup on the horizon, drivers and teams "on the bubble" are feeling the pressure to win.

Only Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth have clinched spots in the Chase, which leaves 11 drivers fighting for the remaining available spots. This weekend is particularly important to Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, who currently aren't Chase eligible. But all three drivers are looking forward to racing at California Speedway because they rank among the best drivers at the track.

ANALYSIS Greg Biffle dominates at California and he'll need to dominate again to have a chance to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Biffle has the best Driver Rating at California (117.7) on his way to compiling finishes of first, second and 42nd over the past two years.   Finishing 42nd last spring caused him to go from a 190-point day down to only 47, 143 points he sorely misses now. Despite that, he's led more than twice as many laps at California than any other driver over that span (230 to Matt Kenseth's 111) and has put down 123 of the Fastest Laps under green, also best in the series.   He's been the Fastest Driver Early in a Run with a speed of 177.408 mph, better than second-place Carl Edwards by over half mile per hour. Biffle is ranked in the top two active drivers in each of the turns, paired with teammate Mark Martin in Turns 1 and 3 and with another teammate, Edwards, in Turns 2 and 4.   He doesn't fare as well on the straightaways since being in front doesn't give him anybody to draft with on those stretches. But he still managed to be fifth-fastest among active drivers on both the front and backstretches. Biffle needs help point to get back into contention for the Chase, but with California on the schedule this week, he's in excellent position to help himself.  -- Stefan Kretschmann, STATS LLC

Despite an engine problem earlier this season at California, Biffle has been the most dominant driver there leading 30.5 percent of the laps run over the past two years. He also has turned the highest number of Fastest Laps with 123. All that has helped Biffle amass a top Driver Rating of 117.7.

Biffle's Roush Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, also is one of the strongest drivers at California. Edwards has the best Average Finish of 4.0 at California. Edwards has completed 217 Green Flag Passes and has been passed only 132 times, giving him the best Passing Differential of 85. He also has the third best Driver Rating of 110.1.

Kasey Kahne holds the ninth-best Driver Rating of 94.4 at California. He has completed 238 Green Flag Passes at California over the past two years; 172 of his passes have been Quality Passes -- a pass scored over a car running in the top 15. Kahne has been able to keep cars he has passed behind him, and has been passed only 185 times, giving him the second best Passing Differential.

Where does speed matter at California?

Matt Kenseth won at California in February and has the second best Driver Rating of 112.0. Kenseth has recorded the second most Laps Led at California over the past two years, leading 111 laps.

Kenseth has a history of being one of the fastest drivers at California, completing 60 of the Fastest Laps there. He's the second-fastest driver Early in a Run with an average speed of 176.797 mph, trailing only Biffle, who had an average speed of 177.296. Kenseth still was one of the fastest drivers Late in a Run, falling to only sixth in that category with an average speed of 172.386.

Kenseth also was one of the fastest drivers in the turns and had good passing statistics along with his speed stats. Kenseth completed the majority of his passes in Turn 4, where he had 39 Green Flag Passes and the fourth-best average speed of 164.556.

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Kenseth had the third-best Speed on Restarts (175.332).

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