The 10 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup, in order of points standings:

CAR:No. 97 Sharpie FordCHASE POINTS:First, 6,346 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:NoneWHAT HAPPENED:Busch battled with his car's handling for most of the Southern 500, and later called the car "evil." Still, he managed a sixth-place finish that gives him an 18-point lead heading into the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.SPEAKING: "We need to go out and attack the race track this weekend, to lead laps and to make sure that we do our job at the end of the race," Busch said.

CAR:No. 48 Lowe's ChevroletCHASE POINTS:Second, 6,328 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:Plus 2WHAT HAPPENED:Johnson won for the fourth time in five races to pull right up to Busch's bumper in the race for the Nextel Cup championship. He won in the same car he drove to victories this season at Atlanta and Charlotte, and, no surprise here, he'll take it to Homestead.SPEAKING:"Kurt is in the lead, Jeff (Gordon) is right behind us. You're going to have to, you know, finish first or second to win this championship in my eyes," Johnson said.

CAR:No. 24 DuPont ChevroletCHASE POINTS:Third, 6,325 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:Minus 1WHAT HAPPENED:Gordon's crew had an uncharacteristic mistake in the pits, dropping the air hose during a late service stop. It cost him the win. He ended up third in the race, and angrily said his team would spend the week working on pit stops.SPEAKING:"This is one race for the championship, and we'll have a 'Go for broke' attitude. We have nothing to lose. We'll give it everything we've got and hope to come out on top. We have to win," Gordon said.

CAR:No. 8 Budweiser ChevroletCHASE POINTS:Fourth, 6,274 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:Minus 1WHAT HAPPENED:Earnhardt wasn't great at Darlington, finishing 11th and dropping 72 points behind Busch. He knows rallying to win the championship will be very difficult.SPEAKING:"We dug ourselves a pretty big hole at Darlington, and it will be difficult to climb out and still win this championship. We're going to have to be the best team at Homestead as well as the luckiest," Earnhardt said.

CAR:No. 6 Viagra FordCHASE POINTS:Fifth, 6,264 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:NoneWHAT HAPPENED:Martin finished second at Darlington, and just 82 points back is still mathematically eligible to win his first championship.SPEAKING:"We are excited about racing at Homestead this weekend. We really like our chances. We are 82 out, but we still have a shot. It really doesn't matter, because we are going there to try and win the thing and that's really all we can do," Martin said.

CAR:No. 20 Home Depot ChevroletCHASE POINTS:Sixth, 6,161 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:NoneWHAT HAPPENED:Stewart finished sixth. As soon as the five drivers in front of him start Sunday's race, he'll be officially eliminated from title contention.SPEAKING:"Obviously, where you're at in the point standings after Homestead is where you've finished for the season. But you can't treat the race any differently. You just have to go out there and do the best you can and not take too many unnecessary chances," Stewart said.

CAR:No. 12 ALLTEL DodgeCHASE POINTS:Seventh, 6,102 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:NoneWHAT HAPPENED:Newman blew an engine and finished 34th.SPEAKING:"We'll get them at Homestead. We've been running strong these last 10 races. I look forward to going to the last race," Newman said.

CAR:No. 17 DeWalt Tools FordCHASE POINTS:Eighth, 5,963 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:Plus 1WHAT HAPPENED:Reigning series champion Kenseth was 20th, his third consecutive finish of 20th or worse.SPEAKING:"I think we have a good car underneath us and hopefully we can capitalize on things and end the year on a great note," Kenseth said.

CAR:No. 38 M&M's FordCHASE POINTS:Ninth, 5,963 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:Minus 1WHAT HAPPENED:Sadler had a rough weekend, wrecking his car in practice and having to use a backup in the race. He finished 23rd.SPEAKING:"Since we are mathematically eliminated from the championship, I am looking forward to seeing how this battle will shape up. My money has been on Jeff Gordon all season, but I think he has some competition with Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch," Sadler said.

CAR:No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW DodgeCHASE POINTS:10th, 5,942 pointsPOSITION CHANGE:NoneWHAT HAPPENED:Mayfield finished 19th.SPEAKING:"I don't understand it. We were good and it went bad for a while and stayed that way for a while and then it got good again. We missed it somewhere," Mayfield said of Darlington.