Show postseason test Liz Clarke The Washington he Post postseason has barely gotten under underway underway underway way but the contenders and their crew chiefs are taking out their calculators and crunching the numbers on the nine races that remain Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 championship with an average finish of in inthe inthe inthe the 10 races that comprise the Chase for the Cup This year however the variables have changed officials expanded the postseason field from 10 drivers to 12 They also started awarding five more points for each victory As Jeff Burton figures it those two factors alone raise th the bar on the performance that will be required to win the 2007 title By his calculations the champion will need to average a place ninth-place finish down the stretch And hell he'll likely need to lead several races regardless of his finish because leading a alap alap alap lap in any race is worth five bonus points That sounds easy but its it's exceptionally hard to do said Burton who is already in a deficit having fallen to II th in the standings after his place finish last weekend at Loudon NH Johnson and his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon are shooting for place fifth-place finishes finished at a ain minimum in during th the Chase Like Burton Burion Johnson has already missed his mark m mai rk finishing s sixth last Sunday But its it's far better than his place finish to launch last years year's postseason The goal of Chase introduced in 2004 was vas to inject more drama in inthe inthe n the stock-car stock racing season down the stretch But the reality as any driver will attest is that consistent top 10 finishes still serve them best Its going to take consistency says Burton 40 but its it's going to take speed analyst Rusty Wallace who won 1989 title under snider the sports sport's old points system thinks the champion will have to get to Victory Lane a few times too To win this championship youre you're going to have to be able to win races Wallace said Saturday You cant can't just go out there and be consistent These guys need to win to tobe tobe tobe be real contenders in my eyes The competition is isso isso isso so strong they're going to have to do something dominant That's what officials want and that's what fans expect to see sec On Sunday Dover International Speedway hosts the second race of postseason Johnson who leads all drivers with six victories will start the Dodge Dealers from the pole A place first-place starting spot at Dover generally has little bearing on how well a driver performs in the race At one mile around Dover is a short tight abrasive concrete oval And tire wear and pit stops play a bigger role in who wins than the starting order But Johnson got burned by his poor starting spot at Dover in June In addition to dete determining ill the d day y lineup qualifying speeds dictate the order in which drivers choos their ir pit stall Johnson qualified drew a poor pit stall penned in by cars front and back and got rammed while exi exiting ing the pits early in the race He was determined not to repeat the gaffe so his team devoted Fridays Friday's practice sessions to getting the car caro carto carto to o run a fast qualifying ing lap Johnson won the pole the next day and chose the first pit stall which means he wont won't be blocked in during Sundays Sunday's race You take a lot of risks on pit road here very time youre you're in and off pit road Johnson said Hopefully with this first pit stall well we'll be able to avoid any of that stuff Even without glitches Dover is a wearying test for Cup drivers Though top speeds are mph nearly 40 mph slower than the fastest the sensation of speed is every bit as great because of the cramped quarters high highbanks highbanks highbanks banks and mental strain of circling the track every 25 seconds times in a row If Saturdays Saturday's Busch Series race is any indication simply finishing Sundays Sunday's race will be an achievement The mile race which included four of the 12 drivers in the hunt for the title was a fest crash-fest slowed by 13 cautions for 61 laps There was no obvious reason for the rash of incidents other than overaggressive driving Tempers flared more than once After contact with Robby Gordon slammed his car into the wall Tony Raines took off his helmet waited on the tracks track's apron until Gordon circled past and flung his helmet at him calling him an idiot during a race post-race interview D Denny Hamlin Hainlin one n of f four Chase contenders to compete in Saturdays Saturday's Busch Series race won in dominant fashion leading laps despite feeling so ill earlier in the day that he needed intravenous fluids before climbing in his car His team lined up Kyle Busch who will join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 to stand by in case Hamlin couldn't complete the distance s Y r jt ri i r y 1 k ka N fi J J J a f i yf Jr t r I f J rj y Jr y J J yI J JF F J p i I 1 7 4 r Y 7 i J r Wa WaG p G J J G y v j jJ Photos by David Hubert |