A 14-driver race

AMBROSE The race for the Chase, which continues this week at Michigan International Speedway and runs for three more races — Bristol, California and Richmond — is shaping up to be a 14-driver contest. Clint Bowyer, in 13th place, is 22 points behind Matt Kenseth, who holds the 12th and final spot in the elite group. David Ragan in 14th, is 89 points out of the elite group after a disappointing 30th-place run at Watkins Glen, but the next three races are at three of his best tracks. He has one top-10 finish in three starts at Michigan, an average finish of 14th at California — despite problems there with speeding on pit road — and a close third at Richmond last fall.

Ryan Newman, in 15th place, is 115 points behind Ragan and effectively out of the running.

Woods make the correct call

Australian driver Marcos Ambrose deserves much of the credit for driving the Wood Brothers' No. 21 Ford, which is 42nd in car owner points, to a third-place finish at Watkins Glen after starting 43rd. But the Woods deserve some praise, too. Recognizing that their struggling team needed help, they turned to veteran crew chief David Hyder and to some of the idled BAM Racing crew members for help.

NASCAR While Ryan Newman (left) won't be returning to Penske Racing next season, Martin Truex Jr. (right) announced last week that he will return to Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2009. Team co-owner Len Wood said the first evidence of the turnaround came at Indianapolis, a race they actually failed to qualify for with Bill Elliott at the wheel.

"We had the right chassis set-up, but we had too much time to think about it and we made the wrong changes," Wood said.

Then, the next week at Pocono, Elliott drove the car from a 37th starting position to 20th.

"We didn't get there by strategy," Wood said. "We had a 20th-place car, and for the first time in a long time, Bill said he was driving the car instead of it driving him."

Filling the seats

With Martin Truex Jr.'s announcement that he'd extended his driving contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. through the 2009 season, another piece of the driver-swapping puzzle fell into place. Still to be decided are several key rides, including the fourth team Richard Childress Racing will field next year, the No. 45 at Petty Enterprises, the second team at Stewart Haas Racing and the No. 12 at Penske Racing, which is being vacated by Ryan Newman, who appears headed to Stewart Haas.

Casey Mears, now driving the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports, appears to be headed for one of the open rides, and David Stremme, now a test driver for Penske, said last week that he's "99.99 percent certain" that he'll be back on the Sprint Cup circuit full time next year.

SPRINT CUP STANDINGS

3,254; leader 2. Carl Edwards

3,012; behind: -242 3. Jimmie Johnson

3,010; behind: -244 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2,985; behind: -269 5. Jeff Burton

2,945; behind: -309 6. Jeff Gordon

2,754; behind: -500 7. Tony Stewart

2,744; behind: -510 8. Kasey Kahne

2,713; behind: -541 9. Denny Hamlin

2,689; behind: -565 10. Greg Biffle

2,689; behind: -565 11. Kevin Harvick

2,670; behind: -584 12. Matt Kenseth

2,628; behind: -626