Chasers will have to work way through 'Dega field

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Races at Talladega Superspeedway are not won on Saturday, because the draft rules the racing. It is nice, however, to be somewhere near the front when the race gets going, and that's going to be interesting for the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Several Chasers had problems on Friday, as both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer were forced to backup cars and Tony Stewart's crew had a major thrash to get his Toyota back together after a multi-car crash triggered by a blown right rear tire (watch video).

The good thing is, Talladega isn't a handling race -- it's a speed race, and a drafting race, and the Chasers are pretty good at it moving through the pack. They'll have to, most of them, since the best Chase qualifier on Saturday will start 12th Sunday.

Carl Edwards was the best of the Chase drivers in qualifying at 186.507 mph. That puts him 12th for the start. Edwards has never won a restrictor-plate race, but he's finished fifth here back in 2005. He also has three top-10s, and his average finish of 24th is ninth of the 12 in the Chase.

Earnhardt Jr., second only to Gordon among active drivers with five victories, ran his backup Chevrolet at 186.428 mph. That was good for 15th, but since he changed an engine during the first practice yesterday, he'll have to go to the back for the start.

Earnhardt Jr. is second to Tony Stewart in average finish at 14.0, and he has seven top-five and 10 top-10s at Talladega -- including a potential victory lost when he tangled with Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers on the final lap of this race two years ago.

Jeff Burton, one of the darkhorse favorites for Sunday's race, posted a lap of 186.318 mph, good for 17th. Burton has never won here in 29 starts, but has 10 top-10s and a couple of top-fives. His average finish of 19.1 is eighth among Chasers, but he and the rest of the RCR stable have been fast in practice.

Jimmie Johnson has won here at Talladega, and he's also lost (crashing while running second to Earnhardt Jr. two years ago). His lap of 186.224 mph was good for 20th in the lineup. Johnson has a victory in 2006, a pole, four top-five and five top-10s in 13 starts, but he also has five DNFs. His average finish of 17.5 is dead in the middle of the 12 Chasers.

Biffle was the first of the Chasers out, second overall, and his lap of 186.061 mph was good for 22nd. Biffle, sitting third in points just 30 away from the lead, has a problem finishing races here, averaging 25.3. That's 10th among the 12 Chasers. His best finish is 13th back in 2005 and he has four DNFs in 11 starts.

Jeff Gordon posted a lap of 185.783 mph putting him 26th at the start of Sunday's race. Gordon has won six races at Talladega, the last in this race last season. In 31 starts, Gordon has a pole, six victories, 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. He's also had seven DNFs and his average finish of 15.0 is fifth among the Chase drivers.

Matt Kenseth, another of the Roush Fenway Chasers, put his machine in 31st with a lap of 185.689 mph. Kenseth runs well here, with three top-fives and six top-10s in 17 starts, and just two DNFs. His average finish is 17.5, seventh in the Chase rundown.

Stewart's newly fixed Toyota reeled off a lap of 185.481 mph to start 34th, leading a wad of Chasers near the back of the field. Stewart has the best average finish among Chasers at 13.9, helped immensely by six runner-up finishes in his 19 starts. He has two more top-fives and 11 top-10s in his career here.

Bowyer had to change an engine as well on Friday, so his run of 185.423 mph will put him 35th on all the paper, but he'll join Earnhardt Jr. at the rear of the field. Bowyer has a ninth-place effort as his best in five starts at Talladega, and nearly half those starts have wound up in DNFs. His average finish of 26.0 is 11th among the Chasers.

Denny Hamlin, who is always a threat at the two superspeedways, was 36th at 185.373 mph in his Toyota. Hamlin has a pair of top-five finishes in five starts here, the third-best finishing average among Chasers at 14.2 and no DNFs. He was third here in the spring.

Kyle Busch, who won the spring race here, put his Toyota in 37th with a lap of 185.205 mph. Busch broke a trend of disappointing finishes here with his victory. His previous best run here before the spring race was 11th back in the fall of 2006 and his average finish of 27.3 is worst among Chasers. Four DNFs in seven starts will do that to you.

Kevin Harvick put his Chevrolet in 39th with a lap of 185.008 mph, slowest among the Chasers. Harvick has finished second twice in 15 starts and has seven top-10s to boot. His average finish -- helped by no DNFs -- is 14.3, fourth behind Stewart, Earnhardt Jr. and Hamlin.