A glance at the 12 drivers competing in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship heading into this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (in order of points):

DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson

CHASE POINTS: first, 6,073

CAR: No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POSITION CHANGE: None

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 14

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (three times)

LAST WEEK: Three-peat anybody? More than doubled his points lead with his sixth victory of the season last week at Martinsville. Suddenly, his early season troubles seem like a long time ago. Would need a major collapse to miss out on his third straight points title.

CHASE CHATTER: “We feel really good about what we are doing and where we’re at right now,” Johnson said. “But the hungrier we can stay, to go out and have performances like we did this weekend, that is what is going to make this thing right and that’s how we want to win a championship.”

___

DRIVER: Greg Biffle

CHASE POINTS: second, -149

CAR: No. 16 3M Ford

TEAM: Roush Fenway Racing

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 11

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 3rd

LAST WEEK: Moved up to second after typically difficult day at Martinsville, a track where he hadn’t had much success. Got off pit sequence early in the race and dropped a lap. Managed to get it back late to finish 12th.

CHASE CHATTER: “It was a frustrating day to say the least, but we stayed out and got trapped,” Biffle said. “We were going to run out of gas, so that was unfortunate for us, but the team did a great job. … I just wish we could have stayed on the lead lap or got our lucky dog earlier in the day and been able to race those guys.”

___

DRIVER: Jeff Burton

CHASE POINTS: third, -152

CAR: No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet

TEAM: Richard Childress Racing

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 28

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 4th (four times)

LAST WEEK: A week after a win in Charlotte and a word of caution that it was too early to hand anybody the trophy, Burton may have played himself out after a 17th-place finish at Martinsville marred by a late pit penalty that kept Mr. Steady out of the top 10.

CHASE CHATTER: “No, I don’t think this is the nail at all,” Burton said. “I fully expected to come here and the No. 48 to run well. If it surprises anybody that the No. 48 ran well at Martinsville, they are crazy.”

___

DRIVER: Carl Edwards

CHASE POINTS: fourth, -198

CAR: No. 99 Office Depot Ford

TEAM: Roush Fenway Racing

POSITION CHANGE: None.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 8

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (twice)

LAST WEEK: Regained a little bit of his mojo with a career-best third at Martinsville, not bad after two horrific weeks that seemed to be dominated by his scuffle with Kevin Harvick instead of his driving.

CHASE CHATTER: “For us, this is almost a win,” Edwards said. “We’ve never run this well here, so that was good for us. It’s just Jimmie is doing an unbelievable job. We obviously had some misfortune last week that really made this race important.”

___

DRIVER: Clint Bowyer

CHASE POINTS: fifth, -242

CAR: No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet

TEAM: Richard Childress Racing

POSITION CHANGE: None.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 5

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: sixth (three times)

LAST WEEK: Kept a hold on the fifth spot with a ninth-place finish at Martinsville, his ninth straight race with a top-12 finish. Would need to end the season with a series of top-fives, however, for him to sneak into second behind Johnson.

CHASE CHATTER: “No matter what Gil (crew chief Gil Martin) and the guys did on pit road, we just couldn’t get the car to turn getting off the corner,” Bowyer said. “I’ve said all along that Martinsville is a track where I need to get better as a driver, so it was frustrating from that standpoint, but it was still a pretty good day.”

___

DRIVER: Kevin Harvick

CHASE POINTS: sixth, -256

CAR: No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet

TEAM: Richard Childress Racing

POSITION CHANGE: None.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 15

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (fall 2001)

LAST WEEK: Picked up his fourth top-10 of the Chase with a seventh-place finish at Martinsville thanks to a series of late-race adjustments. Needs to find a little extra over the next four races to sneak into the top five on the season.

CHASE CHATTER: “We were never really able to get track position to compete with the leaders. Todd (Berrier, crew chief) made some really good adjustments on the last pit stop and we were able to grab a few spots in the final 50 laps to finish seventh,” Harvick said. “To get out of Martinsville with a top-10 is a good day for our team.”

_____

DRIVER: Jeff Gordon

CHASE POINTS: seventh, -275

CAR: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 32

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (four times)

LAST WEEK: Showed signs that he may be able to snap his winless streak with a fourth-place finish at Martinsville. Led three times for 57 laps, though his role over the next four weeks could be making sure teammate Jimmie Johnson keeps a steady hand on the points title.

CHASE CHATTER: “I love top-fives but we were still looking for that win and I knew Jimmie (Johnson) was going to be so tough especially in that No. 1 pit stall,” Gordon said. “I thought we had something for them. Just kind of trying to keep ourself in position.”

___

DRIVER: Tony Stewart

CHASE POINTS: eighth, -338

CAR: No. 20 Home Depot Toyota

TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 19

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (twice)

LAST WEEK: A pair of flat tires sent Stewart to a 26th-place finish at Martinsville, just the fifth time in 20 starts at Martinsville that Stewart finished outside the top 20.

CHASE CHATTER: Stewart had no comment following the Martinsville race.

___

DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

CHASE POINTS: ninth, -379

CAR: No. 88 AMP Energy-National Guard Chevrolet

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 18

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (fall 2004)

LAST WEEK: Ended a frustrating stretch with a second-place finish behind Johnson in Martinsville, his best race since opening the Chase with a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire.

CHASE CHATTER: “We have tore up a lot of race cars in the last few weeks,” said Earnhardt Jr. “(We’ve) had a lot of bad luck and we needed a good finish. I love short-track racing and this is a good track for me.”

___

DRIVER: Matt Kenseth

CHASE POINTS: 10th, -408

CAR: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford

TEAM: Roush Fenway Racing

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 17

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 3rd

LAST WEEK: Showed a little fight in rallying back from a lap down in 39th at one point to finish eighth at Martinsville.

CHASE CHATTER: “As far as the Chase goes, from our standpoint, we are basically mathematically out of it,” Kenseth said. “We haven’t been thinking championship the last two weeks with the problems that we’ve had, so we’re just out there racing as hard as we can and trying to get the best finishes we can.”

___

DRIVER: Denny Hamlin

CHASE POINTS: 11th, -420

CAR: No. 11 FedEx Toyota

TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 6

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: eighth

LAST WEEK: Managed his best race since Richmond on Sept. 6 with a fifth-place finish at Martinsville, the fourth top-five finish for him in seven career starts at the track.

CHASE CHATTER: “It’s always good to have this FedEx car running up front and finishing in the top five, but we definitely wanted more today,” Hamlin said. “We worked, and worked and made the adjustments we had to but, with the tire trouble, we knew we had to conserve our brakes and tires and make sure we were there racing at the end.”

___

DRIVER: Kyle Busch

CHASE POINTS: 12th, -445

CAR: No. 18 M&Ms Toyota

TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 3.

CAREER ATLANTA STARTS: 8

BEST ATLANTA FINISH: 1st (spring 2008)

LAST WEEK: Is it over yet? Busch continued his miserable Chase with a 29th-place effort at Martinsville, the victim of three separate cut tires. The regular-season champ has finished 28th or worse in four of six Chase races this year.

CHASE CHATTER: “We just can’t seem to catch a break,” Busch said. “The first part of the race, I couldn’t get the car stopped like I wanted it to and it was too tight in the center of the corner. I have no idea what caused all the right-front tire problems for us, but we just need to take a look at it further and find out why, so it doesn’t happen again.”