The field is set. The stakes are high. Ten races, 12 drivers competing for one prize: the 2007 Nextel Cup Series championship.

The Nextel Cup Series returns to New Hampshire International Speedway for the second time this season and the 1.058-mile oval is the first of 10 races in the Chase to the Nextel Cup. It all begins with the Sylvania 300 (1 p.m. ET, Sunday, ABC).

"Being the Nextel Cup champion means that you were better than anyone else in the clutch," Jeff Gordon said. "You beat 11 other guys who were about even with you in just 10 races. This year's Chase will most likely come down to the last race, but it's about gaining momentum and starting this first race off strong."

This year's lineup for the Chase for the Nextel Cup could very well deliver the most wide-open and competitive championship race in recent memory. Consider these top-line stories:

• Jimmie Johnson. Can the reigning Cup champion avoid disaster? Last year, Johnson recovered from a 39th-place finish at Loudon to win the title, but with 12 guys in the Chase, it will be harder to make up lost ground.

"I think I like the mindset I've been in before where I'm in a hole and we need to dig out. I think I've shown we're capable of operating well in that pressure and that situation," Johnson said.

"The one thing that I've learned is you look at it on paper and you think 10 races, that's a short period of time. But when you're living it day-to-day, that's a long 10 races. It's two, three months of racing. So it's long, and you've got to set a pace that you can maintain and keep. And I think that's something that the 48's good at doing."

Johnson, who along with Tony Stewart has led the most laps on the year -- 863 of a possible 6,999, is the top seed in the Chase with 5,060 points. Johnson's season-best sixth win came this past Saturday night at Richmond and was also his second consecutive victory. Johnson took advantage of the revision to the Chase format with the additional emphasis on winning over the first 26 races, racking up 60 bonus points, or 10 points per win. Johnson attempts to become the first driver since Gordon (1997-98) to repeat as series champion.

"Being the top seed is certainly an advantage," Johnson said. "I'm hoping that that works in the right direction and helps us out and helps us win the championship. I just like to operate in that mindset and not being in a place to defend."

• Jeff Gordon. Can the four-time champion -- who has led 17 races on the year, most of any driver -- return to a points-racing mindset after exhibiting a victory-or-bust mentality since locking up a spot in the Chase?

In a season that has seen him as a poster boy for consistency with four wins, 15 top-fives, and 21 top-10s, Gordon led the point standings for 22 consecutive weeks this year. But he'll start the Chase as the second seed, 20 points behind Johnson, after his teammate's back-to-back wins.

"Jimmie was able to gain ground on us in the past two races by winning them both," Gordon said. "Those of us who were locked in were not racing for a consistent top-five or top-10. It was all about getting those bonus points for victories. However, now it's time to race consistently and get the best possible finish we can."

"Don't expect anything less than a fierce competitor out of me. I'm fired up and ready to fight for the championship."

Gordon, who finished second earlier this year at New Hampshire, seeks his fifth series championship. Only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt (both with seven) have won more titles than Gordon.

"I have an awesome team around me this season," said Gordon, who would've had a lead of 312 points in the old system. "We communicate so well and we are well-rounded in all areas. I have confidence that we will be a top contender week-in and week-out in these final 10 races, and it starts this weekend in New Hampshire."

Johnson concurs.

I guess in my mind I still feel like Jeff had such a great year that, he's probably the guy to keep our eyes on the most," Johnson said.

• Kevin Harvick. Can the Daytona 500 winner stop the bleeding? Harvick fell from first in the standings after his win in the season opener to 12th after California, the 25th race of the year.

"I think you have to do your own thing. You have to race as hard as you can," Harvick said. "Obviously, you have to find another level of intensity in the last 10 races. I think we will have to take some chances that we normally wouldn't take. If you don't, there's going to be somebody that beats you and take those chances and gets away with it.

"You know, you definitely are going to be at the maximum level of aggression. We are going to push cars and engines and everything else to the max."

Harvick who also won the 2007 Nextel All-Star Challenge, is the defending winner of this week's race at NHIS.

"We look forward to going to New Hampshire every year and this year is no different," said Harvick, who finished eighth there earlier this year. "We enjoy the racetrack since they put the progressive banking in. You can now race side-by-side and pass people and do the things you need to do to get toward the front."

• Clint Bowyer. It's been well-chronicled that Bowyer is the lone Chase participant without a victory on the season, or in his 63-race career. But he has been in the top 12 for 22 consecutive weeks and is the only Chase driver without a DNF through the first 26 races.

"Obviously, you have to watch your back and you can't have DNFs and win championships," Bowyer said. "But, I want to win a race for Richard [Childress, No. 07 car owner]. That's what I set out to do and that's what he pays me to do. He did me a pretty big favor three or four years ago when he hired me and I want to repay him."

Bowyer's worst finish of the season came earlier this year at New Hampshire (37th).

"We're still learning and we have to learn something every week that we can apply to the next week to make us better. We need to race hard and do everything we can to get to Victory Lane. That's what it's all about -- winning. We have to win races."

• Car of Tomorrow. NASCAR's new racecar will play a prominent role in the Chase, running in five of the 10 races beginning at New Hampshire. It will mark the 12th COT race of the season. The new car will race at a total of 16 events on the season -- with events still to come at Dover, Talladega, Martinsville and Phoenix -- before running the entire Cup schedule beginning next year.

Chevrolet has won nine of the first 11 COT races, six by Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson (three) and Gordon (two) are the only multiple winners.

"I am hoping that having a handful of COT races will work to our benefit," said Denny Hamlin, who won earlier this year at New Hamsphire in the COT.

"The playing field has definitely leveled a bit from earlier in the season when it seemed like [Joe] Gibbs and Hendrick had an advantage, but I still think our COT program is as good as any."

Hamlin has led 629 laps in the COT, including a race-high 179 at Darlington where he finished second. Hamlin has seven top-fives and nine top-10s in the COT.

"We won a COT race and challenged in others," Hamlin said. "In fact we took a brand-new car that hadn't turned a single lap anywhere to Richmond and finished sixth so we now have three cars that have led laps in COT races at our disposal for the Chase."

The Sporting News Wire Service contributed to this report.