Kasey Kahne's victory at California was his fifth of the season, but he's still not one of the top 10 drivers in points. Credit: Autostock

Local Look: Richmond

Events: Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Emerson Radio 250

Local papers contributing: The Dallas Morning News, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Inside the Numbers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Kasey Kahne in 2006   Martin Burton Kahne Wins 0 0 5 Top-5s 5 4 8 Top-10s 11 14 13 20+ 5 5 10 30+ 2 4 6 40+ 0 1 0 DNFs 0 1 2 NASCAR TodayThe drama begins with Kasey Kahne closing in NASCAR TodayJeff Burton understands what being on the bubble is like Garage PassMark Martin relishes excitement surrounding the Chase NASCAR TodayWith the Chase looming teams head for Richmond Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Pointing out a flaw in the system

The deal: Terry Blount of The Dallas Morning News says it is "preposterous" that Kasey Kahne has five wins and still isn't among the top 10 drivers.

To further illustrate how messed up the points system is, there is a mathematical possibility that Kahne could win at Richmond and still not be guaranteed a spot in the Chase.

Meanwhile, the two drivers directly ahead of Kahne in the standings -- Mark Martin and Jeff Burton -- have no wins this year and fewer top-fives. Ninth-place Martin even has two fewer top-10s.

In fact, only five drivers ahead of Kahne have more top-10s.

Why we care: Kahne also has six finishes of 30th or worse. Not enough credit for winning and too much punishment for a poor finish.

Had Kahne been rewarded just 10 points per victory this season, he'd be eighth in the standings.

We know tweaks are coming to the Chase format next year; it already began with the change in the tiebreaker rule that allows both 10th-place drivers a spot in the playoffs.

But if the series leader in wins after 26 races is not one of the cars competing for championship, it will give NASCAR chairman Brian France a little more to think about.

Steer clear of the hauler

The deal: One place a driver doesn't want to end up after any race is the NASCAR hauler, writes Jill Erwin of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The hauler is where four NASCAR officials -- president Mike Helton, Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby, VP of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter and VP of competition Robin Pemberton -- serves as judge, jury and executioner after any on-track incident.

"Our job is to ensure that if there is a problem, it doesn't take on a life of its own and go past this one particular day," Pemberton said. "There may be times when it gets weighted 70-30, but for the most part it opens up as a 50-50 conversation. We just try to get everybody's viewpoint."

But if a driver or crew member finds themselves in there, it's not good.

"They don't yell at you, but they just tell you how they run things," Denny Hamlin said. "They remind you they run the show."

Why we care: "It's just like going to the principal's office when you're a kid," Carl Edwards said. "Mike comes in and they let you have it for a while. If everything goes all right, by the end it's smiles and joking around."

That's usually because you take your punishment with a, "Thank you, sir."

"I've had to watch what I did before," McMurray said. "You give your side of the story, and they tell you what they saw. It's not that it's one-sided, but if you got called in there it's pretty much because you were in the wrong. And you know that.

"I'm only 5-8, and Mike Helton's a pretty big guy. He's pretty intimidating, even when you're having a normal conversation. It depends on what you've done wrong on how the conversation goes. Typically you don't say much unless they ask you a question."

What a difference a year makes

The deal: There will be a lot more pride racing this year at the cutoff, writes Ralph N. Paulk of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Four drivers who qualified for the Chase a year ago -- Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman -- go to Richmond mathematically eliminated.

"We ran out of time, "then we ran out of hope," said Greg Biffle, who has only one win and could never really get his season going despite a run of four consecutive top-10s at midseason.

"I guess we'll just go out for 11 races and try to win something and prepare for '07," said Carl Edwards, who finished third in the points last year.

Why we care: So much for preseason favorites.

Busch's struggles have been in-race only. Despite three poles in the past four races, he has no finish better than 19th.

"Obviously, we've been able to do what it takes to win the poles," Busch said. "We've got to improve for 2007, but we've still got a lot of racing left this year."

Newman has finished 33rd or worse eight times.