BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Heading into Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, half of the top 12 drivers currently occupying the Cup Series point standings have yet to win a race this season.

That fact begs a couple of legitimate questions.

“

I think the guy who wins the championship is going to at least have one win this season and more than likely in the Chase.

”

-- JEFF GORDON

Is it possible to win a championship without winning a single race? And if so, would that championship mean any less -- both to the individual winning it and to those who compete in and follow the sport?

Those seemed to be hot topics Friday at BMS, where Cup teams prepared for Saturday's event with a pair of practices followed by qualifying. Drivers discussed it at length, noting that wins over the first 26 races of the season count 10 bonus points when the standings are reset for the 10-race Chase at the end. Saturday's race is the 24th of the season, leaving only races at Atlanta and Richmond before the Chase field is set.

"I've always said that there's no doubt that you can win it without winning races," said Jeff Gordon, who sits second in the standings behind leader Kevin Harvick but is mired in a 52-race winless streak. "The problem that I see right now is when they start the Chase, guys who haven't won a race are going to be at least 50 points down to start the Chase."

That's because four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin each have registered five victories this season. Harvick has three, including last Sunday's Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

So while Gordon's head tells him that it's mathematically possible to win a championship without winning a race, his heart tells him that the chances of it happening stand somewhere between slim and none, leaning toward none.

"Consistency is still key, but I'm almost wondering right now if it's more important to win during the regular season than it is in the Chase," Gordon said. "Get the bonus points to get yourself seeded where you really need to, to get that advantage going into the Chase, and then knock out your top-five [finishes] throughout the Chase and win it that way.

"But you've still got to win. So I think you need to win. I think the guy who wins the championship is going to at least have one win this season and more than likely in the Chase." (Continued)