Head2Head: Out 100-plus, who is still in the title hunt?

The remaining nine Chase races set up nicely for Carl Edwards, beginning at Dover, where in 10 starts Edwards has a Cup Series-leading average finish of 7.6, with one victory.

Looking down the line, Edwards consistently is a top-15 driver at Kansas (14.0 average finish), Fontana (6.7), Charlotte (10.0), Texas (13.4), Phoenix (13.0) and Homestead (6.4).

On the flip side, he traditionally struggles at Martinsville (18.2 -- two top-10s in 10 starts) and Talladega (24.5 -- three DNFs in the past four races).

Edwards doesn't have to make up 113 points on Sunday. He only needs to chip away at the deficit. Ultimately, it will come down to Texas, Phoenix and Homestead; he has four wins among 10 top-fives in 24 starts at those tracks.

Certainly there are strides to be made during the next two-plus months, but Edwards' crew has the wherewithal to make a run at the championship. Despite the "all drivers' equipment is equal" mantra that teams spew, know this: Edwards is the face of RFR; no expense will be spared to get the No. 99 in the thick of the Chase.

It's not how you start; it's how you finish -- beginning at the Monster Mile.

One race in and Jeff Gordon already finds himself 102 points away from leader Mark Martin. Well, put me in the category of those not ready to close the book on the No. 24's "Drive for Five" because this is far from over.

Sure, a 15th isn't the way Gordon wanted to start the Chase, but he had a great car at New Hampshire, it just got away from him at the end. And with nine races remaining, my guess is the No. 24 will have more good races than bad.

And then there are the races remaining. Dover is up next, where Gordon has four wins, 14 top-fives and 20 top-10s. Kansas after that where Gordon has won two of eight races and finished in the top five in five of them. Then there's Fontana (3 wins), Lowe's (5 wins), Martinsville (7 wins), Talladega (6 wins) ... you see where I'm going with this.

Gordon has been shut out of a championship way too long. He has wins at eight of the remaining nine tracks and all he needs is a couple W's plus some strong top-fives to be in the thick of things. With the tracks coming up, there is no reason to think this can't be done.

He has his work cut out for him, but if anyone can overcome a 100-point deficit, it's Jeff Gordon.