At RIR, winning to get in much easier said than done

Which one would Kyle Busch like to do over again? He thinks back across the long expanse of the NASCAR season, and decides on the first.

"The Daytona 500, I wish I had that one back, for sure," the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said. "We ran 41st, getting in a wreck with [Dale Earnhardt Jr.] and [Brian Vickers] there. Unfortunately, you know, that was probably the biggest race that I'd love to have back."

It was an inauspicious start to what became a trying season for Busch, who a year ago was the class of the Sprint Cup field and now may not even qualify for the Chase. Heading into Saturday night's cutoff event at Richmond International Raceway, he ranks 14th in the standings, and 37 points behind Matt Kenseth for the 12th and final playoff spot. Should he make the Chase, his four race victories would give him a chance at the top seed. But they'll be of no help to him on Saturday night.

"Our strategy is just going to be the same as it's been the whole year. We just go out there and try to run the best we can," he said. "Fortunately, we won the Richmond race in the spring there, so we feel like we can go back there and do well there. I've run well there about every time I've been there. If we have another good, solid run, like a top-10, a top-five run, we really don't need to change anything. During the race, we'll have to do everything we can to try to win the race."

Every driver on the bubble comes to Richmond with the same dream, of winning the race to make the Chase. It seems fairly straightforward, but it's happened only once. Jeremy Mayfield entered the fall Richmond race prior to the inaugural 2004 Chase 14th in the standings, and 55 points behind what was then the 10th and final playoff spot. It was a deficit that, by comparison, dwarfs what Busch faces today. Yet Mayfield led 151 of 200 laps, won the race, and vaulted to ninth place. It was such a staggering feat, it earned a place in the sport's lexicon. Drivers have since referred to a win-to-get-in scenario as "pulling a Mayfield." (Continued)