Cross' Words: Loudon

With nine races remaining until the Chase field is set after Richmond, what are the chances of a driver currently outside the top 12 bumping his way into the playoff field? The clock is ticking -- loudly -- but the possibility remains, long shot as it may be.

• Send Duane your thoughts

Ryan Newman is 127 points behind 12th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., while Jamie McMurray trails by 184. Newman and McMurray are the only drivers within a race's point total of the Chase cutoff.

But is Junior the driver in the crosshairs?

Clint Bowyer has fluctuated between eighth and 10th for the past two months and now sits 11th -- one point ahead of Earnhardt.

Bowyer has been flying under the radar for most of the season despite eight top-10 finishes. While Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton have been garnering headlines, Bowyer has been consistent but unable to break through for his first Cup Series victory.

On Sunday at New Hampshire a cut oil line relegated Bowyer to his worst finish of the season, 37th, and he fell two spots -- but now comes Daytona, where his average finish is 11.3 in three starts, including two top-10s.

Nonetheless, the spotlight should be on Bowyer -- for all the right reasons -- as the Chase field races toward Richmond. He has been steady for Richard Childress Racing during the past 36 races and if track history holds form, Bowyer will be in the mix to compete for the Cup championship during the final 10 races.

So which driver is in the most precarious position? Is it Earnhardt, who welcomes back crew chief Tony Eury Jr. this weekend after a six-race suspension? Maybe Truex, who has two Busch Series titles and should be numb to the pressure? Could Kyle Busch implode and make his exit from Hendrick even that more ... understandable?

Weigh in with your take and let's turn up the dialogue a notch. I'm on record with Bowyer not cracking down the stretch and making it a three-team RCR run during the Chase.

Say what?

"My right foot was just shaking like crazy the last three laps -- you know, you try to hold the gas pedal down and all you're doing is going crazy with the right foot because you know, you're getting nervous."
-- Denny Hamlin on holding off Jeff Gordon at Loudon

Figuratively speaking

21 -- Different winners in 21 Busch races at New Hampshire, with Kevin Harvick adding his name to the list on Saturday.

Up Next

Pepsi 400 | Daytona | 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday | TNT
Race No. 18 of 36 | Get tickets | Book travel

• Defending race winner: Tony Stewart
• Most victories at the track: Jeff Gordon (6)
• Best average finish (minimum five starts): Jimmie Johnson (12.2 in 11 starts)
Active drivers only

CAUTION: Shameless plug for TNT
(But some really neat stuff ...)

TNT goes under the lights Saturday as the network debuts a new format, a special on four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, a special feature on seven-time series champ Richard Petty and continued post-race coverage exclusively on NASCAR.COM.

TNT will rev its race day at 5:30 p.m. ET with the one-hour 24x24: Wide Open with Jeff Gordon. Coverage of the Pepsi 400 marks the debut of TNT's Wide Open Coverage, a unique format that will feature no national commercial interruptions, only three local commercial breaks per hour and an innovative on-screen video box for sponsor-branded content.

The branded content will include animated sponsor messages and graphics from sponsors Autozone, DirecTV, Ford, Goodyear, Miller Brewing, Pepsi, Principal Financial, Sprint and Subway, all of whom relied on Turner's creative expertise to create and produce the original branded content to complement the race. Toyota, also a sponsor of the telecast, utilized a separate creative agency for its individual spots.

The branded content for all 10 sponsors includes a mix of vignettes running 60 seconds to 2 minutes and features notable faces from around the world of NASCAR, and will include Cup drivers Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Regan Smith and Kurt Busch.

For the first time ever, following TNT's on-air race coverage, NASCAR.COM will feature post-race coverage with interviews and analysis from TNT's announcers as part of Jack Daniel's Post-Race Show.

Mailbag

Being out of the office for 10 days wreaked havoc on the inbox; the cybermailman will expect a big Christmas bonus. In any case, let's kick off the debate with this question:

Which driver currently in the top 12 is most likely to miss the Chase?

Submit your take and briefly state your case as to why you think Driver X won't cut the mustard. And remember: pithy makes it much more likely to make the cut next week ...

Six of one ...
Drivers with momentum heading to Daytona:

• Jeff Gordon -- Hendrick stable takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

• Jimmie Johnson -- Ditto.

• Denny Hamlin -- Finally, the No. 11 team solved the Car of Tomorrow. He and Tony Stewart will make for a formidable duo in the Chase (five of the final 10 races feature the COT).

• Kyle Busch -- NASCAR said that the No. 5 was too low in post-race inspection but that it wasn't considered tampering with the Car of Tomorrow. It's more of a "competition infraction." ... Uh, OK.

• Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter -- Both Haas CNC cars finish in the top 15 for the second time (Phoenix), leading advocates to again proclaim the COT as the greatest thing since power steering.

Half a dozen of the other ...
And six drivers who need a jump start:

• Jeremy Mayfield -- Six starts, one lead-lap finish, 33.3 average finish ... his average race winnings is a paltry $76,649.

• Scott Riggs -- He has failed to qualify for the past two races and the No. 10 now sits 182 points outside a guaranteed top-35 qualifying position.

• Michael Waltrip -- After qualifying for two of three races between Dover and Michigan, he also has missed the past two races.

• Dale Jarrett -- He has made two starts in the past five races. If he makes the field at Daytona, chances are he'll have a decent run: four wins, nine top-five finishes and 17 top-10s in 40 starts.

• Joe Nemechek -- The first-year No. 13 team crashed-out at Loudon and fell three spots in owners' points after its third consecutive 30th-or-worse finish.

• David Gilliland -- Two top-10 finishes this year. Yep, you guessed it: in the two restrictor-plate races. Hello, Daytona!

And finally

Congrats to the Lithia Springs Tigers, who won the AABC 13U State Tournament on Saturday. The team went 6-0 and now advances to the World Series in Battle Creek, Mich. Seeing those 12 players pile up in the middle of the field was enough to make grown men cry (and we did, the tears of joy and relief ... and pride).

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.