Anybody's Chase to win, unless we're talking 24, 48

There are nine races, and 12 drivers, remaining in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. So here is a game you might want to play as we race down the final two months -- I call it Who Do You Got? Oh, you only get one choice. Select one of the following:

Do you want Jimmie Johnson? Or do you want the field?

Do you want Jeff Gordon? Or do you want the field?

• NASCAR on TNT

Remember you only get one choice. There are a few of us playing this game. I won't give you any hints or help, but the selection is not as easy as it sounds. Sure, if you take the field against Johnson you get Gordon in the group. And if you take the field against Gordon you get Johnson in the group. But in both cases you also take on the risk. Right now, with Gordon and Johnson, it's an even break.

You know I love the numbers, that's why I enjoy looking things up all the time so you don't have to. But let's just review a few of them, starting with Dover. Gordon has four wins there, but the last one came in June of 2001, and that is his only victory there in his last 21 races at Dover. He has back-to-back top-10 finishes at Dover, but those are his only top-10s in the last five races there.

Johnson is a three-time winner at Dover, including his first two starts at the track in the Nextel Cup Series, a sweep in 2002. He won there in September of 2005, his lone win in the last nine Dover events. His last two starts at Dover have resulted in finishes of 15th in June and 13th last September.

Now, this is only one track, and one race, but if you're in, you don't want to start off with a bad race. Among the guys in the Chase, Jeff Burton (defending race winner), Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart have all won at Dover.

But it is not all about Dover. It is also about guts, yours and theirs. Do you like the way a certain driver competes in a pressurized environment? Is there one guy out there that is always strong in the final five to eight races? How far back is too far back? And when is it too far?

In 2006, Jeff Burton started the Chase with three finishes of seventh or better including that Dover win, but had just one finish better than seventh in the last seven races.

In 2006 Gordon started the Chase with a third and a third. Then went 39th, 26th, and 34th. That never helps.

In 2006 Denny Hamlin finished the Chase with five consecutive top-10 finishes, including a second and two third-place runs. But 21st at Talladega and 28th at Charlotte really hurt.

Quick now, without looking it up, who finished second in the Chase in 2006? Think about it. Time is up. Matt Kenseth, 56 points behind Johnson. Kenseth did not win in the Chase, had a 23rd at Kansas, and five top-10s in the 10 races. Matt had four finishes between 11th and 14th. That middle-of-the-pack stuff will cost you, too.

Last year Kevin Harvick won at New Hampshire, the first race in the Chase, and at Phoenix, the ninth race in the Chase. He led 196 of 300 laps at New Hampshire, and 252 of 312 laps at Phoenix. In the other eight races he led a total of just nine laps, all at Atlanta. He finished 31st there and 32nd at Dover. Harvick finished fourth in the Chase.

There are numbers that can make you think, and numbers that will make your head spin.