Chasers top Loudon lineup for Round 1 of hunt for title (cont'd)

Harvick, who had to sweat Richmond to make it into the Chase, clocked in at 29.443 seconds, 129.362 mph in his No. 29 Chevy, good for eighth on Sunday. He's a winner at NHIS, doing the trick in the fall last year, and he has eight top-10s in 13 starts.

Carl Edwards, who crashed his primary car in practice and was forced to the backup for qualifying, rolled to 11th at 29.520 seconds, 129.024 mph. Edwards has had limited success in six starts at NHIS, with a second-place finish his best result. He's led a total of two laps there, and his average finish is 14.0.

Kyle Busch doesn't have the numbers his older brother has at NHIS, but then he's only had five starts. He does have a victory, in the spring last year, along with a pair of top-five finishes. The No. 5 Chevrolet wound up 12th on the grid at 29.520 seconds, 129.024 mph.

The most recent NHIS winner, Denny Hamlin, did much better in qualifying than he did in practice (31st), putting his No. 11 Chevrolet into the field 14th at 128.946 mph (29.583 seconds). Hamlin has never finished worse than sixth in three starts, and that came in his first race there last year. He was fourth in the fall and won in July. His average finish is a truly baroque 3.6.

Jeff Gordon, who has three victories, 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes at NHIS in 25 starts, was 17th at 29.565 seconds, 128.828 mph. Gordon has led an amazing 1,141 laps there, and his average finish is a surprisingly low 11.9.

Jeff Burton is the all-time victory leader at NHIS with four, and the last time he won there he led all 300 laps. He generally finishes well, averaging 12.9 in 25 starts, with 12 top-10s and seven top-fives. His No. 31 Chevrolet was 22nd at 29.710, 128.199 mph.

Matt Kenseth wasn't very good in practice, ranking 46th of 49 cars, and he will be the last of the Chasers under the green flag on Sunday in 31st. Kenseth was half a second quicker in qualifying, posting a lap at 29.794 seconds, 127.838 mph. Kenseth finishes in the top 10 in two out of three starts (he's 10 for 15), and he was second to Busch in the fall race of 2004.

The first race of the Chase is not the place to start out in a hole, as Stewart and Ryan Newman will tell you after their crash there in 2004 left them with little hope over the next nine races.

The lone practice session of the day saw eight of the 12 in the top 11, and the rest 23rd or worse. Johnson, Bowyer and Kurt Busch were 1-2-3 in practice, and Stewart, Harvick, Truex, Gordon and Kyle Busch were seventh through 11th, respectively.

On the flip side, Burton was 23rd, Hamlin was 31st, Edwards got the backup to 43rd and Kenseth was a dismal 46th.