Chase for Cup centers on Busch, Edwards or Johnson

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With NASCAR's regular season now behind us and championship possibilities afoot -- all of our points have been reset now -- it's time to start thinking about title contenders and Chase pretenders. There may be a list of 12 drivers eligible, but in actuality we're likely talking about three drivers here.So if you're a fan of Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson, feel comfortable that your driver has a real shot at being the 2008 Sprint Cup Series champion. The other nine competitors? Well, they'll need a strong injection of momentum and a dose of luck.Kyle (eight wins) has owned much of the field this season, while Edwards has had an exceptional second half (three wins, two seconds in last nine races) and would ride in an even better position if not for a 10-point penalty on his bonus points incurred after winning at Las Vegas. Johnson, meanwhile, is the hottest driver, with three wins, a second and a third in his last eight starts.So where does that leave everyone else? Unfortunately, very far behind in the competition department.The reality is clear. Kyle, Carl and Jimmie have won 18 of the 26 Cup starts this season, leaving eight victories unaccounted. Four have come from non-Chase drivers -- Kasey Kahne (2), Ryan Newman and Kyle's brother, Kurt Busch.The remaining four, then, have come from the rest of the Chase participants, which is exactly why not one of the nine will be crowned the 2008 champ at Homestead. The bottom five in the Chase -- Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick -- haven't won at all in their 26 starts.Frustration has even started to set in on the non-winners. An in-car camera caught Stewart's boiling anger after running second to Johnson last week, then he had a spat with longtime crew chief Greg Zipadelli. Gordon, one of the coolest customers in front of a camera, was flustered and nearly speechless when asked when he would win his first race.Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s lone win was a gamble on gas at Michigan. Clint Bowyer won at Richmond after Kyle and Junior wrecked in the final laps. Jeff Burton won at Bristol when Richard Childress Racing finished 1-2-3, and Denny Hamlin grabbed the checkers in his home state of Virginia at Martinsville.The four other winners behind Busch, Edwards and Johnson just haven't had the traction to their seasons that the top three have had. In fact, with a slight break against them, Junior, Bowyer and Burton, who inherited the lead in the last laps after Hamlin slowed because of fuel pickup issues, could all realistically be winless at this point.Which doesn't mean the nine drivers following the top three can't win the title; they certainly can. There's too much talent on those teams and behind the wheel for them not to be taken seriously, and a driver can get hot, go on a winning streak and be sitting pretty in the South Florida sun in November. Three of the nine are also former Cup champions.It's not that the nine followers can't win; they just won't. Three drivers -- one dominant Toyota one, one steady Ford one, one streaky Chevrolet one -- have just driven away from the pack during the regular season.All season long, the championship writing's been written on the wall -- or at least on the pavement.(Bill Whitehead covers NASCAR for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. E-mail wwhitehe@ircc.net.)